First day, underwhelmed. Is this what all airsoft events are like?

[Druid799]

1st welcome ,

2nd and I also agree its good that you did log on to discuss these problems and not just flounce off in a huff never to return like a lot do ! 

3rd 6-8 games is about average, 1/2hr between games is the top end of waiting time , 1+1/2hr lunch is a piss take .

4th Marshals not knowing what’s going on is a sign of poor site organisation and not acceptable in my opinion .

5th players not moving forward and pushing on to the objective is standard at most open skirmish days BUT the difference is the numbers of players that are/aren’t actively taking part in the gameday .

Unfortunately some sites are just shit and nothing ever will change it(near where I live there’s a cracking good site but I haven’t played there in yrs because it has zero organisation , basically what you’ve described sounds like this site to a T)but most sites you go to it will ebb and flow from wk to wk , one wk it’ll be total apathy the next everyone things their John Wick clearing out the ‘red square’ ! Also you need to factor in the weather , when it’s cold and shity and horrible on the whole the players enthusiasm mirrors it , the weather gets better ? so does the game play ! 
6th as long as you and your mates stick with it I’m 99% sure your experience will improve , having your mates with you will make what would be a crap day on your own a good day with you all there . if you can travel definitely try some other sites as well .

finally I’d just say don’t take this bad experience as the norm(just a shame it was your 1st) give it time and at least wait till the nicer weather comes along to make up your mind about it . ?

[RostokMcSpoons]

My nearest site (SpecOps) has a fairly limited site in terms of structures (most of them are represented with just sheets of tarpaulin hanging on lines, or tents - I hate to think what the storm has done to it), and now we're in the middle of winter there's quite a lack of vegetation as cover.  The games tend to be simple rolling defences, or bomb plant / defense, or rescue a dummy...  so even the young kids can have a clue what's going on. 

But it's pretty much always good fun, just because the owner and the marshals work together, and try to keep it light and without too much emphasis on being 'competitive'.  So we do get pre-game briefings, and hear who has won at the end.  Static teams get a gentle cajoling to push on (almost all games having infinite respawns that aren't too far to trek back to helps).   Good team efforts or solo runs get mentions in the couple of minutes post-match, and the whole thing rounds off with a "thanks for coming, hope you all enjoyed it" that feels like it comes from the owner's heart.  Or perhaps from his bank manager  
Decent bit of nosh for lunch included too.

 

There are things I could critique, but by the sounds of it I'm pretty lucky with my local site.  Player numbers are 40-70 and the playing areas kept reasonably tight so at least one of the small number of marshals are always in line of sight.  

 

So to the OP - stick with it, hopefully you'll find something reasonably close by, don't disregard a site just because it doesn't 'look cool' as it sounds like the quality of the people running the place is the most important thing 
 

[Druid799]

9 minutes ago, RostokMcSpoons said:

But it's pretty much always good fun, just because the owner and the marshals work together, and try to keep it light and without too much emphasis on being 'competitive'.  So we do get pre-game briefings, and hear who has won at the end.  Static teams get a gentle cajoling to push on (almost all games having infinite respawns that aren't too far to trek back to helps).   Good team efforts or solo runs get mentions in the couple of minutes post-match, and the whole thing rounds off with a "thanks for coming, hope you all enjoyed it" that feels like it comes from the owner's heart.  Or perhaps from his bank manager  
 

A 100 times this ! the team running it can make literally the crappiest little site an absolutely brilliant day but equally a poor team can make the best site possible a total waste of a day . Classic example for me is my old home site , I always said a bad day there was better than a good day at most other sites I’d been too , until the head marshal passed away and then we rapidly discovered he really was the heart of it . After he passed away from my perspective(and my team mates as well) it just went to shit , standard of organisation dropped , rule infringements weren’t getting jumped on like before , poor control of the site became a lot more visible  but the biggest thing for me(and again my team mates) was the total lack of customer care , the new bosses just didn’t care about it . When he was running the site he would always wonder around the safezone welcoming the players to the site , he was always at chrono , always tried to be the one giving the briefings , was always out on the field and was always approachable with questions/complaints/etc , and at the end of the day he always wondered around the safezone asking you if you’d had had a good day and if not why and shaking hands and saying good by and he looked forward to seeing you again at his site and it was his site , he may not have owned it on paper but he certainly was the boss in our eyes . When Dave died so did the site as far as I’m concerned and it really showed it’s the people that matter NOT the bricks and mortar .

