I like paintball. A lot. I like the competition, the camaraderie, the adrenaline, the
tinkering, the strategy and countless other aspects of the sport. As with anything, though, there are some things that I don’t like. This list is not comprehensive, though it is ranked in approximately the order of dislike with the worst things at the top of the list.
1. Cost
Paintball is expensive. A basic setup of the necessary equipment can run from around $100 to several thousand dollars. Beyond these basic costs are the ongoing expenses: paintballs, air fills, field fees, equipment maintenance, etc. Plus, if you get involved with scenario games or competitions, there are entrance fees and the expensive event paintballs you must buy. If you play the sport regularly you can plan on dropping hundreds or even thousands of dollars over the course of the year. Compared to many other hobbies, it can be very pricey.2. Wiping
These players really do fall under the previous category to a certain extent, but they deserve their own spot on this life. Wipers are people who, after being hit with a paintball, wipe off the hit. This is paintball cheating at its most blatant. The point of paintball is to avoid getting hit, so those that get hit and play on are defeating the whole purpose of the game. Paintball is a variation on tag - if you ignore the whole “tagging” part of the game,why even play?
3. Overly Competitive Players
Paintball is a recreational activity - a game. While there are definitely some people that make a living playing paintball, they are very few and very far between. For the vast majority of all players, paintball is simply a diversion from regular life and should be treated as such. Sort of like the 35-year olds who play pickup basketball and throw a hissy-fit, the paintball players that whine, argue, or act indignantly every time they get out simply need to go. I’m all for people trying hard when they play, but taking the result personally destroys the game fore everyone.
4. Cold Weather
Paintball and cold weather aren’t exactly like oil and vinegar - they do go together... sort of. The problem with cold weather is that paintballs don’t perform as well (either not breaking or breaking in the gun), CO2 is flaky (even compressed air doesn’t seem to work quite as well) and being outside is cold and miserable, not to mention that it’s almost impossible to get a group of people together who want to play. The end result is that Paintball is only a 3-season sport. Sure, you can always play indoor
speedball, but to get the full outside paintball experience you have to wait until spring. This dislike is being a little nitpicky, but it is something that comes up every year.
5. Broken Equipment
Some sports are pretty basic in terms of what they require to play. For soccer, you need a ball. It may go flat, but otherwise your okay to play. For golf you need some clubs, a ball and a course. You may lose a ball or break a club, but you can grab another ball or use a different club. For paintball, though, if your gun stops working you’re pretty much done for the day. You can always bring backup equipment, but odds are, if your
Ego goes down during a tournament, you’re going to be playing the rest of the day with a lesser gun. Even worse, if you’re in the middle of a game and something goes wrong like your hopper stops feeding, you’re pretty much sunk.
