Airsoft and Painball Debate

[rockafella]

I know this is a topic that has been discussed on many airsoft and paintball boards around the world. But I am curious why there seems to be such an animosity between airsoft and paintball players. I play both sports, but what I don't do is simply go out there in jeans and T-shirt and play spray and pray...I have no interest in that whatsoever. I have a group of friends that I play with regularly and we have invested a lot of time and money on our guns and gear many of us are in the military and whether we play airsoft or paintball we always observe authentic tactics used by military or LE operators. We play MILSIM and TACSIM, scenario and role playing games, many of the guys we play with come from a paintball background but have gotten frustrated by the speedball mentality of most players and wanted something more strategic and less childish.
But the fact is that, their are sloppy run and gun immature type players in both arenas but when it comes down to it both paintball and airsoft have more things in common than one would probably like to admit, so why cant we develop a mutual respect of each other? I am a bit older and I remember when most airsoft games were exactly like how paintball games are now.
Yet there are groups such as Stirling Airsoft in the UK who have integrated both airsoft and paintball into their groups and even play games using both simultaneously.

I'd like to hear your guy's opinions, but here is are the Pros and cons for me personally, though I play both sports when my friends and play paintball we describe it as an airsoft game played with paintball. I think a Quebec group called the Death Korp is a good representation of what kind of paintball I’m talking about. www.deathkorp.com.
Please try to keep hostile comments to a minimum, in the end wether airsoft of paintball is your chosen sport or both it’s JUST A GAME.

Airsoft:

Pros:

More mature like minded players
Guns look more real and there are more types to choose from
More cool gear
Not having to wear a full mask
Scenario/Role playing game play
Cost of BB’s is lower than paintballs
Not as messy
No hopper and remote lines


Cons

The honesty rule
Lack of recoil feeling of AEG
Electronic sound of AEG
Importation Restrictions


Paintball

Pros:

Guns are usually lauder
Looks cool when the CO2 “smoke” escapes the barrel
Hurts more and makes a mark when you are hit
(this is a good thing in my mind because it is more like Simmunition)
The bullets are a bigger
More accessible (no import restrictions yet)

Cons:

Messy
Typical paintball mentality is sloppy
Full Facemasks make it almost impossible to use your sights
Hoppers get in the way of your sights and look stupid
Lack of realism with ammo capacities
You don’t get the to experience the rush of changing mags
Most guns don’t look very real
Ammo can be expensive at fields
Remote lines are very restrictive
Speedball anything

[rockafella]

Here are some pictures of our team.

[ThunderCactus]

How many 16yr olds do you see with airsoft guns?
Most of us are very focused on maturity, and because theres no import laws for or against airsoft we have to be significantly more careful about what we do. Whereas some kid goes walking around downtown with a paintball gun and everyone goes "hey look, its a kid with a paintball gun", same kid is walking downtown with an airsoft gun, even with an orange tip, and the situation becomes "little Timmy Retard got shot by police officers yesterday...".

As for the lack of recoil and sound, you could always buy a gas airsoft gun, and gas pistols function exactly like the real steel.
As for the honesty rule, if they're not calling their hits consistently, it just means they want to get shot in the ear. And the same goes for paintball, I've heard from my friend quite a few times people don't call their hits if the paintball doesnt break when it hits them.

[Donster]

i like airsoft cause its more accurate and shoots farther than paintball on top of the other reasons that you mentioned. im just pissed that there is another Death Korp team out there. i wanted to start a team with that name =(

[White_knight]

i didn't make this this is from our friend over at the warstore in NY.

http://www.thewarstore.org/Paintball.html

[Jayhad]

now i don't play paintball but I play airsoft at a lot of paintball feilds. 90% of the time the paintball players I see haven't had their balls drop, wouldn't understand the cost of playing a sport because their parents have larger wallets then brains and they are talking about how uber leet they are.
I have seen so many times on the paintball feilds a real lack of sportmanship, you see screaming and yelling leading to fistfights on youtube all the time ... that's crazy. I have seen arguements at airsoft but never a fight. Close but never
I know the majority of the guys I play with in airsoft are from the same stage in life, paying a mortgage and raising a family. I like the idea of like minded people playing together.

I also don't see the enjoyment of being put in a mesh cage with red and blue blow up obstacles throwing paint at each other while employeeing tactics that appear to be developed in the US civil war era.

Paint is for brushes not my kit.

[tomsoderman]

this is an airsoft forum, airsoft wins, end of discussion

[HGI]

Originally Posted by tomsoderman

this is an airsoft forum, airsoft wins, end of discussion

+1

[Aquamarine]

Don't make me whip out the "Airsoft Vs. Paintball" page link...

[Janus]

How is "it hurts more" a pro? Honestly, if you're in this game to cause pain you're a sad little person.

[Aquamarine]

I hope that when I get shot, it hurts so much I die! THAT WOULD ROCK!

[Jayhad]

Originally Posted by Aquamarine

Don't make me whip out the "Airsoft Vs. Paintball" page link...

do it and settle this aqua; I didn't have it bookmarked

[amano999]

For me the only pro of paintball is that it's so easy to get guns, but they are so ugly. If only airsoft in Canada was easier to get.

[Aquamarine]

AIRSOFT VS. PAINTBALL - END OF STORY

http://www.pozland.com/avp

[Hectic]

Originally Posted by ThunderCactus

As for the honesty rule, if they're not calling their hits consistently, it just means they want to get shot in the ear. And the same goes for paintball, I've heard from my friend quite a few times people don't call their hits if the paintball doesnt break when it hits them.

As far as I know most PB field rules include if the ball does not break it is not a hit dumb i think but those are the breaks or not breaks but even when they do break some people will try and wipe off the paint or try to pass it off as splatter from a wall or another player but a facial will usually fix that.
I have not had many problems with people calling hit in airsoft and when I have a hit or 5 on full auto on a "soft spot" ie:neck, hand, ear, or any exposed skin or tight fitting clothing say at the thigh will usually result in a "owe f**k hit!... HIT!" and a change of attitude if the problem persist talking to the host can usaly help as well probably should do these in the opposite order but in the heat of battle what can you do.






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