Which Guns Are Really The Best?
#1
Posted 17 April 2008 - 05:25 PM
1. NERF guns are more expensive
2. NERF is supplying looks over effectiveness
3. NERF is being geared toward a different market
Now, 2 & 3 kind of go together, and I'll explain why. Despite having a feminist mother, she realized boys and girls were different, and so she would take me to Toys 'R' Us and, although she doesn't like guns, reluctantly buy me a NERF gun. It wasn't really violent, it was just fun. But the NERF guns I remember were different. The didn't look anything like real guns, even when painted. They were bright and colourful and oddly shaped and fun. The thing is, today's target market of kids isn't looking for innovative, oddly-shaped fun. They want real, tactical simulations. They want to make believe someone's head is exploding. This is creating the "need" for more realistic looking weapons, even at the risk of being effective. I'm not going to say I never thought of a head exploding as a kid, but I thought of it a whole lot less than some kids today. I'm not going to blame this new trend in violence on anyone either, I am simply sharing that it exists.
With the release of the Vulcan, I am now gearing up to be let down. That's not to say I wish for it to fail, far from it. But I fear that NERF may have once again chosen looks over function, and is now producing a semi-realistic gattling gun for kids. Would I like to see the Vulcan beat our expectations and trounce our speculations? Hell yes. Do I think it's going to happen? Hell no. From here it looks gimmicky and bulky. I would much rather see what new guns Lanard has coming, or Buzz Bee, but until NERF shapes up and starts producing some really good guns again, I have little hopes.
Note: I know some of the opinions in this contradict with what I said in my previous article. I am not denying this. I still think NERF guns are the best, but after the Recon CS-6, I'd really like to see a decent gun again. That's not to say all of the guns being produced suck, that's simply to say that the bigger ones generally do.
By:
Green-Buckshot
#2
Posted 17 April 2008 - 05:50 PM
Look at it this way. Kingman sells paintball guns that you have to be 18 to buy. Get hit in the face with a paintball and you will have some serious pain and bruising. Get hit in the face with a dart of stefan, and you are probably going to be pissed, but not harmed. I think we all hope that Nerf guns will be what they look like and ignore that they are marketed to boys in elementary school who are at the age where Power Rangers is still socially acceptable and girls are still gross.
Still, you make some good points. Nerf has changed, and changed hands many times since were we the target consumer. I wonder what kind of guns my kids will play with (assuming I have kids and Nerf and its ilk are still around).
#3
Posted 17 April 2008 - 06:00 PM
Off brand is the way to go these days. Look at the recon. We have had some of our best at it (captain slug, ofallthenerf) and no one has been able to get over 60ft with it (I don't believe 80ft bullshit you see on ebay).
My point is, That green buckshot was absolutely right. Off brand guns are cheaper, easier to mod, and frankly, they out preform their nerf gun cousins. Take the maxshot for example. 9.99$ piece of crap right? WRONG!!!
The thing out preforms a crossbow in the range department. It costs about one thenth of the crossbow. That is not to say that the crossbow sucks, and believe me it doesn't. In the poll, so far, nerf has been experiencing a landslide victory. Nerf does sacrifice looks over performance, because they market them to violence obsessed eight year olds that cannot handle getting hit with a streamline that can go 70ft. For now, when I go to the local TRU to get a gun, I will most likely get a big blast 4 pack, a twin pack of at3ks, or a BBB. (The last two guns I mentioned are older, and back then, nerf hadn't come up with this whole n strike swat team thing)
Green Buckshot is right. Off brand is the way to go these days. Buy discontinued guns, or buy older ones, but unless you are getting an LS to angel mod, or a NF, buy something cheaper that will out perform it.
It's just screaming to be rearloading...
I seen a movie about that once.
#4
Posted 17 April 2008 - 06:15 PM
But now, I look back at all the wars where I had the most fun. The ones that come to mind include a 6 or 7 person free for all pistol round in a smaller, confined area with limited cover around the outside edges, and somewhere up there are the few 1v1's I had with a couple friends where we each had either a Maverick or a lightly modded DTG. Almost every time I have a small war at my house, we pull out brassed Crossfires and stock darts and we have infinite-lived indoor wars in my basement. It's these wars that cause us to care less about missing and more about trying to get out of the way of every incoming shot while trying to return fire and force the other person to move into your dart (yeah, they go that slow) where we always have fun. But our most recent war, the one where I picked up my Pump Shotgun, is definitely among that list of favorite wars.
