I'm glad I didn't get into airsoft in the "bad old days" of TM, CA, or SOL. It not only kept the kiddos out of the game, but also kept a lot of good people out. I know there was never a point in my life were i could afford to drop $800+ on a single gun and mags for it.
It was by no means the "bad old days". Some of the change is good, some is not, at least in my opinion.
The rise of cheap clones has made the sport more accessable which was the catalyst for the change. Cheaper costs means more players which means more facilities (fields, shops, etc). But it also brings downsides. More negative publicity, less of a "community feel". Back in the "old days" you could go a year without going to a game, and you'd still know who everyone was at the next one. While it's great that there's new people, there's something about showing up and being able to recount good times. There's also the side effects.
Players have become too focused on "winning". Don't get me wrong, being competative in and of itself is not a bad thing. Ask anyone who's gamed with me, I don't like to lose. That said, I can still have fun while losing. Some of my best memories in airsoft involved my team being on the losing side. A smoke grenade that back fired, accidentally team killing half your squad, etc. It also shows in the guns these days.
We'll use Tokyo Marui as the example here since I know Exarach and I have different viewpoints. My TM G3 chrono'd 280fps-ish. It ran forever. I was happy with that. Then I started getting into ICS M4's. Those chrono'd 320fps-ish and ran forever. I was happy with that too. I never walked up to a chrono worried about making it under the limit. But these days everyone is trying to run their guns right to the absolute field limits or even trying to cheat their way past the chrono. I'm not saying it never happened in the past, just saying it's a lot more common. Back then you'd buy a gun, play a few games with it, then maybe buy a tightbore if you felt it was really lacking. You often only upgraded when the original part failed. These days people are already planning their upgrades before even buying the gun. Don't get me wrong, I like tinker as much as the next person but there's a mindset that you HAVE to upgrade your gun. Even if you're only doing CQB.
The lower costs also effects R&D. Less profit means less money to spend on making new stuff. You look and most of the "cool" new stuff is from small startup companies or individuals (P*, HS5, SeigeTek) and is priced accordingly. Again, don't get me wrong, this new stuff is great. But there's a limit to what the home shops can do (at a reasonable cost) which means either prices will have to start going back up or companies will stop releasing new stuff.
I like cheaper stuff as much as the next person. But eventually you start paying a price for it (see: Wal-Mart). I'm not faulting anyone for playing the used game nor am I saying you can't get good used guns for cheap. I've bought my share of $50 guns myself. My point is the only reason you are seeing so many guns for that cheap is because of the low prices for new guns. Back when most guns were $300 new, getting a good used gun for under $100 was far less common. Now that you can get new guns for $100, that drives the cost of most used guns down.
I agree with almost all of this.
I believe it comes down to which side you fall into. Roughly, the speeders, or the re-in-actors.
Trust me, if I could go to a battle where we all used stock marui's and period gear, that would be great, the focus would be on the environment, and the gun would serve as the "prop" that made it possible.
But, if I were to play anywhere else, I would take my top of the line XXXXX that I had put some stuff into.
I cqb with upgraded Marui pistols, it works great, but, I have also used stock marui AEG's, and.....that didn't work so well.
Marui makes a product that is akin to an RC car, I use this example a lot with my uzi, they make a toy, and they know its a toy, so they try and make the best toy possible, good tolerance, looks cool, creaks, wobbles, but in the end, its a toy, its "safe" and then Marui charges you the price of an rc product.
I feel like companies such as G&P/Ca were trying to make guns that happened to shoot pellets. They wanted to hold a gun, and use it, and play great simulation games/whatever, and it had to BE real. They said, "Ok, great, this one is indistinguishable from the one that fires live rounds, lets make the bastard shoot 390fps all day long(G&P) at great speed to let the bastards know were serious!" and this appeals to many players as well.
Honestly, the change in the way the game is played I believe is reflected almost perfectly IN the guns themselves. When I use the Marui's I own, its archaic. It really, really, is different. The pellets kind of coast on out, floating hits ect, small pops, ok rof. Its innocent, its cute, its "hits" and aw nice one! Whereas the battles we see nowadays are longer ranges, Hard smacks, spray rof, or super semi, pellets snap off twigs and crack rocks, we get "kills" and tantrums hahah
It really has changed.
Maybe I will start a real rof/marui club, mace, you can join and we can all piddle away at it each other running and laughing like morons.
