Have we reached a plateau?

by **ReD3BrAvO** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:13 pm

Where do you think the sport of airsoft can go from here? Aside from bringing in more players, how much better can the sport of airsoft get? The guns can only shoot so fast for example. Opinions?

by **Variable** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:18 pm

Technologically the AEG could be improved upon, and by the same vein the GBB rifle needs improvement.

As to the state of the game itself, I see room for improvement (in the Northwest) in moving back towards mil-sim and away from the clusterfuck "woodsball" type game. But this is my personal preference and opinion and others may like the game the way it is typically practiced around here.

by **TechnoMagical** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:21 pm

The advent of affordable GBB rifles, airsoft grenades, etc. We're in by no means a plateau. If anything, we're progressing faster than ever before. 'Clone' companies are quickly passing Marui and CA in terms of both quality and ingenuity, and other companies such as WA and WE are pushing the Milsim boundaries.

Soon we're gonna see GBB M14's, Mp5's, M249's (These have already been announced by WE alone) as well as tons of other weapons. These weapons alone bring an unsurpassed amount of realism to the sport. Now we just need inexpensive magazines, new grenades, and some better hopup systems.

by **Solid** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:27 pm

I'd say we are ever increasing, like Techno said, the business is finding ways to make equipment more affordable, and I am constantly hearing about more and more people getting into airsoft, I believe we are growing and haven't plateaued just yet.

by **ReD3BrAvO** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:30 pm

Variable wrote:Technologically the AEG could be improved upon, and by the same vein the GBB rifle needs improvement.

As to the state of the game itself, I see room for improvement (in the Northwest) in moving back towards mil-sim and away from the clusterfuck "woodsball" type game. But this is my personal preference and opinion and others may like the game the way it is typically practiced around here.

Id agree with you on that. I went to my first "big" game with a decent amount of more experienced players, but the only aspect that I felt was Milsim was the fact that, of course, the guns and gear all looked like the real deal. That was were the similarity ended as it was pretty much the same as any paintball game played in the woods. You guys start on this side. We start on this side, and....GO. No tactics or anything like that. Granted I realize that not every weekend can have large 100+ player games with specific objectives, leaders, and such. Still I have found that a large percentage of airsofters shun paintball because airsoft is more realistic, when in fact, they tend to be played the same way. Just with different gear.

by **Cosmos** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:38 pm

I agree this is in no way a plateau. The weapons are getting better and more affordable and in grerater variety. The games, competitions, and players are getting better (mostly.) The opportunities to train and have fun are increasing. If any of us feel we've reached a plateau it is probably time for us to look at ourselves and ask 'What can I do' to become better, or just have more fun.

by **Variable** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:39 pm

Milsim was the fact that, of course, the guns and gear all looked like the real deal. That was were the similarity ended as it was pretty much the same as any paintball game played in the woods.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

To each their own of course, and my view of using airsoft for milsim is different than some players view of using airsoft for just big shootouts.

Its like comparing Ghost Recon to Quake. Neither is "right", they just are.

I'd like to see improvements in the guns. For instance I want an AEG M4 that uses a new type of gearbox instead of a v2. That also doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
-Precocking
-Can fire well on semiauto
-Mechanical 3-rd burst

by **ReD3BrAvO** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:47 pm

Cosmos wrote:I agree this is in no way a plateau. The weapons are getting better and more affordable and in grerater variety. The games, competitions, and players are getting better (mostly.) The opportunities to train and have fun are increasing. If any of us feel we've reached a plateau it is probably time for us to look at ourselves and ask 'What can I do' to become better, or just have more fun.

As far as the guns getting better, the question is how much better. I feel that its kinda like comparing an M4 to a SCAR. There are of course some minor improvements such as the ability to customize more, perhaps more reliable in bad weather enviroments. In terms of performance however, not much has changed. ROF, range, stopping power, accuracy are all generally on par with an M4, perhaps a little better, but in the end its still a 5.56 mm assault rifle.
Now if we go from an old Muzzle loader to an M4 thats a HUGE leap in gun technology and performance. The point I am trying to make is if we are currently at the M4 stage and not the muzzle loader stage, how much more advanced can we go performance wise?

by **afatcow** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:51 pm

The developments that I'm excited about are all in gas blowback rifles. The realism (bolt catching, cocking, nice sounding blowback, recoil, etc) are things that you don't find in AEG's, and while AEG's are great, what I'm personally looking for in airsoft, and what makes it fun for me is realistic tactics combined with realistic weapons. GBB's are definitely the way forward on the weapons side, in my opinion they just need to develop more variety and, as with anything, cheaper would make me happy

by **Zim** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:03 pm

I hate to say it.. but paintball and airsoft have to make a bastard child.. Paintball guns have incredible technologies in comparison to airsoft gbb rifles, and alot of the same functions can be scaled down and used in airsoft guns. There are paintball guns that can shoot 40+bps per second, without chopping any paintballs.. and still get 2000 shots off of a tank fill. If you scale down the ammunition in ratio with the tank size, you would end up with 200 shots off of a tank the size of half a can of peas.. imagine what an airsoft gun could do with that.. there wouldn't be a need for gbb specific magazines.. just charge a reservior in the gun itself and go at it, charge maybe twice a day.

by **Zim** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:04 pm

adjustable fps would be nice too.. and not very hard, just throw a ring around the base of the spring guide, that with a setscrew in the back of the gearbox, you can adjust forward or backwards, to put more or less tension on the spring. I was thinking of making these actually.. as an aftermarket thing

by **Fluffy** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:12 pm

Variable wrote:
Milsim was the fact that, of course, the guns and gear all looked like the real deal. That was were the similarity ended as it was pretty much the same as any paintball game played in the woods.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

To each their own of course, and my view of using airsoft for milsim is different than some players view of using airsoft for just big shootouts.

Its like comparing Ghost Recon to Quake. Neither is "right", they just are.

I'd like to see improvements in the guns. For instance I want an AEG M4 that uses a new type of gearbox instead of a v2. That also doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
-Precocking
-Can fire well on semiauto
-Mechanical 3-rd burst

I agree. Also (I don't know if I'm alone on this or not) but when I put a new magazine in my AEGs I always cock it (unless I did a tactical reload). Something about this adds to the rush and to the fun of both reloading and playing. I think when more airsoft games do real capacity mags we'll start to see people treating it a bit more like war and less like a giant cluster shazaam. Not perfect, but good enough (I'm hoping at least).

by **MitchD** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:19 pm

I'm looking forward to better GBB rifles, and cheaper mags for them. More Milsim events.

by **Colosseum** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:30 pm

I'd just love to see an affordable line of FN/FAL variants.

by **Darius137** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:33 pm

We haven't reached a plateau. Airsoft is growing in the US.

The paintball market is more saturated, and closer to plateauing.

Airsoft still has a ways to go on electronic and gas technology, extras such as grenades and RPGs, and the gaming aspect still has a ways to go until we have vehicles in use and 500 person games in the area that aren't clusterfucks.

Airsoft needs organization and people willing to spend money to go to games. If you like skirmishes that are free in your $500 of gear and weapon, but will never go to a game that costs more than $20, then airsoft is at where you will always have it.

If you're willing to go to a $50 game and have a helicopter or drive in a US style military convoy with Humvees and .50 cal's mounted and hit a fake IED, do a herringbone stop and pull security against a large enemy force dressed appropriately in dishdashas or shalwar kamis, all using AK variants, then it has a long ways to go.

Have we reached a plateau?

Have we reached a plateau?

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