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Staying in the Game


TheFull9

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I've start writing a new thread every week or so then rarely end up hitting post.. maybe I'll finish this one since it's fairly unlikely to cause internet fights.

 

Simple question, why is it you go to a skirmish and only a tiny portion of the players look like they've been at this sport/hobby (herein referred to as spobby) for more than a few months?  I don't mean being decked out in a ton of fancy gear, this isn't a money thing.  Regardless of gear, I think most of us can tell a player that's been at it for maybe a year or less vs one that's been doing this for quite a few years.  People's loadouts fluctuate and vary but you can tell a more experienced softer by the general sorted-ness of what they're wearing, amongst other factors.  Hopefully that makes sense anyway...

 

So after maybe a year-ish, what happens to so many people?  I mean by that point a lot of people will have spent many hundreds of pounds, if not a lot more; I've met very few softers who don't bloody love snapping up some sort of guns or gear every month when their pay rolls in.

 

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#Saidnobodyever

 

I've noticed (some time ago really) a general trend whereby most 'hobbies' (perhaps outside mountain biking and the like?) are largely made up of U18s and over 35s, presumably because everyone else is either at uni, in that bracket where they spend their money exclusively on clothes and socialising booze, have no money because they're spending it all on their kids so they don't get bullied in year 2 for not having the latest smart phone, or just generally can't afford the luxury of a hobby.  Certainly when I did Tae Kwon-Do for a couple of years before I joined up the 'average' age in the classes was around mid-late 20s, but purely because it was a mixture of people over 30 and kids under 15.

 

But that doesn't really account for all the different people who spend a load of money on airsoft, presumably enjoy it for a year or perhaps two, then seem to vanish.  Personally I'm working on getting my skydiving Qs and licenses and looking to get in to practical shotgun, so I can shoot when I want rather than just when I'm told to.  While those are both hobbies where you could spend a *suitcase* ton of money on rigs, wingsuits, many guns and ammo etc etc, they just don't have the exact same collecting aspect that airsoft does.  Parachutes cost as much as a good little car and this is the UK so of course you have to justify each and every firearm owned, not to mention even getting the one Sec 1 weapon in the first place can take a ton of time and effort depending on your location in the country.  So I'd not be buying up an arsenal as one might with airsoft.  But there are of course a whole ton of other past times out there that are much more accessible than those two, so perhaps I'm more of a 'rarity' in that I find something I enjoy and stick with it, rather than flitting between hobbies?

 

Anyone got any buddies that just decided airsoft wasn't their bag any more and moved on?  Or am I making all this up and it's airsoft4life for everybody?

 

Edit:  There is of course also the milsim thing which will take up a fair chunk of the longer-serving players, but I still reckon those types of games are a bit more niche than some people would make out.

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I haven't played in over a year, intend on doing so once May rolls around but as of right now I'm training for a marathon and powerlifting, two goals so diametrically opposed that I literally have no time for anything other than training, sleeping, eating, working and making things to eat.

For me the fun just started going out of it partly down to overly cumbersome kit and the general faff of prepping kit (I was going through a weird time where I was going with a perpetual borrower of kit so it was twice the work in the evening prior and being a bit of a disorganised *albatross* back then it became stressful rather than something to look forward too).

 

I think there may have also been something in paying £30 for perceived declining quality in play because I and seemingly everyone around me was sucking.

 

Now that I've ditched the problem people/kit I'm just waiting to have the time/desire to go again.

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I've noticed this over here but I can't put a finger on the exact cause.

 

The general cause seems to be that airsoft is a very fringey, impractical and expensive activity.

 

So a job change, a new kid, a downturn in the economy all take their tool. Then there's the churn of new players who realize that it's no fun if you're not semi-fit, and that no mater what you spend you're never going to make a 600 yard head shot. Airsoft is not what it seems from the outside.

 

I've seen whole themed teams here drop out of existence. There used to be scads of flectarn wearing G36 wielders who are now gone. The local PTW lovers, gone. Sniper after sniper, gone. The whole ATACS crew, gone. All the guys with M60s, gone.

