[rayzoredge]

As we all know, paintball, from the "pro" standpoint, has become a game of who can release the more constant stream of paint as opposed to its roots where players didn't even have hoppers (and if that, ones that could only hold 40 paintballs). There are now two ways of play when it comes to shooting styles: spray-and-pray, and the actual (and now traditional) way of aiming.

Is it better to be able to shoot 20+ balls per second at players? From my standpoint, I can see how it can be a little scary with a ton of paint flying in your direction. You could literally, as the shooter, walk your paint to your opponent, or just lay a wall that your opponent will run into (known as "leading"). Plus, if you are actually aiming, the group of shots will have more of a likelihood of hitting your target.

How about the old adage of "one shot, one kill?" It seems much better to train and discipline yourself to actually taking aim and firing your marker to score a dead-on hit, and of course this would take more talent and skill than simply streaming paint. However, there aren't a lot of players that play like this anymore. You won't find a lot of people that are willing to train themselves to triangulate their shots, take short bursts, and actually aim before shooting.

Do you think that faster shooting is better shooting? The market seems to think so, with the advent of electronic hoppers, trigger frames, and even the media, with literally hundreds of paintballs in the air on the break of a "pro" league game.

Discuss. =)

[t3jem]

The one-shot-one-kill way of shooting is a much better way of playing. It saves tons of money in paint and it is much harder to be tracked down by the sound of your gun that way. The spray-and-pray method is horrible, if you are going to unload on somebody you need to aim otherwise you might as well dump your hopper, you should always aim. When you aim and spray at the same time you can hit your target many times to maker sure at least one ball breaks; the added bonus is that the next time the player meets you on the field he/she will be afraid of what's about to head their way. I think the best way to shoot in paintball is probably the 5-shot well-aimed burst, preferably 1-shot if your target is close and not moving much. Like I said the biggest deal is money, but it also keeps your position secret (at least if your playing in the wild).

[shadowx]

Ive never been paintballing but i would like to, ive played plenty of strategic FPS games though so i would say that if i were to go paintballing i would use short well aimed bursts because as t3jem said its harder for them to find me. I always get mocked for choosing a silencer in any FPS game but im the one that dies the least s i conclude noisy = dead

I would imagine that the pros who just spray are aiming as well as shooting because as said, just shooting is a waste of ammo.

All in all one shot one kill is preferred but a short burst is more practical

[rayzoredge]

I had a discussion a while back about this very subject with someone who actually plays speedball, and I can see the validity of using "accuracy by volume" as opposed to attempting one round per target.

The reason why so many speedball players swear by BPS (balls per second) is because of the wall technique that I mentioned above. The guy that I was talking to was saying that speedball players need to be able to release a literal wall of paintballs at where their opponents are expected to pop out, since a paintball only travels at 250+ feet per second, which is possible to physically move out of the way from. If you release a hail of paint at the side of a bunker where someone's going to pop their head out, the chances of you marking your target are increased, as opposed to waiting for someone to pop out, then aiming and shooting only to have that target snap back into his or her bunker.

So really, it becomes a game of anticipation.

Another argument that I would throw out for spraying and praying is the fact that a paintball is far from being the most accurate projectile in the world. In all reality, you are firing a hardened ball of liquid at 250+ feet per second, hoping that the liquid doesn't spin inside the capsule to throw the whole projectile off its path. Also, shooting it at only 250+ feet per second plus the effects of gravity on the paintball is going to affect your desired outcome by quite a bit.

I end up firing 3-8 round bursts no matter what game I play, but the way I play changes with each gametype.

It's funny though; a year ago I would have argued against accuracy by volume, but in this present day I'm an owner of two E-Blade 'Cockers able to let loose 10+ balls per second, or however fast I can play that trigger. (That's another weird thing that I've changed my mind on... walking a trigger instead of actually pulling and firing, like I would have preferred a year ago.)