I guess it's just that most people see others using 4Bs, Maxshots, Crossbows, etc. and they get similar guns, practice with them, and they do well. People just aren't willing to give these low-ranged guns a shot. I'm sure if people actually picked up the Recon and used it for a bit, they'd find that it works quite well. Maybe not for every situation (a plus for the single shot gun, it doesn't have a time where it's completely useless), but there are times where it could be amazing. So it's not that the new Nerf guns aren't as high-quality, they're just different.
I haven't got a Recon yet, and I'm undecided whether to get it or not. The biggest thing holding me back it it's size; I'm not sure if I could make a comfortable holster for it.
So yeah, I'm still voting Nerf #1.
Edited by Retiate, 17 April 2008 - 06:33 PM.
#5
Posted 17 April 2008 - 06:44 PM
But if you are referring to off brand guns as Lanard or Buz Bee, then yes you are right.
-Scotch
#6
Posted 17 April 2008 - 06:45 PM
From my personal point of view, I don't think people understand the importance of ROF in the search for the almighty powerhouse blaster. From an assassins standpoint, I wouldnt be caught dead outside my house during a game with an xbow or big blast. Compact size, decent power and above all else ROF is king in these type of games. I'd rather be able to fire off few quick underpowered shots rather then breech load and pump/prime a powerful blaster any day in an assassins game. In wars its a bit of a different story but I would still lean to saying nerf has some great blasters out there for all styles of play.
Hornet - amazing ROF and good distance, SEMI-AUTO
Longshot - sure the range and accuracy leave somewhat to be desired but its the great ROF that makes this gun deadly in the right hands
Crossfire - small, powerful for its size and 5 ammo holders, perfect for assassins games
Recon - pretty much the same thing as the LS but a much smaller package making it even better
Magstrike, Disk Shot and a few other blasters have really good potential that people often overlook.
The main thing to look at it here is although Nerf hasn't released an almighty long range blaster, they have released a bunch of fun game changing blasters that keep the game interesting. In the end isn't that what we nerf for?
#7
Posted 17 April 2008 - 07:32 PM
-Captain
Edited by Captain, 17 April 2008 - 07:33 PM.
#8
Posted 17 April 2008 - 08:03 PM
First of all the Max Shot is not an off-brand gun. Second of all people don't usually buy crossbows for the range, they either buy them for the rarity, accuracy or comfortability. Third of all the Big Blast isn't really a off-brand gun either. I think off-brand guns are more like Ja-Ru, which I think suck.
But if you are referring to off brand guns as Lanard or Buz Bee, then yes you are right.
-Scotch
By off-brand I meant a brand not owned by NERF, so yeah, Buzz Bee and Lanard.
#9
Posted 17 April 2008 - 08:14 PM
<a href="http://www.albinobla.../flash/posting" target="_blank">Posting and You</a>
#10
Posted 17 April 2008 - 08:31 PM
Don't call it a comeback, I never left.
#11
Posted 17 April 2008 - 08:37 PM
But as for the guns in general, Shindig has a point. At the DCNO I was at, I saw Evil using 2 Maxshots with ridiculous effectiveness. The gun I was using had superior range, accuracy, and ROF, but since it was my first war with it, I wasn't able to effectively compete against Evil. Nerfmonkey had a Big Blast, and he just killed people left and right with that thing. I know I would have trouble using something with such a low ROF, because I just don't like playing like that quite as much as I do at medium range pumping off shots.
It really depends on the player and the situation more than anything, as Shindig so adequately put it.
I'd definitely put Lanard up there in terms of quality, but Buzz Bee? The plastic just seems too weak to hold up war after war. With Nerf or Lanard, I'm not so worried about that.
Also, to be quite honest, I love that the guns are kinda crappy. It means I have a lot more work to do to get the guns up to par, and thus Nerf keeps my interest, and has kept it, for the longest out of any hobby I've had. If the guns that came out kept being as simple as the NF or the Crossbow, I would have lost interest long ago.
