Valken Army Mobilizes

As the regulars know Mr. Curious keeps his (over large left) ear to the ground when he's not creeping dark alleys or peeping through grimy windows into smoke-filled rooms. Well, yesterday's stampede nearly deafened him. With his head still ringing (and in between fits of laughter) he itemized the deployment of the Valken army from friendly media resource to retail and sales agents all the way down the line to scenario team players unleashed in a coordinated attempt to raise as much hell as possible--and incidentally position themselves as the aggrieved as well as the friend of the little guy. (The irony of which is lost on those who don't know their PB Industry history.) Why is Roger Delta-Tango cursing out the PSP on Facebook when he and his cronies spend less time outside of the woods than Bigfoot?
My point isn't that there aren't any paintballers out there sincerely put out by the PSP decision not to allow Valken paint sales. There surely are. But that's not all there is to it. The effort was orchestrated from start to eventual finish. (Nor is this a first for the PB Industry other than how rapidly and vociferously the onslaught came. Gotta love social media.) My other point is that it's one thing to be justly upset and another to simply play the fool.
That said VFTD does not mean to minimize the "real world" result. The impact at ground level is that there are some competitive teams out there that won't have the cheaper paint available to them or they will choose not to play in the PSP. And that is a lose lose for both the teams and the PSP.
However, the reality of this situation goes deeper. It's origins are part of the industry's hothouse history and long-standing animosities. On the field all of us are players. Not necessarily equals but all players. Off the field there are a lot fewer players and it is frequently difficult to determine just what game they are playing.

Baca's Mailbag, Dec 21

Today's question was pulled from the mailbag post of Dec 12. I foolishly agreed to respond (in that post's comments) and so now I'm stuck. Unlike the norm, today's answer is not the answer. I'm not sure there is such an answer but it is a valuable topic for conversation and one that competitive paintball will have to answer eventually.

 So, do you see any way for the industry to help make tourney play more attractive to field owners, who can then sponsor and give refuge to more teams (who then buy more high end guns and cases of paint)?

Actually, I do. And I'ma throw in an extra answer besides--consider it an early Christmas present from VFTD. First thing the industry needs to do is stop sponsoring paintball teams. And by "sponsoring" I mean offering direct to teams discounted merchandise. (Did I have you going there for a sec?) Selling direct breaks down the relationships between teams/players and the local field. If the local field/pro shop is the conduit between local/regional/national am teams and discounted product it is a small price to pay to encourage fields interested in supporting competition paintball to do so and builds bonds at the local level between teams/players and their local fields/pro shops. As it stands the manufacturers who go the direct "sponsorship" route are cannibalizing their own grassroots markets.
While a good start that's not enough. In this time of economic contraction and internet sales (and even some big box store sales) the local field/pro shop--particularly if it has nearby competitors--has to offer something more, or at least different. Given that I think the bar has been raised too high for simple entry into the competitive paintball world I have some suggestions; offer and schedule times for basic paintball training; combine that with restricted but informal afternoon (or morning) (or both) streetball style "competitions" periodically and encourage or directly promote the development of paintball clubs based around the local field. The idea is to begin by teaching anyone interested the fundamentals of the game and then give them a place and a way to begin to experience their growing skills in an environment of their equals. You want more and future tourney players? Especially now they don't appear ex nihilo. The club can be an element the local field organizes or it can be an arrangement between those interested in building a paintball club and their local competition-oriented field. The club exists to develop tourney players and provide a ladder of teams on which to compete.And if the local field is the source of discounted gear, etc. you now have a reciprocal basis for the relationship. And in the longer term the most successful clubs will attract more and better players and more attention from would be industry supporters and everybody would potentially benefit.

Baca's Mailbag, December 15

Have you been able to find out anymore information about what actually happened at the merger talks? Who ended up sinking the deal? From a few posts around the internet it appears it was the NPPL that ended things.

To answer the first part of the question, yes, I've found out more about what happened. Without assigning blame here's roughly what happened at the end. As everyone (who cares) now knows the meeting in Vegas ended badly. There was an effort made after that via a series of conference calls to get back on track the day before the NPPL announced their 2012 event schedule. [The joint the-merger-is-off statement came out November 30th and the NPPL announced their complete 2012 schedule the next day, December 1st. The PSP announced their first two events on December 5th.] Proposals and counter-proposals were made and rejected and neither party apparently could agree to any middle ground between the proposals offered. To the best of my current knowledge format wasn't the make or break issue--it would have been dealt with after a basic deal was agreed to. It seems the core issues were ownership stake(s)--who ended up with what--and something VFTD remarked on back in September, uncertainty about the legal structure of the NPPL and the status of its team/owners in some instances. (Both parties agreed months ago, during the process, to release records to a third party for review and it took the NPPL months to comply.) How much bearing the later issue had on an inability to agree to the former I've no idea--nor can I break down the numbers or dollars being discussed. (If I can get the-rest-of-the-story and be reasonably certain of its accuracy I'll tell that tale when I can.)

I don't think either league left the bargaining table unhappy with the outcome and from here on out we will see what sort of line the industry takes, along with the players. (And I do mean players, not the etools who have never played either one but insist on repeatedly declaring their opinions.)

Baca's Mailbag, Dec 6

How likely do you think it is that some sponsors (Kee) will go through with their rumored threats to pull out of the NPPL?
The easy button answer is not very. And that's because any hard line change would be a break with history and past practices and I'm disinclined to believe it until I see it. And yet I keep hearing nattering about a mostly united front blah blah blah. So it's hard to know--but fortunately it's easy to speculate and there are a few possible scenarios to consider--if in fact most of the major industry players follow through one way or another. On one hand the big industry sponsors could simply discontinue their support and not show up. On the other they could conceivably take a more active hand in where their sponsored teams play, or don't play. In the second scenario the issue isn't what Joe Divisional Team does but what the Pro teams do and more to the point the high profile anchor pro teams like Dynasty or Infamous. Established teams with established reputations validate the entire division with their presence and if they're not there it changes the general perception of their worthiness (for lack of a better word) to self-identify as pro. (Which is why the Millennium kids have a chip on their collective shoulders and need first tier Russians and/or U.S. team(s) competing in the CPL. It both defines and assures their status.) The follow-up question is does devaluing the Pro division erode interest and divisional player participation--if the end goal is to see the league call it quits.
The other option of simply no longer sponsoring the league does a couple of things; it saves the industry some money (some of which ended up in the league's pockets) and it complicates things for the sponsored teams of those companies without going so far as to forbid them to play. Of course it also complicates things for the companies if they aren't present to support their products for their flagship teams, etc.
A simpler solution would be stick a fork in Pev and watch all the hot air escape. And accept the inescapable conclusion that Chuck is an empty wetsuit and a surf board, paintball's answer to the Peter Principle, and just ignore him. At which point the NPPL becomes Bart & the Volunteers and if they want to play 7-man God bless them everyone.
EDIT: Haha! It turns out they don't want to play 7-man after all.

