Is paintball better than airsoft?

[MatthewRyan]

Originally Posted by ThunderCactus

It's all about personal preference
Some people fucking LOVE nascar
I personally don't see how watching a car make left turns for 500 laps requires any skill
So I'm die hard formula 1

But yeah, personal preference lol
Welcome to airsoft!

Cartman " Hey I can turn left better then you "

[coach]

Originally Posted by ThunderCactus

I personally don't see how watching a car make left turns for 500 laps requires any skill

it's all about the 200mph wrecks! lol

[kalnaren]

Originally Posted by ThunderCactus

It's all about personal preference
Some people fucking LOVE nascar
I personally don't see how watching a car make left turns for 500 laps requires any skill
So I'm die hard formula 1

Originally Posted by L473ncy

F1? How about MotoGP and Dakkar Rally?

Air Racing is where it's at. Never seen an auto racer pull 10G's in a half-cuban.

[QUATTROISKING]

Originally Posted by kalnaren

Air Racing is where it's at. Never seen an auto racer pull 10G's in a half-cuban.

Iv never seen a jet that gets you laid

[vondnik]

Originally Posted by Ricochet

I hear getting hit by a simulated round up close is like getting hit by a truck .....at least we know hits would be called .....or cried, whatever.

Having been on the receiving end of .38 special and .40 S&W simunition I can tell you that it feels about the same as a close range paintball impact... Not pleasant but not day ending but definatly not something you look forward to...

Never got shot with a rifle simunition...

[Nickaayyy]

Happy you switch for airsoft !! Changed for airsoft too and I dont regret it at all, tired of seeing people running with dye suit in the woods ( nothing more annoying than a speedballer running in the woods, break the realism a bit :/)

[L473ncy]

Originally Posted by QUATTROISKING

Iv never seen a jet that gets you laid

I'm sure if you own a bizjet (like a Learjet, Hondajet, Gulfstream, or Cessna Citation) you're probably getting laid a lot. But that said it's not as "visible" as having a Ducati, Aprilia, or MV Agusta on the street.

I've also never heard of a Dakar rally entry being "sexy" and getting you laid (eg. BMW F650, Ford Focus, KTM) but I think they're pretty cool.

[sammynac99]

I'm an ex paintball player, I have played it all, woodsball, speedball , cqb and I gotta say that I am impressed by Airsoft, moving into it was easy and with a regulated field finally open it makes it that much easier to go play, the biggest beef I had with paintball was those big hoppers and the sometimes ridiculous use of different rounds, if you think getting hit by simunition hurts try getting hit at 330 FPS by some douchebag using reballs or monster balls ( different paintballs)

[sammynac99]

One guy I know took one to the head and got a concussion.

[Nickaayyy]

if you think getting hit by simunition hurts try getting hit at 330 FPS by some douchebag using reballs or monster balls ( different paintballs)

There's the first strike that my friend got shot by, let him a scar in is back. Was a pretty nasty wound he got and heard they can even break mask if direct hit with too high FPS (no wonder almost all fields dont let them being used).

That,s one of the thing that turned me off from paintball, too many idiot who use illegal amo or even froze them before bringing them on the field...

[Hectic]

I got two bruised ribs once from reballs damn things are heafty and dense and i seen a mask lense crack like a windshield from a frozen ball noone likez frozen balls of any kind. Lol i made a funny.
Also the ammount of people who are clearly splatered with paint who try n say it was spray off a wall or try n whipe it off on a wall or tree to claim they didnt get hit far fewwer "cheaters" in airsoft and in most cases in airsoft its just an honest mistake of not feelin it through mitiple layer of clothing and or gear.
Horray airsoft lol.

[sammynac99]

One thing to note between airsoft and paintball would be cost, realism and overall fun while playing.

Cost is a slight win for airsoft, anyone can go get a springer or a cheap JG or G and G AEG from between 100-200$, most players pack that will actually work well for paintball( no 39$ walmart pumpers) your going to need to get a tippmann, that will run you 150 bucks and a hopper and a tank and a mask. it will all come out to a reasonably equal amount of cost. Airsoft kind of wins in this category as BB's are Far cheaper then paintballs.

Realism: Airsoft wins. No hopper, no huge tanks, just magazines and hidden batteries, if you want realism you get yourself a GBBR and that s*** is realistic, 30 round magazines, open bolt blowbacks.

Overall Fun while playing: I think airsoft takes this one, if i get hit in airsoft "oww, i am out" compared to paintball, you get shot in the lower park of your facemask you are going to be having a paint snack, also, you then have to spend 25 minutes to clean your gear in the staging area. Also some low quality paints damage clothing, another thing to would be geting overshot, in air soft i have rarely been light up while walking out, whereas with paintball there are so many 12 year olds they'll shoot their own teammates so they can tell their buddies in the staging area they rock and got "Mad kills".

Average age for airsoft i would say would be 20-21 compared to paintball where the average age is about 15-16 in my experience.


Edit :the cost factor was just as a starting point, Obviously if i go out and get systema PTW it wont be 100-200 bucks.

