There was a point in time when nerfers, as a rule, nerfed. The primary drive behind the sport was not to pioneer modifications or to make a name for oneself on some bulletin board, but simply to nerf.
My first war did not have modified weapons, or unified rules. It was not held and
organized by someone else, or even organized at all for that matter. It was my friend and I shooting at each other in my basement. And that is how it remained for several years, inviting greater numbers of people and evolving as we created/discovered and tested new tactics and weaponry. If something was modified, it was modified to fix some problem we saw with it in the most effective way we could manage. If a new weapon was discovered it was used and proven either useless or worthwhile. Everything done was done in order to nerf, and nerf better.
That is how it began. All over the country kids, independent of one another, bought and shot each other with nerf guns. Modifications, complicated rule sets, team tactics; they were all created through the course of nerfing, by hundreds of different people, completely without knowledge of each other. That, in fact, was what was so amazing. I was astounded when I finally went to the Internet and found a plethora of information already waiting for me, with more websites sprouting up daily. When Stefan created the first nerf list serve on cent.org, it was difficult to get over. Dozens of nerfers from around the country found out that they had been simultaneously developing the same sport. Yet, in many ways the sport was not the same. There were different opinions of certain weapons and styles of play that could be characterized as completely contradictory to each other. The bottom line was that there was diversity, and independence, and it made the nerf community what it was.
Yet any fool could tell you that there have been fundamental, and perhaps irreversible, changes since the NIC’s (Nerf Internet Community) inception nearly a decade ago. Many of these changes came simply at the hands of progress, pushing us further, making our obsession more fulfilling as a sport, but some have not been so constructive. It seems to me that when a kid receives a nerf gun today he looks straight to the Internet for guidance rather then trying it out for him or herself. It seems that people are looking up tactics and advice online before they even meet another nerfer, before they even ask one of their friends to join them. It seems that these people are discovering Nerf Boards before Nerf Wars, and that disturbs me.
It would be easy to say here that the NIC has become too big; that NerfBoards are replacing friends, and kids should be forced to go outside. That would be easy, but it wouldn’t be fair. The Internet is constantly growing, and so will the NIC whether we like it or not. So what is to be done? Well, we must first recognize that this is not a disease or plague that must be wiped out at the roots. The NIC is a resource of infinite value when used correctly, and these problems are simply undesirable side effects. They can, and must, be dealt with independently of their source. And while this is more easily said than done, there are some simple steps that we as nerfers can take in order to prevent many of these problems.
Probably the most long-lived problem is the unrealistic classification of nerfers into predetermined castes. NO ONE IS THE SAME! Why do we even bother with this retarded loser, warrior, and scout bullshit? YOU ARE A NERFER!!! FUCKING NERF!!! Do not advise people which of these classes best suits them, or which weaponry is necessary for them. Just tell them to nerf. A nerfer must use a little of everything before he/she can decide what weapons are best, and the only way to find your personal playing style is simply to play and allow yourself to fall into it. Kids come to the boards and before they even have a war they are determined to find out how they will act in one. The best nerfers, as I have observed from nerfing on both sides of this damn country, are those that do a little of everything, and you can bet your ass they didn’t pick that up online.
The next biggest problem as I see it is the creation of fruitless mods. Modifications have advanced by leaps and bounds thanks to the NIC. This is obviously a good thing in that now we have access to superior methods of improving our weaponry. However, there have been downsides to it as well. For some reason or another people have begun to create mods that simply don’t do anything. Perhaps they are simply attempts at originality in a flooded market, but they task me nonetheless. Naturally they hurt nobody (especially their opponents) but it seems to me that if we allow them to go on without so much as a mention, we erode the very base of intelligent mods that the next generation will have to build upon. What the fuck am I talking about? I’m talking about guns on or in other guns. Don’t give me that look, I know that many of you would hold me to blame for this, but you must understand that this is never what I intended. When I taped two lock N load holsters to my crossbow, I did so out of shear practicality. I didn’t just roll out some 3M and start slappin’ it on. I first attempted to affix the internals of two 750’s linked to one trigger. I found that having two holstered side arms instead gave me mobility and a quicker draw than any other configuration. I tried one in battle for Christ’s sake, and then put another on. TRIAL AND FUCKING ERROR PEOPLE!!!! But I digress... Now all I see is two 1500’s shoved inside a crossbow. Why? The triggers are a mile apart and neither is next to the handle. It essentially takes the furthest firing one-handed spring weapon and turns it into a two-handed air pressure system of lesser power. If we simply encouraged nerfers to figure out what would be useful, or what they are lacking before hacking into a gun, we could avoid these things. Pragmatism damn-it, where has the fucking practicality gone? We must be sure that nerfers consider things such as, "If I tape this wrist blister to a 5000, what am I gaining? What am I losing? Wouldn’t it be better, since I have to pull two separate triggers anyway, to have the ability to fire two weapons at two separate targets? Wouldn’t that help when I am out numbered?". If we encourage kids to ask themselves these simple questions, and to actually test guns in battle, we may just come across a whole lot of new and ingenious modifications.
Finally, I think the third largest problem is simply the attitude of nerfers in general. I may be somewhat inaccurate here, but it seems to me that many nerfers value their reputation online more than their reputation on the battlefield. Naming weapons and events outlandishly (damn-it this one’s my fault too, isn’t it?) in place of making a name for them in wars is something that I find silly and disheartening. I named Binky out of pure humor, and despite popular belief I never brag about the damn thing unless asked. Who gives a shit what kind of icon you have, or what forums you have moderator privileges in, if you can’t hold your own in a nerf war you will never earn the respect of the friends that matter.
If we take into account these simple solutions, we can increase the value of our community ten fold in my opinion. So, before you dismiss this article and move on, think about one thing; wouldn’t we all be better off if our primary concern in nerf was the battlefield and not the bulletin boards. Today’s NIC is a different world than it was 10 years ago. There are so many more resources and opportunities to share knowledge. We would be foolish not to use it; all I ask is that we not use it as a crutch, and never use it to replace a good war.
©2003 by Vacc - He doesn't really hate you.
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