mnemonics

Airsoft Reloded

I thought this mite come in handy for us site owners and marshalls.

Heres some mnemonics to help you remember our simple rules:

TRACTOR

T = Take your hits (or dont play)

R = Report incidents to the marshalls (instead of complaining)

A = Act responsibly and obey the law (wether on or off site)

C = Chrono your gun (always and on every visit)

T = Think (don't act irresponsibly when skirmishing or with airsoft equipment)

O = Obey the marshalls/site operators (no matter what thier call is)

R = Relax (Airsoft is at the end of the day a game so don't lose your temper)

It's also paricularly Irish

We can expand on this, or we can change it completely but I think this would be a very useful tool to use when giving safety/site rule briefings or as a campaign to educate the new generation of airsofter.

Sorry but I have far to much time on my hands.

Lordhogo

Nice post maybe this could be stickied. Most sites should use this in their briefings.

Airsoft Reloded

Lordhogo wrote: »

Nice post maybe this could be stickied. Most sites should use this in their briefings.

Thanks man, I though it was handy.

deco nate

says it all,good job mate,nice and clear

Airsoft Reloded

deco nate wrote: »

says it all,good job mate,nice and clear

I'm hoping it will catch on, twud make our jobs a lot easier.

Firekitten

Good points, but most sites ALREADY raise these points as part of thier existing safety brief... if they arent, they clearly dont have one... Nice idea, but I dont see it helping anymore... why dont you invent a way to make airsofters LISTEN to the safety brief? that would be helpful!

Rooky1

That is nice and handy!
It is useful. Now we could all make up posters for the safe zone!

And yes you do have too much time on your hands!:D;):D

Airsoft Reloded

Firekitten wrote: »

Good points, but most sites ALREADY raise these points as part of thier existing safety brief... if they arent, they clearly dont have one... Nice idea, but I dont see it helping anymore... why dont you invent a way to make airsofters LISTEN to the safety brief? that would be helpful!

I disagree with you here and I think you are missing the point of using mnemonics. These are used to help people remember things so it will be built in with safety briefings to make it easier for people to remember the basic (and most important) rules of airsoft. In our safety breif we have like 28 rules and noone can remember that many rules off the top of their heads (even we can't, we have it written down).

Example:
My Very Easy Method Just Sums Up Nine Planets =
Mars, Venus, Earth, Mercury, Jupitor, Saturn, Uranus (Snigger), Neptune and Pluto.

Do you see how this works?

Private Snafu

+1 on way to much time on your hands man :P
Maybe you should start letting us play on mondays now
Should take care of some of it

Airsoft Reloded

lperrozzi wrote: »

+1 on way to much time on your hands man :P
Maybe you should start letting us play on mondays now
Should take care of some of it

Ah now but normally while I'm wasting my own time it's for the betterment of airsoft :rolleyes: (Or I like to think so anyway lol)

Perhaps more drinking would solve the problem?

Alcohol, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems

Quote: Homer Simpson, nuclear technician, philosipher and raving alcoholic. 199?

Private Snafu

Since 1988 man

And honestly man good work should help drill the rules into someones head. Maybe add something about never taking a facemask off in the game areas!

Airsoft Reloded

lperrozzi wrote: »

Since 1988 man

And honestly man good work should help drill the rules into someones head. Maybe add something about never taking a facemask off in the game areas!

Of all people I never thought of that. Good idea man. What would I do without you?

Airsoft Reloded

lperrozzi wrote: »

Since 1988 man

And honestly man good work should help drill the rules into someones head. Maybe add something about never taking a facemask off in the game areas!

How about TRACTORS, bla bla bla:

S = Stay safe (And keep your mask on)

Or

S = Smile (keep your mask and you keep your teeth)

Hm?

Private Snafu

Just one less headache to deal with man

S = Smile (keep your mask and you keep your teeth)

Cue picture of an unfortunate tootless skirmisher.

Or

S = Sight (Keep your mask, keep your sight)

Airsoft Reloded

lperrozzi wrote: »

Just one less headache to deal with man

True enough, sure you've heard me several times screaming at people I'm sure.

