If youve taken a break from paintball at any time, why?

[RogueFactor]

The thread on why we all still play is a good one. And yet, I know from having spoken with many that there are many reasons why we still play.

However, there are many reasons why we DONT PLAY as often as we used to. Id like to hear some of the gripes, horror stories, complaints, etc etc of the reasons why you may no longer play as often as you used to.:thinking:

[Geronimo7]

I've got a picture in your x-mas thread that is one of my reasons I dont play as much anymore. Also I own my own house. And with that there are always weekend projects that keep me away from the field. That is probably the biggest thing that keeps me away. And due to the wife being handicapped she can't take care of the chitlin like a typical mother so more of that responsibilty falls on me. Dont get me wrong I still get out and play more than someothers I know, but the house.. that is the biggest weekend eater upper. :treadmill:

[Practice Target]

Life seem to get in the way. The drive to a decent field has grown, at least for me. Most of the fields close to me have disappeared.

Here is my :twocents:

[t0nnn]

I've been back into it strong for about a year and a half now. I took about a year 1/2 break during 11th & 12th grade....just because we all stopped playing for some reason...but whatever my little cuz was urging me to play beginning of last summer and since then it's been awesome, I can't believe I stopped playing for that long :freak:

i'm sure when I get a house and all that good stuff i'll slow down a little, but other than that i'll never stop shootin people's faces

[mongoose]

Went away for school and it wasnt the same.
Started tinkering with cars instead.

[Cell]

Well, it was a build up, but the last day a played was about 1 year ago.

The day I kicked 25-27 people off MY field was also the last day I saw or went back to the field.

I witnessed the most useless, shameless, and down right dirty game of paintball yet. Thats right, it was MORE terrible than watching " The Pros" do whatever it is they do.

"Experienced" players not only ramping when illegal, but ramping after being warned, against 10 year olds shootign them in the back 15 to 20 balls at a time, everyone breaking. It was so sad, and pathetic, I didnt even know how to approach the situation. I was so angry.

But the worst part about it wasthe fact that i was forced to feel more simpathy for the ones I kicked off the field, because they wont ever know what its like to play a REAL game of paintball.

The little guys still have the opportunity and will learn to play for the right reasons.

[A-Tach-One]

My pop and I started back in 92' and the only reason we stopped was because the people we were playing with just flat out lost interest. In those days we would have had to travel great distances just to play. There are many more options these days and many more people involved in the game of paintball. For some reason the thought of pb entered my mind once again and we have been back strong for about 3 years now.:2ar15:

[p8ntball72]

"Experienced" players not only ramping when illegal, but ramping after being warned, against 10 year olds shootign them in the back 15 to 20 balls at a time, everyone breaking. It was so sad, and pathetic, I didnt even know how to approach the situation. I was so angry.

Paintball was a mix of Local games and big games for the last 17 years and the guys I played with in High School still play together today.

I stopped playing locally 2 years ago and switched to strictly Scenario events.
What drew me to the events is that once again I was able to bond with my friends and could distance myself from the ******s.

Scenario has now changed over the last 2 years and its a chore to even attend them...

Also my core group dynamic has changed from a group that had fun playing paintball, to a group that just wants to get away from their wives and kids for a weekend of drunken partying.

My future in paintball this next season will be select events with quality people. if I remain fickle with the game, I'll just spend more time off roading with my family. Middle of nowhere, dusty trail at sunset, relax, and I don't have to worry about honor, honesty, or fair play to have fun.

[d4m4don3]

Last year I stopped because I twisted my ankle at splat factory while at the same time breaking my tailbone cause I landed on that with some sand bags. But that only stopped me for a few months. Other than that the major breaks tend to happen at the end of the year for me because of the holidays and the things we have to do around that time.