[Baptimus_Prime]

23 hours ago, MagpieTactical said:

OP, Am I right that in between each game you go back to the safe zone at Bunker31? 

 

That will eat up time of its the case. Also seems like a long time for lunch. 

 

It can happen at any site though, my main peeve at my local is people who have been there for a good while and still haven't gone up to chrono, invariably meaning we wait around to start instead of getting out on time. 

 

Yeah you're right enough, we went back after each game. What also didn't help was we were told that the day started at 09:30 and to be there half an hour before hand. We arrived about 08:55 and the first game didn't start until after 10:30. I realise this is probably a one off (my friend had to ask what was going on and the staff said a group were late) but it didn't get things off to a great start.

 

20 hours ago, Groot said:

I am going to generalise but since covid i have found every site i have been to a little lack luster.  

 

This is an interesting point. My friends and I are planning on waiting a while (couple of months or so) before giving it another go, hopefully this will mean things ramp up a bit with COVID issues fading and the weather improving.

 

18 hours ago, Rogerborg said:

 

I've come to believe that the tone of the day hinges on the morning brief, and more particularly who gives it.

 

It's startling how big a difference there is between someone reluctantly mumbling meandering and mugging their way through a brief on the assumption that the day will run itself, and a no-nonsense "This is how it's going to go" brief by someone who actually enjoys herding the cool cats.

 

Funny you say this as the morning brief sucked. I feel bad saying that as the guy giving the brief appeared to be a new member of staff who mumbled and didn't really seem to know what to say without prompting from the marshals. Again, this seems to point towards the idea that there were several one-off factors that spoiled our day slightly.

 

18 hours ago, Cr0-Magnon said:

 

 What are you talking about...I have six different Glock variants, because they help me "push the objective"

 

 

Why not wield all six like you're some sort of tactical octopus, or a glocktopus if you will.

 

 

Sorry for the long replies, I didn't managed to get on here to reply to them one at a time. A lot of sound advise from everyone though which has certainly been taken on board and has made me (and my buddies who've I have pretty much let read this whole thread) feel more optimistic about airsoft going forward. 

[Skullchewer]

Glocktopus should win the day.

[RostokMcSpoons]

3 hours ago, Baptimus_Prime said:

 

Why not wield all six like you're some sort of tactical octopus, or a glocktopus if you will.

 

 

[Khyber]

Hey mate, I'll chime in with a quick reply. Pretty much everything has been said already I think. So, I'm a newbie with only 5 session days under me. But thankfully my first day rocked. It was immense fun and ran very well. Least to say got me hooked. Played there 4 times now, and once another site. These 2 sites are both indoors cqb and are polar opposites on how they are run and how they play. But both good IMO. Will use them both. My point is like many have said. There are so many variables that goes into a great, ok and not so good game day. So I'm sure if you play how you want to play you will have great fun. And I've found that these 2 sites are open to suggestions and criticism having talked to owners. They want to know what works and what can improve so go and share your thoughts. It is probably more valuable to them as a first timer than you may think. 

 

Lastly gear can make a difference its not the be all end all to everyone, but to me it was the fascination of firearms that got me into the hobby. Which is why I went for a GBB. It functions much closer to the real deal but I can shoot people with it for fun in a game of hide and seek. Just know your reason for wanting to play and cater to it.

[Rogerborg]

3 hours ago, Baptimus_Prime said:

Funny you say this as the morning brief sucked. I feel bad saying that as the guy giving the brief appeared to be a new member of staff who mumbled and didn't really seem to know what to say without prompting from the marshals.

