[FirestormX]

I wrote this at work, before the other replies were posted, but just noticed I didn't hit "submit", so sorry if I'm repeating anything:

1) Airsoft gun ranges are definitely limited. Further distance = more energy = more injury at closer range. The legal limit of an unregulated firearm is 500FPS with a .2g BB. If you put in a heavier BB, it will shoot slower, but because it's the same spring, it will have the same amount of energy in it.
That being said, it wouldn't be as eventful, if everyone hunkered down 100m from each other, because they're afraid of getting shot from someone out of sight. A lot of battles do get you up close with each other though (fighting for a bunker, and what-not), and if you play CQB, it's no problem at all.

2) A lot of games limit you to the mags or amount of ammo you can use. A lot of the videos you've seen are probably from the US, where people aren't such stringent asshol--I mean, more casual about it. =P
So if you go to a game with a lot of ASC members, there's more trigger control, less wasted ammo, etc. Remember that plastic BBs are nowhere near as accurate as a bullet, so if you want "realism", I've seen games where you put in 2 or 3 times as many bullets as a real mag would hold, since it could take you 2 or 3 shots to hit a target dead on, that a real bullet wouldn't have a problem missing. (which, I guess is the same as what you suggested)

3) You can get GBBs for a bit of recoil, but it's not a ton. It's not realistic, but you can still make it realistic with trigger control. Just because your gun can shoot 120 BBs on a single point if you hold down your trigger, doesn't mean you have to play like that - and you probably won't play like that either. If you're pulling the trigger (outside of a support range), it's probably at a target. You wouldn't want to hold down the trigger for several seconds at a player.

4) GBBs are louder, but AEGs aren't silent. Combined with your first point about the limited range, I don't think you'll have people dropping dead around you, as you spin around in circles, trying to find where the shots came from.

5) They're toy guns, so they're limited as far as ammunition goes. But that's really the only thing that differentiates them from real guns. eg a P90 fires armour piercing rounds that are only effective at close range, with minimal recoil, while an M16 will go longer range, but with more kick. Other than that, the other major factors are size and weight. An M16 is terrible for CQB, and a P90 is nice and tight, so that's where a lot of the differentiation comes from in picking an airsoft gun.

As for your suggestions about the guns themselves, you can modify your gun's FPS (and ROF with a bit more work) pretty easily, and and then the other suggestions (eg 1 LMG per 5 players) are game related. So if you go to a game (or organize one), these rules can be set.


Paintball and airsoft are kind of comparable, in that as airsoft grows (as it has in the states), you'll have casual players playing, who are just in it to win, get some adrenaline pumping, etc. But you'll also have people who like to slow the game down, make things a bit more realistic, do more tactics/planning, and so on, so that they can have an enjoyable experience.

ASC is made up of a lot of the latter category, and there are a lot of milsim games hosted every year, so you won't have trouble finding games that are more about that sort of experience. You have to remember airsoft guns are made as toys, meant for a large segment of people to have fun with them. So they have the ability to have an insane ROF, highcap mags, interchangeable parts between different gun types. But