The sad thing is, I understand their position.

[Catch22]

Don't forget... There' isn't a rule that says only certain people can host games. If you want to host a game a certain way or think you can do better the others... Go for it. Knock yourself out. Enjoy!

[Norseman]

Last week I had a meeting with the owners of a property that I was hoping to rent for an event. The meeting went pretty well, and I was pretty optimistic about things...

...at least until I received this email.

Hi Alex,

Thank you for your interest in renting our property. While your event sounds like an interesting and exciting prospect, we have to apologize that it cant be held on our property. After our meeting last week, I spent some time doing some research into the community you belong to, we've decided that we'd rather not be associated with your potential players.

I'm sorry this can not be resolved.

Sincerely

XXXXXX XXXXXX

You know how people say "Africa wins again" when upsidedown up stuff happens in Africa?

This is why we can't have nice things - "You kids win again"

Here is my beef with Mr. Anonymous.

He obviously has little faith in Alex for running events. He jumped on one of the largest airsoft boards in the US, took some sort of consensus and decided the airsoft community was a bunch of asshats. And that the OP coordinator couldn't make them follow rules and be safe.

The logical thing to do would have been to ask Alex for some references from other land owners from prior OPs, and made sure that Alex had a good track record. Which I'm sure he does, and end of problem.

You cannot hang out in a football locker room and predict how a team is going to act on the field. Boys will be boys and all that... It's up to the referee to make sure that the rules are being followed.

Alex, the only advice I could give you is to keep a stiff upper lip bro, and keep knocking on doors. Maybe they were religious or something.....

It's his loss not yours.

[Sho Nuff]

True, I bet the youngsters follow rules better than the 20+ crowd. I still dont get the high cap hate. I roll with midcaps since thats what people like and require, but I find shooting 30 rounds and spinning to reload more realistic than shooting 60-120 rounds non stop. Just sayin, but I'm a noob. It should be real caps only or all goes. Lets just have fun, keep it clean, and follow rules.

[ogrejager]

True, I bet the youngsters follow rules better than the 20+ crowd.

Following rules is one thing. Who's better there? Helping a team win its objective is another thing altogether, although point 2, below.

Other thoughts:

1. Does our military recruit 13-17 year olds? Yes, but they call it ROTC.

2. Do we police our own here on this forum in an attempt to make it better? Yes, some of us do. That's why people call me a grammar nazi. Do you think I do that just because is swells my ego? No, I do it because future airsofters start by reading this forum. How do you want to sound? When a 15 year old says, "Mom, can I start playing airsoft?" where does the mom look to find out about airsoft? I've talked to 6-7 nonplaying parents at events simply for the sake of reassuring them.

We portray an image. I will fully admit to being sarcastic, crude, and rude. It's one of the reasons this forum amuses me. Sometimes, though, we make me cringe.

[Catch22]

...... I still dont get the high cap hate. I roll with midcaps since thats what people like and require, but I find shooting 30 rounds and spinning to reload more realistic than shooting 60-120 rounds non stop. Just sayin, but I'm a noob. It should be real caps only or all goes....

We've had this discussion before. The last one...
http://airsoftpacific.com/viewtopic.php?t=31236

Here's one from 2006
http://airsoftpacific.com/viewtopic.php?t=7932&start=0

[Pharaoh 6]

I'm going to put my two (very long) cents in here:

I DO feel that Alex's Public Service Announcement has merit. I feel that there is a simple ideal our community lacks, a sense of community.
We are all brought together because we all think that airsoft is an amazing game. AP was selected early on as a hub for airsoft events, airsoft related talk and information. And as the years passed Matt and his team have done, the community AP has helped bring together, a favor by supplying us with a place to talk about both airsoft and other worldly related things. Instead of being brought together by this hub, we argue, squabble, phony pony, moan, use tons of sarcasm, name calling, and more. As we break up into teams, we make those teams less about the game, and more about personal attacks on each other, each others teams. We don't look or act like a community and from an outsiders point of view I am certain we look like our own little world at war...
I understand that part of this has to do with the nature of the game, but to be fair to the community and frankly honest with ourselves, a majority of the way we as a community act on the forums is, rude, petty, and quite deserving of the disinterest/mistrust of outsiders.

I agree with others in wondering what it was specifically that has driven them away because without know the specifics it's hard for us to try and change for the better... And I agree with Matt, it's better that people know what they are getting into and if they can't handle the type of "community" we are, then it is better it happen before we are at their site and under their scrutiny. However these are also in some small way excuses to remain the same, disjointed, angry, community that we are today. I'm proud that I play airsoft, and I'm proud to be part of the AP community, I wear an AP patch on my daily use backpack, and when I see AP members that I recognize in public, I make it a point to say hello to them (I hope you all do the same to me) To me it's all part of being in this community both on the field and off the field.

However the forums seem to be a different place entirely. A place where people believe that their words have no measure because they are faceless avatars. A place where people sling crap like chimps, and then get defensive when they seem to have enrage a large group of people... When in reality people should be a bit more cautious because majority of the community should come to the defense FOR a majority of the community. When a member of my team seems to step out of line on the forums I try and keep them in check. When my team leader go on rants about other members within the community I try and play devils advocate and show him that maybe it looks different form another point of view. That doesn't make me right, but it makes me a member of this community. I know we don't all have teams, and we don't all have someone else to keep us in check, but why rely on others to keep yourself in check? If someone does call you on something you have done/said, try to look at it from their point of view. Try and see how what you said may have not been what you meant, or the way you said it may have been a bit more direct than someone else may have been ready for. If some one attacks you, let it go, because if you want to BE a member of the community, then you have to ACT like a member of the community. When others see that you are ready to be a valued member by acting like a valued member of the community they will come to your defense and you won't have to get in an argument over who has the bigger tool.

Whether or not you like it AP is a large part of the airsoft community in our area. It is visited not only by airsofters from the our general area, but for the greater pacific northwest, the United States, and also from all over the world. AP spreads our games, our ideas, our photos, our videos, and all of the great aspects that the we bring to the game of airsoft. Unfortunately it also spreads all the spite, abusive language, arrogant rants, and just poor behavior to the eyes of those same people.

In closing: To better ourselves as a whole, we have to start with ourselves as individuals. I'm going to start with me.

Nothing to say, but +1.

[Junto]

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.

Hey... Yeah. Quit doing that.