Board Thread:General Nerf discussion/@comment-27923854-20160709125916/@comment-2001041-20160712221557

Hogan milligan wrote:

modification is an equalizer for those who don't have the money to buy a really nice blaster, for example, because i mod blasters, even though i don't have many new ones, i still have lots of good ones for me, or others to use.

I actually move for the opposite stance, that really good modification which dramatically alters the performance of the gun (like Elliot or Drac does) costs a lot of money, whether you're using water, electricity, buying new parts, actually making your own darts, what have you. The primary reason I'm for stock is that everyone can afford something, even if it's, say, a Strongarm or a Triad which cost under $20. Even a Retaliator (my favorite Nerf gun of all time) costs $24.99 which isn't too steep at all. And if they don't have one, they borrow someone else's. The end result is, not only are people safer (isn't that the entire point of Nerf?) but everyone of all ages can jump in to a battle. Nerf itself is the equalizer - not modification!

Elliottw wrote:

HM, if luck and fate allow, I sincerely hope you never have children with developmental disabilies.

Wear eye protection.

I've had a sort of epiphany lately: some of these kids don't know what they're talking about. It's like going to the Home Depot and asking a 16 year-old what's the best way to retrofit a grinder pump into a downstairs bathroom.

You call me a pessimist, yet you bring up things like this. Let's say you actually had a child like that - would you really be comfortable having him/her around tools like this, where the kid could drown himself/herself or get impaled on something? And, yeah, without using Stefans or something similar, it's a lot easier to keep your eyes in their sockets.

With comments like that, also, you're turning the modification business into an elitist organization, and to some extent that does kind of require some sort of certification - namely, you and others like you. These are toys we're talking about, and they're designed to be fun, kid-friendly, and, especially in Nerf, designed for groups to play together. It's about honor as much as it is about performance. So far as I've seen, you have no honor. That is all that needs to be said in regards to the merits of modification. Done right, it adds flavor (and only flavor) to a Nerf battle. Done like this, it makes it cold and heartless. There's no fun in that.