Jump to content

Paintball: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
Line 49: Line 49:
===Variants===
===Variants===
{{Main|Paintball variations}}
{{Main|Paintball variations}}
Paintball can be played using different variations of its basic rules, including ''[[Capture the flag]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/20/business/the-executive-life-the-satisfying-silliness-of-the-paintball-wars.html|title=The Executive Life; The Satisfying Silliness Of the Paintball Wars|accessdate=September 15, 2009|author=Billard, Mary}}</ref> and ''Elimination''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/01/13/indoor_paintball_site_targets_the_rapid_growth_of_sport/|title=Indoor paintball site targets the rapid growth of sport|accessdate=September 15, 2009|author=Ewing, Bill}}</ref> Paintball has spawned several popular variants, including [[woodsball]], which is played in the natural environment and spans across a large area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://media.www.dennews.com/media/storage/paper309/news/2007/09/28/TheVerge/Paintball.Addictive.To.Players-2998458.shtml|title=Paintball addictive to players|author=Peters, Kristina|accessdate=September 15, 2009|date=28 September, 2007}}</ref> Conversely, the variant of [[speedball]] is played on a smaller field and has a very fast pace (with games lasting up to five minutes).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.simivalleyacorn.com/news/2006-07-07/Sports/020.html|title=Paintball warriors embrace fast and furious version known as 'speedball'|accessdate=September 15, 2009}}</ref> Other variants include [[scenarioball]].
paintball can be played using different variations of its basic rules, including ''[[Capture the flag]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/20/business/the-executive-life-the-satisfying-silliness-of-the-paintball-wars.html|title=The Executive Life; The Satisfying Silliness Of the Paintball Wars|accessdate=September 15, 2009|author=Billard, Mary}}</ref> and ''Elimination''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/01/13/indoor_paintball_site_targets_the_rapid_growth_of_sport/|title=Indoor paintball site targets the rapid growth of sport|accessdate=September 15, 2009|author=Ewing, Bill}}</ref> Paintball has spawned several popular variants, including [[woodsball]], which is played in the natural environment and spans across a large area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://media.www.dennews.com/media/storage/paper309/news/2007/09/28/TheVerge/Paintball.Addictive.To.Players-2998458.shtml|title=Paintball addictive to players|author=Peters, Kristina|accessdate=September 15, 2009|date=28 September, 2007}}</ref> Conversely, the variant of [[speedball]] is played on a smaller field and has a very fast pace (with games lasting up to five minutes).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.simivalleyacorn.com/news/2006-07-07/Sports/020.html|title=Paintball warriors embrace fast and furious version known as 'speedball'|accessdate=September 15, 2009}}</ref> Other variants include [[scenarioball]].


===Enforcement of game rules===
===Enforcement of game rules===

Revision as of 15:33, 23 October 2009

Paintball
Speedball players breaking out at the start of a game
First playedJune 27, 1981, Henniker, New Hampshire
Characteristics
ContactNo physical contact between players
Team membersVaries, depending on game format. 3, 5, 7-man teams common in tournaments
TypeExtreme; Indoor or Outdoor
EquipmentPaintballs, Paintball marker, CO2, Compressed air, Hopper

Paintball is a sport,[1][2] in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by hitting them with pellets containing paint (referred to as a paintball) from a special gun called a paintball marker.[3] Depending on the venue, games are played on either indoor or outdoor fields of varying size. A game field is scattered with natural or artificial terrain, which players use for strategic play.

Rules for playing paintball vary, but can include capture the flag, elimination, defending or attacking a particular point or area, or capturing objects of interest hidden in the playing area. Games can last from seconds to hours.


