Editing Hayes Noel (section)

== Return to paintball in 1998 ==

=== International Masters ===

Noel returned to a major paintball event in October 1998.

He attended the [[International Masters]] tournament in Nashville, Tennessee.

The event was produced by [[Jim Lively]] through Lively Productions.

=== Invitation ===

Lively was a longtime friend of Noel.

He invited Noel to deliver the tournament's keynote address.[5]

=== Speech ===

Noel discussed the origins of paintball.

He described his debates with Charles Gaines, the first experiments with marking pistols and the development of National Survival Game.

=== Tournament developments ===

Noel also discussed changes in paintball since the original game.

He was particularly interested in the advances in equipment and the growth of competitive play.

=== Spectator paintball ===

Noel offered views on how paintball might become more suitable for television.

WARPIG's contemporary event report identified three principal suggestions:

* Paintballs should be more visible on video.
* Gameplay should include moments when players were more vulnerable.
* Individual achievement should be more apparent to spectators.

Noel suggested that slower forms of play, including pump-action competition, might be more accessible to television audiences.[7]

=== Historical recording ===

WARPIG recorded Noel's keynote address.

An approximately twelve-minute audio excerpt was published online.[5]

The recording is an important primary source for paintball history.

=== Photographs ===

WARPIG's event gallery includes a photograph of Noel with [[Bud Orr]], another influential early paintball equipment designer.[8]