WHY PLAY AT THE DUNES?
If you like reading, the details follow lower on the page – but here is a point form summary;
1. Clients are put ahead of business profit – that is a vital basis.
2. Investment has been put into substance rather than advertising hype.
3. The field is designed to work well for the average person, and most of us are average people!
4. Our mask / vision systems are superior to other fields.
5. Our ammo handling systems are superior to other fields.
6. Our games are highly automated and provide a fast flowing video game style of play unmatched by other fields.
7. We provide far greater field variety and space for each player than other fields.
8. Our bookings are stable; rain, shine, wind, cold, fogging conditions, day, night - You want to play - we deliver!
9. We feel our safety considerations are superior to other fields.
10. The level of facility capitalization is far greater than other fields.
11. Our unconventional pricing and booking policies yield significant client benefits.
12. Our laser equipment and game systems are far superior to any competitor.
13. We have two, totally separate fields, either one of which has more vital features than other Saskatoon fields!
14. Years of experience and reliable, consistent, performance has produced a loyal client base who act as our best marketing agents! Ask them what they think about Merrill Dunes!
If you want to play paintball or laser tag, why would you come to Merrill Dunes?
I enjoy designing environments where people can get together to have interactive fun. Such ventures require staff and it is important that the staff enjoy what they are doing and it follows that staff and clients of the facility need to jointly enjoy each other and the activities they are involved in. Clearly there is a cost to any activity and a need for a business profit, and the challenge is to keep clients, staff, and business interests looked after. I think it is wise to put maximum stress on the client and staff factors and to make sure good value is delivered. Then hard work and brains and a lean margin looks after the profit area. Hitting the balance on these matters takes daily effort. I try to deliver the mix.
Merrill Dunes has always been slightly unconventional in achieving these goals and has been built from scratch with minimal advertising, other than making sure that clients are treated well and get good value for their money. I have tried to put time and dollars into substance rather than into valueless hype.
My lack of background involvement in conventional paintball or laser tag (something that has being very helpful) has allowed easily breaking free from the conventional way of running a field and as a result we are constantly adding innovations to the Merrill Dunes facility that appeal to the average person who is interested in a pleasant recreational experience. I would rather down play the “war” aspect – “friends having a good time together” is what I am out to promote – and it is a paradox that this seemingly war-like activity is such a social mixer and bonding activity! We try to send clients away as better friends with each other! Hardly a “war” zone.
Much of a field’s success lies in background support details.
Things like providing clean masks that do not fog and are not seriously scratched, is more important than sinking money into macho hype and advertising with grandiose claims of glory. Fogging control is not a cheap nor simple matter. Providing clean masks at a low price is not simple! Thus I designed and built an automated mask washing machine! We didn’t seem to be able to buy one at Costco! Consider how other fields handle this complex and highly personal issue.
Cold ammo that breaks in your gun, and having to worry about someone stealing your ammo as it sits in the Safe Zone, are real issues for players. The facility owner needs to think about these basic client needs. Being able to rapidly get paintballs into your gun at a low price and in the exact number that you desire, is important. Years ago we built a high speed ball counter and a rapid paintball distribution system that solve all these problems. You will not find a similar system at any field that we know of.
Our team identification system of wide, coloured bandoleers with a quick snap tyvek ammo card attached makes for good games and service efficiency. The identification system is even designed so colour blind players can identify a player's team at night under artificial lighting. The system is a Dunes original. Another important detail that helps us do the job for you.
We have put a great deal of effort into creating an environment where clients can "PLAY" and not have their time wasted sitting and being talked at or walking and waiting for ammo or mask service. We also try to get groups ready to go and closed out quickly. All these simple yet MAJOR details take planning and thought and distinguish one field from another.
I feel that players like to play and do not like sitting around and do not like being bossed around by refs any more than necessary. My solution has been to steer away from the “hit and you sit” style of conventional paintball which usually requires refs to pressure players into quitting when they are hit. I have designed automated games that are based on a “Deflected Momentum” approach where a hit simply slows a player down but doesn’t knocks him out of play (in most games, at least). By putting effort into building an automated “wired” field, Merrill Dunes is a bit like a “Real Life Video Game”. The facility provides easy to understand and challenging games at a low cost vs the pleasure. Again, I do not know of any field that has applied a similar approach. Repeat clientele vote for our tactic!