Paintball equipment

Main article: Paintball equipment

The paintball equipment used depends on the game type, for example: woodsball, speedball, or scenarioball, and how much money someone is willing to spend on equipment. Every player however, is required to have three basic pieces of equipment:

  • Paintball marker: also known as a paintball gun, this is the primary piece of equipment, used to tag an opposing player with paintballs. The paintball marker must have attached a loader or "hopper" for keeping the marker fed with ammunition, and a compressed gas bottle for propellant.
  • Paintballs: The ammunition used in the marker, paintballs are spherical gelatin capsules containing primarily polyethylene glycol, other non-toxic and water-soluble substances, and dye.
  • Mask: Masks are safety devices players are required to wear at all times on the field, to protect from paintballs.[4] They completely cover the eyes, mouth, ears and nostrils of the wearer, and some masks can also feature throat guards.

Games

Paintball players, mid-game
A woodsball player firing at opponents from behind cover. Note the stock and sights for woodsball style play.
A paintball team prepares to breakout.

Basic flow

Paintball is played with a potentialy limitless variety of rules and variations, all of which are specified before the game begins. The most basic of all game rules is that players must attempt to accomplish a goal without being tagged with paintballs. When a player is tagged, they must raise their marker to indicate that they are out, and leave the playing field.[5] Depending on the agreed upon game rules, the player may return to the field and continue playing, or is eliminated from the game completely.

Variants

Main article: Paintball variations

paintball can be played using different variations of its basic rules, including Capture the flag[6] and Elimination.[7] Paintball has spawned several popular variants, including woodsball, which is played in the natural environment and spans across a large area.[8] Conversely, the variant of speedball is played on a smaller field and has a very fast pace (with games lasting up to five minutes).[9] Other variants include scenarioball.

Enforcement of game rules

Regulated games are overseen by referees, who patrol the course to ensure enforcement of the rules and the safety of the players. If a player is marked with paint, they will call them out, but competitors may also be expected to follow the honor code; a broken ball means elimination.[10] There are game rules that can be enforced depending on the venue, in order to ensure safety, balance the fairness of the game or eliminate cheating.

  • Minimum distance - When being tagged, depending on the distance from where the shot was fired, getting marked can feel like a firm pinch. Being marked may even leave a welt. Because of the pain associated with being hit by a paintball, commercial venues may enforce a minimum distance rule, whereby players cannot shoot an opponent if they are closer than this distance.[11]
  • Overshooting - Some fields discourage players from overshooting (also called bonus balling or lighting up), which is to repeatedly shoot a player after they are eliminated.[12] It is also considered overshooting if a player knew the opponent was eliminated but continued to shoot, disregarding the safety of the opposing player.
  • Ramping - Ramping refers to an electronically controlled marker increasing its rate of fire (balls per second or BPS)when a player reaches a certain number of trigger pulls per second and then maintains that trigger pull speed his marker will increase its rate of fire. Ramping of rate of fire is widely prohibited at most paintball fields, however it is allowed in most tournament formats. Most of the major professional leagues modified their rules for 2008 to limit the maximum rate of fire to 13.3 balls per second versus the previous 15.[13] For 2009, the PSP tournament series further limited the maximum rate of fire to 10 balls per second to reduce the costs of playing in a weak economy. Although it is possible for players to fire more than 13.3 BPS, doing this with ramping is disliked by some players, and is also regulated by PSP.
  • Wiping - Players may attempt to cheat by wiping paint from themselves, to pretend they were not hit and stay in the game.[10] A shot in the goggles or mask can be wiped but it is not advised as the paint will smear on the goggles and obscure vision.

Playing venues

A typical speedball field, consisting of inflatable paintball bunkers, often used for tournaments.

Paintball is played at both commercial venues, which require paid admission, and private land. Venues are either outdoors or indoors (allowing play when it is too hot, wet, or dark outside), and may include multiple fields of varying size and layout. Fields can be scattered with either natural or artificial terrain, and may also be themed to simulate a particular environment, such as a wooded or urban area, and may involve a historical context.[14] Smaller fields (such as those used for Speedball and tournaments) may include an assortment of various inflatable paintball bunkers.

