How to attract new players to Airsoft?

[RostokMcSpoons]

1 hour ago, Reef said:

Ahhh, makes sense now. I had to google search what a bounder was. 😁

 

You'd best check for 'cad' too.  Most bounders tend to be cads from what I hear

[gavinkempsell]

40 minutes ago, GenuineGerman said:

I think the health aspect is a really good point. Certainly makes cardio exercise much more fun.

Awe, MANNNNN!

You've just ruined airsoft for me now, no one said it was exercise.

Edited March 5 by gavinkempsell

[Shamal]

3 minutes ago, gavinkempsell said:

Awe, MANNNNN!

You've just ruined aisoft for me now, no one said it was exercise.

Not the way I do it 😉

[DanBow]

4 hours ago, Reef said:

I'm not playing airsoft with my son to train him to be a killer,

 

it's just an added bonus that will reap the rewards when civilisation falls.

[ParHunter]

5 hours ago, Reef said:

As someone who has just started this journey I'll add my 2 cents.

 

It was my son who suggested we try airsoft. He's only 12 but having played with Nerf guns (myself aswell) for a few years he wanted to try airsoft.

After he got over the initial shock of being hit he really enjoyed playing. Personally I enjoyed it more than I thought I would!

 

Cost - I think its comparable to other hobbies, fishing, paddle boarding, and cheaper than many, cycling, golf, sailing.

Heath - I don't think this is mentioned enough, outdoors (mostly) and as physical as you want it to be, I know I come home knackered...

Social - Team building, meeting new people, sharing experiences

Mental - Keeping your brain active with marksmanship, strategy, problem solving.

 

Most of all its fun and a good way to forget your day to day troubles.

 

I'm not playing airsoft with my son to train him to be a killer, we are spending time together, he's getting more confident and learning to be responsible. I think its a great outdoor activity and good value for money.

 

You can tell i work in Marketing LOL....  

 

 

 

I could have written that! My son was two years older but he as well came from Nerf guns and found Airsoft videos on YouTube. 
I was surprised by how much I liked it. It reminded me of the fun part of my army days without the cluster f&@k from who ever could shout the loudest and had more stripes than you.

 

Playing Airsoft with my son has improved our relationship immensely. Before that we didn’t really have any thing to talk about. I tried to get him into Golf (my other expensive hobby) but he didn’t like it. So he got me into his hobby instead.

My wife doesn’t know who is more nuts about Airsoft now, my son or myself. I do more research while he does more larping. 

 

Last month my son managed to recruit 6 other boy soldiers from his year group. Let’s see how many will join us for the next skirmish.

[Dan Robinson]

1 hour ago, DanBow said:

 

it's just an added bonus that will reap the rewards when civilisation falls.

 

 I was hoping it would make my son realise that in the army you only get shot once.....compared to how many respawns he had to do on a typical skirmish day.

 

Don't mind him signing up to learn a skill/trade and serving that way.  I don't want him being Cannon fodder for whatever cnut has managed to persuade an alarmingly small proportion of the population to put them in power....when was the last truly justifiable armed conflict we were involved in (outside of local peacekeeping)?  The Falklands....  maybe the first Gulf War (the first part liberating Kuwait).

 

 

No criticism of those serving....it's the ones hiding behind their power I despise for taking advantages.

Edited March 5 by Dan Robinson

[Reef]

37 minutes ago, ParHunter said:

Last month my son managed to recruit 6 other boy soldiers from his year group. Let’s see how many will join us for the next skirmish.

My son and I have also tried a number of things. My daughter and wife have football so we needed something to do while there off on a Sunday morning.
 

I see you’re local to me, maybe we’ll bump into each other at Dogtag.

[GenuineGerman]

20 minutes ago, Dan Robinson said:

 

 I was hoping it would make my son realise that in the army you only get shot once.....compared to how many respawns he had to do on a typical skirmish day.

 

Don't mind him signing up to learn a skill/trade and serving that way.  I don't want him being Cannon fodder for whatever cnut has managed to persuade an alarmingly small proportion of the population to put them in power....when was the last truly justifiable armed conflict we were involved in (outside of local peacekeeping)?  The Falklands....  maybe the first Gulf War (the first part liberating Kuwait).

