B.U.R.N. Season 2 Round 3 Video and Writeup

Let's just start this off with the video shall we? I spent a little more time on this video, and while it's not exactly what I wanted, I'm relatively pleased with how it came out.

Unlike the other B.U.R.N. events I've been to, we had so many people show up on time (or close enough) that we just went straight into CTF instead of starting with assassin. As fun as assassin is, I was totally ok with this, because I really enjoy the team aspect of CTF. We got a solid 9 games of CTF in, which made me really happy, because I was able to film a few of them and still get in a lot of actual playtime myself.

I found a new love at this event, my pair of magstrikes that I found at savers turned out to be such an absurd amount of fun, I think they might be my new primaries, but I'll get into the magstrikes and why I love them another time.

Despite some of the results for the games seeming a bit one sided, the games were really intense and close. There were points where both flags were on the ground in the middle of the field, and plenty of times where flags exchanged hands 2 or more times in under 10 seconds.

A lot of this has to do with the change in the field size and flag location. They opened the field up by a noticeable amount, allowing engagements to happen both in close quarters around the buildings, and further distance standoffs in the open spaces. Placing the flags in less defensible areas helped put the flags in play more often which created more tension and memorable moments, while at the same time helping curb standoffs slightly.

If you haven't already, check out Bay Area B.U.R.N.

Big thanks to them for running such a fun and friendly game.

Photos by cherie pfaff

Additional footage for the video from Lexi Hall

Zing bow $10.00 at Walmart

Thought this was worth sharing, stopped by Walmart today and found the green zing bow going for only $10.00, important to note it is only the green version. I tried ringing out with a different color and it was full retail. I don't know if this is a country wide sale, or only for Walmart in the bay area, if I can find out for sure, I'll update.

If you guys don't own a zing bow yet, now is the time, because the bow is an awesome product that is tons of fun. I'm looking forward to their next product in hopes they can repeat this level of quality and fun.

EAT Giveaway Results!

As those of you who entered know, the contest deadline came and passed last Friday night, and with that, we had a winner.

Congratulations to Chase, I hope you enjoy it! Thank you to everyone else who entered, and sorry to those who didn't win, I hope you can find them at Targets now that they should be on shelves and hopefully restocked.

On another note, I've got a few videos in the works for once I'm feeling 100% again, so I'm looking forward to pushing out content on here and on my YouTube. Thanks again everyone!

B.U.R.N. Season 2 Round 2 Video

So I got my hands on the footage from the last game, and decided to put together a video (which pushed back the review for the EAT) the next game is this Saturday, and if you're in the Bay Area, you should be there, it's a great group of people. B.U.R.N. Season 2 Round 3

Thanks again to Lexi Hall for the footage!



Music - Big Gay Water Fight
Created and Owned by Plushgoolash

Find them at - http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Plushgoolash/Chin25_Soup_Tennis/03-Big-Gay-Water-Fight

Elite Alpha Trooper Giveaway!

With everyone seeming to get their hands on EAT's, I felt like for those who have been unable to find them at their targets should have a chance at one as well. That's why I'm doing a giveaway for one Elite Alpha Trooper. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post, and next Friday, May 10th, 11:59 PST, I'll pick a winner at random, contact them via google+ or youtube and ship one to them. It's just that simple, commenting on the youtube video and subscribing to the channel will net you an extra entry as well.

I thought I'd do a quick range test before work since I wanted to play with my EAT for a bit. The results weren't bad, shots averaged around the mid 50's, with some shots bouncing off the wall. This is by no means comprehensive, I just wanted to show that I do have them, so that people wouldn't be worried about this not being legitimate. I plan on having a full review up of the EAT by early next week.

Recap of Requirements for Giveaway -
- Live in the USA (sorry, shipping costs)
- Comment on this post, or subscribe to my youtube channel and comment on the giveaway video.
- You may do both for 2 entries.
- Winner will be picked at 11:59pm PST Friday May 10th and contacted shortly after. If I do not hear back from you in 2 days time, I will pick a new winner.

Check back for updates!

Good luck!

Bridges Rock Gym - Nerf Night 2

On Sunday some friends and I got in the car and made our way to El Cerrito for the second nerf night at Bridges Rock Gym. I was a little concerned that with it being a Sunday there might be noticeably less people. Thankfully we still had a little over 20 I think. This time around they completely cut out the CTF games and focused on team deathmatch with 5v5 teams. I think this was a fantastic choice, and I'm glad they went with it.

They changed the barricade set up a little bit as well, which improved gameplay in my opinion. It allowed jumping from cover to cover a more realistic option, instead of the larger no mans land from the first event. This also helped alleviate the stalemates that could occur.

We finished up the last game of the night with a 10v10 game of pistols only. If changing the barricades alleviated a bit of the stalemate issues, making the game pistols only absolutely destroyed it. It was awesome, people were running and pushing, firing and falling back, and all around enjoying it it seemed.

I'm definitely looking forward to making it to the next nerf night at Bridges, to see how strategies start to evolve as people get used to the venue and it's unique attributes.

B.U.R.N. Season 2 Round 2

The second game for this seasons B.U.R.N. was definitely eventful, and all of it wasn't just nerf either. From stray cricket balls to needlessly disgruntled parents, it didn't stop us from nerfing. Just like the first event, we started with some assassination games while waiting for stragglers to show up.

My first time playing assassination at the first event I have to say I wasn't really a fan of it. But as I've played more of it, it's become far more fun, and I think a great way to start out a nerf event, as it forces people to interact one on one and get to know each other while trading role cards as they blast each other. Once we had more people than game cards for assassination, we moved on to what seems like most peoples favorite, CTF.

 The first couple rounds were fairly uneventful, the teams were pretty stacked for both sides, in different ways though. One side had firepower, and the other had speed.

Team Firepower

Team Speed

 I think we split 1-1 in those games. The last game though was an epic. There were countless close calls with flags being taken and returned, or just barely defending a rush. It was one of the most enjoyable games of CTF I've played. Unfortunately, we'll never get to know how that game would've ended, because an angry parent with children decided to explode at us. Shawn and Josh handled the situation well though, and we packed it in for about an hour, and talked about getting food and ending early. But once things blew over, it was decided that we should play some assassination with the remaining numbers we had. This is when I discovered my true foam love.
 
 I pulled out the Air Zone Rocket Storm as a joke for the game, thinking if I could get one hit with it, my day would be made. After getting my first hit, I was hooked, this thing is so much fun to run around with. Just take it off its stand and it's a hand cannon, what's not to love?

Sure it's inaccurate, slow to reload, awkward to carry, and has a low ammo capacity, but when you launch a shot off and hear that whistle before it hits someone, it's just perfect. Pretty sure this is my assassination blaster of choice now.

The B.U.R.N. events are definitely proving to be fun consistently so far. I don't see why they won't stay that way either. So if you're in the bay area, they are beyond worth your time.

B.U.R.N.

I might have a video in a few days using footage someone else took, since I was too busy having fun with the Rocket Storm. Hopefully they'll let me use the footage and I'll have something up soon!

Photos By Lexi Hall