To have fun at paintball or laser, you need lots of room to run around on and you need lots of obstacles to hide behind. I do not believe in putting a group into a tiny area with limited obstacles, so when you come to Merrill Dunes, you have lots of space and lots of obstacles and we do not split the facility up into tiny fields with individual groups confined to tiny areas like animals in a kennel complex. Client satisfaction has to trump profits, and in the long run, everything will work out! Clients return when they are pleased.
When you book a time, you know that we will deliver the event. The staff will be ready. And the equipment and the facility and the know-how is in place to Make it Happen! Our sandy soil prevents slippery and clinging mud issues and assures drainage in spring and in rain. Avoiding mask fog is a major issue and we know how to do it. Cold weather creates problems for paintball gear but we are ahead of the game as is illustrated by our winter expertise. When you book at a field, they expect you to keep your booking. When you make a booking, you expect to GO no matter what the weather throws up. At the Dunes, You've Got It!
I would argue that our safety policies are superior to most fields and involve many small innovations and many “under the radar” psychological tactics that are very effective when dealing with groups. Something as simple as masks that are clear and don’t fog are a vital consideration. It is soooo tempting to lift that mask when you can’t see! Actual results over the 14 year life of the facility would bear this out.
Currently, the capital expenditure in the Merrill Dunes facility is far greater than any other local paintball field. We constantly roll profits back into improving the facility as a way of boosting value to the client. I keep operating the Dunes because I basically enjoy it and feel a commitment to deliver a service. I think clients sense that Merrill Dunes is not a “get rich quick and run” operation.
Our booking procedures and pricing system are carefully designed to try to deliver a top value service to clients and to try to reward clients for being conscientious in their dealings with Merrill Dunes. When a client group is sloppy and stands us up, it is a real cost to the majority of clients who carefully follow up on their bookings. We go to great effort to design our procedures so organizers can put groups together as easily as possible. And we try to provide as many safety gates as possible, if time and chance fouls things up, and a group simply has to bail out. If you are unsure of any booking detail, we try to make phone contact simple and are happy to answer any questions and to explain any procedure. By having intelligent and fair rules for making bookings, everyone gains. Time spots aren’t wasted and our prices are kept low.
We built Merrill Dunes on “exclusive bookings” where only people you invited are on the field with you. This system has the down side of making it difficult for small groups to book. In 2011 we still offer “exclusive booking” but also are providing other “mixed group” and “walk-on” options that provide for smaller groups and for individuals. These new options will please many players but those who do appreciate private bookings can still make them very easily. Each new option complicates booking rules – sorry – but we are here to help and explain. And when you have come and played and paid – I think you will be impressed!
Laser Events
We have run laser guns for about 6 years. We try to stay current and in 2009 we purchased 42 Tippmann Predator guns, because we were so pleased with the reliability and the service backup that Tippmann provides for their paintball guns. The Predators, however, were a disaster and we have never seen clients so upset at us. We quickly realized that we had under-rated our Battlefield Sports laser system, made some simple repairs, upgraded our “wired” field game system, and returned the Predators. It was a costly blunder but Tippmann treated us well and we gained an appreciation for how good the Battlefield system really is.
Since then we have purchased the next generation of Battlefield Satr laser guns and in 2011 will have a “wired” field game system that we think will eventually give paintball a run for its money.
No field we are aware of has as advanced a laser game system as the Dunes. The Australian Satr laser guns are marvels of design and combined with our own field system, we have a Winner. The laser option gives Dunes clients a safe, exciting, relaxed option that provides a high level of challenge that allows 6 year olds, mixed office groups, mixed school groups – really any age of either sex – to play and go home clean and undamaged. There is no mask to fog and the cost is much lower than paintball. If you have a video game addict in the house, ship the addict to the Reality of the Real World at Merrill Dunes – suddenly the game will be similar but Real People will enter the addict's world! Real Life and Real Success tend to be associated with Real People!
Are you bored because you have been at the Dunes so often? Keep in mind that we have two totally separate fields. They each have pluses and both have all our basic features mentioned above. Where are the best two fields in the Saskatoon area located? Go through the check list given here and you decide!
Why play at the Dunes? If the above points seem fuzzy, simply talk to someone who has been at all the local fields. Many people may not be able to explain exactly why they feel as they do, some will, but your grass roots survey will likely stand Merrill Dunes in a good light.
George Manning / Merrill Dunes / Saskatoon, SK
Merrill Dunes
