Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Rant: Vortex shoots discs. Is this really that bad?

It shoots discs. far.
These days most common question in the toy blaster world is ‘what are the ranges’. . Less than a year ago, fans screamed for a new clip based, automatic blaster that came with innovative attachments and utilised a direct plunger mechanism. Nerf answered with the Stampede ECS.. and people still complained due to its “decent but not awesome” performance. Disregard aesthetics, build quality, innovation- ultimately, distance is king- the message now is get a blaster to shoot further and you’ll have everyone lining up with their wallets stocked with cash and a gleam in their eye...or not.

Nerf’s new upcoming Vortex range is just another example of the old saying “you just can’t please 100 percent of the people 100 percent of the time”. From what we can see, these blasters look TRICK. They’re distinctly Nerf, and even come compatible with N-Strike tactical rail attachments. They have some very innovative looking firing mechanisms but they’ve now again listened to the fans and accommodated the big win factor-These new Vortex blasters appear to shoot really really far. So you’d think with this all in check, fans would be stoked. But they’re not.

Me thinks next time the fans scream out for more ranges, they need to be a bit more specific and add “more ranges.. WITH CLIP DARTS!”.

The thing is.. People don’t like change. Once their mindsets are fixed, it’s very difficult to get them to open their minds to new things regardless of evidence or innovation. I recall getting royally panned for suggesting the Alpha Trooper was a great blaster out of the box, with many people writing me constantly with a barrage of “Nothing beats the Longshot”. There were those who just went “it’s a crappy version of the Raider”. Now.. it’s well regarded as one of the best blasters Nerf have released.

Soo.. why are we making such a big deal out of shooting discs being THAT bad? From what I can see from the videos, they seem to be pretty accurate. And although there’s the preconceived notion that they’re slow.. they actually don’t really look that much slower (if at all) compared to a long range streamline dart flying through the air. We haven’t seen them fire under close quarters conditions, but I’d assume they’d have to be decent in power? It’ll be new ammo.. but most of us pretty much have multiple darts anyway (bags of them)
Or is it just speculation and that “fear” of adopting anything new? Still wanna hold on you your trusty modded Longshot and refuse to consider anything else that’s new or different?

While I don’t discount the importance of good ranges, I do find there’s a lot more to my choice of blaster than performance alone. It’s pretty obvious that it’s always better to have a toy blaster that shoots accurately and far vs one that doesn’t, but given the fact I spend most of my battles indoors and in an apartment setting, the extra ranges are most of the time lost on me. I also tend to not really care about what it is I’m shooting- as long as it hits the target- (the fact that I’m a fan of laser tag, water blasters and even the odd marshmallow blaster suggests this)

SO yeah, I for one am actually pretty keen to get my hands on these new Vortex blasters- I personally am attracted to innovation, design and build quality; a blaster that is well made, unique and with cool aesthetics out of the box will always get my hard earned cash:) Sure it’s not what we’re used to, but I don’t see that as a bad thing. I'm interested to see if Nerf's rivals opt to release disc blasters too?

35 comments:

  1. Well said, but I feel that I am drawn away from Vortex and more towards N-Strike because darts feel more like "bullets". Discs feel fake.

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  2. Well, it'll look better in the eyes of the non nerf community, it'd be really hard to hit someone in the eye with this, can't put pins in them, otherwise they'd get stuck in the firing chamber, and they resemble bullets a lot less.
    So GG to Nerf.

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  3. Nice post. Couldn't have said that any better myself, and i've tried. I feel the exact same as you do pocket, and it astonishes me that people are so closed minded. I can't believe some of the ridiculous reasons, most without any evidence whatsoever, people have used for disclaiming these blasters. I on the other hand can't wait to get my hans on one.

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  4. I agree with this post. The Vortex line looks like an amazing setup. It looks well-built, great-performing, and has good aesthetics and functions to boot. Watch the video and tell me that the loading system on that small blaster is not awesome. You can interchange parts of it to the N-Strike line as well. These guns look awesome and I cannot wait for them to arrive. Though I doubt I'll be buying anything above the single-shot pistol level, I can't wait for the release of the Vortex line.

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  5. I'm excited to see these things too, even though I'm one of those guys who carries on how good a properly modded longshot can be. They definately look cool and it brings a whole new dimension and level of tactics to nerf wars.

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  6. I think if Nerf fans had to choose only one single blaster to own, then Nerf would probably go out of business. We all buy multiple blasters, not always because one is better than the other but also because they are different with pro's and cons. Shooting discs will take time to get used to, but that doesn't mean I have to throw away my AT.

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  7. You know, Vortex vs N-Strike? Darts vs Discs?

    Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? SKEET SHOOTING!:-P

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  8. I agree, i don't know why everyone considers these to be the crappy 1 dollar disk launchers that make 5 ft, guys, this is nerf we are talking about, the made the barrel break, the stampede, and the extended clips which everyone claimed to be impossible but nerf did it, so why can't these be great too?

