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

[Baptimus_Prime]

Hi all, I’ve had an interest in airsoft for several years now (watching YouTube and following Facebook pages etc) but only got round to playing (with some fellow first-timer friends) today. In short, it was an underwhelming day and have some questions for the airsoft community, the answers to which will hopefully reignite my enthusiasm to take up airsoft as a hobby. 

The first issue we encountered was the wait time between games. The site stated the day would be from 09:30 to 16:30, within this we got six games. Is this normal? We found wait times of about half an hour between games (an hour and a half for lunch) meant we were getting bored and cold. 
 

We found there was a lack of enthusiasm regarding prioritising the actual objectives of the game modes. We would often be at the forefront of the team, having to encourage others to flank with us or push objectives which were relatively easy to achieve. It seemed to be that most players would rather sit back and plink from a distance rather than getting stuck in. Again, is this normal? Perhaps it was just the player base on the day.

On the topic of objectives, none of us knew which team won any of the games. The marshals would never say and none of the players seemed to know. For me, I found this discouraging. What’s the point in having objectives if no one cares about it, including the marshals? Again, I want to believe this is just a site issue but maybe it’s common place. 

If the things I’ve mentioned are pretty consistent across airsoft events everywhere else, that’s fine. I’m not here to criticise a community, it just means airsoft is maybe not something I should invest time/money into if I won’t enjoy it on the whole. Something I’d be disappointed to admit given the optimism I had before playing today. 
 

Sorry for the long read. If anyone takes the time to answer any of the questions above I’d appreciate it. 

 

[Skullchewer]

Um, where did you play? ?

Airsoft is greatly dependent on the quality of the site, the site's marshals, and the quality of the players.

Sounds to me like you played at a really bad site, with not very good players.

 

[DrAlexanderTobacco]

Hi all, I’ve had an interest in airsoft for several years now (watching YouTube and following Facebook pages etc) but only got round to playing (with some fellow first-timer friends) today. In short, it was an underwhelming day and have some questions for the airsoft community, the answers to which will hopefully reignite my enthusiasm to take up airsoft as a hobby. 

The first issue we encountered was the wait time between games. The site stated the day would be from 09:30 to 16:30, within this we got six games. Is this normal? We found wait times of about half an hour between games (an hour and a half for lunch) meant we were getting bored and cold. 
 

We found there was a lack of enthusiasm regarding prioritising the actual objectives of the game modes. We would often be at the forefront of the team, having to encourage others to flank with us or push objectives which were relatively easy to achieve. It seemed to be that most players would rather sit back and plink from a distance rather than getting stuck in. Again, is this normal? Perhaps it was just the player base on the day.

On the topic of objectives, none of us knew which team won any of the games. The marshals would never say and none of the players seemed to know. For me, I found this discouraging. What’s the point in having objectives if no one cares about it, including the marshals? Again, I want to believe this is just a site issue but maybe it’s common place. 

If the things I’ve mentioned are pretty consistent across airsoft events everywhere else, that’s fine. I’m not here to criticise a community, it just means airsoft is maybe not something I should invest time/money into if I won’t enjoy it on the whole. Something I’d be disappointed to admit given the optimism I had before playing today. 
 

Sorry for the long read. If anyone takes the time to answer any of the questions above I’d appreciate it. 

Sounds like you'd really enjoy milsims or battlesims, instead of skirmishes - brief explanation below:

- Skirmishes - essentially the experience you had, although, a lot of sites will be better than the plcae you went to. I would expect sites to at least say who won or lost, for example.

- Battlesims - a skirmish, but with no break between games. Essentially an 8 hour skirmish, you take lunch when you want and so on. They tend to be a lot more focused on objectives.

- Milsims - very objective focused, often at least 24 hours if not a few days of constant play. Many different operators for this across the UK, but Stirling, Brit-Tac, Defiant, Legion are a few you should check out as they regularly put events on at some of the best army training areas in the UK.

Happy to chat more if you've got more questions!

 

[colinjallen]

It really does depend on where you play; sites all have their own characters and styles.  You need to try a few out to find the ones that work for you.  Don't give up after your first try.

If you let us know where you are based, I am sure that members who know the sites in your area can advise you.

 

[The Waco Kid]

It can vary at sites depending on quiet who shows up. A few of the regulars where I was said what an unusual day it was. Much reduced attendance, presumably because of the weather. I had a few issues so didn’t get “stuck in” my initial games. Not being able to see kind of slows you down!

General skirmish days a lot of players, rental or otherwise, just want to shoot people/their mates and tend not to be very objective focused. 

 

[Baptimus_Prime]

Thanks for the responses folks, good to hear it’s probably more a site issue and not a universal attitude.

Um, where did you play? ?

Airsoft is greatly dependent on the quality of the site, the site's marshals, and the quality of the players.