 

 

No criticism of those serving....it's the ones hiding behind their power I despise for taking advantages.

Eh cannon haha 😜 I prefer meat sandbag!!

[Dan Robinson]

11 minutes ago, GenuineGerman said:

Eh cannon haha 😜 I prefer meat sandbag!!

 

Bloody autokorreckt

[Egon_247]

I got into it because a mate was playing, dragged us out for the day and that was that. Hooked.

I take my eldest along and one of his mates too. My eldest is a cadet and a few of his fellow cadets also play.

It's kinda infectious.🤣

He's properly found his inner officer as If I lose him on the field, I just stop and listen for a gobby 13 year old barking orders at grown adults or if not that, listen for the highest fire fight. Hell be in the middle of it!

I think the games consoles have an influence too. He wanted a p90 because it was cool on COD784 or whatever it's up to now and realistically they all do the same thing, so why not.

I even made him a riot shield which he sports along with his m92 and has a scream. 

The under 18's day we do (apocalypse 249 on a Saturday) is usually packed with the whole spectrum. The rentals having their first go to the mummy's boy with the Gucci gear and no idea.

 

Also in agreement. "Old fart slow soft" is my speed. Tactical walking. 🤣🤣

Edited March 6 by Egon_247
Adding pic of sgt gobby and the grown adult who battled it out for 20 mins ...🤣

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

I should think the most obvious would be to have a stripper on at lunchtime given the target audience...

 

Seriously though, given some of the 'banter' and 'funny' patches, some games are hardly welcoming to all.  Mrs TPH has played at filmsim/milsim games for a while now.  I'm glad that I didn't ever take her along to a few of the skirmishes that I've attended.   If we could all confidently take our better halves it could make a big difference to numbers.  That said, the same is true about a lot of events/sports etc.

[Tackle]

2 hours ago, Tactical Pith Helmet said:

I should think the most obvious would be to have a stripper on at lunchtime given the target audience...

It actually happened at a game I attended, richborough power station, wasn't impressed, she had a spotty arse🤢

[Cannonfodder]

4 hours ago, Tackle said:

It actually happened at a game I attended, richborough power station, wasn't impressed, she had a spotty arse🤢

I saw the footage, she really was rough

[Egon_247]

7 hours ago, Tactical Pith Helmet said:

 we could all confidently take our better halves it could make a big difference to numbers.  That said, the same is true about a lot of events/sports etc.

 

No. Nopety nope. 

I've thought about taking the Mrs, but she has a real short fuse and would be pistol whipping people if she ran out of ammo.....😱😮

[Enid_Puceflange]

One of the sites up here (Area 66) does regular kids days

Its parents & kids and allows the younger than average attendees to see what their dads get up to on the Sundays they vanish and come back fuckered and bruised.

It does seem to be very popular, normally run on a sat with 40+ in attendance.

I think it’s a great thing!

My father tried hard to get me to enjoy his hobby of fly fishing, which I just didn’t have the patience or finesse for

Then it was air guns & motorcycles…..

[Dan Robinson]

On 05/03/2024 at 21:52, GenuineGerman said:

 

 

I can't think of much scarier than SWMBO armed with an AEG.

 

She might be small, but she's got a hell of a temper.

 

Thankfully she also has all the athletic prowess of an egg.

 

 

 

Edited March 7 by Dan Robinson

[gavinkempsell]

11 hours ago, Tactical Pith Helmet said:

I should think the most obvious would be to have a stripper on at lunchtime given the target audience...

Ok, but I'll need 1hrs pay in advance.

[GenuineGerman]

Mine would be quite happy in the safe area drinking coffee. God loves a trier  

[hprentice]

On 05/03/2024 at 21:30, Dan Robinson said:

 

 I was hoping it would make my son realise that in the army you only get shot once.....compared to how many respawns he had to do on a typical skirmish day.

