[Kermit]

*Disclaimer* This thread is in no regards trying to discourage pump play. I play pump a lot myself. Every player SHOULD own a pump gun even if it isn't used a whole lot.
OK, to answer a TON of PM's I've been getting as of late, I'm going to write this thread as a response to these PM's. I see this posted up a lot online.

"OK I'm selling my electro and I'm looking at buying a pump gun soon. What should I buy?"

And the first thing I really want to ask is why you are selling your electro. Are you sure you want to get into pump? Nothing against it, just checking. You are really sure?

One thing that' I've seen a lot of is when people jump head first into pump play, get burned out on it, and hang up the gun and goggles. Lets do some mythbusting here.

Quote

"Will pump make me a better player?"

and the typical response

Quote

"Playing pump will force you to choose your shots better thus making you a better player in time"

In my experience and opinion, this logic is a bit twisted.

To be completely honest with you, putting a pump gun in your hands won't do either. Sitting in a 1988, 5 speed, v4 Toyota Corolla with crank windows will not make you a better driver than sitting in a 2012 Cadillac with all the trimmings will, and vice versa. You will either be a good driver in the automatic Cadillac and not do too well in the manual Toyota, or learn to overcome that stumbling block by learning to drive stick or you just sit in a car that you can't drive. Just because one is a little harder to learn to drive doesn't mean you will be a better driver, you might just not drive as well. I really hope that made a little bit of sense.

Now, before you go out and spend all your money on a super fancy pump gun, decide how "good of a driver" you are. Can you barely hang in there with an "automatic", or a semi auto? Or do you find "driving" an automatic to be boring and too easy? This is where you need to weigh the pro's and con's that playing with a pump gun can bring to the table. Go ahead and decide where your handicap is at. For some people, they will have no trouble taking people out with pump guns. Some people will, and that is where you need to look for the answer.


Critically look at yourself as a player and go from there. Are you a good player? Are you an average player? Do you suck at paintball? Be honest with yourself here. For most people, this might effect how much fun you can have with a pump gun. If you are willing to learn what it takes to better yourself as a player by limiting yourself with a pump, then yes, pump can be an effective way to learn paintball skills.

I guess what I'm getting at here is this. No, a pump won't make you better. No, a pump won't force you into making better shots or playing better. It's completely dependent on YOU to get better. The gun you use is entirely up to you while you do this. For me, I find my handicap right around the mechanical semi auto area. Around there, I play good paintball without it being too hard or too easy.



So to answer the question after I typed out that entire tangent of text.

"Should I switch over to pump entirely?"

"It depends. Consider where you are as a player. For me, pump is very hard and I got tired of it very quickly when I ONLY played pump. Consider this before putting your semi up for sale. Remember that pump isn't the only way to play paintball AND learn good skills, but it can assist the effort."

Thanks for reading this post, I tried not to mix up too much stuff in here.

-Kermit

This post has been edited by Kermit: 23 March 2012 - 11:15 PM

[Razgriz183]

nice write up

[LV Backpacker]

Interesting ideas there.

[Symptomz]

I might use this to describe pump play at my local field, Nice write up

[cybermaniac15]

Good right-up.

[Molybdenum]

+1

I'm of the opinions that no one should aver be an anything-only player. There's something to be had in every style of play, so its a shame to ignore one or many of them.

[BillNyePBGuy]

its affect, not effect.

Otherwise i liked the post. detailed and concise. im considering getting a pump now, and this is just what i needed to hear.

[Antonious]

As much as I enjoy pump, it's become extremely overrated these days.
Everyone and their mother is playing pump now. Not saying that's a bad thing, but it seems people are band-wagon-ing it now more than anything.

[samthepainter]

Antonious, on 24 March 2012 - 01:54 AM, said:

As much as I enjoy pump, it's become extremely overrated these days.
Everyone and their mother is playing pump now. Not saying that's a bad thing, but it seems people are band-wagon-ing it now more than anything.

I dunno. I can see bangwagoning, but maybe it's moreso because it's legitimately fun, challenging, and saves a lot of paint. That's my guess.

Plus, I played recently and barely saw any pumps.

[Antonious]

samthepainter, on 24 March 2012 - 02:16 AM, said:

Antonious, on 24 March 2012 - 01:54 AM, said:

As much as I enjoy pump, it's become extremely overrated these days.
Everyone and their mother is playing pump now. Not saying that's a bad thing, but it seems people are band-wagon-ing it now more than anything.

I dunno. I can see bangwagoning, but maybe it's moreso because it's legitimately fun, challenging, and saves a lot of paint. That's my guess.

Plus, I played recently and barely saw any pumps.

Those reasons are effects, not cause.
It seems nowadays, a lot of people are playing pump because it's "cool" to play pump. I've actually seen kids trying to lane with their auto-triggers. That's not playing pump, that's just owning a pump.

