Airsoft VS Mil-Sim

[Scotland]

I agree with you Barricade and Creeper.  I think there is a problem with how the public sees airsoft as an activity and a community.  Whenever I tell my buddies that I'm dressed up in camo because I've been playing airsoft they immediately respond with something like "I had a airsoft gun once; I got it from wal-mart."  Then I show them some videos from people like scoutthedoggie and their eyes light up.  People don't know about the sport they just know about the clear walmart shotguns.  I just wish there was another word for airsoft besides Mil-Sim.  Although, come to think of it, being labeled as a Mil-Sim player is better in my eyes than being labeled as a backyard plinker.

[BARRICADE]

I think Comments like this are affecting Airsoft Negatively in this way:

1.  People, like myself, that got started out, thought of playing Airsoft like Paintball.  We went to Wal-Mart, Bass Pro Shops, Academy Sport,...ETC. to buy an airsoft gun.  Once we went out and played we only played games like FLAG and we played it like 10 different ways.  That was the only Missions imaginable.  Then we moved on to Protecting the President and rescue missions.  That is when we went out on the web after about 7 months of playing and recruiting from our town here in Magee, MS, to get more games to play.  
   This Information that we found was very confusing at first, but with patience and the want, we learned how to play MILSIM.  

2.  I think that we need to come up with a way to publicize the Sport as to what is more appealing to me and most other people.... MILSIM.  We have got to let people, parents, media, kids,...ETC, to realize that there is a lot more to this sport than just Airsoft.  Yes granted that shooting at cans was fun, shooting at random friends is fun until you miss and make someone else really dislike you, and the list goes on and on.  If people like this, I was one of them, had ever found out that there is a community of people that do this on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly bases, I think this SPORT will grow FAST.  

3. MILSIM... If I had known that people played the sport the way I and a lot of my friends play it, I would have gotten way more involved at a much younger age.   Now when we talk about MILSIM, we are talking about going all out with Military clothing, and using Military Tactics.  Now I am going to make up a new one..... TACSIM, Tactical Simulation, to me this is Non-military/Tactical Clothing with Tactical Maneuvers.  To me this is what we kinda play on the OPFOR side mostly...more of a Militia style simulation.  BUT Either of the 2 would be way more appealing than the traditional thought of Airsoft.  


We have just got to get people to get the IDEA of "Airsoft is like Paintball" out of there heads.  Creeper and I talked with a close friend that is a Professional Paintballer, and he said that they would Rarely ever want to do Woodball.  They like to do CQB, SPEEDBALL, and Tournament ball, way before Woodball.  This is where Airsoft is set apart from that sport.  We strive on on "Woodball" and CQB.  We just like to refer to it as MILSIM.

[MatthewTyson]

Now that I think about it, it's only really logical for someone to start playing airsoft with a wal-mart plinker so that they can appreciate just how friggin awesome a "real" airsoft gun is in comparison.

I personally started out with my friend's cheap-o walmart spring pistol, and slowly moved up to more and more expensive weaponry until finally settling with dual-wielding walmart MP5s, which was pretty fun.
Then one of my friends bought a gas pistol from airsplat, I bought a gas pistol, and then sadly it all ended when we went to college. A few weeks in (can't even remember how), I met MS-TAC, and the club guns cost almost 4 times as much as the most expensive gas pistol I had and were a thousand times better at EVERYTHING. Everyone else was wearing camo, some had gear vests, and everyone predominantly used tactics of some sort. From there, airsoft became mil-sim.

To summarize my rant: Airsoft only transforms into Mil-Sim if the right people with the right idea are present to make it happen. Most civilians are just plain incapable of understanding what it takes. All they understand is wal-mart plinking until you physically show them what a real mil-sim game is like. From there, whole worlds open up to them.

In my personal opinion, I don't think the mind of the public can be influenced without the use of mass-media of some sort. That might be a place to start...

[Scotland]

TAC-SIM...I like it.  That is exactly what we do.  Good word.  I'm going to use that whenever I am talking about airsoft from now on.

[US_Airsoft]

Well your wish is my command, I am producing/hosting a Internet Tv show twice a week all about airsoft, Its live and I will cover everything about the game, past present and future.  stay tuned I will be linking it to here when its up and live

[BARRICADE]

TAC-SIM...I like it.  That is exactly what we do.  Good word.  I'm going to use that whenever I am talking about airsoft from now on.

You only like that because you guys are MS-TAC lol

[MatthewTyson]

TAC-SIM...I like it.  That is exactly what we do.  Good word.  I'm going to use that whenever I am talking about airsoft from now on.

You only like that because you guys are MS-TAC lol

*shrug* we'll put your reference to the word "TAC-SIM" in .05 size font in the bottom right corner of our flyers >.>

[BARRICADE]

TAC-SIM...I like it.  That is exactly what we do.  Good word.  I'm going to use that whenever I am talking about airsoft from now on.

You only like that because you guys are MS-TAC lol

*shrug* we'll put your reference to the word "TAC-SIM" in .05 size font in the bottom right corner of our flyers >.>

LOL...I LOVE IT!!