Airsoft Community Market Research

[Jbone 11 11]

Hello all,
I am in the process of putting data together to reflect the current status of the Canadian airsoft market and community as a whole with a particular focus on the Ottawa region. Our sport has its ups and downs, but myself and the players I know in the community feel that it is growing none the less. That said, there is very little to no data on our sport (at least in Canada) and this makes it difficult for those wanting to get into the business side of airsoft...and if we are all honest, the business side is what feeds the sport, as without it we don't have any guns or gear to play with, nor safe places to play.

So what we've done is put together a list of 14 questions that we feel run the gamut of airsoft and its supporting industries without getting too overwhelming. We invite you to take a quick minute to read over the questionnaire below and post up your answers and help move our beloved sport forward.

A big thanks to all of you who take the time out of your busy schedules to post up your thoughts. It is most appreciated and we hope that it leads to new and exciting future ventures in the local Aisoft community!

1. How far do/would you travel to play airsoft?
2. How often do you play per month?
3. What do you like/dislike about the current fields you play on? (Design/Layout, Services, Fees)
4. Would you play at an Indoor facility
5. What do you consider a fair price at a top quality facility or event?
6. What experiences, good or bad have you had at other fields/facilities?
7. Do you own your own gear/guns?
8. If not, would you rent from the facility and if so, what? (gun, gear, face pro, all of the above)
9. How often do you visit an actual business licensed airsoft field?
10. How much monthly do you spend on airsoft?
11. Are you part of team?
12. Would you attend special events/training, regular play or both?
13. Are you interested in Province/League competition play?
14. Do you enjoy teaching new players?

[Short Round]

1. Far depending on the game's AO (ie. Milsim West or American Milsim games)
2. 1-4 every month or so, varies quite a bit.
3. Layout and the size of the field has always been my biggest factors for me. What I dislike about most fields is the lack of elaborate structures, "cover" and/or layout, a small sized field (so small), and now of days, all of the regulars. Personally I prefer more urban environments which are very tough to come by in Ontario, however that is not to say I wouldn't play at a heavily wooded field such as Finches, I just don't get the same enjoyment hiding/shooting behind trees vs. clearing rooms and buildings.
4. Yes
5. $20-$40 for a Public game, $80+ for a "Milsim" Game
6. The Good:
   - Siege, has excelled at being the top indoor field in the GTA IMO (Field Size and the constant layout changes).
   - Flag Raiders Outdoor, still is one of my favourites for the Layout/Field Size.
   - Barrie Paintball, same as FR Outdoor, except bigger, just a shame the owner prefers Paintballer over Airsofters.
   - PRZ, overall one of the top fields Ontario offers despite the overwhelming amount of games played there/the hellish drive there and back.
   
   The Bad:
   - The fact that paying a membership fee, basically allows players to do whatever they want without any repercussions from the field owners. I have witnessed too many confrontations and issues caused by these players, with field personnel letting the shit fly because they are paying members, or regulars. I have not once seen a player be ejected at any Public Field for the above reasons.
   - Regulars or "Locals" at Fields (See above statement).
   - The overwhelming amount of new players with any lack of guidance, resulting in really really really poor sportsmanship.
7. Yes.
8. No.
9. The same as questions #2
10. Varies, $20-$600+ or more depending on the month/if there is a certain game happening.
11. Yes.
12. Yes.
13. A Milsim? Sure. A day of Skirms? Fuck no bud.
14. I enjoy teaching new players like most people I'd assume would, however the amount of Randy Johnson Syndrome caused by all the FB Airsoft groups, has altered my willingness to do so. Going to a public game for me is like taking a swim in the ASC Newbie Tank. I'd rather not do it unless I have friends to drown in the stupid with me. Now that isn't to say most of the players fit that stereotype, however, decent players are quite scarce now a days, with any out there being absorbed by teams quite quickly.

[Desmodus]

1. Farthest I've traveled for a game was Picton, I'd be willing to travel farther if the quality of the AO and the length of the game was worth the time/gas. (ie. Milsim West type)

2. I play 1-2 times a month if time/money allows.

3. Siege: Field gets overcrowded very easily, Long wait-time between games. However I like its changing layout, size and staff.

Picton: Overused field, absolutely brutal when overcrowded, some areas need to be fixed. I like that its a huge AO, both CQB and woodland mix, lots of parking space.

Finches: Completely woodland environment, love it. I want more milsims to happen here!

Barrie Paintball: Huge field with lots of outdoor structures and props. Are games EVER hosted here?