[rudz]

i started about 6 years ago now and made my round of walmart gun till i ended up with a revvy, e99 and 20 oz co2 tank, that was about as high end as i knew, cept what i saw in magazines, all the cool guys had spyders and outlaw was our thing, wasnt a good day in someone didnt call the cops on us, i cooled off for a couple years due to college, and parties, and lack of funds, picked up my first mag in 05, abt 2 months after i started my current job and have been going strong since, i got a great group to play with and dont see anthing slowing down anytimes soon:guinness:

[Mind'sEye]

For some reason the thought of pb entered my mind once again and we have been back strong for about 3 years now.:2ar15:

Yes, "strong" indeed although I seem to have been on a bit of a break from the game lately. I'd have to say that this is entirely due to laziness. There's simply no excuse for not leaving my weekend chores and "honey do" lists behind for a great day on the paintball field.......

[Mechanic79]

My momentum is picking back up. Just check my posting on AO.

I started playing less, 3 years ago, due to moving and a couple people dropping out of paintball. Then a new level of "ramping electro" style was in play. I'm starting to surf out on the next generation of PB player.

Then it hit me. I play, therefore I influence the sport just as much as anyone else that plays.

... I have been bit again.

[grEnAlEins]

The thread on why we all still play is a good one. And yet, I know from having spoken with many that there are many reasons why we still play.

However, there are many reasons why we DONT PLAY as often as we used to. Id like to hear some of the gripes, horror stories, complaints, etc etc of the reasons why you may no longer play as often as you used to.:thinking:

I cannot play at school because we are not allowed to have markers in campus housing. If we are caught we are kicked out of housing, and because I am in CJ I'd get can't stay in my car. We were so close to getting the school let our PB Club kids have markers provided we registered them with the campus po-po. Then some smart parts :knob: SOB shot up the business building with paint, and those hopes did. Then the agglets came and killed the club. It still exists, but not for me or any other of the respectable players. It was a sad day in school and paintball history:(

I play as often as possible when I come home, but I am out of commission for 7-8 months of the year:(

[MedicDVG]

When I started in the game it was pumps and woods and a day out with friends.

I have played walk on games at some of the larger parks around home, and they were ok. But the overshooting, blatant bunkering, and agglet mentality really turns me off so I wasn't as active as I was in the late '80s and early '90s where I was playing every weekend or so. It was a great bunch of guys and we had a great place out near the airport in a 40 acre open excavation that we were allowed to play in.. it was freakin great...

But life kinda got in the way.. HS ended, college began, people moved, etc. It is only in the last 5 years that I have gotten back into the sport.. and of course coming over here has slowed me down, and a few years ago I sold everything so the #$*&^@# of an ex-wife could buy the kids Christmas presents that they just "had to have"... (no I am not bitter at ALL)

Anyway, I am now in a position where I can play when I want, buy/sell/build what I want and I am enjoying paintball again. So hopefully the industry doesn't hit its certain to happen implosion point any time soon.

tl:dr -- I like paintball, life got in the way.. I am back now (almost) and my ex-wife is a *****.

[t0nnn]

I agree with you, tunaball was one of the best days i've played at a field...good old days on our outlaw fields are long gone :(...man we used to even have cops pull over and watch us play EVERY weekend

[michbich]

I stoped playing for 5 years.

Our feild is only open during the weekends and i had to work to save for college (2 summers).

After that job, I started college in machineshop, i had co-ops that didn't really give me time to play (1 summer).

After finishing college, i worked 60-70 hours a week and had no energy to play (2 summers). So after a year of machineshoping, i got fed up with everything and was unhappy. I quit my job, moved away, started university in biochemestry...now i finaly have the time to play :D

[TheTexan]

I stopped for 2 years my old field shut down
I sold my gun it was costing to much
then papa showed me automags and I am back
I used to be an angel guy

[txaggie08]

The area I played in got frustrating, plain and simple.


I stopped almost completely for about 4 years after our only field closed down. It turned into a bunch of rogue fields with no chrono's, no ref's, and a bunch of idiots. It was all full auto, and it was all done at speeds exceeding 325(by a good load).

Now I'm in CS with a good field, good people, and I'm back playing and reffing...

[TnDeathInc]

torn hamsting put me out of paintball and taekwon do from 2005-2006.

