Chips Ahoy!

VFTD has discussed the Virtue chips in the past (for example here & here) and while I had intended to leave it at that until something new developed--and there are plenty of ideas in the pipeline--it seems that with the recent NPPL announcement of their intention to use the chips across all their non-pump divisions of play to enforce the ROF cap it has created--if not a firestorm of misinformation--a tiny tempest of confusion.
Instead of attempting to refute assorted misinformation I'm simply going to give you the facts as they stand today. Anything else you may hear will be either wrong, disinformation, conjecture or, at best, outcomes intended to be implemented some time in the future.
The chip can monitor a ROF cap. In this instance the cap is 15 bps. The chip can identify guns exceeding the cap, it does NOT enforce the cap. That remains a matter for the rules and rules enforcement. The chip does NOT identify bouncing, ramping or any other artificial shot adding. It does provide data that with experience and testing may suggest shots are being added but that falls into the category of data interpretation. The interpreter is a person, not the technology.
The chip can monitor ROF because it is recording each discharge from every monitored gun in real time. This has resulted, over the period of time the chip has been in trials--primarily by pro teams in both major leagues--in a substantial amount of raw data. The same kind of data that will accumulate across divisions in the NPPL during events assuming everything goes to plan. All current "information" within the data is a matter of interpretation and statistical analysis built on the firing of the guns in play.
Okay but what about the claims made by the NPPL? (here) (Which mostly fall in line with what Virtue has been promoting.) For example, what about the player stats? Player Effectiveness tracks how many of the opponents were eliminated while a given player remained active. Does that tell you that the active player was responsible for any of the eliminations? It does not. Even with an accumulation of data covering many games does the stat really confirm the effectiveness of a player? I don't think so. It may but at best it's inconclusive. Or how about the Stamina stat? Let's apply it to a lead snake player. Depending on his role he could easily be one of the first players eliminated routinely. Does that mean he isn't doing his job?
One thing the accumulated stats do allow for is comparisons. Alone a stat's value may be uncertain but since stats will exist for every player it should be possible to compare similar players or positions by stats in which case the data may prove valuable. I think the jury remains out on that too but it's a viable possibility.
The same applies to team and game stats. Yes, numbers and notions can be generated from the raw data but the question remains about the real utility of those numbers and notions. Unfortunately the stats don't generate themselves and part of the ongoing process will be in pulling the stats from the raw data.
I am, btw, pro stats. I think having bite size numbers and easy ways of looking at our game helps make it accessible. And some of the stats the chip offers may prove popular and if that's all the "stats" do they could still serve a valuable function. On the cautionary side claims made for the numbers aren't the numbers and the numbers, in my estimation, do not necessarily validate the claims made. All I'm suggesting is to look past the hype. Take the claims with a grain of salt and examine what the numbers are really all about. At worst it's harmless and at best it is a legit tool in rules enforcement and may provide new ways for people to think about the game.
Apart from functionality it seems to me a couple of other issues arise. In traditional 7-man it's relatively simple to keep track of guns & players. In the Race 2 format with the quick turnarounds and changing lines it may be a singular challenge to try and keep track of the gun (chip) / player association. And while chips can be installed in a minute or two it will almost certainly prove nearly impossible in Race 2 format matches to swap out the chips to different guns which means teams will likely need extras. If each specific chip isn't always associated with a specific player it poisons the data and the stats derived become unreliable so it's going to be a rather big deal trying to keep up with which chip is being used by which player in which game or point.

The Virtue of Numbers

If you are a techie or a geek or (perhaps) a far-sighted visionary this post is for you. As some of you will likely know Virtue has been developing a chip that piggybacks your gun's board and collects data it reports remotely. The NPPL have been trying it out the last two events to track the pro teams' markers and make sure they aren't exceeding the 15 bps cap (that is a new rule this season.) The result, so far, is that Virtue can identify both when and how often a chipped gun shoots. This means, in a very basic way, they are collecting data on shots fired, by however many active players (and guns) during a defined game period. For starters this means they have no trouble at all enforcing the cap.
In the meantime Virtue is also trying to devise different ways of looking at their accumulated data to discover if there aren't numerous possible combinations and thus associated interpretations of that data that might be useful to teams and players. Given that they are roaming in uncharted territory all the distinctions and combinations require identifying and naming--along with considerations of their potential utility. For example, the chip is called ROF-fi (raw-fye). And currently the data gathered is simply stats 1, stats 2, etc. Stat 1 is the amount of time a player spends shooting vs. not shooting over the entire game period. Stat 2 is the amount of time a player spends shooting vs. not shooting during the period of time they are actively playing the game. Which leads directly to Stat 3 which identifies the point in a game in which a player stops shooting and doesn't shoot again--thus approximating when they were (likely) eliminated--although I suppose it's possible a player might not actually be eliminated in some rare circumstances and simply doesn't discharge his gun again. Keep in mind all this data and more is being accumulated on (in the 7-man format) 14 players simultaneously which creates a fairly enormous potential complexity.
A couple of simple stats the Virtue nerds passed along in real time at the Chicago event was the raw volume of paint teams shot off the break and the raw totals of paintballs shot in a game. The OTB number was of greater interest to me as it would be a very unusual game where the winning team didn't shoot more paint than the losers. (Think about it. D'oh!)
Chris from Virtue was kind enough to both express an interest in my opinion (and any follow-up ideas) and permit me to post about the on-going process of building unique value into the chip. I thought some of VFTD's regulars would find all this interesting and if you have any ideas, thoughts or suggestions you'd like to offer feel free to do so in comments. If that is insufficient I can't stop you from contacting Christian Williams at Virtue directly. (Sorry, Chris. Just in case you get inundated.)
To get you started thinking about the possibilities here's a suggestion I made; the Plus/Minus stat. Over the course of an event or a season it would be possible to determine an individual player's plus/minus [relative to other players] rating based on eliminations (and when that player was eliminated relative to all other eliminations during a game or point). If you took the plus/minus and compared it to the average time played as a ratio of time played: maximum playable time you could make a number of valuable if rough determinations about individual players effectiveness and that of the lines or units they played with.

