The Mall

[MrMcG]

So first day at the mall

Impressive location and facilities and some friendly marshals love the free parking and the overall feel of the place too.

Good mixture of areas and the shopping mall arena really adds to the experience nothing like charging through peacocks with a gun LOL

Just had one gripe today and that was hit taking the whole day problems were had by all and in fairness both teams complained but I can only comment on what I saw

Had one guy take a round clean in chest from a team mate which he ignored ( no way he couldn't have felt or heard or seen it as was close ) and shot him and then myself point blank in the head imagine the muzzle a thumbs width from your forehead. Thankfully the Marshalls found him and removed him as his friends as they were causing a bit of grief all over this was just the first game..

Throughout the day the hit taking almost became worse 5 team guys shot a single player and he just ran into cover then came round the corner on full auto when only semi permitted and hosed down several people I even think he managed to hit a marshal and he legged it again.

One of our team friendly fired someone and got him square in chest for which he announced lucky that missed.

I won't continue on as it is a long list of things that will become repetitive and we all know the score considering this was a 3hr 30 round trip a touch disappointed

I'm hoping this is a rare thing but a few regulars were telling us it's been happening more and more recently

I will try again as I think the location facilities and the Marshalls were all good

Was I just unlucky today or have others suffered similar

 

[ImTriggerHappy]

I would agree that its been getting worse.

Last couple of games I have had there I have had to call marshalls over or point out to player they have been hit, even ones on my own team.

Not quite sure why. The marshalls are usually pretty good at picking up on the players who are not hit taking and if you can give a description will go and monitor the player.

It bugs me because I use a tracer and that makes it even more obvious.

 

[MrMcG]

Not my imagination then

It's funny you mention the tracer a few had them today and it really stuck out when people were hit but as you mentioned even though obvious it didn't matter

 

[lafta]

I honestly don't find it too bad at all MOST of the time. I've played there over ten times in the last six months or so and am booked in for the next two weeks. Live the place.

As Trigger says, marshalls are generally awesome at dealing with issues. Especially if you can get a solid description. I find loud shouting for a Marshall in the first instances of issues can really deter people through the day, even team mates who are witnessing it. Use the tools they give you and most of the time it can be combatted. Get five stag dos on a game day, then good luck lol

 

[EvilMonkee]

Its been getting worse recently, which I put down to the weather. Basically you get more people coming inside who have never played there before because of the poor winter weather. Equals more shenanigans all round. I went there with the Bolsh a few weeks back and it was singularly the worst days airsoft I have ever had, incl at one point a rubber knife in the face from around a corner....Avoid until the spring is my advice.

 

[ImTriggerHappy]

....Avoid until the spring is my advice.

Click to shrink...

nah just your advantage of knowing the site to make people like that suffer. Within the rules of course.

 

[Esoterick]

I find loud shouting for a Marshall in the first instances of issues can really deter people through the day, even team mates who are witnessing it.

Click to shrink...

To a lot of players doing this is considered the same as cheat calling. I personally wouldn't shout for a marshal unless something dangerous was happening.

Up to you though, but i've seen a massive argument take place because of someone doing this when they thought they had hit a player but hadn't.

 

[ImTriggerHappy]

To a lot of players doing this is considered the same as cheat calling. I personally wouldn't shout for a marshal unless something dangerous was happening.

Up to you though, but i've seen a massive argument take place because of someone doing this when they thought they had hit a player but hadn't.

Click to shrink...

Got to agree with eso on this. The expresion calling for a marshall doesn't mean stand there shouting that somebody is not taking their hits. If you think someone is cheating have a quiet word or beckon a marshall over to monitor an area then let them do their job.Screaming and shouting is bad for airsoft unless its a bit of banter.

I know the marshalls at the mall take a dim view of cheat calling in any form and usually the person yelling gets the worst of it.

 

[lafta]

I wouldn't stand there shouting out the issue. And I wouldn't do it if it was a real close up engagement with the potential to have a big argument.

Have an issue, call for a Marshall. If someone within earshot is doing something naughty then they might think twice next time that's all. Maybe I'm just lucky but has worked for me, even with people I have had issue with on a different day.

I take your points on board. But I don't think calling for a Marshall is cheat calling, it's the exact opposite. I wish more players would do it and they might face less issues. Nobody wants unnecessary conflict though of course.

Love airsoft, love the Mall, there will always be issues, but you just have to deal with them as best you can and enjoy YOUR day.

 

[proffrink]

Why don't we just pick fights with 15 year-old kids and film it on a GoPro like the Americans?

 

[Esoterick]

It depends on how you do it though. If it's shouting across a room for a Marshal after getting in a firefight and it's nothing serious it looks a lot like cheat calling. If you walk up to a Marshal, give them a player's description and say something like "would you mind keeping an eye on that player as i'm pretty sure I hit them a few times" it comes across a lot differently to both the site staff and other players.

