Daily Discussion: Ramping, Semi Auto or?

Rumors continue to circulate that the PSP and the NPPL may merge during the 2011-2012 off season. As mentioned previously, meetings have been underway discussing how the two leagues would fit together. Today’s daily discussion focuses in on the rate of fire subject.

On the National Professional Paintball League side, paintball players compete in the semi-auto mode. This mode is said to be one shot per trigger pull and shooting speed is said to be a skill. In many cases, the rate of fire from semi-auto paintball guns ends up being much more than a real world 12-14 balls per second that a human is able to produce due to custom settings and cheater boards (did you truly believe your fingers could generate 18+ bps on their own?). This leaves rule enforcement up to the discretion of the judges and has caused numerous problems in the past.

In the PSP’s case, paintball players utilize a software based ramp mode. Players click the trigger a few times in succession and the amount of balls coming out of the gun ramps up to a league standardized maximum rate of fire. In the case of ramping, players rely on the gun as a virtual bunker and hide behind a stream of paint as they make their way down the field. The ramp and subsequent rate of fire cap help control the rate at which players guns are firing which prevents cheating. One of the downsides of ramping is that it automates your trigger action and many argue detracts from the over all game.

At the end of the day the leagues are looking to control cheating and manage the skill element required to compete at the highest levels. How do you feel about the rate of fire issue? Do you prefer ramping over semi auto, or vice versa?

What rate of fire do you think the combined leagues should utilize? Should they implement a semi auto format, or a ramping based format? Or, should they be considering another option that has not been discussed? Is there another way to do this?

Share your thoughts on the rate of fire argument below.

Lo mejor seria 12.5 bps ramping, es mas controlable que el semi automatico y no hay ventajas de ninguno de los dos lados.