The Monday Poll

This week the Monday Poll wades directly into an interesting conversation and seeming "controversy"--at least in some quarters. VFTD is interested in what you think of the new Ego Prime's claim to fame: Is it the world's most accurate paintball marker? (A bit of promotional hyperbole.) Or isn't it? From VFTD's point of view it may very well be the world's most accurate Ego but that's not really the crux of the "controversy." Part of the controversy is semantic and objects to the use of the term 'accurate' to describe the results of the changes made. Others have objected to the less than rigorous use of some technical terms (like laminar) as well and if the discussion at hand was being conducted with rigor VFTD might agree but it isn't. It is aimed at the general paintball playing public and the aim has been to explain the value of the changes made to an audience largely composed of laymen. (No, there's nothing dirty about that expression, get your mind out of the gutter.)

Here's the dealio in a nutshell: the valve and bolt have been redesigned to reduce the inherent turbulence created when gas is released to propel a paintball. The object of that effort was to create superior consistency in shot to shot airflow characteristics. The result of improved consistency is projected to be tighter shot clusters (all things being otherwise equal) hence, more accurate. At which point the naysayers would point out that all things aren't equal and any effort to neutralise the variables involved necessarily results in greater consistency anyway. Stuff like bench testing the marker, controlling temperature and windage, measuring and weighing the paintballs and so on will reduce the effect of the common variables but also provide greater consistency. So is it the claimed improvements or the testing process? The data released so far suggests improved consistency from the mods. So, does improved consistency lead to greater accuracy? Is it all irrelevant mumbo-jumbo?

To fully immerse yourself in the controversy look first here and then here. Once you are sufficiently soaked it's time to vote. You know the drill. This week you only get one choice to get it right so make your choice count. Settle the debate once and for all. Btw, don't let the topic this week skeer ya. Nobody, least of all VFTD, is gonna pass judgment on your personal vote. This is about opinions. And sports. Since when did anyone have to be an expert to have an opinion? You can't be loud and obnoxious on the internet but you can express your opinion--so what are you waiting for?

Monday Poll in Review

Last week VFTD (in extremis & desperation) asked you to pick your all time favorite paintball gun. Whoop-de-freaking-doo. Didn't care last week. Don't care this week either. However it also came as no surprise that more of you voted for your favorite gat than for any other previous poll question. What the poll results tell us however is kinda interesting and not unexpected. PE remains the trendy favorite; a position they've enjoyed for some years followed by the other high profile, established big name marker makers like Dye (despite my accidentally leaving the NT off the list.) Although Bob Long marker numbers were somewhat weaker than might have been expected it was easy to pick out the current bandwagon support for the Axe and the Old Skool dominance of the autococker. For all the fans Tom Kaye has AGD numbers were well off the solid support the autococker, its one time arch nemesis, received. Also of interest was the older guns or entry type makers who failed to put numbers up for their products. Like Tippmann with 2 votes or Spyder with zero. Everybody may remember their first Spyder but it remains a transitional gun, a stepping stone perhaps, from new player to regular dedicated player. Otherwise there were modest numbers for many of the current and some of the past specialty makers like CCM or AKA and Phantom. More than anything the results may say more about the diversity of the VFTD audience than anything it suggests about markers.

KEE Feasts on Smart Parts Intellectual Corpse

Who saw that one coming? (Yes, kids, that was sarcasm.) For the official statement and the usual PBN incoherency look here. Other sources are the Big Bullet & ProPaintball. Are you digging the title? Me too. The first and last time the "F" word will appear in a VFTD post. I don't know about you but I'd love to see the licensing letter KEE sends to GOG Paintball. (I know I shouldn't but I just can't help myself.)