Sounds to me like you played at a really bad site, with not very good players.

Bunker 31 in the north east of Scotland.

Sounds like you'd really enjoy milsims or battlesims, instead of skirmishes - brief explanation below:

- Skirmishes - essentially the experience you had, although, a lot of sites will be better than the plcae you went to. I would expect sites to at least say who won or lost, for example.

- Battlesims - a skirmish, but with no break between games. Essentially an 8 hour skirmish, you take lunch when you want and so on. They tend to be a lot more focused on objectives.

- Milsims - very objective focused, often at least 24 hours if not a few days of constant play. Many different operators for this across the UK, but Stirling, Brit-Tac, Defiant, Legion are a few you should check out as they regularly put events on at some of the best army training areas in the UK.

Happy to chat more if you've got more questions!

The battle/mil sims sound appealing. The only issue (as suggested from the site I played at) is my location. There’s not many sites where I live so I’m unsure if I’d have the same sort of battle/mil sim options without some significant travelling. 
 

It really does depend on where you play; sites all have their own characters and styles.  You need to try a few out to find the ones that work for you.  Don't give up after your first try.

If you let us know where you are based, I am sure that members who know the sites in your area can advise you.

As you’ll see from the other replies, I’m up in the north east of Scotland. This means I’m quite limited with which sites I can realistically travel to, although I would be happy to travel around Scotland to find a good site. 

 

[Skullchewer]

I think, given what you've said about your location, your best bet is to keep trying  (and if possible go to a different sit, obviously).

If you're playing with friends then you guys be the ones that work as a team, you cap the objectives, you watch where all the headless chickens are gathering and use them as a distraction while you flank.

And maybe send an email to the site pointing out what you found disappointing, but send it as constructive criticism, they may improve their running.

 

[Adolf Hamster]

it can be as simple as it was just an off day, although the better the site the better the "average" level and the less frequent/bad the off days will be. although there remains the ever present issue of it being spoiled one way or another.

the winning and losing thing, well folk take different viewpoints. personally for me on regular skirmishes i don't really care if our team won or lost, indeed a well-fought loss is imo more fun than an easy victory. however if it's a running theme for the whole day then there's the ever present question of team/game balance, which is something a good site should be paying attention to and adjusting teams/game rules to compensate.

i would certainly say it'd be worth it for you to try a few more games, and some different sites. if you're still getting the same feeling out of the ones available to you (ie reasonable driving distance etc etc) then at least you know gave it a proper go.

 

[Baptimus_Prime]

I think persistence will prevail. I’ll certainly be giving other sites ago before writing off the sport as a long term hobby. 
 

If you're playing with friends then you guys be the ones that work as a team, you cap the objectives, you watch where all the headless chickens are gathering and use them as a distraction while you flank.

And maybe send an email to the site pointing out what you found disappointing, but send it as constructive criticism, they may improve their running.

I’ll defo be doing both these things. There’s a group of four of us who are all starting out and have similar ideas on what we want out of it (teamwork, comms, objective focussed, not so fussed about looking flash in expensive kit…although that does sound fun).

I’ll also be contacting the site, in a friendly manner of course. Who knows, maybe it was just a day where a few of the marshals were feeling rough after a late one on Saturday ?‍

 

[Skullchewer]

Good to hear, you sound like the sort of player we like ?

Stick with it and I hope to see a post from you in the not too distant future along the lines of "omfg what an awesome day!"

 

[Cr0-Magnon]

I was dubious when I saw the thread title. Your write-up is fair though. So, welcome n' all that.

You picked up on something which I have found to be generally true across several sites and years of playing. It can be a little bit like golf. People turning up mostly to try and/or show off their latest equipment, combined with milling around talking with their mates.

Not everyone is super enthusiastic (of course the current weather doesn't help) about the actual objectives and often people who celebrate victories are seen as knobs. Maybe because of this, I rarely hear marshals even mention who "won" either.

Possibly that's my overall point, maybe it's not for you or maybe you'll learn to take it less seriously. Think of it as a good reason to get out of the house early on a weekend, meet some mates, get the adrenaline flowing and even a little excercise too. 

Edit; I will also add that collecting the equipment (often the guns), can be at least 50% of the reason people are in to this hobby.

 

[MAX DICKER]

In addition to the other replies, I'll say this; (this applies to casualsoft skirmishes) everyone pays the same money to play, and everyone plays in a way that they most enjoy. Youll always get your group of plonkers hanging back and chatting, your narcissistic user l33t YouTubers with gopros hanging out of their arses, your regulars who know every advantageous angle to shoot you, your hpa/speedsofters tearing around like mad that's... and everyone in between.

So given that everyone is doing their own thing, how much you enjoy a day is wildly dependent on the ratios of player types attending. Perhaps if there were more players who were keen on objectives in your team, you'd have enjoyed it a lot more. And as mentioned, the subjective quality of sites can vary wildly too.