Silly Season

Is in full force and doesn't show any signs of letting up. From here on out all bets are off. I'ma repeat about a third of what I'm hearing and I'm not even gonna worry about it's accuracy. If you don't want unvetted rumors--stop reading them. At this point I'm quite certain most of the rumor makers and powers that be in paintball don't know what's happening either so we're all in good company. Yes of course peeps have plans and everyone is trying to make moves but everything is so unsettled right now yesterday's rumor is today's deal is tomorrow's never gonna happen. Sit back, put your feet up and enjoy--but don't put any stock in any of this nonsense. (Unless I tell you otherwise.)
(Btw, I am working on World Cup Practice, part 4 and will post it soon-ish.)
The on again off again major league merger is definitely off. (Until it isn't.) As of right this minute it appears that both leagues will go about their regular bidness. Could that change? Sure, when pigs fly and NASA discovers those moon rocks they collected are petrified cream cheese. Never say never but it looks like a real long shot right now.
And again I gotta ask--since nobody has come up with a good answer yet--why so many players seem to think the merger has any real meaning for them or competitive paintball generally? If you read the rubbish being posted most of the hysterical merger mania seems to be convinced that a merger would usher in a new golden era of tournament paintball and in no time at all the President (or at least Beyonce) would be singing the national anthem before a championship final being broadcast live to billions of instant fans. Seriously, what possesses people to believe that sort of nonsense?
Back to the merger. The real issue (assuming the merger stays off the table) is how the sponsors respond, if they do, or if everything remains bidness as usual. Yes, I've said this before and it remains true today. And as before there's no telling--yet. Rumor has it the industry players generally know where they stand and what their intentions are but everyone is watching everyone else to see who, if anyone, is gonna break ranks first. And if that happens all bets are off. Again.
Okay, now about Procaps. Remember the whole Smarts Parts rigamarole? The on again off again, it's sold, it's not routine that went on for some time? (Months.) Well, it's looking like that may prove to be the case with Procaps. Reports of the sale were premature and it seems three paintball companies put in bids with GI's being the highest in total but not in cash. (According to the latest.) The three companies are the same ones as has been previously rumored; GI, KEE & Tippmann. (Yep, that Tippmann.) It may be knowledge of being the top bidder is what set off the premature rejoicing at GI--but at any rate it's all rumored now to be moot--as the bank (the ever ubiquitous "bank") has rejected all the bids. If so it's back to the drawing board for everybody. Sure, why not?
A potentially important related issue for competitive paintball teams and players is how the sale, non-sale & whoever ends up with Procaps, if it's a paintball company, affects sponsorship deals for next season. In recent years the process has lagged, with the industry dragging its metaphoric feet, and with the whole Procaps thing up in the air there's no telling how it might impact sponsorships.
With respect to the latest RL rumors there's conflicting claims. Middle or so of last season the rumor started floating that Sergey Leontiev (owner of RL) was backing off his prior commitments to the team and that was part of the internal issues going on there that resulted in the poor showing in Jersey, the rumored retirements (I mentioned last time) etc. If that was true to begin with, it is now being rumored that whatever the problems were they've been settled and Sergey (and his money) are back in full force. As to the make-up of next season's roster there's conflicting stories about the U.S. players--did they quit first?--and the apparent factoids that the Russians have been looking at some other non-Russian players recently. It wouldn't surprise me if they ended up with an all Russian roster but it also wouldn't surprise me if they didn't.
Finally there's some deep chatter, way deep chatter, about the NPPL making some substantial changes to their format. It may be something that's under discussion but frankly I don't put much, if any, stock in it at present. If I hear more about it and it sounds at any point like it might really happen I'll get into it in more detail--but for the time being it's just a seriously outlandish rumor. (Even for me--and even unvetted.)

Outer Limits of Rumorology

Or as our Brit friends would write (assuming basic literacy, which is, more and more, a dangerous assumption given the factoid literacy rates in the Western world have declined in recent decades despite [or because of?] the gold star mentality of what passes for educators these days) 'Outer Limits of Rumourology'. As VFTD regulars know I have a penchant for beating a dead horse or am otherwise unable to leave well enough alone so here's one last--for now--post with rumors; about rumors. It is the paintball silly season after all.
The kids over at ProPaintball recently posted their latest player and team rumors and one of them included a reference to TBD. Rumor suggests the Legion will be returning to an all Russian roster next year and that leaves their American players without a team. And further that TBD (among others) is talking to J-Rab about joining Damage. To forestall a spate of J-Rab questions I'll tell y'all what I know. The team has been talking to Justin informally off and on ever since he played 7-man with us a couple years ago. And the subject has been discussed internally so as far as it goes the rumor is correct. On the subject of the Russian Legion generally there's been another rumor floating around since at least New Jersey PSP that has two of the Legion's home grown regulars retiring--at least from PSP competition. If that (and the Federov rumor) proves to be correct it could be a very different Russian Legion next year.
Hold the presses! One of the earliest rumored players in the Procaps sweepstakes is once again rumored to be back in the mix. Hint: it's a paintball company, d'oh! (That at present doesn't have paint-making capability.) I first heard this rumor during the holiday weekend and have as yet not been able to get additional sources to confirm. I'm mentioning it now because if accurate it makes the Procaps Sold post premature at best and wrong at worst. I find it hard to credit but who knows? (Of course it could be the GI Kidz jumped the gun and what was claimed to be a done deal was in fact the beginning of what was expected to be a done deal. And, yes, that means more than one of my sources for that rumor came from within. And I've since heard the GI brass attempted to put the fear of God or unemployment in their employees to keep their mouths shut in the future.) With the original GI buys Procaps rumor the initial source was a regular, and to-date impeccable source that was later confirmed by two other independent sources. (I even got a price--but decided to stay away from that.) The latest hasn't seemed to be as well sourced but ... hey, this is paintball so almost anything is possible I suppose. Regardless Procaps is still on the block.
And last and certainly least is not so much a rumor as a, oh I don't know, hopeful wannabe rumor? Btw, this is about the Millennium Series, sorta. In the past I've heard rumors about the licensing fees and entries suggesting that all teams aren't charged equally (This is news?)--and that plenty of people know it--but nobody will talk about it, particularly those gaining an advantage if it's true. But that isn't the latest. In fact that's old (old) news. The latest (also really a recycled rumor too) wannabe rumor is that the MS also cuts deals on sponsorships with industry partners--at least with certain industry sponsors. (Of course if you'd seen the sponsorship packet they put out each year and the prices you'd be amazed that anybody paid those prices.) This isn't really a rumor, it's an unsubstantiated complaint. And like the licensing business what it's really all about is that whatever group of participants are unsatisfied with the MS want somebody else to change things for them. So pretty much big time Europaintball as usual. So why did I mention this particular wannabe rumor? Because if there's any fire generating these puffs of smoke this is somebody's opportunity to make a real case. Or not. And if not, it remains bidness as usual--and after last year in the MS maybe that's not such a bad thing after all.