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by sammynac99

One thing to note between airsoft and paintball would be cost, realism and overall fun while playing.

Cost is a slight win for airsoft, anyone can go get a springer or a cheap JG or G and G AEG from between 100-200$, most players pack that will actually work well for paintball( no 39$ walmart pumpers) your going to need to get a tippmann, that will run you 150 bucks and a hopper and a tank and a mask. it will all come out to a reasonably equal amount of cost. Airsoft kind of wins in this category as BB's are Far cheaper then paintballs.

Realism: Airsoft wins. No hopper, no huge tanks, just magazines and hidden batteries, if you want realism you get yourself a GBBR and that s*** is realistic, 30 round magazines, open bolt blowbacks.

Overall Fun while playing: I think airsoft takes this one, if i get hit in airsoft "oww, i am out" compared to paintball, you get shot in the lower park of your facemask you are going to be having a paint snack, also, you then have to spend 25 minutes to clean your gear in the staging area. Also some low quality paints damage clothing, another thing to would be geting overshot, in air soft i have rarely been light up while walking out, whereas with paintball there are so many 12 year olds they'll shoot their own teammates so they can tell their buddies in the staging area they rock and got "Mad kills".

Average age for airsoft i would say would be 20-21 compared to paintball where the average age is about 15-16 in my experience.

The cost thing is basically relevant to what airsoft type you play. I'd say airsoft is much more expensive. Granted there are a few expensive paintball guns, and of course the ammunition is definitely more expensive. However, running Systema/fight club guns with real steel accessories like optics, stock, etc; not to mention magazine cost, especially if your running a PTW or GBBR. Then of course there is all of the real steel special forces type gear if you want to make the most of your effectiveness. I've seen games with humvees, scud trucks, helicopters, etc. there is also thermal, night vision, back up weapons. You can play with a $200 springer, but if you want that thing to compete with the best guns, it's got to be a $600 - $1000 springer with $800 in upgrades. Bare minimum they can both be pretty inexpensive to play, but airsoft definitely takes the cake on high cost possibilities.

As far as realism goes, your spot on. I've seen some pretty impressive gun concepts for paintball though; but compared to airsoft guns they are not even close. Range and accuracy in airsoft is much higher/better, and the equipment is just better all around. You could of course wear expensive gear in paintball, but I wouldn't want my crap being covered in paint.

Fun is all personal preference. I've played paint ball a bunch, but other than the odd scrim I couldn't get into it. Airsoft I tried once with crappy gear and guns, against good gear and guns "at the time", and immediately loved it. There is no comparison in my mind. Although the two sports share some base similarities, I feel it's like hockey versus ringette.

[SF_Chewy]

Came from the same realm as you did Quattro. Did some rounds in CXBL and MXL for a few years. Before that was OPPL and TOC for a number of years.

To me its a difference in between competition and hobby/fun. I came to airsoft to relax, and have a slower and less competitive games. But I never gave up pb. To me they're two different elements. Sure they both use "guns" but its just different for me. They're both fun in their own ways.

And yes cost wise, airsoft is about 1/2 to 2/3 the cost of pb. I'm used to dishing out 1G+ for markers (DM's and MacDev's), so it is a welcome change to get into airsoft and see cheaper pricing.

I'll never give up either, but to each their own as they both have their merits.

[FirestormX]

Originally Posted by Ricochet

[...]and the equipment is just better all around.

I disagree on that part, assuming you're talking about the gun/marker. Airsoft gearboxes are based on a 20 year old design, and all we really have is a company in Japan making guns for the Japanese market, and a bunch of Chinese companies cloning that tech. There's no real steps forward.

I have this discussion with a chairsofting coworker sometimes, who's been playing paintball for 20+ years, and he talks about how annoying it is to look at airsoft gear. He's watched the evolution of paintball over the past two decades, meanwhile airsoft is barely moving. He'll talk about how he'll listen to an episode of airsoftology, and when they say something like "hey, did you see this new thing that might be coming out? It's pretty exciting", and he wants to yell at them "yeah, it's called a such-and-such. The technology has been around since the 80s", or something.

The G&G PDW came out, with its adjustable velocity, and that's considered a selling point. You buy a $400 gun, and not only is it accepted that something will break within a few games, but it's expected. People are debating and explaining things about air compression, barrel diameter, and whatever - meanwhile paintballers have gone over all that a decade ago. (That was a bad example, but you get the point)

His analogy is that it's like airsoft and paintball came up together, and paintball got more popular, and thus had a bigger player base, was more profitable for manufacturers, etc. So a lot of the technology grew through paintball. The same stuff that could be applied to airsoft with no problem, but it's like airsoft manufacturers are too proud to glance over at what paintball is doing, so they either reinvent the wheel (rarely), or just reproduce a v2 gearbox over and over.

So in that sense, paintball is much better. Manufacturers are improving their guns. New ideas and designs are coming out every few years. Paintball is continually innovating and evolving.

Airsoft is relatively stagnant.