The Ultimate Newbie FAQ Thread

[Chris - Syd]

Rather than having loads of individual sticky threads providing information for new players and answering frequently asked questions, I am placing a table of contents and links in this thread and unstickying the rest.

This thread will be the best stop for new players and result in a comprehensive FAQ.

The Ultimate Newbie FAQ

Public Paintball Days
- Paintballing Tickets and Gift Vouchers (Nationwide)
- Paintball FAQ and Tips

Tournaments
- What is Tournament Paintball?
- What is the NSPL?
- What is the Proto KotH?
- How to Start Playing Tournaments
- How to Start Your Own Team
- A Start-Up Guide for New Teams

Paintguns
- Smart Parts Ion Review
- Ion QEV Mod Tutorial Video
- Capping an Ion to 15.4bps for NSPL Rules
- Is a Spyder (Or Other Blowback) Right For Me?
- Proto Matrix Rail Review

Training
- Training Venue Information

More to come. This is a work in progress...

[Chris - Syd]

If anyone spots any threads that need adding to this, has any ideas, or would like to contribute anything, feel free.

[Chris - Syd]

I really would like to flesh this FAQ out so that it becomes a very useful resource for new players, so if anyone is willing to spend some time writing up an article about any of the following, please submit the article in to the relevant area of these forums and then PM request the thread be added to this FAQ.

Possible topics include:

- Marker Reviews
- Equipment Reviews
- Advice on Maintaining/Using Equipment
- Advice on Tactics

And so on. Basically, anything a new player may find useful.

Finally, if any new players want to see anything added to this FAQ, please ask and we'll see if we can't help you out.

[P8ntball Mad]

Gun reviews ~ all guns should be tested before you buy them 70% or more about the gun that you will be shooting people with will be down to personal preference. dont go over the ?300 mark for your first marker second hand you could get a good setup for ?300. The PMR and ions at the moment are your best bets but dont listen to me go shot them for yourself!

[onasilverbike]

MY TOP 5 TIPS FOR NEW PLAYERS

The most important piece of equipment is your goggles, everybody needs goggles, buy a pair that are comfortable and well made, don?t skimp on these, they are there to save your eyesight and your life.

When buying your first marker look for features that won?t need upgrading, like an on/off adaptor for the air bottle to screw in to, a clamping or adjustable feedneck for the hopper to fit into and a good trigger. These are the things that can need changing pretty early on and it?s best to have them at the beginning, before you start spending money on them that could be spent on other kit or paint.

Look for a reliable hopper that feeds at least 15 bps, IMHO thee is little point in having a hopper that feeds 12bps on top of a shooter that is set up to fire 15 bps. Conversely, in tournament play, you will be limited to 15bps or thereabouts, there is not too much point in having either a marker or hopper that claim insane rates of fire.

Invest in some kneepads, or at the very least, well-padded trousers, knee injuries are nasty and can take ages to heal (if they ever do fully). Spending al bit on protection will pay off in the long run.

There are 2 schools of thought in this game, one that believes that it?s more important to look good than play well, and the other that is more concerned with their game than buying flashy kit. Bling may last longer than a box of paint, but worn kit looks better clean than flash gear that has just been covered in somebody else?s paint

[BAYLIKX]

Im going to be writing an article up to give to PBUK on this very subject perhaps you guys would like a copy. Myself and a few others have played punter,walkons and big games once a month for 5 years and have only progressed into tourni this year. We thought for a while that tournament ball was out of our reach then we discovered you guys. We thought that it would be hard to start a team and costly. However it was easy and is cheaper in some ways. So anyway ill draft it sometime and give you guys a copy.

http://www.planb-paintball.com

[Chris - Syd]

I really would like to flesh this FAQ out so that it becomes a very useful resource for new players, so if anyone is willing to spend some time writing up an article about any of the following, please submit the article in to the relevant area of these forums and then PM request the thread be added to this FAQ.

Possible topics include:

- Marker Reviews
- Equipment Reviews
- Advice on Maintaining/Using Equipment
- Advice on Tactics

And so on. Basically, anything a new player may find useful.

Finally, if any new players want to see anything added to this FAQ, please ask and we'll see if we can't help you out.

If you want to contribute guys, please start a new thread and PM me with a request that it is added to this guide. Let's keep this thread clean and easy to navigate. CONTRIBUTIONS PLEASE!!!! Don't be shy.

[mewwy]

just wondering syd, because this is a newbie thread, would you like the posts for this in the newbie section or things like equipment reviews/techniques in tech and tactics? might venture far enough to do one myself

mew

[Chris - Syd]

Post threads in relevant forum area and then PM me to request a link to this FAQ.

[Chris - Syd]

Still looking for some more content to help out newcomers to our sport... get your thinking caps on and start typing people!!!

[Xipheas]

I tried at least a couple of links in the first post. They don't lead to the promised articles!

[Chris - Syd]

Ah ha! Needed a quick update since the server change. Thank you so much for pointing that out - should all be working now!

[Chris - Syd]

Guys, I am looking for a couple of people to write threads on how they formed a team and entered their first event. I want to link these to this Newbie Guide to give newcomers case studies of how to go about putting a team together.

Any volunteers?

[p8ntballer_warrior]

hey syd i could do this i will write a quick draft and drop it in for you to peruse on the 28th if thats ok with you??

[wurzle]

yer Sid i would write a quick draft on how we started , but it was so long ago i cant remember half of it .