Nope, no new me this year. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Happy new year, a day late. In all fairness though, I started this post on the 31st… wrote the intro paragraph then kind of lost focus.
While January 1st marks the new year and a day to celebrate all things anew, it’s also the day that we start preparing for the 2023 season: new field props, new PR and marketing strategy, new game mode ideas and writeups, new game schedule, new funding sources so we can add to the rental fleet and get some more various weights of BBs, etc.
New Field Props
There’s not a whole lot that can be done this time of year, at least until we get a dedicated climate-controlled workshop/woodshop space. It’s on the list, but for now we will concentrate on smaller projects that can be completely indoors. One project isn’t really “small”, per se, but it can still be done indoors.
New PR and Marketing Strategy
So, in a word, social media sucks. Even when buying ads, the reach and clicks have been woeful. Granted, we may not be targeting the right interests or whatnot, but it’s still been a lot of money out of pocket with very little return.
Also, with various popular platforms cracking down on “gun violence”, airsoft-related stuff is taking a pretty solid hit. That’s one of the reasons we’ve created a presence on Airsofter World. It’s a great platform to showcase airsoft stuff without getting dinged. On the other hand, as much as we’ve tried to continue to post updates and whatnot for current players, it’s not a good resource to bring in new players, which is fair because it wasn’t designed to be “mainstream”. We do have a few ideas on how to drive more non-players to Airsofter World. Via social media. Ugh.
New Games
Last year, OP: DCII was pretty darn successful… to the point that we’ve been asked if we’re going to run more 24-hour sims. The short answer is a resounding YES, subject to guest mod availability.
DCII probably created some hesitance from players because the thought of running a 24-hour game is pretty overwhelming, but those brave enough to try it all wanted more. We promise it’s not as scary as it sounds, and there will always be plenty of things to do all night.
As for “regular” games, we will continue to employ themes and storylines in addition to the actual gameplay.
Please note: loadouts and roleplay will continue to be completely optional.
General Online Updates
We’ll continue to endeavor to maintain regular updates on this blog. Things have been a little random and scattered, but honestly, the time from November to the end of January is a super difficult time of year for a zillion reasons. Hopefully we can start settling into a rhythm soon.
This year will feature some more changes to the field, which means changes/updates to our website. Our field rules will remain the same* and while the changes are going to be minor, they will be important. Don’t worry, we’ll post on AW (and social media) when we’ve got that stuff online.
* Yes, we are well aware that some of our players are not happy with how hard we cracked down on full auto use and rounds per second last year, and even after the new limitations were put into place, we remained pretty flexible on the rules.
We will most likely remain as flexible as possible, but everyone needs to take into consideration that other players may not enjoy being hit a dozen times by BBs traveling at 270 mph in half a second. Rules and limits are put into place to ensure safety and fun for everyone, and certainly not to target people.
If there’s a gun mod you want to make, and there isn’t an established rule in place regarding it, PLEASE reach out to Bear before investing your time and money.
We sincerely appreciate each and every one of you who makes the drive then subjects yourselves to near-freezing to near-boiling temperatures, and all manners of precipitation.
This past year has been odd, coming out of the initial COVID thing. With restrictions being lifted everywhere it’s been a struggle for a lot of airsoft fields, at least in New England. But we want to let everyone know that we weren’t just a filler activity. We’re here and will stay in your face about it.
We’re looking forward to 2023, and hope we can help everyone have more fun, make more great memories, eat a lot of burgers, and forget for a few hours about how much the outside world sucks.