Lordhogo

Airsoft Reloded wrote: »

How about TRACTORS, bla bla bla:

S = Stay safe (And keep your mask on)

Or

S = Smile (keep your mask and you keep your teeth)

Hm?

I would say the second one is better.

Firekitten

Airsoft Reloded wrote: »

I disagree with you here and I think you are missing the point of using mnemonics. These are used to help people remember things so it will be built in with safety briefings to make it easier for people to remember the basic (and most important) rules of airsoft. In our safety breif we have like 28 rules and noone can remember that many rules off the top of their heads (even we can't, we have it written down).

Example:
My Very Easy Method Just Sums Up Nine Planets =
Mars, Venus, Earth, Mercury, Jupitor, Saturn, Uranus (Snigger), Neptune and Pluto.

Do you see how this works?

If site owners and marshals have been playing such a short time... perhaps they ought to not be site owners and marshals? I dont mean to offend, but those are quite basic principals. I do like the use of the mnemonic to remember them... a good one for players perhaps, but the site owners, as you said, have them written down... or memorised from weekly repetition...

Airsoft Reloded

Firekitten wrote: »

If site owners and marshals have been playing such a short time... perhaps they ought to not be site owners and marshals? I dont mean to offend, but those are quite basic principals. I do like the use of the mnemonic to remember them... a good one for players perhaps, but the site owners, as you said, have them written down... or memorised from weekly repetition...

Which is why the site owners/marshals would use them for the players so the ns can remember them easy enough.

I (and every other marshal) can remember these basic rules (it's the whole amount of detailed rules that are hard to remember) which again is why this system would be used for the players.

Firekitten

Airsoft Reloded wrote: »

Which is why the site owners/marshals would use them for the players so the ns can remember them easy enough.

I (and every other marshal) can remember these basic rules (it's the whole amount of detailed rules that are hard to remember) which again is why this system would be used for the players.

From someone who's been there and done that... Dont overcomplicate it Imo...the less there is for players to remember, the more they remember it... I've seen players with a one a4 page safety brief covering the essentials and safety issues play more fairly, and with more sportsmanship than ones that had a 10 page brief lasting nearly a hour detailing specific rules and regulations and 'what to do when x happens'... people switch off... they come to shoot and be shot (for the most part), not go to class remember

Lemming

Airsoft Reloded wrote: »

In our safety breif we have like 28 rules and noone can remember that many rules off the top of their heads (even we can't, we have it written down).

Whilst I see the use of Mnemonics, much of what you've said with TRACTOR is common sense and basic principle. If you have 28 site rules for each briefing, perhaps that is what you need to address rather than adopting mnemonics? Whilst neither meaning to criticise sites or players, players have the attention span of a GNAT at safety briefings and after somewhere around point number five they've switched off and their brains have defaulted to "CANWESHOOTNOW?CANWESHOOTNOW?CANWESH.. etc." It's no different for paintball sites, and the shorter you keep the rules the better. Telling people who have the equivalent of ADD to remember a mnemonic in the pitch of a fight is akin to pulling your own teeth in frustration.

Dr_Pepper

Full offense meant to anyone who gets offended by this

The idea is good and i'm sure some people will actually use it, hell it may even be a great idea for when n00bs come along. However if you dont like it then shut up. Its an idea with great merit and it makes things simple. If you feel that its not needed then you probably do not run a popular airsoft site, based on airsoftreloaded's own admission to having to continuosly remind people of the rules, my own work as a marshall, and the continued reminders i have heard dished out to people.

Sure the problem is because people don't listen but thats not something the site owner can fix.
However if you do run a site... nah i still bet you don't.

Firekitten

No, I dont run a site, but I am a qualified marshal, and have marshaled on and off at games and sites since 2006... If i disagree, I disagree, its got feck all to do with running a site, its got a lot to do with knowing airsofters and the best ways to deal with them. Full offense meant to you too conor if my telling you that you need to calm down and cop the feck on upsets you...