 

Some moved, some broke, some had a kid, some got into RC helis but all gone.

 

It's pretty much like a horror movie where you're wondering who's next.

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I just followed this here from Facebook lol.

 

Stopping after a year?  That's crazy, people actually do that?  I know a few people that have played once/twice as a work do or similar, and not gone back to it, but the vast majority of people I play with never stop, its just the frequency.  You pick your fights as they say.  When I first started (back in 2007 I think it was) I played a whole lot, at mostly the same sites, but as I got older/had a child/moved up in my job I had less time to play so I became far more picky about when and where.

 

I have dropped a serious ton of money on airsoft, and I still do (work bonus just appeared, looking at TM recoil shocks...) and I do have a bunch of other hobbies such as playing guitar, which has actually been far more expensive than airsoft to date.  I've actually got more guitars than airsoft guns (15 plus  :innocent:  ) plus about 5-6 effects boards, multiple cabs and rackmount units, and I keep getting new stuff.  I'm one example of many I suspect in which there are multiple hobbies/money drains on the go at the same time.

 

I've got friends that don't play quite as much as me but have the same amount of gear, and those that play more but have 2-3 AEG's and 1 set of Camo and play quite frequently.  If I was to take a guess as what happens it would be that life just gets in the way as we get older, and the cost per game can be a bit steep (£35 squids at some places) so its harder to fit it in or pay for it, but the passion to want to play is not diminished I think.  I've recently just started playing at a new site, and its so much fun it was like 2007 all over again.  I've played more in the last 2-3 months than I did all of the last year I think.  I also think its safe to safe a site can drag you down a bit, if you play at the same place repeatedly it is going to get samey and a bit boring (its like FPS's and map packs really, we need variety).  

 

On the Milsim point, I actually think that is opening up a bit.. I'm seeing far more people try these times of game now than I did a few years ago playing Sterling games at CHD and Catterick.  Decent looking and cheaper kit has enabled those on a budge to fit in a lot easier.  You don't have to pick up that genuine Ops-Core when a copy a 10th of the price can be picked up to aid in the 'look'.

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i think it boils down to a matter of priority which feeds into a group mentality: As people mention above airsoft will rarely, if ever, take precedent over other aspects of life like jobs or family. This almost snowballs for a lot of people who may have had to sacrifice a lot of their kit or time along the way and don't want to have to rebuild to get back into things.

 

Then whether they come back relies heavily on the state of their "team"/group of friends at the time; I've seen quite a lot of people come back because the site and the regulars had largely stayed the same, which made return entry way easier.

 

After all, half of this experience is social in nature- 

"Be glad, there's one place in the world

Where everybody knows your name

and they're always glad you came"
 

Or that's the two cents of someone who frequents the same few sites mostly, rather than touring the country or anything like that.

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The biggest hurdle, at least from my perspective in looking at friends who played and evenualy quit, is the lack in ability to shoot and move or the lack in motivation in getting better in those two areas.

Think of this situation:

You spend your hard earned buying a decent gun and respectable work clothes. Come weekend you get chewed out by a guy who looks like they had better equipment. You slave at work for another month and buy upgrades and better kit only to get chewed out again by a guy in jeans and a T-shirt. So it's down to speed. Same grind at work to buy a smaller, more effective gun and less gear. Results are the same come weekend.

When they finally realize that it's down to the fact that they can't shoot for *suitcase* or can't run around from all the calories and/or cigarettes they smoke then they just up and quit preferring FPS games on the PC instead.

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The biggest hurdle, at least from my perspective in looking at friends who played and evenualy quit, is the lack in ability to shoot and move or the lack in motivation in getting better in those two areas.

 

 

I agree.  Basically the common games (I am talking about from speedball/CQB to your weekend 50 vs 50 themed skirmishes), there is a lack of proper goal setting and challenge which means people get bored after the adrenaline rush has passed.    Lack of a proper goal and challenging game means that there is only a limited ways people can interact.  Without a good well planned mission and scenario, you cannot lead, cannot build teams and cannot build individual skills.

