Saturday, December 12, 2009

A Case against 'Speedsoft' and the Mercenary Scene

We've all had those moments, where we get that new gun and look down at the box sorta roll your shoulders before you open the box. After cutting the tape you lift up the cover of that box and there she is your brand new AEG. You ordered it a few weeks ago and its in the shape of your favorite gun, which is used by the most high speed Special Operations Group on the face of the planet. You take it out of the stryofoam and strip it of it's platic covering to reveal all the sexy features you already knew it would have.Running your hands lightly down the rails you place the weapon down, flipping open your parts box and grabbing out that extra holo-sight and mock suppressor you had been keeping special for this new sleek weapon. After a short while you've twisted the accesories into place on the rail and you take a step back to get a good look at it. Just like from that picture of the Special Forces soldier you based it on. So now you gotta take it to the field.
Maybe a few days later you walk onto the field confidently that your new baby is going to do you right during the mission. After discussing with a few other operators where you got all the parts and the prices the whistle is blown to take the field. Standing behind a barrier loosening yourself up for the mission the whistle blows again, the game is on. You flick you weapon on automatic and charge headlong at the enemy spraying bb's at them.
Now pause, to me this isn't consitant a person purchases an AEG, used a Special Forces loadout as insparation for a weapon desgin, but they don't even hope to amount to the tactics used by that soldier because they're a 'speedsofter.'
The term 'speedsofter' can be used to define someone who plays airsoft like a displaced paintballer, in other words their AEG is always on automatic fire mode and doesn't use any type of conventional military tactic. They instead look like any old paintballer video on YouTube.
Most 'speedsofters' are independent entities on the field they roll out like John Rambo trying to take on a whole team and is cast down faster than Monty Python's Black Knight. There is one thing these 'speedsofters' are good for and that's showing the airsoft community that there is strength in unity which is what ties me to my next semi-connected topic, teams.
In airsoft there is a large mercenary, contractor, or free agent culture. Many players simply play to play, this is great I will in no way de-value anyone's drive to play airsoft, but there is no one in this community who can deny that airsoft is infact a team sport. Now if there is an acknowledgment of airsoft as a team sport why is it that wea have such a large mercenary culture within our sport.
Some of this is to be expected because when someone comes on the scene they won't always already be on a team and need to try out or make a name for themselves before a team will have them, but I've met skillful and well established operators who have been playing for four years or more who have never been on a team. The kind of skills, teamwork, and tactics that are needed to have victory in an operation aren't the kind of traits you learn the day of the operation, much planning and practice is needed to perfect the art of clearing a room, crossing a road safely, or performing a trench takedown.
Airsoft is at a point in its progression where the future of he sport can be swung greatly by the followings of the particular 'arts' within the game. I see two main 'arts' vrying for the spot to go forward into airsofts future 'speedsoft' and 'mil-sim.' Watching the popularity of airsoft grow I see now that we as a community are where paintball was just a few years ago, and look at them now. They have video games, pro leagues, and specials on Spike TV. If airsoft ever wants to have a 'Spike TV Generation' we need to offer the 'non-airsofter' a diffrent formula than paintball has offer them in the past.
Being that airsoft is a game of honor, and that 'speedsoft' is bastardized paintball, the idea of 'speedsoft' “going pro” is outlandish, could never happen, because it is paintball except easier to cheat seeing as players have to be honorable enough to call their hits. Mil-Sim airsoft has a chance, it is what will give the possiblity for a 'Spike TV Generation' in airsoft. This is because it offers a diffrent variety of tactics and gameplay, helicopters, hummers, and boats could get involved, the possiblities are endless.
Now I have to address why the mercenary culture affects the possibility of a built up airsoft league. Though I believe skirmish operations involving the mercenary culture are good fundraisers and recruiting tools for the airsoft community they should not be taken serious by serious teams. I implore all seasoned airsoft veterans who are still unaffiliated with a team to begin trying out for the teams you may be a good fit for.Why is it important to build teams? Using paintball as my model, as it is our closely related cousin, when you see specials on Spike or G4 on paintball tournaments all the teams there have been together and been practcing together for many years.
A mil-sim airsoft team should have 9 members at its smallest, two fire-teams and a squad leader. With enough teams like this in a region invite only games can be played. Invite only games are the sport at it's purest of level, no new folks to bog you down simply the guys you practiced with and play with op in and op out. Honetally these kind of invite only Op's need to start here in New England where we have the best and most organized airsoft fields, groups and teams.
To start making mil-sim airsoft into a true national phenomenon we would have to get camera men at these ops and splice together video much like you see on sports review shows and newscasts to show the best and brightest airsofters to the nation.
As disjoined as this article seemed the idea is that 'speedsoft' games are dead-end childsplay that could never enter into a 'Spike TV Generation' because the formula of the game is tried, tested, and executed better by the paintballing scene, but there is hope in Mil-Sim community for this 'generation' because of the unique style of gameplay and options offered by the playstyle of the group. To get to the point where paint ball is now everyone would have to pitch in and help, those trained and tried mercenary operators would have to go and join or start a team to create enough of a team boom to allow for invite only games which might eventually lead to the formulation of the airsoft 'Spike TV Generation.'

