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From this (“Airsoft knife kills?, yes or no?”) discussion,

The word humiliate makes me wonder…

One the subject of humiliation, it is an unfortunate side effect of airsoft that someone is going to get hit and someone isn’t. There are two types of humiliation and two different reactions:

1. Caught unawares. E.G. Shot in the back of the head, from a hiding place etc.
2. Dominated. Domination in airsoft is when one team is so eating the smack down on another that the second team is unable to mount a defense anymore.

As a marshal I spend a large amount of my time keeping the game balanced to avoid people being humiliated by domination. Often by giving advice, making certain people swap sides, perhaps shooting a few people myself, or even calling a halt and resetting the floor/game.

It is the opposite of when as a player I try to “break” the opponents mentally all the time. I want them so afraid that they won’t come out of their respawn. I want them frozen in fear in their defensive positions. I want to flank them and crush them utterly. I want my lack of fear of the pain of being laced to be my advantage. I want to work harder than they and respawn quicker to flood a room with more men firing faster…

… etc. This is the Darkangel way and our “aggression” has won us many battles.

The problem is the reactions once the fight has gone to total domination,

1. They get upset and humiliated. Take time out. Sit down, shake, cry, etc. They are in effect shell shocked. This is not good for them. Not good for the flow of the site or the game.
2. They get angry. Start shouting that people aren’t playing fair. That they are not taking their hits. They start to cheat, often blatantly. Eventually these people leave the game in a huff. It is not fair that they have been humiliated, etc as they are special.

In situations where people are getting this “stressed” then rubber knives have no place and should be withdrawn for the night.

In games and on nights where the play is equal (ish) then rubber knives can be a safe fun addition to the mix.

It is for marshals to know how to make the game balanced enough for everyone to have a good time and not to go back to the safezone in tears.

Basho

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