 

If I have to drive to a large CTF/Counterstrike clusterf**k with little envelope delivered side missions which has to be done within each hour with no time for prep or planning, lots of chaos, bad attitude, bickering and poor leadership, then I would rather stay at home.

 

I have recently found a bunch of skirmishers who have moved on from airsoft but wants to come back if there are teambuilding and games which has a bit of a challenging training/planning component so they can learnto play better.  Its actually a lot more rewarding to be able to work in teams and then chill with people of like minds.  Thats what our hobby should be about, and that is it should enhance oneself personally and increases depth of social interaction, rather than just the adrenaline rush...

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For myself I go fewer games and competitive/practical shooting getting popular recent years, so most if not all my airsoft buddies arrange practice sessions in CQB field at weekday after working hours, mostly focus on weapons manipulation, movements ( in small areas ) and of coz shooting, i.e. basic stuffs.

Besides we can train for competitions/events and have chance for testing/zeroing guns/gears before actually using them.

 

This not only keeps us "stay in the game" but also helps keeping/refining "fighting" ability in a "software" level, I found myself using less shots to engage enemies in recent games ( yay! ) but I feel the need to get better physical training like cardio and weight, tacticool gears are heavy! :P

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Few reasons I can think of:

 

1. Cost. Airsoft piles up the more you're into it (if you're into it), but then again, so does any hobby you're passionate about (hellooooo photography!).

2. College/Basic Training. No more time, no more money. "Getting out of airsoft sales", etc.

3. Change in the player landscape (more younger players). No more fun, no more friends.

4. Change in the player landscape (more douche-y players). Way more unfun, time to GTFO.

5. No interest. Probably ~40% of players in the US are like that; stay for 2-3 years, get out because it's not worth their effort/time/money. Probably comprises most of the FPS/COD/360noscope player base.

6. Closing of fields. Linked to #5 and #3/4 in some ways, less interest -> less reasons to have fields nearby.

7. Distance of fields. #6 leads to #7 - kids don't want to drive more than 20 miles to get somewhere (dafuq, driving is fun wut is wrong with you kids).

8. *suitcase* keeps breaking. Hear this a ton; guess what? Any machine without proper maintenance/love is going to die on you. Probably also why your 2003 Civic's timing belt is squealing like a soon-to-be-murdered pig.

9. Family. This applies to my old group - guys get married/more time into kids/career, no time for fun. Shame really, I mean you can't fall back on [insert alcoholic poison of your choice] forever.

 

Or a combination of all of them. However, I have yet to see airsoft in the "decline" (as one of my local shop dealers said...probably since Chinese retailers are kicking him in the *albatross* on prices). Newer and younger players are out in force; hopefully this means a newer generation of more invested players (though, knowing this generation, un-bloody-likely).

 

/semi amusing rant over

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From AZN:

1. Cost. Airsoft piles up the more you're into it (if you're into it), but then again, so does any hobby you're passionate about (hellooooo photography!).

It's not 'just' the cost. It's the costs combined. Living in a semi-backwards country in that case. IMPORT EVERYTHING means HUGE TAXATION

7. Distance of fields. #6 leads to #7 - kids don't want to drive more than 20 miles to get somewhere (dafuq, driving is fun wut is wrong with you kids).

Distance of GOOD fields. I need to drive 100KM easily for a bit of decent forrest ( no grasslands ) so I've been playing CQB mostly. But all I dream of is woodland. That Belgium: 2/3 covered in concrete. Rest is grassland?

8. *suitcase* keeps breaking. Hear this a ton; guess what? Any machine without proper maintenance/love is going to die on you. Probably also why your 2003 Civic's timing belt is squealing like a soon-to-be-murdered pig.

Again, import. Needing to pay US$32 for that US$8 piston KWA made slightly different. I can get a *few* parts locally but only the most general parts.

9. Family. This applies to my old group - guys get married/more time into kids/career, no time for fun. Shame really, I mean you can't fall back on [insert alcoholic poison of your choice] forever.

Fiancé, building a house, working overtime and night and weekend shifts to pay for the house alone, nvrmind airsoft.