What Doesn't Happen In Vegas

I don't have anything new on the merger (Kaboom!) front but when has that stopped me before? If, in fact, this signals the end of serious talks about a merger for the foreseeable future--and there seems little doubt that it does--then a post mortem is in order. And if it's all some sort of misunderstanding--I didn't know she was your wife when she stepped out of my shower--we can consider it just another one of those wacky Vegas misadventures along the rocky road to happiness--but it's not. But seriously, odds are, given the rumors exploding last weekend in Vegas, and the sudden posting of an HB event schedule for 2012 it sure sounds like everything went Kaboom! So what happens now? Is top flight national competition paintball in trouble? And what about some of the reported rumors? And how does the sale of Procaps effect national level competitive paintball, if at all?

While I'm not privvy to any first person insider info--go figure--I think there are a few reasonable conclusions that can be drawn (and I'm willing to climb out on a limb and offer a few up.) Back in September I posted a couple of merger-related posts. The first one, Merger Counterfactual, addressed the possibilities of what happens if there is or isn't a merger. I stand by that post and have a rumor or two to toss into the pot as I go all in. In Monday's post I alluded to the rumor that KEE was threatening a hard line with its sponsored teams if there was no merger. A hard line that favors the PSP. (There's even been some talk of a united industry--minus PE--determined to break the 2 league sponsorship cycle--but color me skeptical of that one.) If true that would mean KEE would likely pressure teams like Dynasty, Infamous and XSV to abandon the NPPL. (Of course the reverse could also be true but that isn't the way the rumors were flying.) And think of all the teams shooting Axes & RPS paint. That doesn't paint a pretty picture for the NPPL's future success.

Merger Machinations was also posted in September. In that post I identified some impediments to the merger I believed to be accurate. (And I've had no reason or received any info to suggest otherwise since.) Admittedly there are more current rumors but only the folks in the room discussing the merger know what actually happened and why and I would be very surprised (shocked actually) if the whole process wasn't covered by non-disclosure agreements. [I use them with some regularity and while not foolproof non-disclosures provide some extra legal protections again sensitive or proprietary information being leaked.] That is however just a supposition on my part. That said all the "insider" rumors about the meeting are coming from one side; the NPPL side.

What's perhaps more interesting than speculating about exactly what happened is speculating about what will happen next. Rumorology has suggested (for some time now) that there will be more events next season--rumor says 5 but who knows, is back to the old schedule of 6 events possible? I would guess not but that would only be a guess. Further I would expect the PSP to maintain the status quo when it comes to rules and format and such. After a reputedly successful 2011 (and the general playership aversion to change) a little continuity would likely prove quite popular. (Although a return to the shorter field might be change everyone could appreciate--and would help reverse the more paint, fewer points trend of 2011.) And then there's the sale of Procaps. Richmond has always flagshipped his paint brand with high visibility sponsorships--the current GI Sportz line-up for example--and there's no reason to imagine that will change. The question really is--will DraXXus be retained as a separate brand line (that incidentally ends up competing with GI) or will  Procaps be subsumed into GI? And what happens to DraXXus sponsored teams as a result? Does GI spread the wealth and go with the numbers or focus their resources on a few well chosen teams? (Last year, KEE picked up a number of teams on the relative cheap with their Axes & RPS deals because there wasn't any real alternatives available.) Will the Procaps sale force further belt tightening and if it does what will that mean? In the Pro division it will likely mean a number of the NPPL only Pro teams won't have any real option about where they play; it will be NPPL or nothing.
And then there are the players. How many players play for multiple teams? How many teams are made up largely of players who also play elsewhere? Back in the day the NXL attempted to restrict player movement and I can imagine a time, in the not so distant future, when that becomes a more viable policy. When the NXL tried to restrict player movement there was too much money and too many options available to make it stick but that isn't the paintball universe of today.
Recently the league wars have been relatively mild low grade conflicts, schoolyard pissing contests if you will, but if the industry really does pick a side will it signal a heating up of the war? In the aftermath of whatever caused the merger to fail are there hard feelings, bruised egos and bitter recriminations? Frankly that's the stuff of paintball wars past--will it be the basis for a hot war going forward?
So many questions. So much unknown and/or uncertain going forward. At least there will be something to talk about over the winter.

Does Airsoft Have Referees?

Does Airsoft have referees? Or does everybody just run around yelling "I shot you" "No, you didn't" "Did so" "Did not" all the time? In between calling in imaginary air strikes and calibrating their night vision goggles, of course.

Seriously, who do those people think they are? The NPPL? Come to think of it maybe that sheds some light on how Tom Cole botched the big calls at DC so thoroughly. I mean he's not in the paintball biz anymore, after all. To be fair though you woulda thought--or at least I woulda thought--he'd still remember how paintball works. (Maybe he was channeling Bill Cookston. Sorry kids, that gag was for the OGs.) What do you think the chances are we see a UWL event with Airsoft gear? It's a no-brainer, right? Unless of course Airsofters don't really compete. Mostly they just fantasize--and play with their radios. (And no that isn't a euphemism for something else. Unless you want it to be.)

