Woodsball wasn't cheaper for me by any means. Watching paint break on tiny branches or twigs in the way aggravated me to no end. Woodsball to me is people trying to play war and in war a small bush of twigs isn't saving your sorry butt.
Speedball matches don't last 30 minutes or more, there is constant action in speedball. I see it as a sport while I'd consider woodsball or scenarios as pretend war (like my friends and I did when we were 8 and 9 with fake plastic guns). Speedball relies on communication, athleticism, skill sets, and communication (seriously, bad communication is where I'd see many teams end up loosing matches). As a referee at my local field I also enjoyed enforcing speedball more since it didn't allow for cheats to wipe paint.
I think I've gotten into this argument with people on this forum more than once and it comes down to personal taste really. I enjoy faster paced games.
ninja'd-
I also never liked the Tippmans, especially the 98. Was too long. If you want a inexpensive marker for rec play I'd pickup a nice Spyder and keep it clean. Or if your planning to "upgrade" it just go ahead and spend a few hundred on an Autococker. No need to spend money on a Spyder or Tipmann trying to get it's performance up when you could initially spend a bit more and have a much better piece of equipment.
If you are asking for a good marker recommendation I'd say a 'cocker all the way. I've always been impressed with them.
extra edit:
Yes & no. A Tippmann will work just fine for rec play. If you are playing a speedball tournament, which 99% of tournaments are, you want a high rate of fire, because you spend a significant amount of time "sweet spotting", which is blind firing at spots you know somebody will have to run through. It's extremely effective. In that case, you want something that can ramp to 30bps, the halo b to feed it, and the hpa system to be able to operate at that intense pace.
I don't know what tourneys your looking at but I've never seen one that allowed ramping and I've only heard of some that allow ramping up to 15 or 16 bps. 30 bps is just silly. How many 200 round paintball tubes are you going to carry for that? 15 or 20? 30 bps and you've shot a case in just over a minute!
For tourney play, especially if you'll be starting amateur I'd recommend something reliable, easy to maintain, and compact. You should be able to get up to 13-15 bps without any electronic assistance. It might take practice and some adjusting to your trigger frame, but you can learn how to do most of the work yourself with the internet or an experienced bench worker / player.
