XML FeedsHelp bring the Loser who 'thought' up Living Losers back to the game he loves? What the hell?
By TB on Mar 4, 2010 | In TB's Soapbox | 14 feedbacks »
So yeah I admit it, I read PBNation and I see this post from the boys at Delta. Don't get me wrong, for the most part I like Delta. I think that they don't really know what hate is and they like to play at being bad boys but how many promoters have they been banned from just by voicing an opinion and destroying the will of the other side to even attend events? Yeah, that's right not that many. However they are the consumate little group to get some press. In this instance, they are petitioning for paintball players to donate money. Not to a real worthy cause, but to bring Sean Scott back to Chicago to 'play' this game he 'created'.
What the fuck ever.......I wouldn't give him a nickel if it cost a quarter to go around the world. First and foremost, Sean chose to move to Argentina, I didn't pay for him to go there, why in the name of god would I pay for him to come back? On top of that, he didn't create a damn thing. He re-created the IAO and the scenario game that they used to have that Black Cat put on. You realize that they did a Blues Brother game too right? Oh yeah, the master of scenario and the most innovative guy who puts on games must have forgotten that, then again like most things his jackass mind comes up with, it is just more copycatting (I mean OZ was already done a few years back too, but that is another story as well).
But what did he 'create'? Wayne Dollack was doing games at CPX, Paul and Sean brought Kerry in because they didn't think Wayne's games were 'fair' enough. Hence why Wayne did the role play and Viper did the missions/points. Regardless of what Ratsnake says, his true thoughts on the founder of scenario aren't that respectful. He has always given Wayne his due credit for innovation (not that he knows anything about it really much these days, another fucking Vampire game, damn Ratsnake) but always felt his games were too 'magic tree' and open to interpretation to who won the game. So that is why Viper was there, and trust me it wasn't all that 'awesome' behind the scenes. Seems the money was an issue for quite a few of those at the top to include Smart Parts.
So we fast forward to Living Losers II, Ratsnake decided that TB needed to be banned from his events and Sean Scott decided that TB was bad for the sport. Although he still wanted to sponsor my team, if I could be turned into a force of good. I called Paul at CPX and asked could Thunderstruck register to play, since it wasn't a Viper game but a CPX game that he was hired to produce. I was informed that Smart Parts rented out the field that weekend and the event was a Smart Parts event and Sean Scott had banned me from any event that Smart Parts was going to be at. I sent a few emails to the Gardners since well we were one of their 'star' teams and nothing had changed. I was the same guy that they wanted, still played the same way had the same attitude and the same website. Never heard anything about it one way or the other.
Then I read about him on Viper's site that he might lose his job. Since you know he is the Director of Awesomeness, but that doesn't pay much these days in PA. However that did bring up what would happen with Living Losers III. I mean Smart Parts is gone, Wayne is gone (they weren't going to pay the man what he wanted to just do some role playing and Kerry bitches about how MXS pushed him out of Shatnerball) and now all that is left is CPX and Viper. I can assure you that he isn't doing it for the same money he was when it was a 4 way split. So if Viper wants Sean Scott there so damn much, why doesn't he buy his good friend a plane ticket? I mean, as successful (LOL) as this game is, you would think he could afford $1200 bucks for the payday he is bound to get. Want me to add it up? OK.....
$20 bucks a head entry, 700 player game = $14,000
$15 a case of paint, times 1.4 case per player (national average) times 700 players = $14,700
So Viper's total take is about $28K and he can't afford a plane ticket for the founder of the feast? He expects the hard working paintball players who are struggling to get to the event to cover Sean Scott's travel? I mean what the fuck? I am sorry that Sean Scott hooked up with some latin hottie and got kicked out of his house by his wife who was paying for his rock n roll lifestyle and he got fired from Smart Parts (oops excuse me, layed off). But why should other paintball players pay to bring his ass to Chicago to party, drink, and just generally act like he is entitled to something. I mean, I like Paul and CPX, but well this is their choice and they make quite a bit off this as well, so why aren't they paying Sean Scott's way? Again why are the paintball players expected to do this? Like they owe Sean Scott something?
You know there are some who will email me and say that my team owes something to him because he sponsored my team. And let me tell you, no the fuck I don't. We were hired and paid for with free markers. He wanted street cred, he wanted instant credibility and the other teams he sponsored weren't giving him that. He came to us because he wanted to win, he came to us because we didn't care and he bought us, plain and simple. And we fulfilled our end of the contract, so I owe that broke fucker nothing. You know what I owe him? Some advice, and here it is, "It's called Krama (SP) Sean and I hope you get all your colon can fucking take." As for people giving him money, there are much more deserving people out there that need help with paying their bills while they are battling cancer or their kids or sick or any of another 30 or so immediate charities. Why give money to him?