I was thinking of calling this post When does a paintball field stop being a paintball field but there were two obvious answers--so I didn't. The two answers? When they go out of business or they turn into an Airsoft field, doh! Speaking of which I was reading about the upcoming field owners conference coinciding with WC to be held next week in Kissimmee. (Funny how that worked out. Come to central Florida for Cup and spend a day at the conference. Serendipity. Gotta love it.) Anyway, I was looking at the list of sponsors for the conference and it made for some interesting reading. Airsoft giant PALCO, PolarStar (another Airsoft company), Tippmann Paintball Laser Tag, Steradian Technologies (makers of outdoor laser tag equipment) plus a couple of actual paintball companies. (If you're looking for links you're outta luck. I ain't giving you any.)
I know what you're thinking; it's hard times and if paintball fields need to diversify in order to stay in business that's a good thing, not a bad thing. And if I were a field owner I would probably agree with you but as a paintball player I'm not so sure. The website for the conference promoters is fieldownersconference.com. Nary a paintball in sight. And once what were paintball fields start down that road where does it end? Look, if a field can't survive as a paintball field I understand--change or die. But shouldn't the answer be learn how to be a better paintball field instead of morphing into something else? And please don't tell me laser tag and Airsoft are gateways to playing paintball. They aren't. (Airsoft is for weekend commando wannabes and laser tag is for children, girls and Betas. Yes, I said it. Deal with it.) Is there some movement across those boundaries? Sure, but it isn't one way and there isn't an obvious natural progression from one to the other.
It's kinda funny really. If this is how the industry and its friends try to save Paintball I have a hard time imagining that its enemies could do much worse.

Merger Counterfactual

This isn't the next coaching post. Big shock, huh? Relax, I will get around to doing them, the other coaching posts, that is, because the topic interests me (too) so be patient. In the meantime I couldn't resist a follow up of sorts on the latest NPPL rumorology particularly in light of a couple of comments under that post.

Oh yeah, before I get started a counterfactual (for those of you not steeped in geek speak) is basically a What If scenario. Roughly the idea is to create a scenario based on a set of conditions that might have been or could still be. At one end of the scale you get alternative history novels and at the other end you get hypothetical models that are (theoretically) useful in thinking about all manner of complex situations. For paintball purposes we's gonna keep things simple and stick with the What Ifs.

In the Mr. Curious comments Joe suggests that no merger means the end of pro paintball. Joe's statement is predicated (I assume) on the notion that the industry support of the leagues has been shrinking for years and that elements of industry have been making noises like they intend to play hardball over this merger issue. They want one league and one league only. So Joe's comment seems to have some merit but--

What If one league makes a good faith effort? What If the industry isn't united? (And we know that it isn't.) What If a merger happens? What does it mean and what will happen in the aftermath?

What If one league makes a good faith effort and no merger results? I ask the question that way given the split on the NPPL board but we could as easily ask What If both leagues make a good faith effort and no merger results? Will the PB Industry refuse to support either league or any of the pro teams as a consequence? It seems highly unlikely. For one I think it's impossible to make the case that industry is united--which it would have to be to enforce a no support decision. Two, it's not in industry's best interest to offer no support. For example, KEE is believed to be doing well with their new Axe in part because of the number of pro & divisional tourney teams using the marker. And if the rumors are true KEE signed up a number of pro teams for a relative pittance of paint. The cost versus the potential return definitely favors KEE. So while the industry, or elements within industry, may be making hardline noises it seems unlikely it would actually happen regardless of the circumstances.
What If the PB Industry isn't united? I ask this as the follow-up even though I've already decided it isn't because it's important to see what the ramifications of that lack of unity might be. Let's say for the moment no merger occurs and the industry--or some key players--announce they will no longer support the NPPL as a result. (Insert PSP for NPPL if you prefer as it makes no difference.) How long before some element--Let's, for the sake of the example say, Oh I don't know, Valken--steps in and offers to support the league? Five minutes? How long after that before everyone else jumps back in out of fear of somehow losing out? The point is that without a unified industry elements within the industry will seek to advance themselves if the opportunity presents itself. The issue has never been two leagues; it's been a divided industry that is constantly at odds and unwilling and/or unable to formulate a policy with respect to tournament paintball and two national leagues. The merger matters to parts of industry because they want forces outside the industry to do for them what they can't (or won't) do for themselves.
What If a merger happens? Does it preclude the possibility of another league forming? No. All it really can do is limit or preclude the participation of any of the principles involved in the merger. Is that enough to merit merging? I don't know but if it were me I would be taking a very hard look at what benefits I derive from a merger. I would also be looking at how such a deal would be accomplished. (Rumor has it the NPPL isn't in any legal sense a formal entity. If true who does the PSP make a deal with? A dozen different individuals or teams? And how do each of the "owners" represent and protect their interests if the NPPL exists in name only? That's a whole other What If post all by itself. And a serious complication to a merger if true.) If the best we can say is that a merger unites the existing leagues and leadership but does nothing to limit future league formation and competition how much does it really accomplish? If a merger occurs will the industry all of a sudden start throwing more support at the new unity league? (If you said when pigs fly, you guessed the likely correct answer.) It seems to me the industry hardball line is all threatened stick and no carrot at a time when the leagues have gotten used to barely enough carrots to flavor a weak broth. Not a whole lot of incentive to make a merger work (or so it seems to me.)
What does it mean and what will happen in the aftermath? I'm not sure there any answers to those questions except to suggest that perhaps a merger doesn't solve all of competitive paintball's problems--it may only defer some of them--and it may create new ones. It doesn't mean that multiple leagues will never again compete at the national level. It doesn't even guarantee united industry support--though that may be the default short term result. Is that good enough? For anybody?

Paintball Miscellany

One quick additional word on the errant story Facefull posted yesterday and then pulled at the NPPL's request (apparently). Seriously, the sources must have been either NPPL people or bigwigs at KEE 'cus none of the primary PSP movers were present. Missed the story? Facefull was claiming the merger a veritable done deal until told their "facts" were mistaken and they should post haste pull their story. Which they did.

ProPaintball has a follow-up today on the latest rumorology regarding a merger and given the information in their latest missive VFTD will be doing a pre-merger analysis next week after the NJ Open as ProPaintball's sources are sufficiently well-informed (and willing to talk) that I no longer feel under any obligation to keep things under wraps at least in a general sense because plainly some NPPL sources have been talking.