I've been playing 13 years, and I'll still have bad days for whatever reason. But on the flipside, I'll also have absolutely outstanding days that me and my buddies will be chatting about for weeks.

I seem to have rambled a bit, not even going to proof read. Hope this helps.

 

[EDcase]

Welcome Baptimus_Prime

Echoing what's already been said really.

Sounds like that site isn't the best run or they had an 'off' day.

Even with well run sites it is common to have differing experiences on various days usually dependant on the players.

Have a look here and see if there's another site near you:

PlayAirsoft — UK Airsoft Sites: Skirmish, Mil-sim, CQB and more

Give it a few more tries at least to get your UKARA membership registered.

 

[Rogerborg]

Sadly, you've listed some of my pet peeves, which seem to be common at most sites.  You only missed marshals hanging out in groups and InstaFacing on their phones.  

YouTubers and airsoft "celebrities" produce heavily edited videos showing a rather selective view of airsoft, sometimes bordering on staged or fictional.  And, yes, there are generally a bunch of people who aren't massively engaged in the objectives (if they even listened to the brief), or sometimes even with playing airsoft at all.

But you'll have good days and bad days.  For example, the timekeeping at Biohazard today was actually pretty decent, and we did get told who'd won each game, which was nice.  It really comes down to the players and marshals who show up on the day, and whether the numbers suit the site.  The good days are great.

It's a pity you didn't enjoy Bunker 31 as looks like an interesting site, sort of outdoor-CQB.  I don't think you've got a lot of other options up there - it's quite a trip to Tazball, Viper Strike or Evolution, and I haven't played at any of them, so have no particular recommendations to give.

 

[Emergencychimps]

Welcome to the sport! I'm personally delighted that after that sort of day you've logged on and bothered to create this thread and discuss it. 

As others have mentioned every site varies. 

6 games (depending on length) is about average for a skirmish day, I prefer faster turn around times and shorter lunch breaks. But I tend to find all skirmish sites slack and slow for this, a skirmish caters for all players including players with really different motivation and organisational levels. Losing momentum can be a difficult one to recover and especially if the weather is bad it can be hard to be motivated again to get it going after lunch. 

Most skirmish players are interested in their game, not whether the objectives been achieved, other people flanked etc and most are there to get kills and they play in an according fashion......sounds like a more structured event would be up your street. Regarding the objectives, at a skirmish they rarely mean anything, they are just a plot for that game, the score for football at the end is important, having a good game less so.  Having a good game/experience is the point of Airsoft (or generally that's the accepted view) so which team won rarely matters. I find it useful so that Marshall's can re balance the teams if one side is losing lots. It is nice to know when one side "wins" but I'm sure if you persist you'll have great games you lose and terrible ones you win. 

My honest opinion is that you experienced a pretty meh day of Airsoft, whether that's because of the site, them having an off day, I've had meh days at what I thought were great sites, great days at sites I had previously thought of a not great. At skirmish days I tend to find all of the issues you've raised exist, some times it's real bad, some times a minor annoyance. I rarely found them at more organised events (such as battlesims)or milsims.

Stirling run lots of events at catterick, it's worth the 8 hour return trip for me. You can play bad guys without all the Gucci kit and their themed games there arent non stop. I wouldn't normally advise them for a new player, but I'd rather that than you lose the love for the sport altogether. 

 

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

I'm lucky to live close to five sites.   I only play at four of them.   My favourite is the best marshalled.  

According to reports on here, the site that I don't like has improved immensely since I last went.  I'll try it again.  How the games are run matters.  

All sites can have off days, but imaginative management can make the dullest featured location fun, and of course vice versa.   

One thing I will say is that a well coordinated set of mates can clean up objectives against a massive opposition that are milling about chatting and being slack.   Ignore the members of your own side doing the same and concentrate on your own game - you'll have fun whatever anyone else does.   

As for time wasted between games, tell the site.  I sent an email to one site complaining about waiting around.  The next time I went the head marshal was obsessed with getting us up and playing a.s.a.p.   Won't cost you anything to contact them.  

Good luck for your next game.  

 

[The Waco Kid]

Edit; I will also add that collecting the equipment (often the guns), can be at least 50% of the reason people are in to this hobby.

Surely 95% at least. The other 5% being the quality food, toilets and hotties….

 

[MAX DICKER]

the quality food, toilets and hotties….

Missus just asked why I was laughing so much ???

 

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

Missus just asked why I was laughing so much ???

You won't be laughing if she finds out how much that Surefire torch you just bought actually cost...  

 

[MAX DICKER]

You won't be laughing if she finds out how much that Surefire torch you just bought actually cost...  

What do you mean? It was a tenner ?