 

It's a tough one.  On one hand, airsoft sites are more of a weekend labour of love than a profitable full time business, and it's always tragic when landowners kick sites off after site "owners" have sunk most of their income into developing them.

 

On the other hand, we are paying customers and there's a certain expectation of a minimum quality of service.  I'd far rather that a site employ a head marshal / chief cat-wrangler who is actually good at and enjoys that role than buying a bunch of props and trinkets.

 

On the 3rd to 6th hands, everyone's an expert in principle, but it takes a special sort of determined masochist to actually run an airsoft site, so I try not to get too judgey or mental over it.  Maybe give it a 2nd rental in good weather and see if it's improved, it really does come down to the people and the mood on the day.

[The Waco Kid]

On 22/02/2022 at 05:39, Baptimus_Prime said:

 

Why not wield all six like you're some sort of tactical octopus, or a glocktopus if you will.

Hopefully there are all Glocks with interchangeable mags. ?

 

But if your name is Soap “It’s faster to switch weapons than reload”. 1st rule of tacticaliness.

 

  I’ve played a few sites as a rental player just for nosy ness. You get an interesting view point. 

  My big gripes are unreliable site guns, non intelligible briefings & cliques. The latter two being heavily influenced by the Marshalling quality.

  
 The Head Shed does make a difference if they lack confidence or interest everything else goes felgercarb  quickly. 
  The worst, ie dangerous things I’ve seen at sites were directly down to marshals. I’m talking stupidity with pyro in the safe zone and threats with actual weapons.

CS woodland was close to perfect as a green site. ???

Edited February 23, 2022 by The Waco Kid
Extra crying

[C-Diddy]

On 21/02/2022 at 09:33, Groot said:

I am going to generalise but since covid i have found every site i have been to a little lack luster.  

 

Our local site.. The late the great Combat South ( pours drink ) closed. So we have tried lots of other sites and have not yet found one we would go back to regularly.

We have had some fun, don't get me wrong. Sadly the effort most sites seem to be putting OR equally the lack of staff they seem to have these days seems fairly noticeable. 

I am no Combat South fan boy ( Love you Russ ) . They had some games that didn't work and honestly most weekends were a rinse and repeat of tried and test scenarios.  But it was always delivered to a high standard, the marshal's were visible and engaged. They also provided a high quality lunch. (Which i do not understand why other sites who are now charging upwards of £25 a person, do not provide something so basic. Well not without an additional fee. Tight asses)

I am hoping that as Covid fucks off, that competition for players returns and the the sites start upping their effort. 

 

Or i'm just jaded and overly entitled....

Or due to the great sites being lost to housing developers that the glory days of airsoft are dead.

 

Or because today's airsofter seems to be weak, whiny and scared of being drilled full auto.

Or its the speed softers fault. 

 

.......... it is speed softers fault

Every single time I go airsofting I miss Combat South ? The first woodland site I ever played and still the best, four years later. As you said @Grootextremely well run, engaged marshalls and generally a great bunch of players on a superb site.

@Baptimus_Primeas many others have pointed out, everyone has bad days, no matter the site. The things you state that you want to get out of a skirmish are not unreasonable. Stick with it, play in a whatever way you want to as long as you find it fun, and don't worry too much about how other people are playing. You say you went with mates, so that's a great way to get your own little strike team going to achieve the objectives. 

As long as you don't look back on the day and think you wasted your time, it's a decent airsoft day. If you look back and smile, laugh or feel a tingle in your funzone, it's been a great airsoft day.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to pour out a little liquor for Combat South. RIP ? 

[SBoardley]

6 minutes ago, C-Diddy said:

 

As long as you don't look back on the day and think you wasted your time, it's a decent airsoft day. If you look back and smile, laugh or feel a tingle in your funzone, it's been a great airsoft day.