 

Don't mind him signing up to learn a skill/trade and serving that way.  I don't want him being Cannon fodder for whatever cnut has managed to persuade an alarmingly small proportion of the population to put them in power....when was the last truly justifiable armed conflict we were involved in (outside of local peacekeeping)?  The Falklands....  maybe the first Gulf War (the first part liberating Kuwait).

 

 

No criticism of those serving....it's the ones hiding behind their power I despise for taking advantages.

As they say, war never solved anything, except slavery, genocide, naziism, fascism, and terrorism...

 

Theres a huge culteral shift in young people these days. As a kid, nearly every lad at school had an air rifle or airsoft gun at home. People would talk about the military at school and half the lads I knew had aspirations to join the military. Now theres not a huge interest in the military for a number of reasons (mostly they know its a lot of work for little pay) and people just dont have the desire for it. I think this goes hand in hand with airsoft and most people outside of the sport see it as an old mans game outside of their own interests. 

 

As for changing that i do think social media influence is the only way to reach younger people. There more youtubers (licking spunkstain excluded) that can post content that appeals to younger people the better. Kids now just want to play call of duty and sit around, so if more content was to reach younger audiences showing exciting gameplay then i think more people would play.

[Poach]

You generally want social media if you want to reach out to the youth of today. The problem is Airsoft is ran by old men whose idea of social media is Facebook (and I say that as someone who probably falls on the "old" side of the young/old divide in Airsoft by now!). The second problem is the current trendy platforms for younger audiences (like Instagram and Tiktok) are extremely hostile to Airsoft: accounts get banned regularly for showing airsoft guns on them.

 

In terms of actual actionable ideas, reaching out to groups that contain youngsters that might be interested would be the way to go. Chat to the local Cadet Forces and local Airsoft sites and see if you can't get a Cadet day going, for example. Buy a billboard ad on a road the kids use to go from school or college to the local cuisine vendors at lunch time. Rent a stall at your local Fresher's Fair. Chance your luck on Instagram with buying a targeted ad and hope Insta doesn't ban you for it.

Edited March 7 by Poach

[EDcase]

1 hour ago, Poach said:

...In terms of actual actionable ideas, reaching out to groups that contain youngsters that might be interested would be the way to go. Chat to the local Cadet Forces and local Airsoft sites and see if you can't get a Cadet day going, for example. Buy a billboard ad on a road the kids use to go from school or college to the local cuisine vendors at lunch time. Rent a stall at your local Fresher's Fair. Chance your luck on Instagram with buying a targeted ad and hope Insta doesn't ban you for it.

Specifically targeting youngsters with ads will land you in hot water with the lefties saying that you're trying to radicalise them and indoctrinate violent behaviour.

Anything gun shaped is a no in today's society.

 

Ads would have to emphasise the camaraderie and team building but avoid showing the 'toys'

 

 

Edited March 7 by EDcase

[Egon_247]

So lots of videos of eating bacon rolls and walking back to respawn....🤣🤣🤣

[EDcase]

Exactly 😄

Not forgetting shaking hands of the other team after a game 😁

 

 

Edited March 7 by EDcase

[DanBow]

22 minutes ago, EDcase said:

Specifically targeting youngsters with ads will land you in hot water with the lefties saying that you're trying to radicalise them and indoctrinate violent behaviour.

Anything gun shaped is a no in today's society.

 

Ads would have to emphasise the camaraderie and team building but avoid showing the 'toys'

 

 

 

Fuck the lefties! If we pander to them, they win! Advertise how much fun running around the woods shooting your mates is. Advertise the buzz you get from a well placed shot that takes out an enemy player. Advertise all of the things that they, they lefties, hate.

[gavinkempsell]

1 hour ago, Poach said:

Chat to the local Cadet Forces and local Airsoft sites

TBH, this is the best idea IMO, a few years ago (ok, decades) as a teen in the ATC, we had an evening running around the local links with a capture the base gameplay, was great fun & OMG, having a usable firearm would have been awesome.

33 minutes ago, Egon_247 said:

So lots of videos of eating bacon rolls and walking back to respawn....🤣🤣🤣

Show it as it is... honesty is the best policy.

Edited March 7 by gavinkempsell