WAS fighting PSP 15bps rule

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This info is for all you guys buying ramping boardsfor natonal events.
Very Interesting!!

New PSP Rules

As of February 8th, 2005 the PSP has changed the rules regarding how a marker can fire. The PSP has instituted a 15bps cap, and now allows "ramping".

We know that ramping is unsafe. In fact, our insurance carrier will not cover this type of shooting mode.

We have been in contact with the PSP since last year, asking to be updated on any rules changes concerning markers. With more than 30,000 Equalizer boards being used by players, the number of players using our products in PSP, NPPL, XPSL, CFOA, and other sanctioned events is considerable.

On December 14th, 2004 we received this response when asked about the rumors of ramping being allowed in the PSP:

"I had never thought, or even contemplated, having it be legal to ramp, bounce excessively, or turbo anything. I would never allow that to be part of the capping of the rate of fire rule, or whatever I/we decide to do." - Robert Rose, PSP

Up until the evening of February 2nd, 2005 we had been led to believe that a 15bps cap might be instituted without any type of ramping.

We stated a concern that ramping is unsafe. The PSP stated that they needed to end cheating and believes that "they [players] can average at least 15 - 20 balls a second. And that is just what most of them average." This is simply not the case. As proven by the NPPL's ballistics chrono, tournament paintball players shoot an average of 9-11 bps. There are only a handful of players that can actually sustain 15+ bps for any length of time. If the PSP believes that by having markers all shooting at a 15 bps pace they can determine if one of them is shooting 20 bps in bursts, they are fooling themselves. It has already been proven on the field that the PACT timers can not be used during game play because they measure sound, and the background noise (of other markers) false triggers them. There simply is no way to enforce any type of rate of fire rule, or determine if the ramping rule is even being adhered to. This opens the door to cheat modes far more extreme that anything previously used. No longer will a cheater have to be careful about their marker "going off". Nobody will even think twice about it.

We presented the PSP with several ideas to allow the elimination of the ramping, and they fell on deaf ears. In the end, it has become very ugly, with the PSP now refusing to provide us (or anyone else who as asked thus far) contact information for PSP's insurance company. Our insurance company would like to talk with the PSP's insurance to see if they understand the ramifications of the change in rules.

It boils down to this... if you can pull the trigger at a 5 bps or faster pace, your marker will be shooting full auto at the capped limit of 15 bps. But, the PSP's rules are conflicting. 15 bps is 66.66667ms between shots. The rules state that there is a penalty assessed if the rate of fire is 65ms or less. So, this means that 65.00001ms is ok, which equates to 15.385613 bps, a far cry from "15 bps".

The ASTM standards for paintball clearly state that a paintball marker must fire in semi-auto mode, have a maximum rate of fire of 15 bps, and have a maximum velocity of 280 fps.

Since nearly nobody legally exceeds 15 bps when shooting, a cap is not going to change the sport. However, the virtual full-auto ramping will. It takes a single shot to the temple to cause unconsciousness. Repeated shots to the temple can induce a coma and/or cause death. Those are the facts. If a mask comes off, the chances of someone being shot multiple times in the face is dramatically increased with a marker that is capable of shooting 15 bps at a sustained pace by anyone.

These rules were officially released on February 8th, 2005. There is not sufficient time for any professional manufacturer to read the rules, write new code, and adequately test the code using real-world and bench testing in time for the first event, which is just a week away.

To make matters worse, the PSP has failed to realize that marker manufacturers such as Bob Long, Smart Parts, Proto, Eclipse, and others who have not licensed WDP's patent for being able to reprogram a board, will be violating WDP's patent if they upgrade markers (either at the events or otherwise). WDP sued Smart Parts and won, setting a legal precedence and making it very easy for WDP to enforce their patent. Smart Parts complied with WDP's patent by making their new boards completely non-reprogrammable. This means that players will have to purchase new boards, which may not even be available from the manufacturer (especially given the short notice).

We will be making new firmware available for the Intimidator and Viking Equalizer boards that basically is the same firmware we have been using for the Impulse, NME, Pimp Kit, etc. for quite some time. This new firmware allows the rate of fire to be set from 10 to 30 bps. However, we will not comply with the ramping rule.

We highly recommend that all players and companies ask the PSP for proof of insurance and contact information for the PSP's insurance company. It is our opinion, after speaking with several of the companies that cover paintball events (all of which will not cover ramping either), that the PSP's insurance company has not been notified of the change in rules.

Some people will be angry at us for our stance, but we believe that ramping can cause permanent injury or death of a player, and it is simply irresponsible to allow this theory to be tested.

We believe that people who cheat should be banned from the sanctioning body's events indefinitely, and the team suspended for the year. If you want to take the chance, then do it. It wouldn't be long before the cheaters were gone or straightened up. 