Airsoft, the wrong mentality?

So i'm cruising around the net. reading all my regular Airsoft sites/forums and I'm starting to see a scary trend.

Paintball.. now your saying "Huh?" Let me explain, before I started airsoft I was a huge Milsim Paintballer. I spent mass amount of money and time perfecting my game only to find I never could compete with a guy who had an Autococker, E-trigger and could spray paint down range at over 20 BPS. More and more players of the sport of Paintball where going that route. Dropping the mentality of Quality over Quantity. Not caring about shot placement, but about putting as much paint in an area as possible to hit some one.

Once the Spray and pray mentality started, then you started getting the "Who's got more kills" talk in the stagging area.. "Dude I got fifteen!" "no way I got 25!" " no you didn't! I saw you got hit at the start!" Same conversation over and over.. and it become more about getting "kills" then about an honorable game.

This leads to tournaments, bragging rights, main stream mentality, sponsorship wars.. and thus we have what Paintball has turned into today.. a Mess.

Where am I going with this? Well talk a walk with me if you will.. look at Airsoft Forums on the net. You'll notice a few things.

1. Continuous talk about "tournaments, and matches" semantics perhaps.. but Airsoft isn't a Tournament sport.

2. The ever present "Kill count " Conversations.

3. The "Spray the Cheater" comments.

4. The "mine shoots faster/better/farther, " conversation.

Now number 4. doesn't bother me as much as the other three. But here is the ever present thing.

Airsoft is and always will be about Honorable Milsim Play. Some one please tell me where and how you are not in a Milsim type environment when playing Airsoft? Law Enforcement Don't carry M4's on a regular traffic stop. SWAT uses them and when they are out its Military Tactics. Milsim. So what if your in jeans and a T-shirt. Seen half the Security Operatives on deployment?

Secondly. Tournaments? Matches? League Play? Standings? What are we talking about here!? Look at what these did to Paintball. You have 19 year old "professionals" cursing on Tv accusing any one better then them of cheating. Insulting fans. all because they can flutter a E-Trigger faster then the next guy. Ever since the induction of Tournemant play at a large scale level you've seen nothing but negative light on Paintball.. and now we want to start the same thing with Airsoft?! Not me. No.. granted not ALL Tournement players in Paintball are bad. But remember the age old Adage, "one bad apple ruins the crop". Same applies to Airsoft.

Airsoft has been under the spotlight to many times for negative aspects we dont need the media getting involved.

Now let me get a little bit into my thoughts on "Tournaments". In my eyes Airsoft is about Large Scale Operations. Where you rack up the points by meeting objectives. Where you face an opponent on the field and its not so much about eliminating them but as out thinking/maneuvering/operating them. Tournaments are about one thing most times. Eliminate every one on the field. They don't look at how much ground you control, What objectives you've/taken/destroyed/defended. All they care about is eliminations.

I don't feel this is an image we as Airsofters need to portray. Operations. Not Tournaments. Now what do I consider an Operation you may ask.

1. It has an overall objective. Not a Kill count.

2. It has missions. objectives to meet in order to either meet or exceed the overall objective.

3. No one cares about who gets the most kills. Its about teamwork and tactics.

4. Standard Rules.

These four things make an Operation. And these are what we as Airsofters need. Up till recently number four on this list was a huge issue with Paintball. Strangly.. if you look around almost every event and group follows a very close set of rules and regulations and enforce them. Thats where we start talking about "Spray the cheater" comments.

Spray the Cheaters? what the heck! this is not what we need to be portraying in Airsoft. This is a constant issue in paintball. And sadly its starting to be a problem in Airsoft. You know how you stop cheaters? Ban them from your Skirmish/Operation. Tell them they are not welcome. Put it in your Waiver and Rules and have paper copies available and when ever some one plays with you have them sign a copy that they understand and sign a waiver and keep the copy on hand. That in and of itself is a binding contract of sorts. And if they cheat, break the rules gives you grounds to eject them from the area for as long as you feel fit. And if they refuse. Hey guess what binding contract. You can call the Police if you have to. Now I'd hold that to a last resort. In most cases if you tell some one to leave and stop playing. They will leave after you remind them of signing the waiver and the little line it is about "Can and Will be held accountable up to the fullest of State and Local Laws" or something along those lines. . Once they are gone pick back up.

Shooting them on full auto point blank is stupid. and Doesn't do anything. Whats honorable about that?

Kill counts are just stupid. Who cares how many you hit in a game. Specially when the objective is to take and hold an area rather then eliminate the team.


Here is the bottom line. I cant stand Elitism. I see it rampaging through Paintball, I saw it when I played. If you didn't own a "name brand marker" Didn't wear the right gear. Didn't play the right way you didn't belong. Airsoft is about Honor, Integrity, Discipline, Strategy, Team Play.

The biggest difference between Paintball and Airsoft? Alot of Airsofters are standing up and saying the same thing. something that if Paintballers would have done in the start they wouldn't be in the boat they are in now.

So.. whats this whole thing about? Keep Airsoft about Airsoft. Keep it honorable, keep it full of integrity, honor and fair play.

Bottom line ladies and gentlemen, If you play Airsoft to "Win" To be on the "Best" team, to Win the most "Games" To have the most "Awards" your participating in Airsoft for the wrong reason..

Do me a favor. Take a step back. Look at the friends you've made both sides, look at the fun you've had no matter the weather, no matter if your winning or loosing. Look at what you've learned about yourself. The Honor, The Integrity, The Disicpline, The Team work.

Something I'll let you in on. Some of the greatest Operations I've participated in where nothing more then players getting together to set them up. We didnt care who won or lost. Some of the Finest and Best Airsofter Players I know and have played with didnt care one bit how many they "got out, killed, hit etc." They didnt care that their AEG was not a "Name Brand" and that they where wearing four color Desert BDU's while every one else was sporting the new Multicam. They didnt care that their gear was Circa 1960 Vietnam. It worked. thats all that mattered to them. And they didnt hold it against any one else who showed up with a Springer Shotgun and a springer pistol from walmart, specially when those people LISTENED, and LEARNED and TRIED to uphold what Airsoft is about.

Comradery. Team Work, Honor, Integrity, Discipline, Safety, and Fun.


Take the time to teach those who are doing wrong. If they dont learn then you tried and you can politely send them on their way.

But Frankly Ladies and Gents. If your not about Comradery. Team Work, Honor, Integrity, Discipline, Safety, and Fun. You will not catch me on your field, nor will I catch you playing with me.

Airsoft is a Mentality, not a Sport.

Live it, Love it, Learn it. and Protect it. Adjust your thinking, before we loose the chance to.

As always remember this is my opinion, my words and my thoughts, I speak for me and only me.

S/F and Carry on.

Lex