Has Airsoft changed, or is it just me?

[Alex34]

So, I've been out of the Airsoft scene for about 5 or so years now. As I'm getting myself back into it, I'm noticing a change in retailers and especially mod techs. There seems to be loads more modifications available for everything, hpa systems, aeg electronics, all sorts of hop-up units etc. Is this the case or am I just losing it?

I remember back when the BTC Spectre mosfet was the rage for AEG rifles, now there are like three or four other companies making AEG mosfets, some look to be even better quality than the BTC stuff.

Is Airsoft advancing with technology and industry in the UK, for the better?

 

[BigStew]

Been playing for 24 years now there has been some major improvements if you want to modify your gun, but the QC is still spotty as hell and TM is still the only really reliable brand. However in the end if you actually know how to set a hop unit you can still be competitive with stock JG G36.  

 

[Tackle]

Yes & no, fets, sound generators, tracers, smoke generators, various options for recoil, hpa, wanker guns, the list is seemingly endless. 

Or, you could run a bog standard aeg with technology more than 25 years old, & still dominate the battlefield. 

Works for me ?

(sometimes lol?) 

 

[Sewdhull]

I thinks it's just function of ppl wanting more...

When I started playing there were no MOSFETs or lipos. Everything was DIY.

Other activities I did over the years started using more techy things but Airsoft said NO! Then eventually started saying ok, use a lipo (but don't use a good connector), better use a MOSFET with those new lipos...

Well if your using a MOSFET you can have burst and all sorts of other goodies...

And finally we are seeing brushless motors, which I like, but aren't necessary.

Mechanically very little has changed, there are lots more aftermarket stuff, because well Airsoft toys are flakey, even the good ones with QC get upgraded.

 

[AttackBunny]

I think airsoft has changed as there’s a new wave of younger players getting involved; there’s certainly a lot of players who must look like someone they’ve seen on tv and the combat master is a perfect example of that imo. Technology advancements help to some degree, are they helping the sport though? It doesn’t matter if you’ve upgraded your gun with hundreds of £££ or got a rental on your first day. You can still enjoy yourself. 

although I don’t understand the hype behind HPA, how some people demand realism with their gear, weapons and attachments but are happy to be powered by a gas canister cabled to their gun! But that’s just me 
 

 

[Krisz]

Regarding people: too many speedsofters indoor who act like they're in a tournament and they have to WIN at any cost to compensate for their small pp.

Advancement in technology is always a good thing.

When I was a kid rich people bought Marui or CA and poor people bought Cyma. Nowadays so many good manufacturers out there you don't have to spend silly money to get a really good gun.

 

[Enid_Puceflange]

I think that young blood brings in new ideas and innovations

Just take a look at the expo that happened across in Taiwan a few weeks ago, most of the reps and innovators/ manufacturers who are introducing the new stuff are barely of shaving age.

My parents could barely get their head around owning a Betamax let alone getting it to programme to record one of the 3 available channels.

Now mum (chasing 80) is able to get her box to pause live tv while she saves another programme on the hard drive to watch later

Innovation comes along and we get used to it, but I’ve only been playing maybe 7 years now and have seen things progress

I understand the use of hpa, but ruins the immersion for me with the umbilical 

Bluetooth programming of mosfets seems useful

Lipo’s or Life battery’s are certainly much better than NiCad’s

Thermal imaging will be cheaper and common in a couple of years

Still lots to look forward to I suppose, it’s great to see it continue to evolve

Young players are the future of our hobby for innovation 

 

[heroshark]

Asks the man considering HPAing a TM pistol ?. Short answer no, long answer hell no. Bring back the world of nicads and the only 2 aeg options were TM or classic army. Ok maybe there's some good stuff that's come to light in more recent years but it ain't all good.

 

[Emergencychimps]

Yes, it's changed and not all for the worse. 

Speedsoft and the gear for speedsoft (HPA, masks etc) have become much more popular. 

Rifs have evolved with some tech and the brands generally seem better.

The snobbish elitism of milsim seems to have reduced, (a lot of "milsim" people now seem to like structured skirmishes) as has the reverse snobbism. 

The people playing are people who haven't been watching the gwot/Afghanistan/iraq on the news or war movies, they have more experience with cod and Fortnite so the guns, gear etc are more that way inclined. 

The whole impression scene seems to have gone (with the odd exception) but it's been replaced with speedsofters and people who just want stuff that works and that seems to be very disperate. 

At my last skirmish I regularly came up against the same player, he was using speedsofter type stuff and he was very good, getting the better of me several times. Made the day a bit more challenging etc but he could have worn anything and he'd have been good.  

I'd like to see more specialist events (ruleset wise) Defiant Airsoft seem to be doing that, gunman are to a degree. 

 

[Sewdhull]

I found so far as gameplay is concerned people tend to be more gung ho.

I've always thought the idea wasn't to get shot, but I realise you can be effective and die often.

 

[BigStew]

I found so far as gameplay is concerned people tend to be more gung ho.

I've always thought the idea wasn't to get shot, but I realise you can be effective and die often.

In CQB i have single handily Cleared rooms by charging in getting a single kill, dying, then respawning and repeating till the jobs done while my team mates just stack up at the choke point.   

 

[Sewdhull]

It all depends what experience you are looking for.