Other than that i sold some stuff and quit playing to finish grad school in 20oo.

[Zeroack]

I did after college for a few reasons. One no facilities in my area. Plus in 92 it wasn't as wide spread as it is now. No one else around had markers. We didn't have this wonderful internet to help us find people that liked to play in the same area either. I finally got back into it in 99. Been play'n ever since. In my time away I bought a house, started a family and got a much better job. I think the break was well worth it.

Zero

[bryceeden]

Zero! Whats up? I hope your the Zero I know or I'm going to feel like a moron. Anyway I took 2 years off when I was living in Virginia, then West Virginia, then back to Virginia, then to Ohio, then to the sticks on West Virginia. Alot of it was I didn't know anybody. I'd only been back in Utah like 2 days when I went back out for the first time in those 2 years. And now here I am.

[smoothice]

I got into the sport freshman year of high school. Played a few times a year until I was a junior. Started going every weekend with a buddy who was on a team. Boy did I look up to those guys. He sold me his old Automag for $200 bucks. I played almost every weekend till I graduated. Back when paint was $6/100 balls.

Went to college down in San Diego. Spent all my time studying and spending time with my girl friend.

graduated in 3 1/2 years (which might explain why I never had a free weekend) and got married 6 months later. I went a played paintball for my bachelor party. One of the greatest days of play I have ever had.

Played once or twice a year for the next 3 years. Still sporting the same automag.

Then I got in a head on motorcycle accident with a car going over the ortega highway. Was out of commission for a year waiting for my ACL surgery to heal.

Went out and played the first weekend after my doctor gave me the O.K to start playing sports again.

Stumbled upon AO almost exactly 1 year ago in hopes of making my trusty automag not freeze up after 3 shots and have been bit by the paintball bug once again.

I have played more this year then I have in the last 7 years combined. I go every month or every other month.

It's good to be back

[maddboy32]

i've stopped playing here and there but always got back to it. its the one reason 7/10 of us can relate to.......


the wife

[mslo86]

I had about a 3 year break due to lack of players in the area. I'm from a tiny town in the middle of nowhere and after my school buddies got out of it I didn't have anyone to shoot. So...I had to wait to get to college and meet some guys that have successfully gotten me back into it. and now, I'm more hooked than ever :2ar15:

[Arstron]

Money has been the big killer for me. I realised that I can race my Remote Control cars (4 classes worth) for only $10-$15 and yet to play paintball I spend anywhere from $40 to $80. I have just as much (if not more) fun racing and my legs dont hurt the next day. I think what really has kept me away is I can race every week where paintball I can only play once a month.

[wetwrks]

Frankly, I was attacked.

I always made the arangements for where, when, and who. There was a nice place to play outlaw and only "our group" knew of it. As things went I invited a fellow I knew from the appartment (Rich) and he was cool.

He got his boss into it and his bosses kids.

They wern't cool.

At that point I (and almost all of my friends) had been playing for around 7 to 10 years. They walked in and expected to be playing at the same level. When they took a hit it was always "you must be cheating". The only way they could justify having lost a game is if the other players cheated. Understand that I wouldn't have been playing with these people if I knew any of them to cheat.

The third time that the Manager and his kids were invited Rich and they went ahead and headed to the field early. When we arrived they were already in a game (later I found out they had been playing for several hours).

We got the gear out and got ready. A few players got together and headed onto the field and engaged as a third team. This was not unusual and the newbies knew it.

Seems the manager took a throat shot and after the game came to me Td off that they had jumped into the game. I told him that if he had issues with it he needed to talk with those players and I pointed out the specific individuals who had jumped in.

This made him angry and he started cussing at me about how all of us do nothing but cheat. I listened to his rantings for more than 30 minutes and tried to deal with him on a rational level. Finally I again pointed out who had jumped in and directed him to speak with them. He stated he would not and started in on me again. Finally I told him to either take it up with the players responsible or to quit whining.

At that point he grabbed me and attempted to throw me around. In the process my mag took a spill. I took a wide stance and held him at arms length. There we stood in a stalemate for about 10 minutes.

