The sad thing is, I understand their position.

[dosSantos]

It looks like "you reap what you sow" has come to fruition; also closely related to the Proverb "Bad company ruins a good reputation." If we do a little self-check and respond in a mature way, maybe this little event will be a catalyst for a "re-branding" or "re-imaging" of sorts. Not in the "change who we are" way but "change what we do or how we act" way.
"When I was a child I acted like a child, but now that I am an adult..." You get the picture - hopefully.

[Variable]

If that guy thinks we're bad, he should spend some time around tuner/import forums or sportbike forums... hives of scum and villainy.

[Steve]

Meh. Can't say that I blame the property owners. There's a couple of asshats that post here that I don't really want to share the internet with, let alone allow them the use of my property.

The outside world doesn't see the guys who show up and treat the game and each other with respect. They see the (alledged) minority of dumbasses who post videos on youtube, refuse to obey the rules of grammar and spelling, and generally show their asses to the world. And a pretty big part of this is our fault.

When we don't police our own, when we don't go out of our way to show the positive side of airsoft, when we sit silently and let only the voices of the idiots echo across the world, well, we get what we deserve.

The property owner "did a little research" and didn't like what they found. Good on them for doing their homework. Shame on us for what they found.

Now, you want to see a group of folks that really dislike airsofters? Talk to guys who primarily shoot real-steel.

[Ivan Daylovich™]

What, child soldiers don't exist anymore?

As for the army not taking people under 18 bleeding Audie Murphy was 17 when he signed up.
If you looked I'm sure you'd find people younger than that, but he comes to my mind because of sheer badassery.

[Junto]

What, child soldiers don't exist anymore?

As for the army not taking people under 18 f***ing Audie Murphy was 17 when he signed up.
If you looked I'm sure you'd find people younger than that, but he comes to my mind because of sheer badassery.

+1

Having kids on the field, in many cases, is actually reasonably realistic.

[Bigfoot]

What, child soldiers don't exist anymore?

As for the army not taking people under 18 f***ing Audie Murphy was 17 when he signed up.
If you looked I'm sure you'd find people younger than that, but he comes to my mind because of sheer badassery.

+1

Having kids on the field, in many cases, is actually reasonably realistic.

As long as they are on the OPFOR side not the US military. But what to stop a 13-17 year old from buying a set of MARPAT and a cheap vest? Then stating "I'm here for the Marines side." You could make rules stating that younger player must fill in as child soldiers for a specific team but not everyone will go for that. Some people want to be 1337 snipers and SPECOPS units.

Where do we start drawing the line to avoid mishaps like OP: Belligerence 2? Where everyone showed up in whatever camo they wanted and shot at whoever was walking around.

[Pope_Alex_Kaeda_I]

Where do we start drawing the line to avoid mishaps like OP: Belligerence 2? Where everyone showed up in whatever camo they wanted and shot at whoever was walking around.

I'd say that was a failure by event promoters to set a standard and stick to it. That seems like a relatively simple mistake to correct. Set a standard, and stick to it. The people who don't want to wear the correct uniform don't show up, and on game day, the people who don't want to follow instructions can be invited to leave.

[Matt]

That's why OP: Thunder Strike was a mid-caps only 2 uniform game. MARPAT vs MULTICAM. Don't have it? Too bad! I thought it was fun. Some of the best organization and teamwork I've seen on the field. It'll only get better with time and practice.

[Bigfoot]

That's why OP: Thunder Strike was a mid-caps only 2 uniform game. MARPAT vs MULTICAM. Don't have it? Too bad! I thought it was fun. Some of the best organization and teamwork I've seen on the field. It'll only get better with time and practice.

Yeah it was one of the best OPs I've been to. BUT should we really have to narrow down the camo to 2 patterns? Isn't it bad that the community is so careless when attending events that we have to cut the fat from the meat?