 

This. 
I hadn’t played for a covid while, first game back; one gun too hot, second; hop just sucked and some games a little speedsoft for my liking. Got several pistol kills, including two double taps in a row swiftly followed by sweet defensive position hitting me square in the face and drawing blood. 
fuck I love airsoft. Great day, great memories. On to the next. 

[Shamal]

I honestly don't think I have ever had a bad airsoft day.

I go with no expectations so am not disappointed with my performance. I'm crap all the time lol.

 

For me it's an escape from the hum drum week in week out work. I can get myself dressed up,put a load of guns in the car and go. I often think as I'm driving that the people in other cars have no idea of the terrorist toolkit I'm toting lol.

It would be interesting to get stopped by the fuzz on a game day just to see their reactions.

 

But win or lose I enjoy every minute. I may not get dozens of kills and I will get some battle injuries but I'll shoot a lot of puddles on the long and frequent walks back to respawn.?

 

Regards ? 

 

 

 

[SBoardley]

 

7 minutes ago, Shamal said:

but I'll shoot a lot of puddles on the long and frequent walks back to respawn.

 

 

 

 

 

THAT never gets old…?

Edited February 23, 2022 by SBoardley

[Hamster82]

Pretty much agree with everything already said.

 

some sites are run better than others and even the good ones have bad days.

sometimes it’s the marshals not being massively into it and other is when you get a group or groups who just want to d*ck around.

 

both my local sites are generally well run and even with a large bunch of rentals the regulars tend to offer advice and support.

that said I have had some days where no one really seemed to be feeling it BUT I was still out running around and pewing people which for me is half the fun.

 

 

[JVacation]

Can't agree more with what people say about finding a good site. Been to quite a few and I would say I have my best days at a local smaller site which is more aimed at being more family friendly. You get a wider range of players, marshaling is stricter on resolving troublemakers and more likely to see a familiar face. I have recently decided to go to this site more often than the other larger site that I have been going to before. 

 

The main site I was going to before was fun but eventually it got tiring with people taking it way too seriously, causing arguments (I was physically assaulted and the site did nothing to resolve the situation other than asking the assaulter to calm down as he goes there frequently) and having the whole "money" attitude. 

 

 

 

 

[The Waco Kid]

Sites seem to go through “phases”. Often change or loss of key management, let’s be honest all airsoft sites are small operations, has a huge impact.

 

Over time players/regulars grow up and move, looking for something else. This also changes the feel of the smaller “club” type game sites.

 

I have memories of some great times at early very amateur sites where everyone was involved. Lots of fun but some horror stories too and I wouldn’t take my children to them if they were running now. 
 

Much as I might resent some developments there have been/are operators that needed a kick up the arse on basic safety and service.

[Baptimus_Prime]

For those kind of enough to contribute to this thread, and anyone else who’s interested enough, I thought I’d provide an update on my original post.

 

Over the weekend my friends and I went for our second day of airsofting at a different site from our first go, and it was awesome.

 

From the get go the staff were great, instantly welcoming and helpful. Our day was full of fun game modes on a really varied site with the marshals being spot on throughout. 

 

The players were brilliant, friendly and encouraging with a nice focus on teamwork without it being overbearing. 

 

In short, we’re going back again (and probably again and again). All those here that said to stick with it have been proven right in my eyes.

 

And for those interested, the site was Viper Strike in Dundee. I’d highly recommend it.

Edited March 29, 2022 by Baptimus_Prime

[RostokMcSpoons]

That's excellent news!

Now prepare your bank balance for regular 'beastings' ?

[Skullchewer]

Ayyyy! That's more like it! ?

[Rogerborg]

Great to hear it.  Name and praise the good site?

[Shamal]

Viper strike Dundee

 

 

 

[Oneshotscott]

I'm the same boat.  I like my local site but the breaks and lunch hour (who needs an hour?) makes the day dull.  I'm a milsimmer at heart but have non nearby. 

 

Just make the best of what you can with what you have. 

[Turtlings]

On 23/02/2022 at 22:20, SBoardley said:

 

THAT never gets old…?

Always a catcher of the unaware