INTRODUCTION
Years ago, when paintball was in it's infancy (pre 1990), players had little to choose from in the way of markers, equipment and accessories. Even goggles. Players today take for granted that they can go to their local paintball store, or write to their favourite mail order retailer, and get any piece of equipment they can afford. It wasn't so, "way back then".
When I started playing paintball, we had to chase the dinosaurs off the field before we could started playing. Many players were trampled buy huge plant eating dinosaurs, or consumed by the predators. But that's another story.
You also have to remember that I started playing in Canada, where paintball took a while to catch on. In 1984, when I first started playing, we were at the level American players were at in the early 1980's.
RETAIL
How It Was. In all honesty, we had it rough. Anything we wanted (direct feeds, 12-gram quick changers, loaders, face masks, harness and other equipment) we had to MAKE it. That's right, we had to go into our little, ill equipped workshops and make the stuff. If it was made by a manufacturer we had to spend the time to try and find their address. In many cases, by the time you got the address the company was out of business. Players sent money to companies and never received the products they ordered. There were a lot of "fly-by-night" and "quick-scam" businesses out there. They sullied the reputations of honest and legitimate businesses that always satisfied their customers.
How it Is. Retailers try and fill orders quickly and efficiently. It is their business to supply paintball products throughout North America, and sometimes the entire world. They've learned from their mistakes, like all of us have (or at least the way all of us are SUPPOSED to). For the most part, the greater majority of mail order retailers have earned a reputation for excellent service.
AIRSMITHS
How It Was. An airsmith was a guy (normally) who had a small machine shop, or even simply his own tools and lots of talent. They worked in their basements or garages and they modified markers belonging to people they knew and played with. I was one of those people. We installed direct feeds, made pumps, cut out slots in factory quick changes, made dual 12-gram systems, and the list goes on and on. Quality was reasonable, as the 'smiths knew the players whose markers the 'smith was working on. It was "do a good job, or lose a friend". As I remember, I had to replace a couple of markers I had ruined.
How It Is. Now there are custom shops, and that's all they do. They anodize (the best we could do is paint), they make barrels, they make complete markers. The list of modifications to existing markers is impossible to keep up with, I know, I try. Customs shops turn "out-of-the-box" markers into customized paintslingers, and works of art.
BULK LOADERS
How It Was. You made them. As simple as that. You made them from plastic jugs and oil cans, you made stick feeders, you did what you could to increase the time between reloading.
How It Is. Now we have loaders, available at most paintball stores, that can hold up to 300 rounds. They feed reliably, they are relatively inexpensive, and even the cheapest ones work. The problem is that players are reloading as many times as we did, when we had STICK FEEDERS. The more paint you have, the more you're gonna shoot.
SEMIS, PUMPS AND STOCKGUNS
How It Was. Semis were very rare. You had to put pumps on most markers. Most markers were what we now call stock class. In those days, you had such a bewildering variety in technology that players were segregated or had artificial limitations put on them so that everyone, regardless of technology, could play on an almost equal footing. The great thing was that a player with a semi would agree to only have 40 paintballs in his loader to make up for the fact that there were three people with Splatmasters on the other team.
How It Is. Groups don't usually have to be segregated. Most players own a semi. Everyone is playing on a more-or-less equal technological level. Newbies can rock because they can pound out paint like a seasoned recreational veteran. (Of course seasoned recreational veterans don't go through a whole lot of paint.)
TOURNIES
How It Was. The American Airgun Challenge was one of the first "big money" tournies. They started on or around 1987 and the total money value for all the prizes was around twenty thousand dollars, if I remember (I could be wrong). They were also the birth of the old "Comp Class" tournies of the East Coast. Comp Class restricted barrel length, feed systems and power systems, to prevent the "arms race" that was occurring on the West Coats with constant air, bulk loaders and autotriggers.
How It Is. Tourneys seem to be springing up everywhere. From local bush-league games to the professional circuits. They all owe their origins to the old tourney circuits in the 1980's. Tournies now have expansive rule books, professional reffing staff and governing boards. You also hear about cheating, something you never heard about before 1993. (The first article of cheating appeared in the September issue -- of another magazine -- in 1993. It created quite a stir.)