Commercial

Commercial venues may provide amenities such as bathrooms, picnic areas, lockers, equipment rentals, air refills and food service. They usually adhere to specific safety and insurance standards and have a paid staff, including referees, who must ensure players are instructed in proper play to ensure participants' safety. To avoid liability, commercial fields strictly monitor paintball velocity with chronographs.[citation needed] Fields may choose to allow only the use of their field paint to generate more business.

Non-established fields

Playing on a non-established field is sometimes referred to as "renegade" play or "outlaw ball" (with the players nicknamed 'renegade ballers'[15]). Though less expensive and less structured than play at a commercial facility, the lack of safety protocols, instruction, and oversight can lead to higher incidence of injuries.

Other venues

Major scenario and tournament events can be held at locations such as fairgrounds, military bases, or stadiums, turning them into temporary paintball parks. Scenario games can last for a week or more; while tournament games are generally the same length, a scenario game focuses on a single 'story' or setting (recreating a famous battle, for example, or 'Cops vs. Robbers'-style games).

Organized play

Tournament paintball

Illinois State paintball team during the 2008 NCPA Finals.

Organized paintball competition began with regional tournaments held at National Survival Game locations in 1983, and culminating in the National Survival Game National Championship (won by "The Unknown Rebels" from London, Ontario).[16]

Though tournament paintball was originally played in the woods, speedball became popular in the late 1990s and become the standard competitive format.[citation needed] The smaller fields brought several advantages to competitive play. The artificial nature of bunkers allows each side of the field to be set up as a mirror image of the other, ensuring that neither team possesses a terrain advantage (as can be the case on woodsball fields). The flat, vegetation-free playing surface makes it easier for officials to see players and referee fairly, and allows spectators to view the entire game at once or while televised.

Various leagues use different sets of game rules. Rules are generally divided between repeat-point formats (like XBall and RaceTo), where a team plays multiple games against the same team, or traditional single-point formats, where a team plays one game against several opponents. In both formats, the most common number of players on the field per team is five, however this can vary among leagues or divisions.

Tournament game rules can include equipment restrictions, such as limiting the number of paintballs that may be fired per second, prohibiting semi-automatic markers, or conducting competition in wooded areas with natural obstacles as opposed to level grass fields with artificial obstacles.

Due to the largely artificial nature of speedball, camouflage is of little tactical use.[original research?] Clothing with camouflage patterns, common in wooded play, has been replaced in tournament play by team uniforms similar to those found in other competitive team sports.

In October 2006 and 2007, the largest tournament event was the World Cup, including over 3,000 athletes at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Kissimmee, Florida.[17][18]

Paintball leagues

Main article: Paintball league

National and international paintball leagues regularly offer organized tournaments attracting professional, semi-professional, and amateur teams, crowds of spectators, and cash prizes. These events are supplemented by smaller regional and local tournament events. As of 2009, the major national and international leagues include Paintball Sports Promotions and the United States Paintball League in the United States, the Millennium Series in western Europe, the Centrino series in Eastern Europe, and the National Collegiate Paintball Association in the US and Canada. They are supplemented by various regional and local leagues spread worldwide.

Professional teams

Main article: List of professional paintball teams

A professional paintball team is one that plays paintball with the financial, equipment or other kind of support of one or more sponsors, often in return for advertising rights. Several professional teams have different names in different leagues due to franchising and sponsorship issues.

Paintball culture

Terminology

Look up glossary of paintball terms in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Due to the unique nature of paintball and paintball equipment, players have developed a large body of jargon to describe the special kinds of tactics, equipment, phenomena, and even people found in the game. While most of the terms are neologisms, many are also borrowed from gamer and military culture.

Military theme

Paintball is played by over 5 million people in the United States each year.[19] As of 2007 all major militaries, including the U.S. military, Canadian forces, and British forces, have used training on paintball ranges to supplement combat training for their soldiers.[20] In many cases, airsoft games and players take on a military theme, especially regarding camouflage and terminology.[21]

Paintball supporters have combated negative perceptions in several ways.[22] Some attempt to de-emphasize military themes, for example by using less violent terms such as "marker" instead of "gun",[11][15] or by wearing colorful athletic uniforms instead of camouflage.

