diamondback said a lot of great things; and I also had thought about a "stefan weight regulation" that Ryan proposed, but, admittedly, it would be close to impossible to enforce (people love their darts too much). I
personally employ Slug-style, single #6 washer darts knowing that it won't be shot as far in more powerful blasters, yet they're incredibly easy to make, and the felt tips are a great courtesy for those folks I'll be shooting at, knowing and accepting that same courtesy might not be returned. I can, after all, only control my own actions.
While this conversation has took place before here on NH (I had came across a few from years past; I ghost-read this site for two whole years before applying for membership), technology, for a lack of a better term, certainly came a long way as Ryan said. I felt that people like Slug, Carbon and Forsaken really led the charge a few years back in
popularizing homemades and modifications, continuing the efforts of folks like Boltsniper, 3DBBQ, Ompa, Zero, and so on. I still consider Boltsniper's SCAR-N to be the pinnacle of homemades, but seriously, how many of us have the tools and know-how to replicate that? Yet look at the homemade and modification picture threads now compared to a few years ago; I feel that the skills and techniques of the community in general steadfastly improved over time, rather than a few bright spots and then various pieces of plastic wrapped around with duck tape (just consider the progression of the Guru, for example). Times HAD changed, and this issue merits discussion.
Most of us fling foam to have
fun; there's fun in the personal sense, yet there's also fun in the collective sense. I'm mostly referring hereafter to the latter. While I certainly agree that the war organizer should lead the way in determining ground rules regarding blaster usage, perhaps the local community should also contribute on
how they'd essentially like to be shot at. Now, it is obvious that each local community (be it the various sectors in the Northeast, Southeast, the Midwest, the Northwest or California) has their own distinctive "flavors," so to speak, so this "community contribution" thing will manifest very differently depending on the location. It might not manifest at all in some places. It might be messy at first. It all depends on what your definition of "community" is. Are people just dumb morons that need to be told what to do every time? Can people learn and gradually improve? Can there be a level of trust, respect and compromise within that community? We'd all have different answers, for sure. Time, efficiency and the number of attendees are also factors to be considered. Yet instead of having the host making the calls
all the time, perhaps the local community can also contribute in certain aspects as well.
In order there to be fun, there needs to be a certain balance and "fairness" (whatever that means!) within the gameplay. Organizers do their best with teams to ensure opportunities of competition on all sides. In short (which I'm awful at doing), every participant needs to have a
chance. They need to feel it, know it, and here's the hard part,
actually have it. We're all outstanding at providing chances for ourselves, but perhaps we can do better in doing that for others. In addition to the organizers, we can also police ourselves a little. Ryan posting this article is a great start. Everybody loves to dominate and "diddle," (as Zorn has eloquently mentioned) but those of us with any foresight knows that it gets old really quick, even for the one who's getting all the shots with the big gun (if you can do that with a Nitefinder? Different story). Even in the blasters that we make and/or modify: just because you've made it, doesn't mean that you
have to use it
in a war. Maybe don't put 6 additional springs in your knockoff Doomsayer
if you intend on using it in a war. Maybe don't plug the pumps of those BBBBs. It's hard, but as Zorn suggested, maybe limit the capacity of your RSCBs and clips and magazines.
This is meant to be unappealing to self; you're doing this for someone else. You'd be giving that newbie with a semi-modified Stormfire a little bit more chance than you otherwise would. That newbie might actually enjoy the experience, knowing that he/she has room for improvement, and becomes a more active member of the community. I reckon that'd be a
good thing for most of us.
There's a child-like aspect to flinging foam that I think most of us appreciate; that's why we're wielding brightly-colored plastic toys rather than playing airsoft and/or paintball (though some of us still do, nothing wrong with that). Sometimes we may need a pistol round or two to run around a bit and remind ourselves what that feels like. It's worth the heart attack and/or stroke. For the record, I love pistol rounds, maybe a little too much for my community's sake. Teamwork, strategy and execution becomes paramount in those scenarios rather than "how many long-range shots one can get off before the other guy has to reload." Not to disregard the skill required to wield and operate a Doomsayer or a +bow with a RSCB slapped onto it: but you get my point.
Lastly, here's an interesting article by the Team Fortress 2 team regarding the Sharpshooter (substituting for another word) unlockables a few months back. Worth a read:
You Better Hold Onto Your Head, Mate