Regarding last weekend's Paintball Festival I am hearing it was sparsely attended pretty much across the board. A couple hundred scenario players--maybe. A dozen teams competing in the UWL event--which is pretty typical. And perhaps as many as three or four dozen of the bread-and-butter field & store owner types which must have been a huge disappointment--but was readily predictable. And I'm not sure you can legally call it a trade show if there are fewer than 10 vendors present. The same people who ran the once mighty cash cow of the IAO into the ground show up a few years later trying to run a variation on the same theme and it is somehow supposed to magically fill up as the little people come from far and wide grateful for the privilege of attending? Really? Debra Dion Who? Oh, sure, apparently there was a decent turnout of bigwig types prepared to be seen and pontificate but it's easy to get them to come. They'll gather faster than you can say open bar. And it seems they were all a-twitter over airsoft which makes absolutely no sense to me at all. (We got into this a bit last week but it's back!) The fact is plenty of local fields already accommodate airsofters but how exactly does that help paintball and the paintball industry? Airsoft isn't a gateway to paintball play, it's a direct competitor to a (supposedly) strong element of paintball. And inviting airsoft in now only provides another non-paintball alternative to the new or occasional player. Unless the paintball industry is looking to morph into the airsoft industry--and last time I checked there already was an airsoft industry--none of their enthusiasm makes any sense. Unless Tom Cole is a master hypnotist too.

Did you see the new Tippmann multi-purpose Tippmann tool? (Designed specifically for Tippmann markers.) It's blunt, sturdy, nearly indestructible and fits in your pocket like a stubby, fat wrench. Am I the only one disappointed that it won't attach to my pickatinny rail system?

This last item is about the sold out, over sold even, final MS event of the season and more specifically about the size of the D2 division. For the 2011 season the MS cleverly disguised a shrinking base and incorporated scarcity into the mix by limiting the size of each competing division. This also helped in determining well in advance the scale of each event, fields required, etc. Consequently each event maxed out in all the divisions except M5 which has been discontinued. (And that one London event division that came up a couple teams shy.) Anyway the demand for Paris-Disney was apparently such that the MS has oversold D2 by 75% and D3 by 20%. In actual team numbers that means there will be an additional 30 teams competing, 24 of them in an enormous D2 of 56 total teams, on the same number of fields as an MS event intended for 30 fewer teams. (Or so I'm told.)
I have no idea if the days are long enough in Paris in early October to avoid playing under the lights or if there was enough scheduling time leeway that fitting an extra 30 teams in won't be an issue but what I do know is there are some teams and players who are concerned about how it's all going to play out. Unfortunately there is nothing VFTD can do for them so I hope they also mentioned their concerns to the MS. (haha) And I further hope the MS doesn't screw up what has proved to be a very good season for them at the last minute because they got too greedy--again. VFTD will wait and watch and see what happens.

Tom Cole: Hobby Traitor?

Who'd a thunk it, right?
Right what?
Didn't you hear?
Apparently not.
It seems Tom Cole--
The Tom Cole?
Yes, of Bad Company fame. And creator of the UWL. Long time promoter for Kingman & Spyder. Original NPPL guy even. Now works for PALCO. Makers of an enormous line of, ahem, airsoft products.
Airsoft?!
Yep. And they are a major sponsor at the upcoming IAO, er, Paintball Festival where Tom is going to show paintball field owners how to supplement their income by encouraging airsoft play.
Wow! Okay. Let me see if I understand. Tom wants to sell paintball fields on the benefits of providing airsoft at the same time the industry is trying to disassociate paintball from airsoft and its look-a-like toy guns.
In a nutshell.
Wha'dya call that?
A hobby traitor?


H/T to the Big Bullet. Here's their story.

Festival vs. Extravaganza

Now that we've all enjoyed the latest political charade performed almost flawlessly by our bi-factional ruling party it's time to get back to paintball. Besides, I know many of you prefer the feel of nice warm soft sand to bury your head in and don't want to be inconvenienced by reality at a silly paintball blog. That way when your masters come along your ass will be elevated waiting to be kicked but at least you won't see it coming. Don't worry, be happy.
Has Extravaganza been so successful the folks who brought us the IAO just had to come back? Well, the Festival will also feature a scenario game & a UWL event. And, of course, the requisite party. And there must be plenty of paintball execs left who remember getting blitzed at the Sheraton bar on the old expense account back in the day. Good times.
What am I talking about?
Where have you been?
For the last couple of years (or more) Paintball Extravaganza has been bringing sellers (PBIndustry) together with (reluctant) buyers (local paintball retailers) in the guise of a conference designed to help the "little guy" make a go of his (or her) paintball field and/or store. The Paintball Festival promises to be about the same with the value added of actual paintball being played at Three Rivers during the festival period along with a laundry list of paintball celebrities. If you're a geezer like me you might consider it the reincarnation of the old IAO which featured an industry conference to coincide with the International Am Open paintball tournaments of years past. It's even scheduled for about the same time the IAO used to be.
Haven't years of dueling major leagues taught paintball anything? Now we have dueling conferences committed to helping field owners--or at least facilitating selling them something--like attending a festival or extravaganza. Is that too cynical? Is it one conference too many? I'm thinking it probably is.

The Future of Paintball?