4. Yes I would, provided its big enough and the field is modular.

5. 20-40 for an average skirmish, 60+ for a milsim event.

6. My issues have mostly been with cheaters and newer players not following rules/ leaving milsims early because of burning themselves out.

7. I own my own equipment.

8. If it was reasonably priced and well-maintained.. yes.

9. Rarely... they are all pretty far from me so I mostly order online.

10. Not much now since I own all the equipment I need... 100-300 max?

11. Yes, I love them <3

12. Absolutely.

13. Not sure if this would be wise.... breeds an attitude of cheating and winning at all costs.

14. Yes, I'm open to teaching new players that have a desire to learn and listen.

[SawBone]

Originally Posted by Jbone 11 11

1. How far do/would you travel to play airsoft?

1.5 ~ 2 hours for a skirmish day, but preferably less than an hour.
Up to 8~10 hours for the occasional op/milsim event.. maybe once or twice a year. I have yet to attend such an event though so that answer could change I suppose.

Originally Posted by Jbone 11 11

2. How often do you play per month?

1~4, except 0 in winter.

Originally Posted by Jbone 11 11

3. What do you like/dislike about the current fields you play on? (Design/Layout, Services, Fees)

The fields I play on are all private property (no fee) and they're mostly wooded areas. I like wooded fields with a few structures grouped as different "bases" that can serve as objectives. I'd love to try a more urban or indoor field sometimes though.

Originally Posted by Jbone 11 11

4. Would you play at an Indoor facility

I'd love to.

Originally Posted by Jbone 11 11

5. What do you consider a fair price at a top quality facility or event?

25~35$

Originally Posted by Jbone 11 11

6. What experiences, good or bad have you had at other fields/facilities?

I have mostly good experiences up here. We have a small community, but the guys are pretty cool. The bad stuff is mostly things beyond our control.

Originally Posted by Jbone 11 11

7. Do you own your own gear/guns?

Yes

Originally Posted by Jbone 11 11

8. If not, would you rent from the facility and if so, what? (gun, gear, face pro, all of the above)

N/A

Originally Posted by Jbone 11 11

9. How often do you visit an actual business licensed airsoft field?

Never (none around here)

Originally Posted by Jbone 11 11

10. How much monthly do you spend on airsoft?

It depends. If you count gear and guns, I'd say about 50~100$ per month.

Originally Posted by Jbone 11 11

11. Are you part of team?

No

Originally Posted by Jbone 11 11

12. Would you attend special events/training, regular play or both?

Yeah, both sounds fun.

Originally Posted by Jbone 11 11

13. Are you interested in Province/League competition play?

It's not my thing.

Originally Posted by Jbone 11 11

14. Do you enjoy teaching new players?

I guess I would, but being fairly new myself, I don't know enough to really teach anyone.

[Gato]

1.How far do/would you travel to play airsoft?
-Depends on event and length

2.How often do you play per month?
-It varies, recently, not much due to life. When I have the time/$, fairly often

3.What do you like/dislike about the current fields you play on? (Design/Layout, Services, Fees)
- Too much CQB, I live in Richmond Hill, in the GTA, we don't have outdoor. That said, I like the fact SIEGE alters the field often enough to stop it from getting boring. Ultimate Airsoft is a shithole, their staff may as well not exist.

4.Would you play at an Indoor facility
-Already do

5.What do you consider a fair price at a top quality facility or event?
-Again, depends on Facility, field, staff and length of play

6.What experiences, good or bad have you had at other fields/facilities?
-SIEGE, as it's the "local" field, has great staff, good rule enforcement, good field layout.
A lot of the "new" players in the community are fucking retards though, they sit in the middle of firefights after getting shot, and whine when they keep getting shot. They're in the middle of an active firefight. Same with their guns, they complain people aren't calling hit when they're shooting stock G&G and CYMA types guns at a target way out of their effective range. A lot of my complaints would be about players and a lack of common sense.

7.Do you own your own gear/guns?
-Yes....... more than I want to tally the price of.

8.If not, would you rent from the facility and if so, what? (gun, gear, face pro, all of the above)
-If I didn't, I might just to try it, but then I'd get my own. If I forgot something at home, I'd likely rent it.
9.How often do you visit an actual business licensed airsoft field?
-Refer to question 2

10.How much monthly do you spend on airsoft?
-Not much outside of field fees and maybe BBs

11.Are you part of team?
-Small team, mostly made up of friends from the CF

12.Would you attend special events/training, regular play or both?
-Both

13.Are you interested in Province/League competition play?
-No, as it's likely to suffer the same problems faced in paintball, mainly that prizes or ranking bring a lot of the COD type bullshit attitudes and cheating. People are too obsessed with their "K/D Ration"

14.Do you enjoy teaching new players?
-If I think they'll listen, more than happy to pass of what I know, but I'm not interested in wasting my time and breath if I don't think they'll pay attention.

