You spent weeks researching it. You knew more about it than we did and we’d actually played. You were unbelievably excited, but then, instead of waiting until a good opportunity presented itself, you couldn’t wait. You wanted to play NOW, even though the four of us were going out to dinner and improv that evening and we didn’t exactly have a lot of time. OK, we agreed.
We drove to your place and thought we could get in about four hours at the field, but you weren’t there. No, the two of you had decided you needed camo pants first, so you made a run to a sporting goods store. You spent $60 on pants before you even knew if you’d enjoy the game because you knew you would just love it. We waited an hour for you, an hour we could’ve been playing. And then we went to the park, but we warned you it wasn’t one of the best parks in the city. In fact, it was one of the worst. You didn’t care. You were excited. Real life Counterstrike, at last.
And then you started playing and…it wasn’t like Counterstrike. You weren’t the sniping bitch on the field that you are in the CS servers. It’s different when the paint is flying and getting hit actually hurts. It’s sometimes very confusing to know what’s going on, and the strategies are different when it’s not a computer game. You weren’t the best person out there and some of those 12-year-old boys could kick your ass because they’re playing with guns that cost over $500 and they play a lot. That’s all part of the game, but with practice–practice you were more than willing to partake in before you played–you will get better. And you’d probably become a sniping bitch again.
So come on, give paintball another shot. I promise you it will be fun.
At least you did give it a second chance. Not sure why you’d feel stupid, but I’m willing to admit that it’s not for everyone. But if you knew how much our friend researched the sport beforehand, you’d think he was crazy for his sudden disinterest.
Sorry, I just realized when I looked at the post count that this computer is under a different account name. This is actually Throatshot. Mods, could you delete this account? I wasn’t trying to have a sockpuppet.
e-mail an administrator to have your accidental sock banned. don’t force it to go through john, lynn, and alph. (ok, so alphagene didn’t split as well as john corrado and lynn bodoni. shoot me.)
Back when I was a younger (and much less evil) Ghandi we came across this game.
At the time we were using paint dipped bb’s in old crossman pell guns.
We heard that some guys had bought these marking guns from lumber companies and were shooting each other with them.
We were intrigued.
After some research we secured some guns and a few gross of the old oil based balls.
Fun should insue right?
The guns malfunctioned. We tried to get the guys who sold them to take them back, they refused.
Apparently we werent the only ones caught up in this early wave.
We found a laywer who had not only been burned himself by these guys, but had represented a few cases before.
Which brings be to the point of this story.
During the course of testimony, one witness mentioned the name paint ball.
I will never forget the look of horror on the court stenographers face as she said, “excuse me? pain ball?” most of us in the courtroom laughed and realized it was a perfectly viabaly name for the game. But it was obvious this woman envisined somthing like grown men chucking crochet balls at one another so the judge ordered a description of the game be entered into record.
Anyway an old timers account of something you youngins thought you invented.
So how was it? We had a great time. It was very muddy and rather humid, but the weather was nice and cool and the majority of the people were very nice, which is the usual case. And the field was just as great as it always is.
Since the OP started with a paintball horror story…
I have a group of friends that get together regularly at my house to play D&D. Well, everybody thought it would be a good idea to play paintball, so a couple years ago I bought setups for both of my sons. The group was excited.
Well, when we got on the field, things changed. Paintballs actually hurt! Guys who thought that taking their shirts off and going commando (in more ways than one!) paid for it with painful welts. The wizard who loved to win by making himself invincible and blasting away from a distance, in D&D, was a wheezing smoker who was easily outflanked and shot in a paintball game. Only the few of us who were ex-Army had a clue.
Wheezing smoker thought he had an edge, from all of his deer hunting experience. (He was a treestand guy.) But during one attack on a lightly defended bunker, my wife shot at him and hit him, but he didn’t signal out right away, and if he shouted she didn’t hear him… she kept firing, and hit him where his cup should have been worn.
He pitched a hissy fit, (he wasn’t man enough to say anything to me!) screaming at my wife while he packed his gear and left the field.
The rest of us have played on, though not as much as we’d like. Paintballs are expensive! But we have a game scheduled for Saturday.
We’re in West-Central Pennsylvania, and all Dopers are welcome. See my webpage for details.
