Does it ever seem that you are playing paintball against the zombies from "The Night of the Living Dead"?  Especially when you know you tagged the other player clean, certain players never exit the field?  Whether it was a nice "gog" shot, or a nice shot on their gun, a hit is a hit, you exit the field.  This issue unfortunately, has been the case recently at a variety of fields I have been playing at.  It hasn't been too bad up until recently,  but has been noticible enough to be brought to my attention.

        Higher costs of playing (i.e. field entry fees, markers, paint, etc.) have players more intolerable to exiting the field when they get hit.  "Why should I leave the field when I get hit, I want to get my money's worth"  is the most common reason I have been given when questioning other players at local fields.  Many "first time" players are usually incoherent to what is going on around them because of all of the anxiety, excitement, and fear mixed into one huge "rush".  They usually are not aware that they are hit, or what exactly they are supposed to do after being hit, especially because they don't want to get hit again, thus, they usually have little or no reponse.

        But what about the experienced players who know better?  All I can say is, if you are hit, get out.  It is one thing to be hit and not notice it (i.e. on a part of your body that is not visible to you, or maybe if the ball feels like it bounced).  If you are not sure if you are out, have someone check it for you.  There is no excuse for not having someone check you, unless you are the last one on the field and the refs have all gone home (which is not going to happen).

        Intentionally playing after being hit is not only unfair for the other team, you are cheating yourself.  Getting caught cheating on most fields I know of, is automatic removal from that game, and the proceeding game.  Getting caught on the second offense is ejection for the day.  Thrid offense, better find another field to play at, because you have just been banned from this one.  In tournaments, you penalize your entire team with penalty points, one for ones, and ejection from the tournament itself.  Wiping
and getting caught is not worth screwing up your paintball career, so just don't do it!  Let's keep the game fair and fun for everyone on the field, the way paintball was meant to be played...

Sean Takeda
President, The MPN