FIELDS
How It Was. Everyone played together. Newbies rarely were segregated and they got stomped on. A new paintball term was born "squid bashing". Every issue of every magazine that had a "reader's mail" section had at least two letters complaining about "squid bashing". Fields were not that fancy. Speedball wasn't invented yet. You had woods, woods and woods to choose from. The "better" fields had a few ramshackle huts they called a "village". We considered this "cool" at one time. The playing area was simply an area of woods with yellow rope around it.
How It Is. Man, you get everything now. I have been to field s that have spent enormous amounts of money to have villages and towns made for them by professional carpenters. The set-ups are amazing. There are speedball fields, brush fields, open fields and for the most part, they are kept groomed and free of entanglements.
CONSTANT AIR
How It Was. I was convinced that when Gramps and Grizzly patented constant air it was the ruination of paintball. Many players felt it was unnecessary. You have to remember, in those days going through 500 rounds a DAY was considered excessive. Constant air was both praised and condemned by players. Of course, the players who praised constant air were the ones using it. Eventually most of us came around.
How It Is. It looks like CO2 is on the way out. More and more players are going for the high pressure systems. It may be a decade before CO2 is no longer used as a propellant, but you will see it go. The thing about it is that constant air is the greatest technological improvement in the game. Without constant air, there was no viable semi. The semi helped new players into the game. It's fun to shoot hundreds of balls. (It's not fun to PAY for them, however.)
PLAYER ATTITUDES
How It Was. Everyone was just a "player". You had personality types, based on the tactics they used, but by-and-large, we were all players. Also, there were few really experienced players, as the sport was in its infancy. No one had more than three or four years playing time. While the more experienced players SEEMED aloof, they were not. It's just that we were somewhat intimidated by a player with all their own gear, even if it was home made. Tourney players didn't exist.
How It Is. Now you have all sorts of players, you have recreational, tournament and occasional players. You have experienced players with over 10 years of playing time and you have newbies. On average, within one month of playing, most players decide to buy their own gear. I had been playing for three years before I bought my first gun, a Nelspot. (I still have it, too.) Player attitudes have changed. I don't know why, but they seemed to have changed for the worse. Recreational players are beginning to look and play like professional tourney players. This is okay, if they're in a tourney, but when they're playing a rec-ball day, many of them are not welcome. New players want the top of the line kit, RIGHT AWAY. They do not want to go from a stockgun, to a pump, and then to a semi.
CONTROVERSIES
How It Was. Let's see. Single twelve gram vs dual 12 gram. Twelve-gram vs constant air. Pumps vs autotriggers. Pumps vs semis. There was a movement to limit loader size. There was even an extremist faction that did not want women playing paintball. (Idiots.)
How It Is. Well, let's see. Now we have fully automatic paintguns, as if getting hit with ten balls wasn't enough. There are other controversies, like the re-emergence of stock class play. Stock players don't want to play against semis. Those of us who do are labelled as insane or delusional. (And they say genius is seldom recognized in its own time.)
PAINT
How It Was. It was crap.
How It Is. It still is crap. This is the limiting factor on performance, even after all of these years. Paint quality has improved, but making a paintball is more of an art, than it is a science.
PUBLIC AWARENESS/ACCEPTANCE
How It Was. Most people would say "ping pong?", when you told them what you do for a hobby. You had to go to great lengths to describe the sport to them.
How It Is. Usually all I get out it , "It's like capture the flag and you have this airgun that fires the little balls full of paint . . ." To which they answer, "Oh, yeah . . ." and they relate their personal experience. Most people have either played, see it on TV, or know someone who has played.
SAFETY
How It Was. We were extremely safety conscious with what we had. Many fields used "shop glasses" as eye protection. Of course the markers were terribly low-powered. I'm still surprised nobody got seriously hurt.
How It Is. Paintball is safer than it was. Goggles are specifically made for paintball, we have chronographs, and we have barrel plugs. The safety record for paintball has remained unchanged, despite the player boom of the mid-1990's. You'd think that more players would result in more injuries, but it hasn't.
CONCLUSION
How It Was. I loved paintball, back then. It was so simple and carefree. Of course paint was expensive. Not to mention the markers were very expensive (a good quality pump cost as much as a mid-range semi costs now). The goggles sucked. Oh yes, there weren't many fields.
How It Is. Maybe it has improved, in some ways . . .
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