No, probably not--the future of paintball, that is--but I wanted to grab your attention and shake you like a rag doll. No, you (yes, I mean you) didn't do anything--that I know of--to make me angry--but if instead I start talking about politicians, automatic weapons and steel-jacketed ammo the next thing I know jackboots will be kicking in my door and ruining what's left of a bad day.
Some days I decry the future of this stupid game and other days I mock the pitiful efforts made to save it and still other days I think I could have had a V8--and not one of the fruity ones either. Some of you will recall that a fairly concerted effort was once made to keep the milsim and paramilitary overtones of some elements of paintball out of the public eye like crazy uncle Harry locked in the basement when the neighbors dropped by for a visit. That day is over, both from the industry and at the retail level where a lot of paintball stores sell Airsoft side-by-side with their paintball gear. One upshot of that trend may have been the recent California bill aimed at toy guns that originally included paintball markers--and could again. While paintball dodged that bullet--this time--paintball is clearly headed down a path that will further entwine our game with guns of all sorts--and it won't be to paintball's betterment.
But that isn't what I want to rant about today. While paintball looks to relive the Vietnam experience (or D-Day or whatever) minus all the ugly and, you know, deadly parts for fun and recreation Hasbro & Nerf are flat ripping us off. No, I'm not kidding. Here's the deal: check it out. (Watch the short video.) Not convinced, try here. Or here. (Watch this video too.) Getting the picture? Hasbro has taken Nerf to the next level and they've done it by looking at tourney paintball and recreating a Nerf version currently aimed at kids. It's cheap. It's clean. It's easy to play and it might even be fun. And they've taken a giant step or two past that with an annual tour of event stops to play in regional events with a chance to win a trip to Disney's WWOS (Wide World of Sports)--you may have heard of it--for the annual championships and a chance for the winning team to take home 25 grr. The tour, btw, is the Dew Tour featuring a line-up of so-called extreme sports.
Dart tag regional events compete with the other sports on the Dew Tour with regional winners eligible for the championships in Orlando. They play inside inflated, netted arenas with inflatable bunkers, penalty boxes and referees and score points by capturing an opponent's nerf something and returning it to their Home base in a timed game that offers multiple breakouts. Sound familiar?
Meanwhile, in paintball land after 20 years TV treats us like the hired help and our industry is all monkey see, monkey do without being able to agree on anything that might be in everyone's best interest all the while leaving a crumbling retail network to fend for itself.
Is nobody either ashamed or offended that Hasbro is kicking paintball's ass? Hasbro? And Nerf?

Of course, it also begs the question of whether dart tag and the other Nerf products are precursors--potential gateways to paintball--or, as silly as it may sound, the foundation of an easy to play, energetic, painless variant of tag that will pull potential paintballers away from paintball. And if nerf tag kids are potential future paintballers will anybody do anything about it or are we too far gone with our picatinny equipped replica AK-47s and battle vests to care?

H/T to Steve Davidson for bringing Nerf Dart Tag to my attention. Like there aren't enough things in the world that already aggravate me. Thanks, Steve. I owe you one and I will get even.

A Secret Meeting & Patents Rising

VFTD would like to congratulate the ProPaintball guys on their merger talk meeting story. Nice job. Because it was indeed a secret meeting despite the fact VFTD aluded to the fact it was happening a couple of weeks ago. Which reminds me: Almost any time some sort of sensitive info leaks into the public this site is assumed to be involved. Au contraire. If VFTD burned sources and/or broke promises Mr. Curious would quickly be out of business. And to prove it to y'all I'ma tell you something about the meeting you don't know.
WHAT'S HE GONNA SAY!?! OMG!
Rumor has it that everyone involved signed a non-disclosure up front and if that is true then whoever passed information on to ProPaintball should oughta be mighty red-faced right about now assuming the details published by ProPaintball are accurate--something VFTD can neither confirm or deny. Next time some beans get spilled y'all might want to look a little closer to home.

As sensitive as the secret meeting was Mr. Curious has stumbled onto a rumor buried so deep in the industry's basement it was surely intended to never see the light of day. Assuming it's accurate. It is, in fact, so sensitive that VFTD isn't going to identify the company--but those of you not hopelessly out of the loop should know who is being referenced--and further no mention will be made of specific numbers.
Remember back in the day when Smart Parts was involved in one litigation after another mostly revolving around their ability to enforce certain patents? And the upshot was some sort of cross deal was made between SP & Dye & Angel (more or less) and everybody else ended up having to come to terms with SP and pay licensing fees in order to manufacture and sell electronic paintball markers. Or get out of the gun biz. Do you remember what happened to those patents? And do you remember a press release made regarding those patents?
Rumor has it that some gun makers have been approached and informed they will be required to pay a lump sum upfront plus a per gun licensing fee that is approx. 40% - 50% greater than SP ever demanded. (Inflation, I guess.) While the company is perfectly within its legal right to do so that would appear to contradict past public statements of intent. VFTD does not know how or if this rumor may affect any company that had agreed to terms previously with SP. In looking for additional and related info it seems that the duration of active patent protection (in this category) is twenty years which leaves a goodly number of years that the patents will remain in force--assuming annual maintenance fees are kept up to date.

Is HydroTec (finally) Coming?

Mr. Curious went digging so deep for the latest rumorology he's still squinting at any hint of sunlight. And despite his best efforts he refuses to name certain names on account of his inability to confirm some of the details--though you may feel free to fill in the blanks--after all, it's not like Mr. C (or I) can stop you, right? In any event we will all discover relatively soon if the important part of today's post is correct, or not.
You may recall the fanfare and skepticism with which early reports of a largely water-based, new technology paintball were initially received last year and latterly the announced intention of a general release last fall--and the Paintball Extravaganza presentation, etc. Followed by delays in the actual roll out and distribution of the new paintball. The last official statements from HydroTec (and linked to on their website) came from a podcast interview on (BRWP) Blast Radius Woodsball Podcasts towards the end of May 2011. The word at that time was that issues with vendors & custom tooling, software, etc. had caused the delays but was largely resolved and they were 95% of the way to having their first production line operational. I mention it because it appears to lend credence to the claim that Mr. C ferreted out recently. That HydroTec will be putting paint on sale around the 15th of August. (After all the past delays it may be HydroTec is a bit gun shy about making a formal announcement too early but August 15th is less than a month away.)

The other half of what Mr. C dug up is the supposed "real" story behind the delays--and is, at this point, pure rumorology. In any event it's intriguing speculation and a glimpse into the sort of inside paintball shens that occur with perhaps more regularity than one might imagine. The story is that one of the principles at HydroTec , Mr. Ronnie Bayless , (and here the details get murky) was either still under contract or bound by the terms of a non-compete for work done as (an employee?) a contractor for one of the paintball giants, who might have objected and invoked the possibility of legal recourse. Mr. Bayless has had ties to the paintball manufacturing biz for many years first working for RP Scherer back in the early 90s. And the rest of the story is that the term of his contract/non-compete expire the first week of August.

Is HydroTec finally coming to market? Did the looming threat of a lawsuit delay the release or was it, as claimed, developmental delays as a new system was built from the ground up?