Eventually he backed off and I collected myself. got my gun and then informed him that he and his kids were to leave and were not welcome at that site again.

Reguarding his accusations of cheating, I was accused of cheating at an indoor field that I went to on occasion (maby once every 4 or 6 months). When the ref got to the player making the claim and found out that he was accusing me he stated "No, if he were hit he would call himself out. I know him and he doesn't cheat". Didn't check me, didn't even walk my direction. I was in shock and it made me even more determined to live to that reputation.

But the attack took a lot of the enjoyment out of the game for me. I quit playing for a number of years and it was my brother in law that kinda brought me back into it as he wanted to play and had heard that I was the one to show him how to play and that could arrange it.

[ThePixelGuru]

I cannot play at school because we are not allowed to have markers in campus housing. If we are caught we are kicked out of housing, and because I am in CJ I'd get can't stay in my car. We were so close to getting the school let our PB Club kids have markers provided we registered them with the campus po-po. Then some smart parts :knob: SOB shot up the business building with paint, and those hopes did. Then the agglets came and killed the club. It still exists, but not for me or any other of the respectable players. It was a sad day in school and paintball history:(

I play as often as possible when I come home, but I am out of commission for 7-8 months of the year:(

Got another crappy college story for ya.

I used to run the field here at UMass Amherst. Yeah, we had a ****ing field, it was sweet. Just spools out in the woods and a stream and some stuff, but a nice field. With a wooden castle. Chrony station, CO2 fills, people would bring scubas, it was pretty sweet. $5 per head, play all day, $2 to fill any size CO2 tank unless it was really small or our tank was low, then $1 or free. Sold paint at cost, we could get XBall Bronze and sometimes Gold for $40 and sell it at cost. Awesome people, too; the regulars were cool, honest players, and we had about half a dozen 'mag shooters. Basically, the best small local field you could hope for.

And then the ****ing Department of Natural Resources decided they didn't want to let us keep using it. :wall:

Now there's nowhere local to play at all, and the only paint and CO2 are from ****'s and Wally World. Lame.

[AirAssault]

I played for a few years, 90 to 93 then college and Army got in the way. Picked it back up in 01, with a bunch of MP's in Germany. That was the most fun I have ever had playing. It was a MOUT site:
http://thumb2.webshots.net/s/thumb1/8/34/68/74283468ZwFSGF_th.jpg (http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/1074283468041328042ZwFSGF) http://thumb2.webshots.net/s/thumb1/8/34/87/74283487jOpiZs_th.jpg (http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/1074283487041328042jOpiZs)

where you see the wood pallet was a man hole that would let you go to the far end of the field, and between the 2 building on either side of it. Kinda cool but lots of **** in there and it was loud so your were pretty much dead meat.

Stopped again when I came back to the states in 03. Just now picked it back up here in 07. Gonna chill for the winter because I don't want to pay the crazy prices at the indoor fields here in Co. and not big on playing in the hills with 4 ft of snow on the ground.

[sepplainer]

long gaps between playing are normally caused by work or kids. I would rather spend the weekend with my kids, they are all not old enough to play yet, but when they are watch out. I have a 5 man team on my own. 4 munkins with guns and dad will be in the back calling G's. If take my 13yo daughter out this weekend and it will have been 5 weeks since the last time I played. Thats a long gap for me.

[insixdays777]

College + no Money = no play paintball...

I am now into the "real world" and Back at it ! :)

[tymcneer]

Started playing in 1986-87, and stopped in late 1990 - early 1991. The local "pro" teams were starting to gear up for the 1991 tournament season, and the local fields allowed the walkons to be used as target practice. When we complained, we found out why... The field owner was on the other team, playing! Needless to say, I stepped away from paintball at that point.

I returned in 2003, when my GF gave me a BE Eradicator for Christmas. She had no idea that I still had an Automag in storage :) I hooked up with Gelvire, Wraith and Lycan a few years prior to that when I was running a martial fighting program. In 2004, we went to Outdoor Adventures Battle of the Bulge I scenario, and our team, Sprye Bane, was born. Since then I've begun rebuilding my collection of cool markers.