 

I REALLY would like too, but then I need to move to Scotland of some place in Scandinavia. I'd be happier there, I think. But I made a commitment...  

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From AZN:

1. Cost. Airsoft piles up the more you're into it (if you're into it), but then again, so does any hobby you're passionate about (hellooooo photography!).

It's not 'just' the cost. It's the costs combined. Living in a semi-backwards country in that case. IMPORT EVERYTHING means HUGE TAXATION

7. Distance of fields. #6 leads to #7 - kids don't want to drive more than 20 miles to get somewhere (dafuq, driving is fun wut is wrong with you kids).

Distance of GOOD fields. I need to drive 100KM easily for a bit of decent forrest ( no grasslands ) so I've been playing CQB mostly. But all I dream of is woodland. That Belgium: 2/3 covered in concrete. Rest is grassland?

8. *suitcase* keeps breaking. Hear this a ton; guess what? Any machine without proper maintenance/love is going to die on you. Probably also why your 2003 Civic's timing belt is squealing like a soon-to-be-murdered pig.

Again, import. Needing to pay US$32 for that US$8 piston KWA made slightly different. I can get a *few* parts locally but only the most general parts.

9. Family. This applies to my old group - guys get married/more time into kids/career, no time for fun. Shame really, I mean you can't fall back on [insert alcoholic poison of your choice] forever.

Fiancé, building a house, working overtime and night and weekend shifts to pay for the house alone, nvrmind airsoft.

 

I REALLY would like too, but then I need to move to Scotland of some place in Scandinavia. I'd be happier there, I think. But I made a commitment...  

 

Sorry, I should've mentioned in my post that they were observations, not necessarily complaints. I fully understand not playing due to monetary constrictions or putting more focus on your family. Hope I didn't come off as some arrogant *beep* :/

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Here's another take specifically with younger players. As I once was and this can be applied to many hobbies . Your at school or early college when you start and then you come out the other end of your education and you're meant to be this responsible adult type. Playing with toy guns is not fitting in with the world your trying to enter. But imo it's all the greats who say *fruitcage* it I'm gonna keep playing with my toys .And some people are just perpetually flippant in my experience flitting from one. Thing to the next .

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Not only that but those who leave college to go to uni might easily find themselves without an easily accessible site or without transport. Add to this the lack of money and other possible distractions, like cheap drink and women, and players can easily drift away from the game.

 

For older players, as others have posted, real life can easily get in the way such as rent/mortgage payments or having kids

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Not only that but those who leave college to go to uni might easily find themselves without an easily accessible site or without transport. Add to this the lack of money and other possible distractions, like cheap drink and women, and players can easily drift away from the game.

 

For older players, as others have posted, real life can easily get in the way such as rent/mortgage payments or having kids

 

Also, the issue of having replica firearms on a uni campus if they're in halls.

 

 

An airsoft outing (or two) has been worked into my monthly budget. When I looked for houses, I added it to the calculation for what I could afford to rent. 

 

If I can't afford to do what I want, what would be the point? If my life consisted solely of working to pay rent on a house that I sat in being bored, I would jump off a *fruitcage* bridge.

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Personally, I don't airsoft as much as I'd like for one main reason - Transport. Most (There are exceptions) sites are just too difficult to get to if you don't have a car - even the ones nearby. At the moment I'm restricted to the rail/bus network. It's possible to get to The Mall, but I'd rather not do it every week due to how early I need to leave the house if it's on a Sunday.

 

As soon as I finally get my car, I'll be going as much as I can.

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Another reason that may effect some people is the weather. Warm Weather Warriors, I find that some people stop playing over the winter months and then find it difficult to get back in, they've found different hobbies, like a lie in on a Sunday etc.

 

Some people also get what I call "the grumps", they've had one bad game with a few cheaters or in the rain and then give up.

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*suitcase* happens, basically. At my 'peak' was when I was a teenager between 2006-8, I had a few freinds that airsofted, we all had part time work, there was a thriving second hand market. 2008 we all went to uni and that was it.

 

The recession has has its toll. There's a large chunk of my generation (main airsoft demographic) in their bedrooms on 60quid a week Jsa

 

Now is still a good time to get into airsoft. Guns, accessories and gear is cheaper than it used to be.

