is airsoft a dying sport ?

You've just linked to his videos. Which one did you mean?

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Found it:

 
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Absolutely not, if anything in this country the game is still growing.

Long may that continue.

 
Certainly seems that way in the UK and Europe. I'd imagine Johnathan bases most of these types of answers around the US airsoft scene - wouldn't make sense not to.

 
the site I play at has gone from around 25 players per side to nearly 100 on average in the past few years. I actually wish it was less popular as the games were better with less people but the site I play at is large enough to cope so all good in da hood :-)

 
Not in this country it isn't. The only thing limiting airsoft growth is available sites to play.

The only thing is that while numbers are going up the level of play is going down.

It does feel like the camaraderie and spirit of airsoft is on the wane.

Lots of good balanced players leaving to be replaced by power gamers and geardos.

Unfortunately though without their money then airsoft would struggle to survive.

 
Is airsoft a sport? As a hobby it is maturing, even some of the players are as well.

 
Jedi_Master said:
Is airsoft a sport? As a hobby it is maturing, even some of the players are as well.
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No its a team game. To be a sport it would need some sort of actual competition or league.Its best left as game as well because if it became too competitive then you lose what is the best thing about it.

Fun.

 
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Competition breeds the will to 'win' on a macro level, which leads to people making choices based on whether or not they'll win or lose. Hit taking then takes an absolute nose dive as people realise they can win easier by just not calling their hits every time.

Thats not what airsoft is about for me, I don't really care if my team wins the day with the most points or whatever. I'm much happier with a hard fought day where my side loses but I enjoy it than I am with a day where the team I'm on rinses the opposition massively.

Airsoft is not and cannot become a 'sport' without MASSIVE amounts of marshalling (one or more marshals per player), even then it'll bring out the asshole in a lot more people than it already does!

 
See: Filipino speedsoft.

 
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Theres a million little kids who love playing call of duty no way in hell when they grow up are they not gonna wanna play airsoft lol.

 
Certainly not if the attendance at my local site is anything to go by, echoing similar comments, have seen the site go from 40-50ish to more of 60-80 people per week, the site has also introduced x3 Milsims a year & have recently started doing mid-week games, all of these have had sustainable attendance that they remain as part of the annual calendar of events

I always think it helps if the sites remain open regularly, that way they build up loyal customer base, word of mouth can then spread. Outside of where I skirmish on a regular basis, attended UCAP Sandpit on two occasions & both times there were x180+ in attendance.

Airsoft is very much alive in a big way in Kent!

 
As others have said, Airsoft is not dying as far as I can see, but it's getting harder to avoid the ass-hat players, be they newbies who don't know better or veteran players who are just gobby idiots.

I have said before though that - IMHO - embracing the sportification of Airsoft perhaps into areas like Speed-soft is crucial.

This won't necessarily lead to the end of the 'yeah but airsoft is more tactical and realistic and $h!t' side that some people cherish, but it might give us a stream of activity that we can use in the face of an anti-gun lobby that will not go away...

 
I think airsoft will keep growing in popularity due to FPS on consoles and PCs. Years ago there was an influx of WWII re-enactors thanks to Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan. Now the modern games seem to be bringing yougsters into the hobby. Thats another can of worms sometimes but without fresh blood Hobbies will slowly decline.

 
I think there is a generation of "hardened" players who are vocally quitting, stating issues with sites, cheaters and big egos. From my viewpoint most of the flouncers are the twats causing the issues.

 
Mr Monkey Nuts said:
I think there is a generation of "hardened" players who are vocally quitting, stating issues with sites, cheaters and big egos. From my viewpoint most of the flouncers are the twats causing the issues.
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See your point but disagree agree slightly. Anyone who classes themselves as a hardened player is a twat that airsoft can do without anyway. Its the decent players who are just quietly leaving because the level of play is going down that is the issue. Its not all the younger or newer players that are causing all the issues its the multiglam fat middle aged walt try hards who are actually the big issue, so you were right there.
 
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