Ty

[JAM]

Since then I've begun rebuilding my collection of cool markers.
Ty

Well, that plan has worked, as you have THE coolest marker of all.

I'm sure we'll bump into each other at some point. Still play at OA? it's been a long time for me, I'm usually out at Pevs/AG.


Oh, and i stopped playing because I got bored. Went away and spent lots and lots of money on lots and lots of cool firearms. Man, THAT is an expensive 'hobby'. Now I'm back and enjoying the move back into the woods.

-J

[Sn toter]

School. I took a year off when I went back to college to finish my degree, couldn't afford the distractions. Got back last year ;)

[Z-man]

I stopped playing back a little over 3 years ago. The first blow was when the Norcal group started to break up with the loss of Steelrat and my move to Colorado. Coupled with the lack of any real fields in the area (50 miles in any direction) and my discovery of WoW, I really dropped off the face of the earth in the sport.

Now back in CA for a bit, and the end of WoW I am eyeing my gear again. Probably going to be a few months but Ill be looking forward to making the Excal work.

[TnDeathInc]

torn hamstring

[Dend78]

i stopped for a while cause i was broke and i just got married and was trying to make life work

[BlueDragonX]

Well, I took a break through high school because I was overseas in a country that didn't have paintball...

And most recently I haven't gotten to play as often as I otherwise would because I've been spending my weekends with my girlfriend since that's the only time we get to see each other. Last weekend was the last time for that, though, I'm moving close to her finally...

And then there's always the monetary reasons. As much as I dislike it, when you're seriously trying to save money paintball has to take a cut.

[CKY_Alliance]

I haven't played in like 2-3 months. Hopefully I will get to play next month, if I do it will probably be another month or so before I play again.

Im hoping to be able to play at least once a month which sucks because I used to play 2-3 times a month.

I guess that's what college will do to you...no time or money.

[Stayhuge]

My biggest problem seemed to be that none of my friends played any more. Then, the indoor fields started to close. When they started to reopen, they were insanely expensive, like $100+ per case and $25 to walk on. More indoor fields have been opening lately. Now there are 3-4 in my area, and most are BYOP or only hit me for $60 a case. The entrance fees have dropped on some to $15, plus to top it off, I found a new group of guys that live to play woodsball, which I have recently taken a great liking to. We end up playing 1-2 times a month behind one of the guys' house, which works out to be mad cheap for everyone, and our group has just been growing more and more everytime we play. The major problem I see now is that we are all working full time, for the most part, so we can afford to play, but time is an issue. When my weekends come around, I have responsibilities (What an awful word) and the weekend is the only time I have to take care of them. I must say though, this is the most steady and consistant I have been playing in a while. Hope it keeps up. I kind of fell off during my first 2 years of college.

[Iceman]

My biggest problem seemed to be that none of my friends played any more.

This was me for many years. I played for the first time in high school, bought a Spyder SE, and then played a handfull of times in college.... Then I got a job, moved to Virginia, and didn't play for four years because there was no one to play with.

And I'm sorry... but I've never been able to justify playing at a field with people I don't know. I just don't feel right about paying $20 to walk on and then paying for field paint.

Then, last year, a friend of mine metioned that he knew "this guy" who plays with a bunch of people about once a month. Turns out that this guy built his own speedball field in woods behind his house, and when he hosts games, 30-40 show up.

So, since then I play almost every month. I sold my old Spyder SE, bought a mag... then bought/built another mag. It's been awesome.

(I am married, but no kids yet. We'll see how that changes things.)

[snoopay700]

Main reason that i don't play is lack of money, i think that i got my parents to pay for it twice, my first time ever and for my birthday, but other than that i've had to buy everything paintball related. I really need a job...

[Eatem Alive]

I started playing in 1987 and played until July of 2005. It was kind of like Forrest Gump and his running, I just abrubtly got tired of it and went home. Haven't played since but I have been getting the itch.