Originally Posted by
cockerpunk
a lot of this post doesn't have anything worth responding to, because in trying to disagree with me, you actually agree with me all over the place. and/or you simply misunderstand, such as your first bit. laurels? no idea where you got that, lol.
on two points though i will respond:
1. it has only ever taken the will to enforce trigger rules, to make guns legal again. there are so many fairly simple paths to this. sound, high speed cam, software/wireless signals, spec board etc etc. sure they all would cost competitors a bit, but respect is earned, not bought. and boards are cheap, and over time reach a standard, it would only take a season or two and everyone would go on thinking its crazy we never did. there is also an easy deterrent system here, demonstrate you can catch it fairly regularly, with a fairly stiff punishment, and it polices itself much better.
my point is the motive of the league and manufacturers to do this is not there. they loved that era, selling 100 grand in guns a day? shit, who cares right? well, those of us who want the sport to be taken seriously, thats who cares. its shortsightedness really. 100 grand in guns a day for a few years at world cup is nice right, but now where are they? if bob sells a couple hundred grand in a guns a year i bet hes pretty happy. why? because the market died. why did the market die? because on the brink of pushing paintball into a mainsteam Xtreme sport in the 2002-2005 era, we were jerking off. if there was ever a time, enough money, a big enough market, and an interesting enough game format to push for professional respect, it was then. and if you actually make it, instead of skate parks your city puts in to entertain the kids, its paintball fields. instead of being a tiny niche activity thats easy to cut the second things get tough, its important to families and kids. i mean those are just examples but you get my point, if paintball was like lacrosse (a perfect example of how to build a sport), all the paintball companies would be FAR more healthy. or heck if you need a non-sport example, look at blade collecting. another great example of an expensive, "unsafe" thing that is hugely profitable right now. and hey get there by growing the market, into the mainstream.
we failed to do that. and the damage is probably irreparable at this point.
it took only the will to keep guns legal, to keep them legal. the powers that be, didn't want that though, $$$$$$$$$ and they screwed there own shots at the big times in doing so.