I don't think that promoters should have to limit their game types and creativity just because people are retarded. Perhaps a strict uniform check before the game? "Sorry real tree is not allowed for your team. You need to change clothes or sides." Instead of "We're having trouble keeping you asshats in line so if you don't have MARPAT/MC you can't come out and play."

OP Thunderstrike did work. But did we really need that kind of extreme? Shouldn't the community do more for the events and not vice versa?

[RedSpo0n]

But what to stop a 13-17 year old from buying a set of MARPAT and a cheap vest? Then stating "I'm here for the Marines side."

I like my knock-off MARPAT and cheap UTG vest just fine thank you!

But I suppose I'm not 13 either, and I can handle not showing up to games that I don't match uniform for.

The issue isn't so much 'pure' realism because lets face it - we generally like to have people to talk to at dinner afterward about that glorious long-range shot that ended the game in victory.

It's a problem with maturity, across all ages, and the ability for people to follow directions and work within the construct of the event.

Not calling hits, bucking chain of command when the event has one, showing up in woodland because 'it's all I have' when you should be wearing a desert pattern are all immature behaviors that say "what I want comes first and I don't care about everyone else experience" - and that is precisely the problem we're having on the forums as well.

Who cares if my mom/boss/wife/law enforcement/prospective land owners visit the site - I just want to enjoy throwing around vulgarity and harassment in questionable taste because I don't care what 'other people' want. I don't care about their experience.

That should be a concern for everyone.

[Catch22]

The way we do games is fine. Some games have alot of restrictions. Some games don't.... Event promoters look at the boards and see what type of games people would like to have. The AP community is very diverse in our games and big enough to give everyone what they want.

Event promoters just set up games. It's ultimately up to the community, which ones they want to go to.

[Ivan Daylovich™]

Youngest soldier to die in Vietnam 15 years old.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Bullock

WWII 13 year old American Soldier
http://www.amazon.com/American-Soldier- ... 1412059380

I admit we don't do too much Vietnam and WWII, but you see my point.

[Ivan Daylovich™]

Unfortunately Ivan, it was much easier to fake your age back then than now.

Though I don't see why we can hold an event that caters to both sides;
One side are Multicam/MARPAT wearing, super intense gearwhores, while the other side are millions of teenagers wearing woodland, civies, whatever, using whatever weapons and whatever equipment.

Pretend that the US invaded a country populated a by adolescents.

That's true.

And no, stop giving us bad guys the people in civies that you don't want to play with.
They have M4s and we don't want them either.

[Variable]

Though I don't see why we can hold an event that caters to both sides;
One side are Multicam/MARPAT wearing, super intense gearwhores, while the other side are millions of teenagers wearing woodland, civies, whatever, using whatever weapons and whatever equipment.

Back in "the day" thats how it worked, with much post-game drama from the rag-tag team getting their asses handed to them.

you just cant please everyone.

[Riddick]

The way we do games is fine. Some games have alot of restrictions. Some games don't.... Event promoters look at the boards and see what type of games people would like to have. The AP community is very diverse in our games and big enough to give everyone what they want.

Event promoters just set up games. It's ultimately up to the community, which ones they want to go to.

I agree kev.

The issue I was seeing with unifroms at games was that that more and more we have come down to mainly 2 sets of camo. Marpat and Multicam. This is why I choose to go to a armband system. It's worked forever in PB so why can we not adopt this same technique at times for our games. This way anyone can wear what set of camo and make it more about what side you wanted to play on not what type of camo you have. I also noticed a increase in balance for teams due to this as well.

I've hosted several arm band games this year and I haven't really seen much issue due to it. Unless you are going with a real strict realism theme, I think it works fine. "in the real world" not all of our enemies have the same matching camo/uniforms.

I also don't think there has been really any issues with yonger players as well. I see as much drama with adults as I do from the youngins. Put a age limit that you feel comfortable with.

and like tim said... you can't please everyone.

We create it, you decide to come to it.