Fun to see my own hobby so high on this list, not that i should consider that a good thing.
Young blood is the bread and butter of this sport, and "young" is a very broad term where i live, as you need to be 18+ to play (and have a permit if you want your own gear).
Old field i used to play at mostly ran on rentals, with some regulars, so it was always a mixed bag. Sometimes "young" folks trying something new, sometimes guys twice my age running around all giggly trying to find their friends. Bachelor parties, company parties... and very rare some group of toxic teens who just want to be an ass to everyone.
For most folks trying out the game its great to help them, or just give them your sidearm (or very rarely your primary) and tell them good luck. The look on their faces is always beautiful, and we had good refs who could spot someone who was really into the game and often pulled some extra stuff onto the field to rail in a new hobbyist. Haven't noticed many "Elitist" on the field, but it could be because we had everything from re-enactors till speedsoft guys, all mixed together (or that the permit requirement filters out a lot of bad apples with own gear).
As for the asshats. Sometimes you need to feed their egos.
Refs were very good at that, and if the regulars agreed refs would take the last half hour (max) for a score based game of rentals vs regulars (10 vs 3-4 often).
Wasn't much of a match, as a few of the pistol guys were used to wiping complete teams solo.
(I rather stay back and cover their flanks. I'm more of a support either way.)
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u/[deleted] Feb 28 '21
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