I wouldn't attend Living Losers if they paid for my flight since the format is a joke, the promoter is a bigger joke and the only thing going for it is the field is cool and some of the teams are cool. But the entire premise of going out to play with people who give a fuck less about scenario paintball or the scenario game that is being played and more about them getting their ass kissed for what they have done is not appealing to me at all. I personally think it is funny, Sean was all about his command record and then he lost last year and couldn't wait to tell people how proud he was to lose the game. I bet you his command staff didn't feel that way, to be sure. But who knows?
So don't give a dime to him, had he not fucked up, maybe he would still be here in the US and could get his own damn way to the game he 'founded'. Then again you would think someone would be smart enough to get some residuals from a game he created, right?
Another song for you; this is the best lyric out there, in more ways than one.
"Piggy Bank": "Kelis say her milkshake bring all the boys to the yard / then Nas went and tattooed the bitch on his arm / Im way out in Cali, niggas know you cuz / First thing they say about u, you's a sucka for love / This is chess, not checkers, these are warning shots / After ya next move, I'll give ya what I got. (YEEAH)"
14 comments
Seeing a post to send in kudos letters about how great Sean is and all the wonderful things he does for scenario play.
Seeing that, and posting that if people really like him, they should buy something from him... and getting yelled at for it, belittled, and told I'm nothing but a sad troll who should shut up.
...then after all that, watching the guy get fired... Perhaps "they" should have listened to me and bought some stuff so his existence at the company can actually be justified?
Nah, must be trolling. No business owner expects their employees to actually generate revenue instead of giving it away.
maybe it might seem that way , but if you have played enought of them you realize its not that way at all --- they are deeply complex and it takes a lot to put the logic all together
having played a lot of them it does get easier with time ---- and you do need to think out of the box
the sp scenario sponsor ship of games --- i worked long and hard to make that a realitly
sp was suppling the coaltion with everything including clothing, barrel condom s tank covers and gear for years prior --- the volume of custon jerserys i did for the team , and aslo hardball and a couple others helped them see that there was business for them in doing it
i did all the team stuff at cost thru our field back then
so there was a direct benfit to sp to seek out other teams , and as in all business deals it was mutually befiting both partys
as to sean and agrentina
first what are you doing there and why?
and i only give money to smething the goverment lets me deduct from my taxes
i work to hard for it otherwise
maybe it might seem that way , but if you have played enought of them you realize its not that way at all"
I don't think you understand what TB is saying in reference to magic trees. It's similar to a certain lighting rod from a certain game that made a lot of people very, very unhappy.
And Dave, I do remember what the Coalition did for SP. But then again I am sure your posts here will prompt another phone call.
You bad bad boy you!
But as a player, there has never been a bigger whiner than Kerry Rosenberry....ever!
I liked the whole "lets make a massive group of the best players all sponsered by smart parts and roam around the country winning" idea, because I had hoped another company would step up and do the same. Like specops did, but not fail so spectacularly.
"Seeing that, and posting that if people really like him, they should buy something from him... and getting yelled at for it, belittled, and told I'm nothing but a sad troll who should shut up." (indy)
I think SP supporting scenario/scean scott had a positive impact on SP's sales, look at what happened to specops for example. We can't see the numbers, we can only guess. Given that even in SP's dying throws it was still sponsering scenario (and *ME*) I think it must have had some positive return.
I think SP failed because it's product line was always based twoards the new player, and those just arn't around in plenty anymore. It's high end guns just weren't all that compeditive. Sure they weren't horrid, sure I don't know a hell of a lot about that niche of the market, but I can read marketing to some extent due to my background. They where pushing the lower end guns like the SP1, ION, etc. Players who were willing to push those guns got better deals from SP. I can say that now that I'm not worried about someone else figuring it out and competing with me.
SP fell because of it's business model. I don't think it's fair to say it is because of some marketing plan. Maybe they'll come back, maybe they won't. If they don't I hhonestly do believe it will be a loss to scenario paintball.
And I'm not getting anything to say that this time.
but...
Smart Parts had been around a very long time before scenarios. They started Smart Corps and did that... then failed as a company.
Obviously that direction did not work.
Further, the idea that their gear is focused on new players isn't true. They have precisely 1 entry level marker available, the Vibe. That is a relatively new release. It's pretty obvious everything else they sell is geared towards repeat casual and higher end players. They came out with the Freak kit. They slimmed down the Shocker. They put in an upgrade path for their Ions. They rolled out not 1, but 2 different MilSim markers. You can't buy them at Walmart or Academy (I checked).
Their entire business model, from an objective view, is obviously predicated on selling gear to people who already have gear. Only 1 item in their entire lineup is geared towards new players, and it's the newest addition.
So, just out of curiosity, since you are or were sponsored, precisely how many people have bought Smart Part guns because you used one?
We have soldiers fighting for our freedom in 2 different shitholes. They die, lose limbs and suffer with PTSD after they return. Some have left families behind with lots of bills to pay. We have paintball players that are struggling to pay their medical bills from cancer treatment. There are homeless people in every town in the United States.
AND THE BEST CHARITY CASE THE PAINTBALL SCENE CAN COME UP WITH IS BRING SEAN SCOTT BACK FROM ARGENTINA TO PLAY LIVING LOSERS 3?