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  9. Oh, FAIL! I had a beautiful long comment, but accidentally deleted it! Oh, well...

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  10. Well on the fair side, it did raised (and still does) a very important question: will the wind affect the shooting performance with disks? Most people will stay away from this new blasters just because on outdoor play, disk's performance could be affected.

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  11. I don't like the looks of the Vortex Blasters. Other then that, I may or may not get them, depending on if awesome N-strike blasters are released.

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  12. Oh, and I think the AT is the best CS blaster ever. I've got the Longshot and Stampede, and I like the AT more. SO THERE. (begin flaming)

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  13. The only problem I have with the Vortex line is that the discs are not really fit for Postapocalyptic Live Action Role Play, stylewise. It's just cooler to have Darts that kinda resemble Bullets, especially when it comes to loading clips.
    For all kinds of Sci-Fi Roleplay, that's a different story. I hope Hasbro will release Glow-in-the-Dark discs:)

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  14. I think it's just a case of "people prefer bullets". After all, non-dart Nerf has been around for a bit - case in point being the ball-firing series (of which only the Reactor is still around).

    People bagged balls because of the lack of range, and fair enough. Yet whenever I've taken my own Reactor to a HvZ or indoor war event, I still get quite a few kills.

    I guess we'll just have to wait until one of the blogs (looking at you guys, Pocket, Jerm) gets their hands on one and lets us know the facts.

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  15. I have to say, once again Pocket, you have captured my thoughts again!! I have to say that the one thing I don't get, is are darts meant to be impervious to wind deflection? Seriously? Not to launch an attack at the "I will only ever use darts" crowd, the disks are actually more likely to hit their target in wind as they have less surface area and will in my opinion actually weigh more...
    The blasters look hot, I like the ammo, and the fact that they are interchangeable with the N-strike system? What more do they want?

    All that said, I will buy them all, but still use mt AT for my wars and hvz.

    Rant over.

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  16. As long as the disks have enough mass to them to let people feel when they are hit and not blow away in the wind, then I will be happy.

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  17. I don't know what's wrong either, Pocket. But I believe that the problem is either people's unwillingness to change (like you said) or old prejudices, against the gaudily-colored, silly disks of yore. Still, this idea seems unfounded. We've seen the speed of the disk from the Proton - I don't know about slow; I couldn't even SEE it! We've seen the range on the Praxis - a range that, in my opinion, may turn out to be equal to or (gasp) greater than that of the Longshot! (I can already hear the hate comments composing themselves from here: "Heresey, Bluefire, heresy! Blasphemer! Burn him at the stake!" :p) We're getting not just a trickle of N-Strike blasters, but a WHOLE NEW LINE all at once, which from the videos are positively astounding in every respect! I don't see what there is to complain about, personally.

    Of course, you all have the right to be skeptical. After all, we've never seen anything NEARLY this advanced before. For all we know, it MIGHT turn out to be a complete failure! But one has to remember - this is NERF we're talking about. Not BuzzBee. Not Lanard.

    NERF.

    They showed BuzzBee how to use flywheels correctly, even though that had been BuzzBee's specialty for the greater part of a decade! They've shaken all the stupid copycats, and come out with new ideas to boot! Where else can you get a blaster with glowing, flash-charged darts? Where else can you get a sniper rifle with 60-foot ranges? Is there another company in the world that is building an entire STADIUM in Florida, just for an exceptionally well-created game that they invented? Suspicions aside, we all - that is to say, YOU all - should wait to judge and hate until we've gotten our hands on them, and have had some time to experience them. Doing so beforehand is just ridiculous.

    Now...

    @ Anonymous #5:

    Hahahaha! That's one of the most original and creative ideas about Vortex I've seen all day, and easily the most simple and the funniest! Why didn't I think of that? Congratulations on your brilliant thinking!

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  18. And another thing: Nerf intends N-Strike and Vortex to coexist. Now, one thing we know is that they're very smart when it comes to business and advertising. And if one of these lines is more successful than the other, and takes the bulk of the sales, then they will have wasted huge amounts of money in Vortex production and development! So if Nerf intends to release Vortex, then they must know that they'll be good enough for people to want to buy both. Simple as that.

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  19. Hey, they're like ID disks from Tron, 'cept teeny!
    Okay, maybe not. But still, I'm quite liking the idea of NERF doing disc shooters, especially that mad range and that the Nitron (?) looks like a Thompson submachine gun...

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  20. I will say that my only bias at the moment is that I like the aesthetic of darts over discs. That said, I always reserve my main judgement until I actually get the gun and try it. Longshots don't thrill me because I've never had good luck with them and they aren't comfortable to hold. I'll take a Raider or Quick 16 over a Alpha Trooper any day because the pump action grip is too small for my hand, otherwise it's a great gun. I hate the deploy due to comfort and crappy power. I own all of these and more and my opinions are based on use.