 

[Cannonfodder]

I'd say yes and no. There have been quite a few changes where newer tech is slowly adopted, such as lipos and mosfets, but they're nowhere near essential and nothing touted as a game changer has remotely been anything like one

 

[Sewdhull]

Yeah none of it is necessary, performance pressures are minimal, unlike drones for example, so the need for advancement isn't the same.

My old Glock fires and works like a new gbb, it's probably less accurate...

 

[Alex34]

Don't get me wrong guys, I absolutely love the fact that there are new and more mods available! We run around with fake guns, chasing each other, shooting plastic BBs for pete's sake... if anyone takes this hobby too seriously they should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. It's all about enjoying yourself and having fun, and to do that you have to be able to respect the fact that everyone is different and will express themselves the way they choose.

If it were up to me, every gun would operate as close to the real version as possible, just for the sheer kick of it, not because I'm a "realist". If there are any mods that will help me to achieve that, I'm all for it.

I think it's brilliant that "tinkerers"are forming companies and inventing products so that we have options to enjoy ourselves a bit more. I think everyone should modify there guns in some way, whether that's internally or externally. Make it your own.

I could care less whether I win every mission on skirmish day or lose all of them... as long as I have a blast, I'm happy. I'm strictly there to run around, shoot shit up and have fun?.

Milsims, I take a bit more seriously but only because of the structure of it. I love the side missions and splitting up into teams to accomplish them. Saying that though, I am no solider, nor do I want to pretend to be one. I'm strictly there to have a good time. 

Asks the man considering HPAing a TM pistol ?. Short answer no, long answer hell no. Bring back the world of nicads and the only 2 aeg options were TM or classic army. Ok maybe there's some good stuff that's come to light in more recent years but it ain't all good.

Never go backwards mate! Give me all the new goodies! All the next gen recoil shock, gas blowback, mosfets, brushless, lipo goodies!? it works better, trust me it does. Don't think so? Have a chat with someone who races RC cars.

And with regards to HPA-ing my pistol... if there were a better system of running compressed air, I would try that instead. Yes, the attached cord is off putting but as it stood, I ran my AEG 95% of the time to 5% on the pistol... I just want to be able to enjoy running a pistol a bit more. Propane gas was always so meh. Gotta give hpa a try! It's either that or sell my PX4 and buy an MP5K HC?.

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

If it were up to me, every gun would operate as close to the real version as possible, just for the sheer kick of it, not because I'm a "realist". If there are any mods that will help me to achieve that, I'm all for it.

You need to buy a gas blow-back rifle then.  Lots of parts that are real-steel interchangeable, beautiful clacky bolt mechanism, decent trigger response. 

RECOIL

All oily bits, no electrical bits.  Realism with every 30 round mag change!  

 

[heroshark]

Yep I had a TM recoil after having a ghk gbbr. Loved my ghk but the mags at the time I had for the ghk were a pita and the cold weather performance was too inconsistent. Thought the ngrs was the next best answer but I found it sterile compared to gbbr, the ngrs got shelved. I stuck to my TM gbb pistols for the past 10 odd years and never missed a beat for me no hpa needed, not sure what's up with your px4 but not sure hpa is the answer. I've since got me an mws, only been out one game so far but I do like it.

 

[Tommikka]

I found so far as gameplay is concerned people tend to be more gung ho.

I've always thought the idea wasn't to get shot, but I realise you can be effective and die often.

This links into something that sparked a conversation recently.

We play a game and therefore don’t have the real life worries of being wounded or killed - we just pop back up again following respawn 

I played CQB a couple of months ago, and the end result was a battered body with a large grin.

During one of the games I was lasting a matter of seconds - running in the door and mostly getting shot, turn around back to the door, compose myself, gather a handful of players and repeat with the objective of trying to get a couple of us through 

Contrast this one extreme with the other extreme when I first played events over 15 years ago

Respawn was at either end of the field:

Game on 

Two teams meet in the middle 

You get eliminated 

Walk all the way to the back of the field, then return to the middle 

I quickly became very adverse to being shot, and unless needing to reload etc via the safe zone then there’s the temptation to walk back a bit then turn back in game

Put in appropriate game rules for spawns etc and I think that takes away one motivation for cheating (some people will cheat anyway)

At one of our events we tried out a medic rule with punch cards 

Players had the choice of putting their hand up and walking to a respawn point (a marshal within a reasonable distance)

Or laying on the ground calling for a medic

Instead of most medic spawns I’ve seen with the medic staying close enough to combat but trying to preserve themselves I was watching medics crawl almost to the brink of a ridge to punch the card of eliminated players 

We found it successful and a useful tactic for faction leaders, but something we have only used the once to keep it for certain circumstances 

 

[DanBow]

I could care less whether I win every mission on skirmish day or lose all of them... as long as I have a blast, I'm happy. I'm strictly there to run around, shoot shit up and have fun?.

Point of order: it's I couldn't care less. ?

 

[Emergencychimps]

Put in appropriate game rules for spawns etc and I think that takes away one motivation for cheating (some people will cheat anyway)

I've seen sites not consider this and it's broken what would have otherwise been a great game. If the punishment for being hit is too great, the desire to shake that one of is too great and it can ruin games. 

Also seen it go the other way. 

Gunman have a field medic pack, so you have a hard respawn, all the way at the back so it can be a bit of a trek......but the field medic pack can be placed anywhere, the downside is it can also be destroyed by the enemy if it's too close/obvious etc.