[Ricochet]

Airsoft was always going to go mainstream, the current state of it is partially due to the lack of organization by the experienced players. If we ran games that had realistic gear restrictions and dynamics that catered only to a more competitive style, then we'd still be living the good 'ol days. The point where we dropped our standards and became more inclusive to bolster numbers, that's where we screwed up. A good game is a good game, player count is only a small part of that.

I said this ten years ago, and I'll say it again now, just because you're out there with an Airsoft gun doesn't mean you're doing the same thing as the guy next to you. Airsoft is anything that involves Airsoft guns, but wether it's more of a sport or a hobby, is all in how the players take it. There are some player types that don't mix, which is common during the inception of all sports, and right now they are sharing the field, and although they would appear to be doing the same thing, they are as different as playing football is to paving a driveway. Intent and context are everything.

Way back, we had very little Airsoft in our town. We ran a private group on a private field. Our goal was to push a more tactically competitive game style, and that was it. To us, that was the fun side. We had players come and go over the years that didn't want to do what we were doing. Wether that was WWII interest, sci-fi, casual speedball, etc. They'd try playing and not like it, or disagree with our rules, kit restrictions, whatever, and move on. There wasn't really other options for them in our town back then, so it was between quitting or driving forever to find a game type that suited them, but that's that.

There aren't many venues or groups right now that strictly run that type of play style anymore, so that's the issue. If we want to have more serious events, then all we need to do is host them. It's a lot of work however, so that's a deterant to most I'm sure. Also, to play that way is expensive and exhausting, so many bitch out before they are willing to train as a team, crawl through mud, spend thousands on effective gear and give up their own little things to be efficient players, instead of "for fun", as they call it.