What a Mess? And Thank you.

Hi all, please read entirely before you jump to conclusions. I'm not trying to step on anyone, just looking for answers.

I played for two years with LMAG but moved away last September for university. That said, I'm back for the summer and wanted to see what was going on with airsoft these days. I read Claymore's post and am still slightly confused as to what's going on. What ever happened to Maple Ridge or Saturdays? And I was all on board for bio bb's but I cannot rationalize spending 40$ for field fee and BB's at Panther. I understand that inflation and new ownership is a factor but still...

Not trying to sound critical but I am a little disappointed with the new set up. And judging by the forums, I'm not the only one. Is there anything we can do about it? I know I'm relatively new (compared to those who've been in the community for +10 years) but from a member who has been out of the loop (for the last 10 months) I find it objectively difficult to come out and enjoy airsoft with the new politics at Panther and whatnot.

On another note, the past couple years with LMAG have been a blast. Having started when I was 17, I quickly grew fond of the LMAG community: the way things were organized, how friendly we were, the knowledge and support that was shared, etc... but most importantly that we were just a bunch of GUYS (OR GALS) WHO CAME TOGETHER ONCE A WEEK TO HAVE FUN. In the end, isn't that what it's all about?

There's nothing that can be done about Maple Ridge unfortunately. The new paintball owners don't want any airsoft, at least that's how it's understood. There's other Lower Mainland paintball places who've banned airsoft as I understand it as well.

The new owners of Panther, Milsig, are making positive changes and we all expected and accepted that cost to play would go up. Honestly, and compared to other places in Canada, $10 - $15 was pretty cheap. I personally have no issue with paying a little more, but with the added corkage fee so that I could use my own BB's, my day came to just under $34 to play. Too much in my opinion. I'm sure Milsig will continue to make changes and they have guaranteed us that they'll bring in more BB brands, such as Bastards, Elite Force, etc. So we'll just see I guess.

yes too bad about MRP, unfortunate that so many put so much work into that field to see it fail, but it failed due to lack of community support, players wanted Panther field and that's what they got, no matter in the big picture anyway since as Ricochet mentioned, the new owners don't want airsoft at MRP anyway!

As for panther! well again as mentioned you have to decide for yourself if $35 is worth it or not to you! depends how bad you want to play I suppose? I know I wont be paying that much very often! there are changes at panther yes but to me it still just panther, same dirt, same trees, same trails, the game has changed and some of the players have too, but again you might want to check it out and decide for yourself if that's your game now?

yes $10-$15 was pretty cheap in the old days, but that was when panther was more of a community of paintballers and those rag tag guys that showed up to play airsoft, we didn't get in anyone's way,developed parts of the field, cut trails built bunkers and bridges, organized our own games and built the community of airsofters from a hand full to what we see today that was fun times with some good people.....now, well, panther it is very much a business! better? worse? I guess time will tell.

[jsae]

Though we are still in the middle of the shift trying to feel our way through how frequently to post coordinated LMAG attendance, you will still find a few LMAG faces out on most Sundays. Sometimes, it'll be a lot.