 

Like Dr AT above site access is be all and end all. I manage to skirmish once a month as living in London means I can't go as much as I would like. 25 quid for a day of fun is great value for money imo - you could spend more in the pub afterwards, easily!

 

Being part of a group is more motivating as fun aswell.

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I think with any hobby, sport, etc, you will have something of a syndrome of people taking it up, assuming they'll be good from the start, finding they're not and giving up. You see it with everything from climbing to airsofting to playing guitar. Now the precise reason might be frustration at lack of progress, it might be lack of cash or it might just be that the time and effort can be better spent doing something else. You also see waxing and waning in the level of participation from any single player, I'd imagine most airsofters have had a hiatus at one point or another, that might be due to lack of funds, lack of time, poor health or some other reason, also not everyone comes back from what starts as a hiatus.

 

Going back to the whole thing of people starting then dropping out because they're not instantly amazing at it, I guess the issue here often is exactly that they've dumped cash into something and for some reason they think that will instantly translate into mad skillz. I think you tend to see more long term sticking with the pursuit from the kid who starts turning up with a chicom, two tone CYMA and surplus camo jacket. I think the way to overcome people feeling disappointed at not be instantly amazing is to have games that properly involve everyone with goals that aren't just "kill everyone" since that's really going to cater to the more seasoned player. Most of the games I go to are fairly structured, have plenty of goals for everyone to participate in and the staff and seasoned players make an effort to actually make sure everyone really is included. Now, at that point you hope that the person who's just started will see that it's not all about buying kit, that skill is generally learned but that it's not exactly rocket science to learn those skills, so instead of going "turns out I suck and this is not for me" they think "I currently suck but I can get better and I had fun anyway."

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I think some folks start the spobby (epic, just epic CK :D ) thinking it's a great idea.

 

You get to play with guns and live out the whole "I've always known I was SF material" scenario.

 

Reality sinks in when you actually play and gunfights don't play out like the movies.

 

You set your gear up all wrong, it's cumbersome and a LOT heavier than you thought it would be.

 

But, you'll give it a few more tries.

 

Nope, same again, and again.

 

/ragequit

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I've found that a lot of airsofters go through a set series of phases.

 

  1. The Preliminary phase - you've bought some cheap tat to faff about in the garden with.
  2. The Awestruck intro phase - you've visited a site for the first time and spent the day gawking and holding regulars guns.
  3. The Purchase phase - You buy any gun with hi-caps or a boxmag, and gear with no consideration for kit coordination !
  4. The Impressionist phase - You splash the cash because you want to BE whatever real world army unit is hip at the time, also you only attend milsims only now.
  5. The Tacticool phase - Nothing but overpriced gash will do, no impressions just slatherings of fancy codura and RS.
  6. The Niche phase - You don't want blend in with airsofter joe! so you put together loadouts of very particular non-standard / obscure military units.
  7. The Tactisports Bra phase - Weight ? no you don't want that *suitcase*, you want teeny tiny sports bra like chest rigs that fit about as much stuff as your trouser pockets.
  8. The Don't give a *suitcase* phase - You don't care about any of the above anymore, you just want to shoot some people with your now streamlined collections of expensive things. Every other month or so.
  9. The Sometimes phase - Those who get out less not because they don't have time (what they'll usually tell you), but because they're old or have discovered another hobby to pour their savings into.
  10. The Collector - Who needs friends and skirmishing? not when you have a stupidly large collection of rare and overpriced guns.

 

 

Notable mention: The Hipser phase - You don't do any of the conformist nonsense above, its cowboy hats and stupidly impractical guns for you because *fruitcage* common sense.

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Sometimes not even in phases. I still cycle trough my 4,6,7,8 and Hipster loadouts, usually at the roll of the dice.

 

This.

 

Sometimes I wear DPM, sometimes it's all black and CB coloured PMC looking stuff. Sometimes I will wear civvy gear.

 

And sometimes I will randomly rock a Jurassic Park ranger loadout, because reasons.

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