Lemming

Dr_Pepper wrote: »

Full offense meant to anyone who gets offended by this

The idea is good and i'm sure some people will actually use it, hell it may even be a great idea for when n00bs come along. However if you dont like it then shut up. Its an idea with great merit and it makes things simple. If you feel that its not needed then you probably do not run a popular airsoft site, based on airsoftreloaded's own admission to having to continuosly remind people of the rules, my own work as a marshall, and the continued reminders i have heard dished out to people.

Sure the problem is because people don't listen but thats not something the site owner can fix.
However if you do run a site... nah i still bet you don't.

Conor, not sure why you're getting quite so aggressive about it. But hey-ho, that's your call and I'll just shrug.

Mnemonics are generaly speaking neither a bad nor good idea and with much in life, the pros & cons are dictated by circumstance. Mnemonics for something specific in an exam or as a grammatical rule reminder are a good idea; mnemonics when you have time to stop and think about it are a good idea. Mnemonics as a reminder when you have the equivalent of somebody slapping you on the back of the head whilst screaming at you to do whatever it is needed doing like yesterday are a very bad idea because you will fail to remember them in time and consequently not use them. What you want in such circumstances is indoctrinated programming. Instinct. Situational awareness. Whatever or however you want to phrase it.

In airsoft terms, mnemonics for something like radio procedure to call in an arty strike at a milsim game is a great idea. In a CQB arena (such as the warehouse - not meaning to single you guys out or anything) it's a terrible idea in my opinion because of the speed with which games flow. As I said above - circumstance. What regrettably seems to be the most effective means is a marshall telling somebody enough that it sinks in. At which point you don't need mnemonics since you've just used indoctrinated programming because the player simply "knows" by behaviour not to do something.

I don't need to be a site operator to see how applications of the rules fares by players. I am a player. I have done both the dumb things and the not so dumb things in my time whilst trying not to do the dumb things. I have been [an airsoft player] for a few years, as have you Conor. Observation (and indeed conversation with site owners & marshalls both here and abroad) has shown me that as simplified as you make matters, the better. My comparison with paintball sites was to show a market that on average takes in far more random "day-trip" players than airsoft which has a more frequent userbase (as a whole, not to ignore dedicated paintballers) in this country. The rules briefings are remarkably simple to take into account that players can, and will, be as thick as two planks when pumped up on adrenaline.

Edit: As an aside additional point on note of using mnemonics to instill rules into players, if you feel you hvae to use mnemonics to make people remember the rules, you now require players not only have to remember the rules (and what they mean) but also the mnemonic & its interpretation as well. All whilst potentially in the midst of an adrenaline surge.


All of the above is of course "in my opinion" and by no means a definitive answer to anything other than "42".

Rew

Iv always though mnemonics were rubish myself. The military use tac aids to remeber how to call in air strikes, medevacs etc. I have a wallet full of laminated pages relevevent to the job or jobs I have to do. I also have blank pages with line and relevent headings that I can fillin with a perminant marker during a brifeing. Nail varnish remover wipes takes the perm marker off laminates and some perm markers come with a hard ruber on top for running out. I do the same sort of thing with maps except I write on a transparent map case.

Dr_Pepper

Firekitten wrote: »

Full offense meant to you too conor if my telling you that you need to calm down and cop the feck on upsets you...

Nah it doesn't :p:D

Anwyas best of luck AirsoftReloaded.

Firekitten

Rew wrote: »

Iv always though mnemonics were rubish myself. The military use tac aids to remeber how to call in air strikes, medevacs etc. I have a wallet full of laminated pages relevevent to the job or jobs I have to do. I also have blank pages with line and relevent headings that I can fillin with a perminant marker during a brifeing. Nail varnish remover wipes takes the perm marker off laminates and some perm markers come with a hard ruber on top for running out. I do the same sort of thing with maps except I write on a transparent map case.

Mnemonics are good for remembering battle drills early on before they become second nature...

CrazyRabbit

1. Give sheet of paper with rules to new player.
2. Advise new player that they will face a firing squad of 50 of their peers should they break said rules.
3. When they laugh, reassure them that you are not joking.
4. Employ a smug grin as you watch the new player nervously read and try to remember the 60 rules you wrote.
5. Get 50 volunteers for the firing squad.