~ompa
#12
Posted 17 April 2008 - 08:40 PM
Best gun threads are stupid by definition. I'm drawing upon years of seeing similar threads on the forums resulting in zero productivity. The true answer to this question is simple, "That Depends." If you have nerfed in a wide variety of conditions, you would know exactly why that answer is true.
Because you inspired me to write articles (even though you posted Spoon's articles) I will answer you respectfully and honestly. This article is not so much Gun Company Vs. Gun Company as it is, "How has the target market changed the reliability of NERF guns?" The answer being that in a lot of cases, non-NERF guns appear to have an edge.
Bags: I understand that. Non-discrimination is awesome, but the fact remains that the bigger guns NERF has released (Longshot CS-6, Recon CS-6) have fallen short of expectations. Keep in mind that this is a highly opinionated persuasive essay.
#13
Posted 17 April 2008 - 09:15 PM
Bags: I understand that. Non-discrimination is awesome, but the fact remains that the bigger guns NERF has released (Longshot CS-6, Recon CS-6) have fallen short of expectations. Keep in mind that this is a highly opinionated persuasive essay.
The longshot falled short of expectations? How? With an Angel mod and a high-cap clip you have 90-100ft with twelve shots. Not to mention you can integrate guns on the bottom where the bipod was. Who knows, someone may come out with a write up with the recon hitting 80, not likely, but possible.
#14
Posted 17 April 2008 - 09:18 PM
Best gun threads are stupid by definition. I'm drawing upon years of seeing similar threads on the forums resulting in zero productivity. The true answer to this question is simple, "That Depends." If you have nerfed in a wide variety of conditions, you would know exactly why that answer is true.
Because you inspired me to write articles (even though you posted Spoon's articles) I will answer you respectfully and honestly. This article is not so much Gun Company Vs. Gun Company as it is, "How has the target market changed the reliability of NERF guns?" The answer being that in a lot of cases, non-NERF guns appear to have an edge.
Bags: I understand that. Non-discrimination is awesome, but the fact remains that the bigger guns NERF has released (Longshot CS-6, Recon CS-6) have fallen short of expectations. Keep in mind that this is a highly opinionated persuasive essay.
To the question of guns falling short of expectations, that's the HYPE machine's fault, it has absolutely nothing to do with the manufacturer, remember every single thing we do after we open the gun is NOT what it was made to do. Which means any time we modify a blaster we're making it perform in ways and for purposes not intended by those who produced said product. Furthermore, Since we are NOT the target market of said blasters, it's completely unreasonable for us to ask questions like if the current market is hurting the potential for any one Brand. As such, no one should expect anything out of a newly manufactured gun until experiments are done and successful mods are made.
In terms of Brand Consciousness as I stated there are both gems and guns that suck donkey testicles being made by all companies. And unlike say shoes, one cannot predict that because a particular manufacturer made it that it's reliable or will work well. The only thing is to either go out on a limb and test it yourself or wait and see what the general consensus of the NIC is... even then it's not always the most accurate way to make purchases. No two nerfers can/will mod exactly alike, reguardless of how detailed a modification's wirte-up is, and No one can guaranty that just because it worked for one person that it will work for you.
In addition to that I will once again argue the most fundamental key to Nerfing as a Sport: the gun does not make the player. Yes, one may play better with a particular blaster, but it rarely has anything to do with the guns modifications, brand, ect, but it's functions may work better for that player's style. Every Nerfer has their own style and can use different blasters better than others. Also, a well seasoned nerfer can perform well with whatever is available, adapting their play to both what they're using and who they're playing with.
-Bags
EDIT: Cleaned up my Counter/Rant and took out some of the wordiness
Edited by baghead, 17 April 2008 - 09:29 PM.
Don't call it a comeback, I never left.
#15
Posted 17 April 2008 - 09:32 PM
This guy can see the future!
hasbro in a nerf war!!!!! dude the will cancel it and confinscate are guns
#16
Posted 17 April 2008 - 11:31 PM
But on topic: It's all about how you use your weapon. There is no 'end all and be all' of nerf weapons. I think what needs to be said has been said.
~Bomberman
Edited by Bomberman, 17 April 2008 - 11:32 PM.
It's not like that. I put lube on it and its the same. Its just stuck. And when I cock it back it goes farther back then usual. Also I push as hard as I can and it wont go back in. I've tried the methods and they wont work. Also pics are up.
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