 

[MrMcG]

The staff were very good with all issues raised in their defence and they did throw out a few people they were I think run off their feet with problems yesterday

It's a shame as it has tarnished the place for me partly due to the amount of time it takes to get there and back wouldn't want another day like that and then the 2hr journey home

 

[ImTriggerHappy]

The staff were very good with all issues raised in their defence and they did throw out a few people they were I think run off their feet with problems yesterday

It's a shame as it has tarnished the place for me partly due to the amount of time it takes to get there and back wouldn't want another day like that and then the 2hr journey home

Click to shrink...

Should come to the game in February then.

 

[Colonel Kurtz]

In my experience, The Mall can indeed suffer from rare 'bad-days' where hit-taking and more importantly; the general attitude, suffers a bit of a cascade failure. (I do mean rare, I've been there a lot over past 2 years, prob average of every other week, and only 3 times had such a day)

It'll start with one group of fuckers really taking the piss (sounds like you had one and they got kicked out). People then use this as an excuse to not take hits themselves, or are then very much on the look-out for any further reason to valid their ranting about the topic. This will usually be people giving themselves a cheeky mulligan or assuming "I hit that guy" every time (whereas otherwise they might be more open to the idea that they missed, which half the time is the case in CQB). The vibe ends up perpetuating and you end up with lots of grumpy people winding themselves up or/and lowering themselves to the same level.

One thing i will say is the marshaling is very discrete. There's no public floggings, they rarely even announce when people have been kicked off the site, they just vanish and out of 120 people you might not even notice (maybe there's a locked room full of skeletons on the 3rd floor). This is good as it stops public arguments, and doesn't spread the vibe to people who hadn't noticed. But it can be bad as people actively pissed off by it can be left feeling they haven't had justice and might not notice the quality of honesty has improved; if they're still looking for reasons why it's bad, rather than why it might now be better.

I often think The Mall needs a bit of a disclaimer; You have to remember it's a dark shopping mall with 100+ people in it, most of whom are used to slow paced hiding behind trees in perfect visibility. You're never going to get the same kind of team/objective immersion you'll get at a woodland site with half the numbers. And you will get a reasonable amount of chaos.

So I find with The Mall you're kind of forced to take what you can/want from it, and also forced to adopt a sense of cheerful humor/indifference, not serious operator (you wont enjoy it, it'll never live up to that embassy siege fantasy in ones mind).

Every game i play there I'll experience someone who doesn't take a hit, but you have to cut people some slack and assume their just out their woodland airsofting comfort zone and too panicked with adrenaline to notice, not evil and deliberately cheating. Report it all to marshals regardless, don't be shy about it, they know better than anyone that most people aren't trying to cheat, just shitting their pants too much to notice the bb hit the ridiculous amount of military costume they're wearing. Don't feel like you're slagging someone off, feel like your indirectly helping them to play the game better, as most airsofters are kind-hearted enough to only need a friendly word from a marshal to pay more attention to themselves.

In summary; It does sound like you had a bit of a worse-case scenario for a first time there. All I can say is if you felt the layout of the site and the game scenarios has the potential to offer you the chance to be airsoft awesome, then go again, as every week it's a different 100 people, and usually all good eggs, rarely a rotten dozen.

 

[MrMcG]

Very wise words Mr Kurtz

I only ever play cqb at Epsom but agree some forest people may not be used to that.

The venue and marshals I can't knock they were fantastic I will give it another shot maybe next year.

Hopefully I can tie myself in with a game when most people from here are visiting

 

[Standbystandby]

Can I ask a question.... Hopefully not open a can of worms!! I have only ever done skirmish days but planning my first milsim "lite" in the new year. Is there a better attitude to taking hits in milsim? Or is it worst.. I can see it going either way.

 

[PeteS]

Hmm The Mall is an odd one. You have to go at it with the right frame of mind. As someone else posted, forget your SAS CQB drills, forget 10 guys stacking up at a door to breach and clear Rainbow 6 style etc. I just play it as a meaningless run about with minimal equipment on. It isn't my favourite site, although I will be there on the 20th, but I enjoyed it more when I stopped trying to get all spec ops on it.

 

[Sacarathe]

Why don't we just pick fights with 15 year-old kids and film it on a GoPro like the Americans?

Click to shrink...

Unless it turns out that footage from a closer gopro - but released later exonerates the adult and shows the kid started it.

 

[TheFull9]

Can I ask a question.... Hopefully not open a can of worms!! I have only ever done skirmish days but planning my first milsim "lite" in the new year. Is there a better attitude to taking hits in milsim? Or is it worst.. I can see it going either way.

Click to shrink...

Humans are humans, and there's all sort of different levels of simulation games with different rules and different types of people attending. There's this notion floating around that somehow you get a totally different bunch of folks at all milsims, but it isn't the case. You'll still get tons of guys with very basic gear who're new (sometimes brand new) to airsoft as a whole; you'll likely see a few more guys who've got all the gucci-ness and have been playing a long time, but it's not all that different end of the day.

You've probably got a bit 'more to lose' as it were by cheating at a milsim game, but if you're the scummy sort of person who cheats, you're going to cheat wherever you are.

 

[Sam_G]

Played there once. Will never go back.

Hit taking was horrendous, staff were rude and favoured the locals, BFG rules are crazy (waits for all the arguments)

Generally a waste of a great venue.