[Curo]

1. I've done 3 hours to a good skirm, but for most drop in games 1 hour, a big milsim, i'll fly or whatevers needed
2. 1-2ish times
3. Allot of point blank engangment cases mean it can really hurt to get a semi burst to the face (seige), repetitive (PRZ)
4. Yes for skirms, unless its a very large facility for maybe a daysim (like lady tresses semiprivate)
5. depends on the event, but a 18hr+ milsim with immersion things like pyro 80+ easy
6. FR outdoor is a really fun place and has potential
7. Yes
8. Yes
9. once a month or two
10. usually buy in spurts but per year/12 months 100 a month on avg easy.
11. No, maybe once i get more active again
12. both, yes
13. Not really, im more in the game for the immersion factor
14. If they listen and want to learn about sportsmanship and the like. The know it all attitude and the crap I see spurging on facebook all day is stupid. But if I can prevent a new player from thinking headshots are cool or buying a sniper as his first gun or doing something stupid and taking himself out of the game, I would like to help. But "You cannot fill a cup which is already full".

[Jbone 11 11]

Thanks for posting up guys...much a appreciated. Keep em coming! Cant fix it if dont know whats broke

[BioRage]

Since new changes in life, i require close and easily accessible facilities. Siege is the only one I attend to now. Haven't checked out UA in forever, also because it's quite far from me. (I live downtown)

1. How far do/would you travel to play airsoft?
- Depends on venue
- 20 - 30 minutes

2. How often do you play per month?
- Depends on price, 2-4x @ $20.00, 1 x @ $35-50+

3. What do you like/dislike about the current fields you play on? (Design/Layout, Services, Fees)
- Speedsofters, no strict rules, griefers aren't booted for the day, nor cheaters.

4. Would you play at an Indoor facility
- Yes, make sure it has A/C. (Warehouses usually don't)

5. What do you consider a fair price at a top quality facility or event?
- $25-30, unless there's some kind of "event" then it's not worth $30+ imo, since it's just a death match, then why not just play at UA or Siege. IIRC UA has $20 cash days.

6. What experiences, good or bad have you had at other fields/facilities?
- Cheaters, and cheaters.

7. Do you own your own gear/guns?
- Yes, if you're thinking about renting out guns, then you should have a few at the very least.

8. If not, would you rent from the facility and if so, what? (gun, gear, face pro, all of the above)
- All of the above, but you should display sanitary bottles/wipes, and make sure the face pros are well cleaned after each use.

9. How often do you visit an actual business licensed airsoft field?
- 1 x month

10. How much monthly do you spend on airsoft?
- $100-1500

11. Are you part of team?
- No, but i have a large group of players I bring, which in turn can negotiate a price reduction with 10+ ($-5), 15+ ($-10) people.

12. Would you attend special events/training, regular play or both?
- Yes, if the instructors are reputable, and the price is no more then $20.00

13. Are you interested in Province/League competition play?
- de_dust2 erryday.

14. Do you enjoy teaching new players?
- Yes, but I'm paying for a game that I want to play - If you accept walk-ons and let other people teach them, then I don't see a problem... but I'm not going to go out of my way to teach players, other then to shoot properly, and the basics.
- Siege would do some training with instructors (refs), and I would occasional join for fun, on the slower nights - this would teach the new players/rentals (2-5 people) how to clear dark rooms, and what to do in different situations. Was quite fun while it lasted. *ahem phil*

[AnthonyG]

If you want to do this right you should do a Google survey or survey monkey and do some sort of draw to incentivize people to respond. Nevertheless...

1. On any given week, up to an hour. More if the AO is quality.
2. Warm months: every week. Cold months: once a month
3. Siege: overcrowded, could use their space better. See my review.
4. I prefer outdoors, but a facility that combines indoor and outdoor us best.
5. At a regular field: Less than 30 is fair. $20 is ideal. Events can be $50 or more.
6. People not hit-calling, bad admin, bad refs, unclear rules or boundaries.
7. Own
8. N/a
9. Every other month
10. $100-$200
11. No
12. All airsoft is good airsoft.
13. Only if my friends are.
14. Yes