Legality

United States

In the United States of America, some cities such as Minneapolis, Minnesota, have banned the public possession of paintball guns[23][failed verification] along with other devices that look like lethal guns capable of firing bullets. The concern was prompted by gun look-alikes being used in a threatening manner, and the difficulty of determining whether a person carrying a paintball gun is actually carrying a lethal gun.

Germany

In May 2009, reacting to the Winnenden school shooting, German lawmakers announced plans to ban games such as paintball on the grounds that they trivialised and encouraged violence[24][25] but the plans were retracted a few days later.[26]

Safety statistics

The rate of injury to participants has been estimated as 4.5 injuries per 10,000 participants per year.[27] Recent research has shown that paintball is one of the statistically safest sports to participate in, with 0.2 injuries per 1000 players annually,[28] and these injuries tend to be along the lines of tripping, etc. Looking at sports eye injuries alone, an international study using 288 incidents has shown that of modern sports, paintball is responsible for 20.8% of all injuries.[29] Furthermore, a one-year study undertaken by the Eye Emergency Department, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston has shown that most sports eye injuries are caused by basketball, baseball, hockey, and racquetball.[30] Another analysis concluded that eye injuries incurred from paintball were usually in settings where eye protective equipment such as masks were not required, or were removed due to fogging.[31] Although almost all eye injuries occur when protective equipment is not properly used, such injuries often cause devastating visual loss.[32] [33] For safety, most regulated paintball fields strictly enforce a 'masks-on' policy, and most eject players who consistently disobey.

