Going by other people's stories of meeting dart zone employees, they seem to be not particularly in tune with the pulse of us hobbyists. I imagine that the time the trademark idea came up, they assumed that the public would be actually supportive of them and not repulsed by the idea of having a corporate overlord.
To give a personal example, when I produced my full documentary on Endwar 2022, I was told that the video was shared internally amongst the marketing team in an email, and was made mandatory for the team to watch it. At least the parts that pertained to them at least. I've also had close interaction with some of their marketing employees and was asked to email tips and feedback on FPT 2022 to make the next year's event better (which they eventually declined not to return to.) So while I don't think they have their absolute finger on the pulse as far as where the hobby moves, they absolutely care to do their due diligence in research and get feedback from individual hobbyists where they can. Acting upon that feedback is important as well, but its not as if they just have no care at all in that regard.
My running theory is that the Trademark was started off by whomever handles their IP when they noticed a term being used that wasn't owned and didn't strike them as generic enough to be a problem. By the time anyone internal who might go "No! Bad idea!" heard about it it was a good ways along in the process and it took time to kill. I've seen things like this over the years ( usually overzealous C&Ds ) - it does happen. The community response and inquiries may have helped push that over the finish line, but it almost had to be an internal effort.
Thank you for saying the things that need to be said through these videos! We all want Dart Zone to succeed, and that's not possible without being critical of their shortcomings
I think a lot are worried, you all are pushing dart zone too hard and their sales plummet and foil up? Another US toy companies bite the dust. With the onslaught of Chinese toy companies , such possibility are there. Toys are not branded clothing where brand command a loyal pool of fans. End of the day, dart zone products like nerf, try to cater to wider range of audience. They are no worker where they target the pro level only.
I'm one of the people that came into the hobby thanks to Dart Zone's Adventure Force Aeon and Nexus Pro blasters being in Walmart. I never even knew there was such a thing as a Nerf/foam "pro" blaster community. I accidentally picked up both blasters because my family likes to have a post-Thanksgiving yard activity like flag football or a Nerf fight. I saw both blasters on sale and grabbed them because they were less than whatever Fortnite blasters Nerf had on the shelf and they were interesting looking. When we used them, we were stunned at how they shot so hard and the darts were so small. I looked them up online and stumbled into the community. Now, I have a Trion, a Harrier, a modded Stryfe that I did myself, a Stryfe X, a Seagull, a kitted out Unicorn, and some other blasters that I'm working on. I'll always be grateful to Dart Zone for bringing me into the hobby, but their recent Omnia was a bitter disappointment that I still feel stung over and I hated using the Mk4 and Mk1.2 at a recent event. I want them to be better.
Not by pushing them too hard. They can't raise their starting price too much while we all know the global trend of rising production cost from raw material to increase wages. Surely, the Chinese production counterparts are asking for more from dart zone. I believe dart zone are under lot of pressure too after the mk 1.2 and 2.1 flop. They are bleeding , surely. Outlaw is a great product but as revolver, it's not mainstream sidearm and sales volume wouldn't be high like nexus pro.
The chalk darts once they lose some of the fill will then be unbalanced and lighter than brand new ones. While aiming for a competitive purpose, I think they would be terrible there.
I think the flour darts could be useful if you have someone in your casual group that always contests or refuses to take their hits. It serves as proof when you call them out.
@@sbblasters Dart tag velcro darts were fun, but you had to have the vest and only body shots would stick (inconsistently with stock blasters). Still better than flour darts though.
i think the biggest use of the tags darts would be to put them in the bottom of a stickty mag with some dry lube or something in there, or some other use for on the fly dry lube
I don't think those marking darts are game worthy, but they ARE target shooting worthy. Just hang a black cloth and you can get a good visual reference of your groupings and accuracy.
@@BradleyPhillipsYT No offence, I feel like the game types you play are very different from people like beret, and Out of Darts. Your take on flywheelers are, well, very different from my take.