Major League Counterfactual

Much has been at various times about what could, would, should, ought or might happen if major league paintball returned to one league. The predominant opinion since double digit growth stopped cold is that the industry can't support more than one league--despite the fact they continue to do so (after a fashion) and after they (the Industry) refused to take the matter into their own hands when they could have (by refusing to do business with the upstart NPPL 3.0 & by intimidating their sponsored teams to knock it off--or else.) Of course at the same time all the big players are fearful of the double cross--or any situation where a significant competitor may gain an upper hand. So there may be talk of cooperation but it never pans out because each in their turn trust only that the next guy will screw them whenever possible. Nor do they want to get out in front of any such maneuver just in case it goes south and they end up the new Smart Parts as everyone's favorite whipping boy.
Back when the leagues first separated there was considerably more support for the idea of two leagues but there was also a seemingly endless supply of optimism about the future that appeared, to the players at least, to be a win, win all the way around. Two leagues drove each other to be better, to compete for the players' dollar in a way that had never existed before with the end result two leagues offering superior events to anything experienced before. Nobody was concerned about supporting two leagues--they were flush with players playing five events each season--and the principle drama of the day was the Race 2 TV. Who would win? Who would leave the other in the dust?
Opinions (regarding major leagues) it seems are conditional, based on arguments that may (or may not) have much to do with observable reality. Opinions that are the result of some depth of empirical consideration. (Everything from the often shallow repetition of the conventional wisdom to a more measured, considered point of view.) Times change, opinions change. Regardless, opinions are about what is. Counterfactuals are about what might be. Think of it as a What If?

What if the NPPL closed shop tomorrow? What if the PSP called it a day and canceled the remaining scheduled events? What if both of them decided they couldn't continue?
Okay, NPPL 3.0 is kaput. What does the MLP landscape look like? A half dozen or more Pro teams disappear too. 7-man is only played in a few local/regional tourney series. Nobody pushes the idea of a national 7-man series anymore. Half the tourney players competing didn't play when 7-man existed as an MLP series. Industry support for the PSP takes a modest bump up. The Big Guys aren't paying any more and the small industry players continue to struggle to make vendor appearances profitable. Team turnout improves less than industry support. Maybe ten percent. [Remember: it's not a matter of teams moving over. It's a question of teams forming in the first place.] Without the NPPL the PSP is in marginally better shape, may or may not have made the same rules changes, and while the affiliates effort is somewhat more advanced the league still struggles with how (or if) to transition to a new revenue stream(s) and/or expand their existing revenue streams. The economy doesn't improve but the news isn't all gloomy. The Outdoor Channel is looking into a Tippman-sponsored show covering the UWL (and their new Tippman division) and a recent pit clearing brawl from the latest PSP webcast uploaded to YouTube has attracted the interest of a Fox producer. The NFL lockout continues. (Isn't this fun?)

There is no PSP. The NPPL is achieving participation levels similar to what a stand alone PSP would be getting. There was a decent numbers bump of crossover when the PSP folded but the same issues continue to plague the NPPL, like reffing. And along with the general economic malaise the overall trend is slow attrition. [This counterfactual assumes the two leagues coexisted for some time otherwise there wouldn't be a 7-man format. Without Xball there was no reason to move away from 10-man.] When the PSP folded a number of regional Xball leagues popped up. Most continue to struggle but a few have taken hold. There has been talk, initiated by the AXBL of the various Xball leagues participating in a co-sponsored national tournament but even as it has created a strong buzz nothing concrete has happened. Despite proclaimed satisfaction from the network the webcasts have not extended beyond the ESPN3 showcase. The league recently announced a contest looking for cheerleaders.

See how it works? I've kind of approached these versions tongue-in-cheek ('cus it's more fun that way) but one of the virtues of the counterfactual is that it can open up one's thinking and the blending of facts and past trends with hypothetical situations can alter perspectives and help the "observer" to see what's really there and (perhaps) what really matters--and maybe, just maybe, what the future could bring.

Rumor du Jour: PB Makers Push Merger

This was the perfect time to drag out this hoary old chestnut 'cus otherwise I had nothing. (Title is link to ProPaintball story. Thanks, guys!) This particular rumor is fast becoming a tourney paintball tradition, like watching the annual broadcast of 'A Christmas Story' or 'It's a Wonderful Life' during the holidays. Oddly, it seems the less likely it is to be true the more credence it gets from the riff-raff. (That would be you people.) The first couple of times the rumor made the rounds it was both quasi-true and quasi-believable. You see, once upon a time (around the time the talk of NPPL 3.0 rising Phoenix-like from the ashes of Pacific Paintball's bankruptcy began to entice a number of pro teams) the paint giants very likely could have enforced a one national league only policy. They had grumbled about it before but nothing ever came of it because they (the paint giants) were also locked in competition amongst themselves and none of them trusted the others enough to believe any bargain made would hold. (Probably because they were all trying to figure out to gain an advantage in the process.)
When this rumor first appeared the paint giants also had something they don't have anymore. Leverage. Okay, they have some but nothing like what they once had because their leverage was predicated on cash money. You see, the price of doing business has changed. Back in the (hay)day the paint giants took loses to be showcased at the biggest events and considered it part of the cost of doing business. Not so much anymore. Not that they're making money at the big events but how much it costs them matters now. As does how much they are willing to pay for the privilege. Back when the paint giants were putting six figures plus into a league they had (some) leverage. Today, not so much. They pay considerably less and consequently have less leverage.
Keep in mind they (paint giants) continue to compete against each other, too. If giant B sponsors league X now giants A & C have to decide if they need to counter that effort. That is a difficult environment in which to agree on much of anything.
Interestingly enough there is one place the paint giants retain very serious leverage and that is with sponsored teams. Despite the fact most teams get less paint than used to be the case it is of critical importance to the survival of many teams. The downside the paint giants would face to throwing their weight around with sponsored teams is that many teams participate in one league only and those that get more exposure by playing more are at a premium. The trend has been less about controlling who plays where than it has been maintaining a portfolio of teams for the least amount of sponsored paint.
There have also been times when the leagues were serious about possible mergers. That seems less likely as well because the core question is what does each side bring to the table? NPPL 3.0 doesn't offer much other than demands. It doesn't bring the dominate format. Or truckloads of the infrastructure of putting on a traveling tournament. Or ranks of loyal teams. Or an infusion of cash. Mostly it would bring a bunch of teams that feel entitled to a piece of the pie. Would the PSP be better off after merging with the NPPL?

Is it possible some of the big industry players are grousing again? You betcha. Does it mean anything? Not much. Is it possible a league has been making discreet inquiries about the possibility of discussing a merger? It's happened before. Is there a chance something will come of it this time around? (If there is a this time around.) I don't see it happening because I don't see how the pieces fit together beneficially for all concerned. Still, this Paintball and stranger things have happened.