Done.

Rew

Firekitten wrote: »

Mnemonics are good for remembering battle drills early on before they become second nature...

Yeah actually I forgot that we do use 2 or 3 but its all in the tac aid anyway.

Hivemind187

Sample safety briefing (the same damn one I give every time).

1) Do not remove your eye gear. If you do you will be removed from the game without exceptions.
2) Aggressive behavior will not be tolerated this includes pushing, shoving, wrestling and shouting/verbally abusing others - if you have a problem notify a marshal and we will deal with it.
3) Blindfire (demonstration)
4) Bang rule(s) (demonstration).
5) Wild life.
6) Scenery rules.
7) Pyro rules (when available).

It takes less than 3 minutes and doesnt require explanations of abstract concepts like memetics. Done when everyone is present a marshal is free to bust people out of the game the instant a rule is broken. Provided the enforcement is uniform and without anyone being let off for spurious reasons then job done.

No one should be arriving to the game zone without having had a complete run down of the rules in the safe zone.

I have no doubt that a memetic device like theone illustrated would be helpful to new people to the sport in their day-to-day trawling of web pages. But I sincerely doubt it will be of any use in the field.

Stone.cold

Airsoft Reloded wrote: »

I thought this mite come in handy for us site owners and marshalls.

Heres some mnemonics to help you remember our simple rules:

TRACTOR

T = Take your hits (or dont play)

R = Report incidents to the marshalls (instead of complaining)

A = Act responsibly and obey the law (wether on or off site)

C = Chrono your gun (always and on every visit)

T = Think (don't act irresponsibly when skirmishing or with airsoft equipment)

O = Obey the marshalls/site operators (no matter what thier call is)

R = Relax (Airsoft is at the end of the day a game so don't lose your temper)

It's also paricularly Irish

We can expand on this, or we can change it completely but I think this would be a very useful tool to use when giving safety/site rule briefings or as a campaign to educate the new generation of airsofter.

Sorry but I have far to much time on my hands.

Well i for one think its a good idea so much so i goin get my printer to make a poster of it for the site entrance, what i am seeing of late is people genuinely trying to improve airsoft in this country and to me that is a good thing, Dont dwell on the people that shoot your ideas down, they will find something else to bitch about tomorrow, i will try this if it works happy days if it doesn't no harm, but i will give airsofters the benefit of the doubt that they will pay attention and that they are not mindless drones just looking to shoot someone

iceage

General rule of thumb is the longer the mnemonic, the more difficult it is to remember, Properly. If I was to say CLAP or GRIT to some here, straight away they'd know it, because its short and easy to remember.

Firekitten, would you oblige?

The usage of Mnemonics is handy for remembering basic instruction or points. if it too long, guys tend to spend too long trying to recall it while they should be doing other things!

Lordhogo

iceage wrote: »

General rule of thumb is the longer the mnemonic, the more difficult it is to remember, Properly. If I was to say CLAP or GRIT to some here, straight away they'd know it, because its short and easy to remember.

Firekitten, would you oblige?

The usage of Mnemonics is handy for remembering basic instruction or points. if it too long, guys tend to spend too long trying to recall it while they should be doing other things!

Because we all know us men cant multitask;).

iceage

Well I know I can't cos my wife tells me all the time!!!

Airsoft Reloded

Hivemind187 wrote: »

Sample safety briefing (the same damn one I give every time).


It takes less than 3 minutes and doesnt require explanations of abstract concepts like memetics. Done when everyone is present a marshal is free to bust people out of the game the instant a rule is broken. Provided the enforcement is uniform and without anyone being let off for spurious reasons then job done.

No one should be arriving to the game zone without having had a complete run down of the rules in the safe zone.

I have no doubt that a memetic device like theone illustrated would be helpful to new people to the sport in their day-to-day trawling of web pages. But I sincerely doubt it will be of any use in the field.

Noone ever gets in our site without a safety brief, we have barred several people and are a very strictly run site but still you get noobs forgetting the basic rules.

AGAIN, THIS IS FOR NOOBS.