REALLY? I MEAN REALLY? WHAT THE FUCK?
ARE YOU PEOPLE HIGH, OR JUST SO WRAPPED UP INTO SUCKING EACH OTHERS DICKS THAT YOU FAIL TO SEE THE ABSURDITY OF THE CAUSE.
A grown man, made a grown up decision, moved to another country and now we should all chip in and pay his way to come drink and play paintball in Chicago?
Give me a break....
Sean Scott and those that created Living Legends did it for one reason.....money. Everything Sean Scott did for Smart Parts was his job. Plenty of people do lots of things that aren't in their job description to make themselves more valuable to their company. I'm sure Sean got alot of perks that made it worthwhile. I mean Smart Parts had a room with XBox 360's for them to play games at lunch and after work. How many paintball games did he get his travel expenses, entry and paint comped because he was Sean Scott of Smart Parts?
So I think I'll keep the extra money I have and find a much more worthwhile charity to give it to.
Hopefully some other people read this and decide to do the same.
too old to change
amd kinda like the way i am
with that comes my opinion
and if anyone likes it so be it
if someone doesnt , i am sorry but it is my opninon
i find it amazing that little ole me matters so much !!!!!!!
fyi -- i dont know the deal of sps failure but todays times are rough, lots of good companys have failed and not just paintball companys
the products they have sold have always been a first rate value for your dollar
from the aa barrels right down to the lastest shockers
i for one will miss them
More than a few a little bit less than a lot. The purpose of my sponsership was less geared twoards selling guns though. If it was, I proberly would have had to play with the infernal contraption that is a hopper gun more than a couple times. I hate hopper guns, any hopper guns, I play horridly with them. That's all I feel comfterable saying about that, public or private, sorry. Don't mean to be lame, but yeah.
"Further, the idea that their gear is focused on new players isn't true." (indy)
Sean Scott (or anyone from smartparts for that matter) was never stupid enough to tell me what their grand marketing plan was. I'm only looking from the outside in. What I do know, and have posted about before here,
http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?t=2528144
is that in 2005 they came out with the ion. An entry level priced gun that was an actual electronumatic. I have heard from more than one company representative/worker that it totally dicked up the entire market. Dicked up the market to the point that certain companies entirely scrapped R&D projects they had poured considerable funds into. While I can't give names, because all that would do is either get someone in the shit or have them come on here and call me a huge liar, I can cite the stats.
In 2005 there was a slightly more than 100 million dollar drop in paintball sales. 537 million to 434. It's never quite come back. What else happened in 2005, innovation wise, then that gun coming out.
They sold boatloads of them. They continued to try and sell boatloads of them. The plastic bodies where made in tiawan, so they had even bigger margins due to lower cost of product on the sp1/ion than they did their highend guns.
Sure they still made mid level guns. You could argue they attempted to make high ennd ones with the luxe, but we all know how that turned out. Look at who all the big companies cater to like KEE and such.
Success is not in making the best product right now. People don't want the best product. They want the cheapest product that does what they want it to do for a couple years. It's why our economy sucks right now, that's not what our industry is built to compete with, it never has been.
SP wasn't built for it either. They tried to provide the best entry level gun, and perhaps the best midrange gun. They didn't make it.
I, for one, am going to have to agree with Hawk on this one. I'm sure that Sean Scott was instrumental in many different players/teams getting "sponsorships" & other assorted gear/equipment, but I don't see how this qualifies as needing a "rally cry" of support from players. Today's typical scenario baller, who isn't making a living sucking the collective industry "tit", is going to be hard pressed to make as many games this year as previous years based on the economy and how it has been affecting us all.
I am in no way doubting Mr. Scott's contribution to certain circles in the paintball community, but to rally behind someone for the sake of raising funds to get him to a game isn't what I consider a "spectacular" cause. I commend his "friends" in the paintball community for rallying behind him, but I, for one, can think of several more deserving charities to contribute to rather than somebody's drinking/playing fund, regardless of who they "are/were".
My personal $.02.......
On the flip side, I did some Googling and see deals for about $250, with a bunch of crap... so okay, I guess that could be considered entry level.
I am sorry you feel that way. Sean is a friend, and I am doing what I can to help get him to Living Legends. Sean’s reason for moving is his own, and it is not my place to talk about it. It’s not some big conspiracy, so please don’t allude to it being that.
Not for nothing TB, but just because you feel something is not “worthy” doesn’t mean that everyone else feels, or should feel the same. You are entitled to your opinion, and I am mine. As far as the “hate” part goes, I’m not looking for that or press, I am simply looking to get Sean to the event.
And to be perfectly honest, I have no intention of getting into a pissing match with you on your views of people and events, or anyone else who posts here for that matter. I am only posting because it was brought to my attention that you mentioned us by name. We can continue this via a phone call if you wish, if you don’t still have my number, shoot me an email.
I’ll leave you with something Richard Nixon once said; "Those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself."
Be well.
-Josh Foote
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