    It could be that the vortex are better indoor and outdoor then darts, easy to mod, and sturdier then N-strike. If they are then it's a big win but promo videos and claims don't really tell us anything.

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  21. the alpha trooper is beast. i have one and i love it. the longstrike isnt the best preforming gun but its my favorite

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  22. as long as they make a fully automatic one, im happy :D

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  23. Well said!! I couldn't agree more.

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  24. I'll buy the recon esque blaster, but im skeptical... Wait... If the disk launchers are going to get ranges of 70 feet average, and better reload than the average gun, (Pause) What will N-Strike get?... You may now begin to argue/discuss/flame.

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  25. One disadvantage to disk's that i feel may have been overlooked so far is trajectory. In the setups im used to having nerf wars in there are usually barriers that people hide behind. With a dart in a gun such as a nitefinder you could arc a shot behind it and get the kill but with disks the only way to do something similar is to use a boomerang effect which would be very inaccurate. This is a minor problem but a problem nonetheless.

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  26. I'm thinking if homemade disks are possible to make the new blasters cost-effective, since stefans are a must in outdoor battles. I also agree that glow-in-dark disks would be awesome.

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  27. When I first heard that the Vortex line was going to be a bunch of disc shooting blasters, I was skeptical. Then I saw the first video, where the Praxis fired off a shot that looked like it went further than anything in the N-Strike line is capable of. And it did it stock. I'm excited for these. For HvZ, I think I'll have my trust Alpha Trooper for close range, and the Praxis to blast the horde from long range.

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  28. The only thing I'm worried about is the modding capability

    Otherwise, well said pocket, and I can't wait for them to come out :)

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  29. I am just glad to see some one make a effective disk launchers. I've tried now and again to mod/build a gun that launched disks (any kind of disk), some good, a few dangerous, but mostly bad. If these become as popular as the rest of the nerf line, then i cant wait to see the mods people will do to them. Though I am still trying to figure out how they launch disks. Right now I believe they use three methods. Plunger system (most likely single shot), fly wheel (probably electric), and power slide. Power slide would most likely involve a slide mechanism that propels the disk out of the barrel, which would work good for slam firing.

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  30. I've never cared about range, most of my battles are in close quarters anyway. I've always wanted, in order, 1)full auto, 2)large magazine size, 3)high rate of fire 4)accuracy.

    For me, it's all about being able to shoot consistently and reliably, and minimize the time when I'm vulnerable because I'm cocking or reloading.

    Range is nice, but honestly, I'd rather have a few designated sniper rifles or even artillery type weapons for long range battling.

    Maybe if the Vortex line has such great range, it will take over that role? I'd have to get my hands on one to try it, but at first glance, I'd rather have had something compatible with the crapton of ammo I already have.

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  31. I dont know about the concept of "disk". Darts i think, would be better ammo. With disk, i would think that it would curve some bit... i dont know about nerf.

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  32. Number one reason I'm excited over the disk system, potential for more resilient ammo and larger capacities per small clip.

    I'm tired of a small flaw in a dart jamming the entire clip. The massive gap running the length of nerf darts leads to them breaking down very quickly, often with a dart being unusable after it's first shot, sometimes even breaking down under pressure in the clip alone. Sure I could probably build more solid ammo but I want out of the box functionality. I don't want to waste my time making new ammo.

    My other issue is that we need drums and massive clips to support anything over 6 shots. I'm hoping for something in the ballpark of the clip size we have now holding at least 10 shots. The one gun with built in clip system also seemed to hold that many and have a very easy to load set up. I'm never happy reloading a maverick or barricade on the field, it's very tedious and prone to breaking darts.

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  33. my mindset is almst never fixed, so i can look forward to and/or accept change and im really diggin these blaster for the new ammo, design and mechanism

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  34. I absolutely CANNOT wait for Nerf Vortex!!! New disks sound cool and go way farther than darts and will not rip like crappy darts. I know a lot of people are thinking now that i am somewhat betraying Nerf or something.... I am the biggest Nerf fan ever! Its just that disks replacing darts sounds like a way better idea!! Usually with my friends when we have a Nerf war we will fight about whose darts are ours and we have to look at the tip of the dart to see what letter is our darts. But with the new disks, i am pretty sure that the disks will not break, but the only problem is I don't know if they are plastic or rubber or what. Nice touch by Nerf. I definitely like the new ammo system. And the guns look WAY more realistic instead of little plastic orange guns. I am a really big fan of Nerf N-Strike, but to my instinct, Nerf Vortex will be 1,000,000 times better.

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  35. its funny how people can be at times :I
    when shown something new and better, they just frantically defend the old stuff.

    atleast, thats what i think

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