Skills Evolve

A long, boring title for a possibly long & boring post. You've been warned. Proceed at your peril. Nope. It was but I've changed it. That's because I'm cutting this post into at least four separate posts; Skills Evolve, Deconstructing Skill, Measuring Skill & Skill is Not Enough. I got a decent way into this post and realized all you slackers with attention deficit disorder were gonna short out and slip into a coma or go on a thrill killing spree and I don't want that on my conscience so the rest of y'all are stuck with multiple postings.

Let's begin with crawling. (Gotta crawl before you can walk, right?) Old Skool crawling was a fundamental skill for maneuvering unseen on a very large (by today's standards) wooded field. In the modern competition game crawling (actual crawling) has largely been reduced to snake play. In playing the modern snake a snake player's position may or may not be known--other than the player is in the snake. In this comparison the physical act of crawling remains the same--as does the purpose--acquisition of an advantageous position from which to eliminate the opposition. The change is in the environment. Of course it's not a small or minor change. Where the Old Skool crawler could use the skill nearly anywhere on the field the modern snake player is limited to the snake. And where the Old Skool crawler required stealth to succeed the snake player needs to be fast & fearless. Chances are the Old Skool crawler and the modern snake player would neither enjoy or be very good at swapping roles.

Now let's consider the trigger pull. Some of you lament the loss of this skill. (I am so tempted to put quotation marks around skill when we talk trigger pull but I won't in deference to your girlish sensibilities.) Some of you still think it's a skill ('cus it's the only one you got.) But seriously. No. Really. I'll stop. Back in the day, in the era of mechanical triggers, you had had all sorts of different means of actuation and a cottage industry in trigger mods all trying to make the pulls soft and short enough so that newbies didn't break their fingers trying to play paintball. For one thing almost nobody touted their skill at pulling a trigger. Their interest was more practical. And for another thing--I hate to break it to you skills guys--if there is no baseline any claim to a skill is, you know, silly. And once the guns were electropneumatics actuated by a software interface players who couldn't get 5 or 6 balls a second out of a blade frame cocker are suddenly pulling 15 or 16. It's amazing how good so many of you got all of a sudden. Now, while you're still hyperventilating answer this question: What was the benefit of the trigger pulling skill? What's the first thing that comes to mind? No, not waffles--or was that just me? Putting more paint in the air. Increasing your ROF. Because more paint equals more control.

At this stage of competitive paintball's development skills are evolving. (And going extinct.)

Tomorrow, yes, tomorrow! look for Deconstructing Skill.

Does Small Ball Still Have A Future? (or) Rise of the Evolt

I heard a story this past weekend. It sounds like science fiction. I'm unwilling to even call it a rumor at this point so let's just say it's speculation. But I give it credence for a couple of reasons; the technology exists and it comes from the same source that gave me the original 50 cal story--which nobody believed at first--and the JT Sports for sale story--which JT denied vociferously until the deal was done.
For the VFTD record on small ball type "50 caliber" into the search box and you will get a good selection of past posts going all the way back to the original post from May 15, 2009, 'The Ultimate Paintball Conspiracy.'
With a vocal element of the paintball community suspicious months before the official release and a firestorm of competing claims and "scientific evidence" as samples of 50 cal became available the mood of the marketplace did not (and does not) appear to be particularly receptive to small ball. Add industry resistance from companies like Tippmann and what we know of real world pricing where 50 cal paint is available and it's easy to conclude the whole effort is a likely bust. But that could be a very premature assessment.
VFTD is on the record as suggesting the only market that matters is the recreational rental market. If small ball can make real inroads there the Caliber War will be on. But that too seems unlikely when a company like Tippmann won't play ball and the current economic environment isn't encouraging when it comes to refitting rental markers and carrying additional inventory for two sizes of paintballs. But even so...
Take a look at this. Do you remember what it is? It was called the Evolt. It used an 18 volt battery to generate an air pulse that fired a paintball without an air tank. A production model was never released. Probably because it was bulky and slow.
But imagine a streamlined, up-dated version of the Evolt. One that no longer has to propel a 68 caliber paintball. One that has taken advantage of advances in battery technology. One that only needs to be able to shoot a projectile a fraction of 68 caliber paintball's weight and mass. One that can be delivered to the marketplace at a price point that suits the rental market. Would a rental gun that needs no airfills grab the attention of the rental market? Would it be enough to overcome resistance to the small ball?
I don't know but we may find out sooner rather than later. Is it a hoax? Could it possibly be real? I'm told it's release may only be months away.
I know how this sounds but I'm told the Evolt project was never shelved and that the development work continued. And between the marker's potential and the significant weight & mass savings of the small ball that the combo is a reality and coming soon. If so, will it change everything or prove to be only a niche oddity?