Paintball Media Magazine August 2022 | Page 34

As per the usual , the game was nothing short of epic scenario paintball .
“ Big Games ” are hosted all over the country with various themes and producers . Most of them will attract somewhere in the neighborhood of 700-800 people on a great weekend . But IoN stands alone in its sheer size and magnitude . Some industry insiders , and players as well , criticize the event saying that it is actually too big . And some of their points are valid .
The naysayers inevitably complain about the lack of referees , the lack of open chrono stations , and the lack of overall maturity and leadership amongst the field staff . This year was no exception . But the majority of people enter this event with an understanding that a field this large is virtually impossible to police perfectly , and a great deal of integrity is typically shown by participants policing each other , and helping field staff when coaching and support were needed . This year , a group of Allied players stopped play for nearly 30 minutes on Saturday to aid an injured referee .
Regardless how much energy is devoted to chrono at field entry , and no matter how many referees there are on field , there are seemingly infinite number of places for a player with malicious intent to hide . Every year , players whine about people “ shooting hot .” This year , that claim was validated by a group of 10-plus individuals who were shooting upwards of 380 fps ( this is an unconfirmed estimate based on line of sight by players and refs alike ) who could not be nailed down by game officials .
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