@@BradleyPhillipsYT you are one of the few subject matter experts, but still. Not all foam flingers have your kind of capabilities or equipment for testing.
13:40 time to buy full white tac gear 😂 For real though, chalk darts are dumb. Our game is so easy. "Hey I hit you in the leg" "Oh you did? Thanks. HIT!" Is that really that hard?! ❤
I think we all strive to take our hits but sometimes they get missed. And competitive events are probably at the top of the priority list for catching tags before confusion ensues.
When the hobby grabbed my attention I was trying to decide which springer to get and felt overwhelmed by the idea of building one myself, and the Nexus came along and it really excited me, so it was my 2nd performance blaster and first springer. They've inarguably created a great inroad to the hobby, and that's fantastic for our games. They've since struggled with their following albums. The Nexus was a great budget product which undercut their own DZP products like the 2.1, the Mk3 was a swing and a miss, and the Mk4 is honestly confusing and a lesser product than the Swift it's essentially copying. The omnia has promise, but the problems at launch don't bode well. As for the trademark, I wasn't surprised they put it forward and I'm actually a bit surprised they abandoned it. Stuff like this is how corporate entities either carve out a space or get blocked out, and with Nerf already owning "Nerf" and "Dart Tag" they were limited in their options. I don't think it's arrogant of you to think your video contributed to it being abandoned; it would be absurd to think it was the only point they considered but it was a drop in the tide of public opinion against them.
Bret! I don't know if you want to check with some more of your subscribers because I did not know you had uploaded this video and some of your newer videos. I had to actively go to your channel. I don't mind doing it but other subs might not be receiving proper notifications because... RU-vid problems :/
As consumers we have the right to hold companies accountable and responsible for their products that they want us to spend our hard earned money on. I think the criticism that is being said is fair and balanced. Consumers have the power to make or brake a product or a company. It’s in a company’s best interest to always acknowledge that there might be a problem with a certain product, complete transparency will go a long way in keeping a company’s reputation good.
My theory: They put the trademark to stop people using the name; they allowed the trademark to die because just the RUMOR of the trademark existing was enough to keep people fron using the name with no need to pay the periodical fees.
I've watched both of these videos and even though I own a DZP Mk 4 and have been loving it (I even got some mods done and now it shoots laser beams), you do make some very good points. Looking back at things like the Deuce Pro and DZP Mk 1.2, there have been these weird marks in Dart Zone's track record that realistically shouldn't exist, and represent some wasted potential. Hell, the DZP Mk 4 in its stock form lacks the ability to use the included SCAR with the barrel extension--a massive oversight that I still don't think should have happened! Some seasoned hobbyists had a hand in the Nerf Pro Stryfe X's design. I think Dart Zone should also get some seasoned hobbyists on their team and give them (and by extension the rest of the hobby) more of the say.
One thing I will give Dart Zone credit for though is when reviewers began reporting problems with the first batches of the Omnia Pro (bad flywheel alignment that led to inconsistent firing), they wiped all listings of the blaster from online retailers and aren't selling it again until a fix is issued. X Shot still have yet to do something similar for the Longshot Pro as far as I'm aware, even though there have been widespread reports of broken plunger tubes.
Oddly enough the Pro line seems to be the line with the most stinkers. It sucks waiting a year to buy a new blaster to see if there are any major issues that need to be corrected but that seems to be the state we're in.
I would think that running those TagsDarts with the "powder pockets" empty would hinder the aerodynamic properties of the dart and cause it not to be as accurate as their other darts that doesn't have those pockets. There would be a weight difference between a filled and empty pockets and they could act as air scoops and would create more drag when air gets into them - whether they are filled or empty. Thanks for the updates. Stay safe and blessed. Yosh...