Incidents

  • 1998 - United States: 14 year old Jorel Lynn Travis was shot with a paintball gun while standing outside a Fort Collins, Colorado ice cream parlor. The incident left Travis blind in one eye.[34]
  • 2007 - Canada: An 11 year old boy suffers an injury, when he lifted his mask and was shot point blank in the eye by an adult playing on the same field.[35] The incident led to calls by the Montreal Children's Hospital to restrict the minimum age of paintball participants to 16 years.
  • 2007 - Canada: A woman, Ashley Roos, was shot in the eye and blinded with a paintball gun while waiting for a bus.[36]
  • 2008 - Australia: the sport attracted criticism when a 39-year-old man playing at a registered field in Victoria died of a suspected heart attack, after being struck in the chest.[1][37]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Push to legalise paintball". Retrieved 12 September, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ "Sporting Goods Group Dissects Team Sports". Retrieved 12 September, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ "Recession blots out local paintball". Retrieved 12 September, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ^ Barrett, Lindsey. "Aiming to please: Paintball Club geared toward beginners". Retrieved September 12, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |published= ignored (help)
  5. ^ McCarthy, Chris. "Paintball Planet features competitive fun". Cherokee County Herald. Retrieved September 16, 2009.
  6. ^ Billard, Mary. "The Executive Life; The Satisfying Silliness Of the Paintball Wars". Retrieved September 15, 2009.
  7. ^ Ewing, Bill. "Indoor paintball site targets the rapid growth of sport". Retrieved September 15, 2009.
  8. ^ Peters, Kristina (28 September, 2007). "Paintball addictive to players". Retrieved September 15, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "Paintball warriors embrace fast and furious version known as 'speedball'". Retrieved September 15, 2009.
  10. ^ a b "Ready, Aim ... Paint?". Retrieved 16 September, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  11. ^ a b Fowler, Hart. "Paintball: There's a little pain, but it's a ball". The Roanoke Times. Retrieved 18 September, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ Santschi, Mark (April 18, 2001). "Ready, Aim, Paint!". The Daily of the University of Washington. Retrieved 21 September, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ (2006): Warpig.com Paintball Dictionary
  14. ^ Smith, Rain (7 October, 2008). "Video Report - Blountville-based paintball team ranked fifth in nation, heading to World Championships". Retrieved 16 September, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  15. ^ a b "SPLAT! ; South Sound Plays Host to Some of the Best in the World of Paintball". News Tribune, The. Retrieved September 15, 2009.
  16. ^ Sunyjim's Paintball Club - London Ontario Paintball History [1]. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  17. ^ Rohwer, Tim (08/06/2007). "Organizers: Bluffs 'nice location' for paintball tournament". {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Chan, Debbie. "Flying colours for first Asian paintball tournament". Retrieved September 15, 2009.
  19. ^ (2008): SGMA Reports Paintball Growth
  20. ^ "Canadian forces training by playing paintball". Retrieved September 15, 2009.
  21. ^ (2007): The Allure of Airsoft
  22. ^ "With Image Brush-Up, Paintball Moving From Military to Mainstream" Los Angeles Times, Jul 15, 2000
  23. ^ Minneapolis Paintball Gun Ban on Star Tribune. Retrieved 01-09-08.
  24. ^ "World | Europe | Germany moves to outlaw paintball". BBC News. 2009-05-09. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
  25. ^ Last Updated: 5:15PM BST 07 May 2009 (2009-05-07). "Germany to ban paintball in wake of high school shooting". Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-05-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ May 14, 2009 (2009-05-14). "AFP: Paintball dodges bullet in Germany". Google.com. Retrieved 2009-05-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ Conn JM; Annest JL; Gilchrist J; Ryan GW (2004). "Injuries from paintball game related activities in the United States, 1997-2001". Injury Prevention : Journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention. 10 (3): 139–43. PMC 1730099. PMID 15178668. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |author-name-separator= (help); Unknown parameter |author-separator= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  28. ^ (2003): National Injury Information Clearinghouse of the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in Washington D.C. (Published by Minnesota Paintball Association) [2]. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  29. ^ Capão Filipe JA; Rocha-Sousa A; Falcão-Reis F; Castro-Correia J (2003). "Modern sports eye injuries". The British Journal of Ophthalmology. 87 (11): 1336–9. doi:10.1136/bjo.87.11.1336. PMC 1771879. PMID 14609827. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |author-name-separator= (help); Unknown parameter |author-separator= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  30. ^ National Center for Biotechnology Information "Sports-related ocular trauma" [3]. Retrieved 02-19-07.
  31. ^ Fineman MS; Fischer DH; Jeffers JB; Buerger DG; Repke C (2000). "Changing trends in paintball sport-related ocular injuries". Archives of Ophthalmology. 118 (1): 60–4. PMID 10636415. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |author-name-separator= (help); Unknown parameter |author-separator= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  32. ^ Alliman KJ; Smiddy WE; Banta J; Qureshi Y; Miller DM; Schiffman JC (2009). "Ocular trauma and visual outcome secondary to paintball projectiles". American Journal of Ophthalmology. 147 (2): 239–242.e1. doi:10.1016/j.ajo.2008.08.007. PMID 18835471. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |author-name-separator= (help); Unknown parameter |author-separator= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  33. ^ Pahk PJ; Adelman RA (2009). "Ocular trauma resulting from paintball injury". Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology = Albrecht Von Graefes Archiv Für Klinische Und Experimentelle Ophthalmologie. 247 (4): 469–75. doi:10.1007/s00417-008-0985-2. PMID 19034480. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |author-name-separator= (help); Unknown parameter |author-separator= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  34. ^ Langer, Sara (July 17, 2002). "Paintball Suit Results in Defense Win - Case against a youth who hurt a girl settles". The National Law Journal. Retrieved 21 September, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  35. ^ DeMelt, Annie (June 28 2007). "Doctors say paintball too dangerous for kids". Retrieved 16 September, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  36. ^ "Paintball gun shot could leave woman blind in one eye". The Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved September 14, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |publishdate= ignored (help)
  37. ^ "Paintball organisers defend sport after death". Retrieved 13 September, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)


Retrieved from "https://wiki.riteme.site/w/index.php?title=Paintball&oldid=321587763"