12 comments:

  1. please change the font color. it's hard on my eyes.

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  2. Hooah Done that was an accident I carried over the formatting from my word processor, enjoy :)

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  3. Well wiki you bring up some valid points here. I think more mercs should look into teams as well, to me airsoft is a milsim sport only. there is no room for speedsoft. Having a skirmish here and there is healthy for the community's growth. but lone wolfs and speedsofter are killing the sport. I don't care much about airsoft being on TV as much as I want it to be solid honorable milsim. Let's not forget what milsims stands for "military Simulation" I am tiered of events taking the brand "milsim" and slapping it on the end of there event and then they think its a military simulation. Event runner hold more sway over this sport than they are aware of. We need solid people to run events, not someone out to make a fast buck.

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  4. Thanks for Commenting BornDead. Yes I am interested in seeing airsoft on TV for the sake of building the sport more than anything. Yeah the future of Mil-Sim operations are really in the hands of the event runners. I'd very much like to go up to VT and check out the GMSOG, they definitely seem like they have their stuff together. Yeah the lone-wolfs do need to get cut down which is why teams need to hold open recruitment days (as I know we are going to be) to get these members of our community involved and in the right mindset.

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  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbfgdbM0uVQ&list=PLZmexEAgvbPurxYgBDD5Hbw4HYJ7Xidhg

    This stupid "Speedsofter" got killed right off the bat.

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  6. Milsim is annoying. The guns shoot plastic pellets get over yourself

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  7. I never understood why all these milsim guys care so much. What I think is ruining the sport is these guys who play milsim that frown upon people with budget gear and they think they should only use gear that actual operators use. Seriously get over yourself. Airsoft is about having fun, meeting new people, and enjoying yourself. For some people its not about getting 300 dollar plate carriers and guns that various spec ops groups use. If people enjoy themselves by speedsofting why do you care? Stop raining on our parade and stick to your 200 dollar admission milsim ops. Some people just wanna have fun.

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  8. I understand why people enjoy the milsim aspect of the sport its what Airsoft is based around with being able to replicate a more realistic combat scenario compared to paintball. I've been playing for around 6 years and started off running around like an idiot just spraying then began to slowly build up to as milsim as I could get spending more and more money getting my load out to be as real as I could get it and joining up with a team where we ran tactics and our goal was to embrace Airsoft as a military simulation so to say. However the team I was on fell apart and I began playing cqb much more as a lone wolf but know I'm on a team where we are classified as speedsofters we don't run fancy we run load outs consisting of battle belts with just mags and dump pouches and holsters for sidearms and when we play we don't use traditional tactics we split up and rush the field as fast as we can but however it works and our team dominates field play some don't like us and raise hell against how we play normally bashing us speedsofters but it's how we play and we enjoy it and we are good at it so it just shows that different styles of Airsoft work for different people and different scenarios

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  9. I play on a team in Ireland where speessift is basically the only way to play cqb so when I started playing I learnt to speedsoft. But anyway when i was reading this I saw tou said that speedsofters go lone wolf but over here we split into groups of 2's and 3's and it works really well.

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