The battle itself was intense, balanced, and elicited a constant back-and-forth possession and concession of field control. Under the scripting of writer Kristy Barno, the game included the traditional push-and-pull elements of slapsticks and prop retrievals, but it also included a host of micro missions which had to be completed by players, not commanders, facilitating more opportunities for players to experience immersion in the story than in years past. This ranged from the young gun missions, to artifact finds and mythology quizzes that were high-value.
In addition, this event went beyond role play, bringing in other elements of the sport of paintball as elements weaved directly into game play and not disrupting the flow of the game. The story line called for 5v5 mini battles at specific times, and Legion battles in which pre-assigned player factions would break into side-games at various points throughout the weekend. These elements presented a new hurdle for commanders: resource management
“ It was a different monster than the year before,” said Red Commander, Captain Zeke,“ I was the Blue XO last year, and I will say this year was a whole other animal.”
With so many moving parts, Zeke said he had a tight window for controlling this game. While wrangling the players for missions was a challenge in itself, there was also a balance to strike in prioritizing where his resources were used.
Photo This Spread By Matt Clayton www. paintball. media
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