PbNation
Type of site | Internet Forum |
|---|---|
| Created by | Tony Rieker |
| URL | http://www.pbnation.com |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Required |
PbNation is a paintball internet forum based in Plano, Texas. It is considered to be the largest paintball website on the internet with approximately 411,000 users and the 15th largest internet forum in the world[1]. It is written using vBulletin v3.6.2.
Features
PbNation has had a recent host of new features being rolled out, including a feature which allows users to find fields in the vicinities of their zip codes, a Youtube-like video sharing service, and a product review section.
Forums
PbNation has an array of different forums.
Professional Teams
The "Professional Teams" forum is a forum with a devoted section for many professional teams, and many members of the teams also have an account and regularly answer questions in Q&A threads.
Field/Store Owner Forums
A forum devoted to the field and store owners in the paintball industry, including tips on how to start a field.
Newbie Forum
A forum for players new to the game or any other simple questions that would not fit in the other forums.
Paintball Videos
A forum for videos regarding paintball, whether it is a promotional video for a product or footage of a team playing.
Paintball News
A forum for news threads regarding the paintball industry. Recently, PbNation has begun to charge $100 for threads that are considered ads or concern a product that has not yet been released.
Paintball Talk
Paintball Talk is a forum for general paintball discussion, and also houses the many clubs on PbNation.
Rec Talk
Rec Talk is a forum for recreational paintball players, which makes up the vast majority of paintball players and are essentially considered to be anyone who doesn't play tournament paintball.
Regional Player Forums
The forum originally began with 7 separate sections (i.e. Midwest, Southeast, etc), and all the events encompassed by these regions would be posted in one big forum. Due to the growth of popularity of PbNation, the forums have been further broken into individual US states, as well as Canada, Europe, and Southeast Asia.
Small Talk
Small Talk has a general discussion section and a number of sub-forums including:
- Automobiles
- Investments
- Literature
- Movies & TV
- Music
- Photography
- Politics
- Radio Controlled Hobbies
- Religion/Philosophy
- Sports
- Technology
- Videos
In addition, OSST (Old-School Small Talk) is available once a user's account becomes 1 year old.
Notable Incidents
There have been a number of things in Small Talk that have been very important to the development of the distinct culture, such as the Rick Roll epidemic and the annual scavenger hunt.
Partners
PbNation is partnered with KEE Action Sports, Save Phace, and PSP.
Criticism
PbNation is often criticised for the conflict of interest that they have, regarding the fact that they are both a source of paintball equipment information as well as a seller of advertising space.