Well, this thread has been alot more successful than I thought it would be! I'm glad I got input from so many people so quickly. That being said, let's keep it respectful to everyone, I know that you guys have all the right in the world to state your opinions, but remember that this subject in particular is rather touchy, so if anything, as a favor to the forum, keep it respectful. Here is my opinion:
Airsoft is first and foremost a game, however, I would not see it disrespectful to call it "mil-sim" or to try and make it more "mil-sim". The word itself, military simulation, has the roots of course in "military" and "simulation". A simulation is a recreation of any given scenario of a specified event. Technically speaking in airsoft this simulation would be of a small-arms firefight, not neccessarily day to day life in a wartime combat unit. For example, when people use flight simulators on their computer or perhaps even a training area, the only part of the simulation is the flight. You would not expect someone to tell them that they have no right to call it a siumlation because they have not gone through the rigorous background checks and years of training as well as never experience any harsh G-Forces or ever be in any real danger of being killed. The purpose of a simulation is to be a safe recreation of an event. That being said, when we play games open to anyone in the airsoft community you simply cannot expect everyone to conform to mil-sim ideas. Someone wants to play in a cookiemonster shirt? That's totally cool with me and honestly really funny. Someone wants to use a box mag? That's cool, I have one, only reason I don't use it is because I feel I can put more BBs down range faster with hicaps. What people with the mil-sim outlook have to realize is that if you want a mil-sim game you need to have a private mil-sim game with a very specific set of rules established before hand. In the end, its like Q and Tinman said, airsoft is a game, I view it more as a sport, like basketball or wrestling, ultimately the goal is for fun.
Another thing I wanted to talk about is why hicap and drum magazines are more realistic to reality than low and midcaps. Yes you read that correctly. First, I will list the behavior of an actual rifle and then the behavior of an airsoft gun. I will take the M16A3 as my example for a real-steel rifle. The M16 is for intents and purposes a very accurate firearm, with an effective range of 550m (around 1600+ ft). It fires the 5.56 round, a conical bullet made of varying materials ranging from metals to nylons, at extremely high velocity, and with pinpoint accuracy and alot of range it is an excellent rifle in terms of hitting your target The fully automatic forms of the M16 family tree can reach a ROF of 700-950 RPMs. An airsoft gun on the other hand fires a 6mm plastic sphere at roughly 325-425fps, with an average effective range of 150ft (of course some of use have upgraded ours and have ranges of over 200ft.)The standard rate of fire on an airsoft gun is 800rpm, although plenty of airsoft guns shoot well over 1000rpms. But what do these characteristics mean to eachother? When firing an M16 at a target which hs poked out from cover, a well aimed shot will take one pull of the trigger to eliminate him, the round travels at such a high velocity that it is literally impossible to detect the sound and move out of the way (the bullet travels faster than the speed of sound so it will hit you first). If there are any leaves, twigs, netting, a slight breeze, or light rain the trajectory of the bullet will be more or less unaffected (unless your firing at something 300meters away). Now, lets try this scenario out with an airsoft gun. You fire at a target behind cover with an AEG, first comes the whine of the motor, followed by the small popping sound made by the piston as it shoots air onto the BB. Your target ca easily hear this, and as the BB floats torwards them at 400fps they can easily get out of the way, wether it be getting back behind cover, dropping to the ground, or backing up so you cannot hit them. If a leaf is in the way of your shot, too bad, there it goes, same with twigs, netting, spider webs, heck, a slight breeze can take that sucker off into the other side of the field for all you care. Your shot may also be taken off by the physics of its contact with the air, and spin off into the wrong direction or simply fall too short. So how do airsofters overcome this massive difference? With VOLUME OF FIRE. The more BBs you fire the more probable you are to hit your target, given that your airsoft gun is NOT as accurate as the actual realsteel counterpart. This is why highspeed ROF setups and hicap magazines are not unrealistic, in fact, they add to the realism. I have never been in combat, but I have been im plenty of military simulations through the Aggressor Platoon and the ROTC program at NGCSU, and a 30rnd magazine with the actual thing feels ALOT deeper than a 30rnd locap or even a 150rnd midcap does with an airsoft gun. In reality, when you fire that M16, you get a crisp report, some recoil into your shoulder, and an accurate shot. The person you are shooting at will hear a pop, and a whine or a thud depending on if they were hit or not. In airsoft you have no recoil, no loud report, and no lethal force behind a the round, and in terms of realsteel an incredibly inaccurate trajectory. 30rnds in an airsoft magazine does NOT in any way whatsoever equal the effectiveness of a 30rnd magazine in an M16. You need more BBs on target to try and match the effectiveness of the real steel counterpart's one shot. That is why a high VOLUME of fire in airsoft is more realistic. As for the 5000round drum mags keeping you pinned and not allowing for any tactics, in reality when you are being fired at by a LMG or MMG as well as a plethora of rifles and are pinned down so to speak it is much more demobilizing than a drum mag in airsoft. The sheer noise and destruction being caused around you coupled with the fact of imminent death does more in 5 rounds to keep you from moving than 1000BBs ever could. In reality these stalemates and pinned scenarios last for HOURS, exchanges of fire can last for DAYS even. A bunch of guys holding down full auto on you with drum mags is more accurate to a combat experience than a bunch of guys with low caps sending off a few rounds of semi automatic fire every now and then. Thats my argument in defense of hicaps, drum mags, and high ROF setups.
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) maybe somehow figure out a way to have actual artillery and mortar simulations (like the noise and visual, just no actual explosion) Something along those lines to give it a more military feel.