Calls to Action (Paintball Edition)

I did it myself yesterday. A call to action. On behalf of Central Florida Paintball--a place I've spent more weekends than I can count. And I'd do it again. Anytime. But being a cynic (and a lazy slacker) I'm not giddy with excitement awaiting the outpouring of happy (weekend) warriors ready & willing to combat the retrograde anti-paintball forces all around us. Don't get me wrong, it would be nice to see but my hopes are modest and my expectations more modest still. It would be nice to see but every day we are tugged and pulled this way and that by a thousand and one things demanding our attention. From a quick glance through the latest paintball news there are numerous calls to action--of one sort or another.
What merits our interest and attention? Why?
Before I go further I need to confess a thing or two. I'm not a joiner. A member in good standing of much of anything. Nor am I a team player by nature. (Though I can make it happen when needs be.) My default position is to push back against authority. I don't play well with others--and I frequently run with scissors. Consequently I tend to rebel against any and all calls to action regardless of their nature.

Besides the upcoming hearing involving CFP there is also the pending law hanging over the heads of Californians, the Facebook group gathering round the idea of 'Respecting Paintball' and a charity scenario game benefiting the wounded warriors organization. Each is promoting a cause and in one way or another issuing a call to action. It's a pretty diverse group considering they all fall under the banner of paintball. And they are just representative samples. (Hell, I was invited to join 3 other Facebook groups (that I remember) in the past few days and all of those mostly wanted easy access to try and promote stuff at me. Have I ever mentioned before how much I hate social networking? I have? Well, I do.)
Despite the lack of outrage from much of the VFTD universe--which legitimately spans the globe--if not the solar system--at least that I'm aware of (or the galaxy) (or universe) the pending legislation in Cali is a big deal for paintball--or it might be depending on how things turn out. It's of immediate concern to much of PBIndustry and many west coast players but after that it's hard to say. Even if you're concerned what can you do? Does the voice of one guy in Arkansas make a difference? Or a Facebook group called Friends of Cali Paintball? Maybe. What about a paintball team from Finland? Seems kinda unlikely. But what about the PSP or the NPPL or Millennium Series or PALS or paintball federations from around the world? Closer to home there's the Airsoft industry. Are they up to speed on this? How many stores and fields in Cali are working together to reach out to these politicians?
Then there's the Facebook group (plus available T-shirt) started by a sincere (and earnest) woman who is a long time player and nostalgic for the good old days when honor and respect ruled the playing field. As an ideal (if never quite the reality) it's a swell notion and God bless 'em. And as long as it's a voluntary association of like-minded peeps I say more power to them. But good intentions are also the paving stones on the road to hell. How long does it take before if you're not a member you're assumed to be without honor and disrespectful? That the litmus test of the "good" paintballer is the one willing to join in lockstep with the majority. Sound silly? Give it time. If it isn't this one it will be something else and then it'll seem prophetic. It won't happen on purpose. There will be no malice aforethought. But that won't matter and won't change the outcome. Anytime something like this reaches a critical mass it goes south and turns sour and becomes a vehicle for somebody's dreams of power--even if it's just another big fish in a little pond.
The final example of a call to action is a charitable scenario game honoring (I was sorely tempted to put that in quotes) real wounded warriors. I have issues with reenactment-type scenario games (yes, like D-Day) and I'm a cynic. 9 times out of 10 I see 'charity' attached to some routine commerce and I assume it's a gimmick. In this case it would be to pump up the turnout with a game while also delivering the personal satisfaction of contributing to a worthwhile cause whilst running around in the woods reliving the Battle of the Bulge--or whatever. What's better than entertaining altruism? Which is okay. What looks like a cynical move to me may in fact be completely innocent. But does nobody else sense the intellectual disconnect between legitimately honoring the sacrifice of real soldiers while trivializing everything about real combat running around with paintball guns pretending to be the Allies vs. the Axis. Reenactment scenarios intentionally attempt to frame their game with some vestige of "reality"--and they can't. All they end up doing is making a mockery of what they are supposedly honoring.

So what's the point? Don't have one really. It was just one of those how are these things like the others moment. And a tiny rant of sorts if I'm honest. I found it momentarily distracting--and kinda interesting. If you're reading this--so did you.
Oh. One last thing. There's no links to any of these calls to action because they were unnecessary and to include them would have been to promote them--and there's already plenty of that going around.

PBN Sells Out!

Okay, maybe not or maybe they did that a long time ago--depending on your point of view--but you gotta admit it's a catchy title. (Did I mention the kids at ProPaintball have been doing good work lately? I didn't? Well, they have. Check out the PBN news here.) And while I'm at it the title is a link to the PBN news thread announcing the sale. (But you already know all this right?)
Here's an item or two you may not know. The Crowdgather folks have some detractors. (Right here!) And if you like legalese you can read all the down and dirty details of the deal right here.
(Link opens a pdf file.)
Now I'll be the first to admit I don't know how this dealio is gonna shake out but it appears that Crowdgather has so far only demonstrated an ability to lose (or spend) other people's (investors, one presumes) money. And if it is to be believed it appears Crowdgather isn't in the habit of dishing out real dollars for their past acquisitions so let's hope the cash is actual greenbacks (while they still retain some actual value.) Mostly I find these kind of paintball stories curiosities more than anything else but I do wonder what will become of the employees in the long run. And wasn't it Ed's kid who had the original idea for PBN? Is anybody cutting him a check? Curious (and idle) minds want to know. Sorta.

Mr. Curious has a question

In a playful mood Mr. C insisted VFTD guess what his question might be. The secret formula for KFC original fried chicken maybe? How 'bout 'What ... is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?' Does anybody really believe the popular uprisings in assorted Middle Eastern states will result in some sort of egalitarian democracy?

No?
Cui bono perhaps? It seems Mr. Curious has some additional questions now that 68 Caliber has got the ball rolling. You know, the John Robinson interview? Try and keep up.

You see, Mr. C has heard a rumor or two. Word on the street is that WDP (or APS if you prefer) is willing to shop the IP related to the Angel--at a very reasonable price at that. If true, Mr. C can't help wondering what would happen if KEE purchased that too. It would give KEE almost every marker and hopper related patent across the industry. Would KEE (or anybody else) give up that kind of control?