I know the airsofter knows the rules (Or they wouldn't be an airsofter).

Airsoft Reloded

iceage wrote: »

General rule of thumb is the longer the mnemonic, the more difficult it is to remember, Properly. If I was to say CLAP or GRIT to some here, straight away they'd know it, because its short and easy to remember.

Firekitten, would you oblige?

The usage of Mnemonics is handy for remembering basic instruction or points. if it too long, guys tend to spend too long trying to recall it while they should be doing other things!

TRACTORS is quite a small word dude. It is also a word used daily.

OzCam

Mnemonics, sadly, don't usually work for me. Either I can remember the points but not the mnemonic itself, or remember the mnemonic (MOCTET for example) but struggle to remember all the meanings of it. But that's just how my particular peculiar brain is wired.

They do work for lots of people. If they work for you, use them.

As an aside, it's a good idea to vary safety briefings and give them from the heart, not by rote. Frequent flyers may have noticed that airlines no longer use a standard preflight safety brief - people tune out after hearing the same thing many times. What they do now is to get the cabin supervisor to write the brief out to a standard structure, but in their own words. Every briefing is now slightly different and they get more attention. It's also good to get different people to give the brief from time to time.

Mind you, I won't be tuning out of Delta's preflight safety video any time soon.

Airsoft Reloded

OzCam wrote: »

Mnemonics, sadly, don't usually work for me. Either I can remember the points but not the mnemonic itself, or remember the mnemonic (MOCTET for example) but struggle to remember all the meanings of it. But that's just how my particular peculiar brain is wired.

They do work for lots of people. If they work for you, use them.

As an aside, it's a good idea to vary safety briefings and give them from the heart, not by rote. Frequent flyers may have noticed that airlines no longer use a standard preflight safety brief - people tune out after hearing the same thing many times. What they do now is to get the cabin supervisor to write the brief out to a standard structure, but in their own words. Every briefing is now slightly different and they get more attention. It's also good to get different people to give the brief from time to time.

Mind you, I won't be tuning out of Delta's preflight safety video any time soon.

Again it's more for the first timers to think about while out on their first skirmish and afterwards. I have found that mnemonics help me remember things fairly handy but as you said it is sometimes down to the person.

Sure tis only food for thought but I think I am going to start using it in The Warehouse and see how it goes, also Stone is using it in M.A.C now so we will know fairly sharpish if it's of any use.

Airsoft Reloded

Lemming wrote: »

Whilst I see the use of Mnemonics, much of what you've said with TRACTOR is common sense and basic principle. If you have 28 site rules for each briefing, perhaps that is what you need to address rather than adopting mnemonics? Whilst neither meaning to criticise sites or players, players have the attention span of a GNAT at safety briefings and after somewhere around point number five they've switched off and their brains have defaulted to "CANWESHOOTNOW?CANWESHOOTNOW?CANWESH.. etc." It's no different for paintball sites, and the shorter you keep the rules the better. Telling people who have the equivalent of ADD to remember a mnemonic in the pitch of a fight is akin to pulling your own teeth in frustration.

I wouldn't like to address any rules we have in The Warehouse, we have them there from experience in the place and to remove rules to make it handier is not a good idea.

What I want is for noobs that leave us to remember the basic rules when they come back or go somewhere else.

fleecymanager

Firekitten wrote: »

No, I dont run a site, but I am a qualified marshal, and have marshaled on and off at games and sites since 2006... If i disagree, I disagree, its got feck all to do with running a site, its got a lot to do with knowing airsofters and the best ways to deal with them. Full offense meant to you too conor if my telling you that you need to calm down and cop the feck on upsets you...

Why so much agro FK the guy was only making his point,i thought if someone offended some one on boards that they might/ should get a warning or somthing

Airsoft Reloded

Stone.cold wrote: »

Well i for one think its a good idea so much so i goin get my printer to make a poster of it for the site entrance, what i am seeing of late is people genuinely trying to improve airsoft in this country and to me that is a good thing, Dont dwell on the people that shoot your ideas down, they will find something else to bitch about tomorrow, i will try this if it works happy days if it doesn't no harm, but i will give airsofters the benefit of the doubt that they will pay attention and that they are not mindless drones just looking to shoot someone

Well said Stone.