Want light darts? Use empty tagger darts Want heavy darts? Fill tagger darts with sand Want gory b*llet wounds for your meme vid? Fill tagger darts with ketchup There's applications for this dart type, but I don't think they're for serious blasting :D
Mine is MK4, amazing blaster but my biggest gripe is that you can't use your scar or any for that matter on the supercharge muzzle. At high fps is where you want to use a scar cause that's when shit starts flying left and right due to how fast they fly out of the barrel.
I explore Dart Zone products thanks to the Foam Community of RU-vidrs. Some retired this year. DZ have good and bad products. I agree with Beret if they offer a great product. We said it. But if DZ offer something bad there not reason to hid or ignore.
I think the tag darts from the 2000s that have the velcro would be a better option. If they came out with a velcro vest and or shirt and put a velcro tip on the short darts, that would work better
I don't think the Tags darts will be as useless as you think. I don't think of them as a replacement for a referee, I see them as an additional tool in a referee's arsenal. The substance used will have to be visible and not easily brushed-off. I don't think it'll be as useful in casual games, as you said, but in more controlled situations bound by rules I think it will be fine. *IF* they don't fuck up your blasters.
Not easily brushed off worries me. I don't want my clothes ruined after 1 day of play from some semi-permanent tag powder or gel. What would happen for round 2 if it's not easily removable? Count the number of tags on the clothing? What if you were rapidly hit by 2 darts in a round? Do you have to skip a round of play now not to confuse players and judges? Also how mad is my landlord going to be that semi-permanent marking darts have ruined the exterior or interior of the house I'm living in? Bye, security deposit! 😅
The worker darts are GREAT...but in my comparison and I have done plenty, the Maxx Darts are just as accurate as my gen 3's and also the Walmart version of half darts that dart zone makes are very accurate as well.
8:30 And then, tomorrow, there will be a comment on this video posted by Dart Zone thanking Bret for letting them know how upset the trademark made the community...
Seriously, the best product release by dart zone after nexus pro is max outlaw. It the best product for DZ in year 2023. Worker really leaves DZ in dust but I give the benefit of doubt given worker blaster are price slightly higher than DZ products. As for the darts, how about adding a bit of fluorescent ink which will spill on impact? It will definitely make a bigger mark than the tiny cross.
I would guess they wanted to use it for tournaments like the DZPT, but after putting in the lagal work to get the TM, they realized it wasn't going to be very useful since they don't seem to be focusing on the DZPT as much and with the community reaction someone probably just killed it because they wanted to avoid more backlash, especially since they wouldn't gain anything from it if they weren't even using it.
My initial thought process with the trademark was as an insurance to make sure the term could not be trademarked by another entity while creating the Foam Pro Tour event, making their involvement in the FPT and the marketing campaign they set out to create, much more difficult to produce with that hoop to jump through. We know now that they've decided not to continue to sponsor and host the tournament for the time being, so killing off that trademark may have had something to do with it, or it was never a long term plan to actually follow through with using and limiting the terms usage. Either way knowing it won't be an issue for the time being is beneficial to all parties. A sport should not be a trademarked phrase.
I get that the chalk darts might not live up to the marketing claims, but would it be a detriment? I imagine there's somebody out there who would love to have poison darts. Wouldn't be me. (Famous last words)
I feel like a lot of the Dart Zone dislike lately is from people comparing their blasters to Worker's latest offerings. I'd like the point out though, I can take a DZ blaster out in public and not get shot by a cop; I can't say that about a worker seagull with the same confidence....
@beretnarf I believe your thoughts reflect the community on a lot of this. Good video, and it’s been great watching some of your gameplay footage. It would be wonderful to host you at our Rival/Half Dart arena. Comment back if that’s something you would be interested in.
Dartzone has done the community a service by commercializing the half dart's ubiquity and increasing their availability. Everything else lately is bad business. If you are going release a premium line it has to be to be the bar everything looks up to. Dartzone couldn't win the trademark because it is as generic as ping-pong or football, and then filing it should absolutely wake any fan's up to the fact that they are a corporation that acts chiefly at all times in its own interest they are a supplier not a community member or partner. That's my takes.