[cybermaniac15]

Antonious, on 24 March 2012 - 02:25 AM, said:

samthepainter, on 24 March 2012 - 02:16 AM, said:

Antonious, on 24 March 2012 - 01:54 AM, said:

As much as I enjoy pump, it's become extremely overrated these days.
Everyone and their mother is playing pump now. Not saying that's a bad thing, but it seems people are band-wagon-ing it now more than anything.

I dunno. I can see bangwagoning, but maybe it's moreso because it's legitimately fun, challenging, and saves a lot of paint. That's my guess.

Plus, I played recently and barely saw any pumps.

Those reasons are effects, not cause.
It seems nowadays, a lot of people are playing pump because it's "cool" to play pump. I've actually seen kids trying to lane with their auto-triggers. That's not playing pump, that's just owning a pump.

Good thing I won't put an auto trigger on any of my pumps..

And I like to save my pump for the end of the day. They close speedball, then 1.5 hours of pure pump fun.. They're some days where I will pure pump though.

It is funny how many questions you get asked if you pump on walk on. Next sunday I'm joining my cousins in some group thing. Most of the people are close to my age, but I'm still gonna pump. I think it compensates for their lack of experience. And I damn well enjoy playing pump!!

Lastly, I never started pumping as a trendy thing, I was one of the only pumpers at my field. It was just one of those things I wanted to try...

[G4paintballer]

I want your babies now Kermit for making this thread.


But here is how I see pump now, it's like anyone who has NEVER played pump says they want a pump and automatically ask about the Empire pump, but they wont try out cheaper ones.

I'm totally cool with people playing pump because they like too, not because it's "cool".

I only play pump because I can't find an electro I truly love.

[Jarz]

I had wanted to try out pump only a few months after I started play, because it was a whole new way to play, and it seemed really intriguing. And, it was. I really enjoy playing pump, and I thought my Axe would collect dust, but it won't. Typically, if I play pump, I end up playing against electros all day. That gets really old, really fast. You come to a point where it's so hard to put up against 1-3 lanes of paint with a pump. I enjoy switching out both markers.

I started with an Empire Sniper (I support my pro-shop, and that's the pump he stocks), and luckily, I loved pump. It may not be for everyone. If I'm not with a ton of mechs, and a few electros, I find pump to be a big challenge, but I like the challenge sometimes.

[hogzilla88]

I can probably count on 1 hand the number of times I've played with an electro in the last year or so. And I didn't even realize it was the "cool" thing when I got into it, I just bought a pump kit on a whim, and loved it ever since.

This post has been edited by hogzilla88: 24 March 2012 - 08:16 AM

[DudeinDump]

I played with my kp a couple times, had a blast. Probably going back to pump this summer.

[Empire91]

Kermit

You know you and I differ on our views of pump, but I gotta give you a for this write up. There's definitely a trend of people moving towards pump because they think it's "cool" and it is cool, but that's the wrong reason to get into it.

This post has been edited by Empire91: 24 March 2012 - 08:35 AM

[woodsballer414]

The only person that plays pump on open days at my field is in his late 40s so I dont think people see it around here as the "cool" thing. And I can't stand pumps. No offense but I suck at it and hate it and never want to play it

[Empire91]

woodsballer414, on 24 March 2012 - 08:39 AM, said:

The only person that plays pump on open days at my field is in his late 40s so I dont think people see it around here as the "cool" thing. And I can't stand pumps. No offense but I suck at it and hate it and never want to play it

And there is absolutely no problem with that. As long as you've tried it that's all that matters. The problems come from people that bash it when they have never played it, or people that have played it once and proclaim it to be the best paintball ever.

My belief is that it is much better and much more fun than semi, but I've been playing it for a long time. The trick is to go into it with open eyes and make up your own decisions.

[Nobben #44]

Playing pump is more of a "popularity" thing now. People do it becuase it's cool and they can go around saying everyone else that uses electros are idiots and suck.
I've lost respect for the pump community because of it.

Don't get me wrong, there are tons of cool paintball players out there that play pump because they prefer it. But recently there are way to many of these guys bashing everything else and thinking they are the shit, because they have a gun that isn't as good as everything else.

I must also add thay I enjoy pump whenever I can play it.

[Empire91]

Nobben #44, on 24 March 2012 - 09:03 AM, said:

Playing pump is more of a "popularity" thing now. People do it becuase it's cool and they can go around saying everyone else that uses electros are idiots and suck.
I've lost respect for the pump community because of it.

Don't get me wrong, there are tons of cool paintball players out there that play pump because they prefer it. But recently there are way to many of these guys bashing everything else and thinking they are the shit, because they have a gun that isn't as good as everything else.

I must also add thay I enjoy pump whenever I can play it.

I haven't seen so much of the electro bashing on the field, but on the forums, I have seen a lot. I mean, it's easy to sit behind a computer and tell people you're better with a pump than someone with a semi. And in reality that just isn't true. The majority of people that pick up pump are going to get mowed by people that competent with semis. Not me of course

But the fun comes when you shoot a semi guy with one to the mask.

This post has been edited by Empire91: 24 March 2012 - 09:16 AM