Airsoft Reloded

Firekitten wrote: »

No, I dont run a site, but I am a qualified marshal, and have marshaled on and off at games and sites since 2006... If i disagree, I disagree, its got feck all to do with running a site, its got a lot to do with knowing airsofters and the best ways to deal with them. Full offense meant to you too conor if my telling you that you need to calm down and cop the feck on upsets you...

Just out of curiosity, where have you marshalled?

fleecymanager

Airsoft Reloded wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, where have you marshalled?

and what course do you go to to become a qualified marshal i might go there my self:D

Airsoft Reloded

fleecymanager wrote: »

and what course do you go to to become a qualified marshal i might go there my self:D

I wouldn't mind being able to send our lads there too. :P

Private Snafu

+1, maybe I could finally get into a decent job :P, actually need one now lol

Tommyboy71

I think mnemonics are a good idea. But, as has been said, it works for some people not for others.

The general principal behind mnemonics that are easy to remember is to make them relevant to the sport/situation/whatever.

I have re-jigged your TRACTOR one to show as an example. I hope you dont mind.

AIRSOFT

A = Act responsibly and obey the law (whether on or off site)
I = Instructions from marshalls. Pay attention to them
R = Report incidents to the marshalls (instead of complaining)
S = Safety first. Eye/face protection.
O = Obey the marshalls/site operators (no matter what thier call is)
F = FPS below 328. Chrono before playing.
T = Take your hits (or don't play).

MAX POWER 328 F.P.S. (For Playing Safely)

I know that one or two of them could be worded better but you get my meaning. Signs with these messages could be put up at strategic points at venues.

OzCam

Pretty good Tommy, apart from the feet crap

Firekitten

iceage wrote: »

General rule of thumb is the longer the mnemonic, the more difficult it is to remember, Properly. If I was to say CLAP or GRIT to some here, straight away they'd know it, because its short and easy to remember.

Firekitten, would you oblige?

The usage of Mnemonics is handy for remembering basic instruction or points. if it too long, guys tend to spend too long trying to recall it while they should be doing other things!

Group, Range, Indicator, Target (What to give in a fire control orders)
Clear, Loud, As an order, with Pauses (How to give fire control orders)

Sorry... i hadnt read the thread in a while...

Moromaster

It's hard to believe people break these rules still. It's common sense, and they ruin the game for everyone else.

Leftyflip

Moromaster wrote: »

It's hard to believe people break these rules still. It's common sense, and they ruin the game for everyone else.

Not every player is an experienced one. I've had instances where people didn't take hits because they couldn't see me, most of these were from first timer's who wanted to keep playing instead of going to a respawn. People are bound to break rules, whether intentionally or unintentionally. To be honest if a person breaking a rule ruins a game for you, you shouldn't be playing. Sure it gets annoying, but people bitching about it makes it even more annoying.

/Senseless, useless post.

Tommyboy71

OzCam wrote: »

Pretty good Tommy, apart from the feet crap

Cheers Oz. Pi55 on the only good idea I had all of yesterday.:D

Airsoft Reloded

Tommyboy71 wrote: »

I think mnemonics are a good idea. But, as has been said, it works for some people not for others.

The general principal behind mnemonics that are easy to remember is to make them relevant to the sport/situation/whatever.

I have re-jigged your TRACTOR one to show as an example. I hope you dont mind.

AIRSOFT

A = Act responsibly and obey the law (whether on or off site)
I = Instructions from marshalls. Pay attention to them
R = Report incidents to the marshalls (instead of complaining)
S = Safety first. Eye/face protection.
O = Obey the marshalls/site operators (no matter what thier call is)
F = FPS below 328. Chrono before playing.
T = Take your hits (or don't play).

MAX POWER 328 F.P.S. (For Playing Safely)

I know that one or two of them could be worded better but you get my meaning. Signs with these messages could be put up at strategic points at venues.

That's the one, I am going to start using that one instead.