Prepping for...

For the last couple of days I have had my mind largely focused on the upcoming tournament. My team has had the benefit of some degree of insulation from the drama llama which I think has been a real asset to just staying positive about an opportunity to see each other again, play our best, learn from the experience and strengthen our overall skill set so that we can come back bigger, better and badder down the road. What I like best about the group I am playing with is that I genuinely feel a camaraderie and support from the team spirit that makes me happy to be a part of this no matter what happens. Now, some external nonsense surrounding all this has been making me want to scream (and disconnect my internet), but I will rise above it and be happy with whatever happens so long as we can do this united and ignore the imaginary issues.

So, to that end I've been doing what I can from here. Picked up the team shirts (which look awesome), got myself to the neighboring arenas for practice and got a very useful refresher tutorial on Q-Zar.

Honestly, these packs are so alien to me. I can practice most of the other systems fairly easily, but Q-Zar and Storm will be the variables over which I have zero control other than to do my best on the fly and to pick up whatever skills I can. Last night I went out to the Force arena knowing full well there would not be a chance to get in any SM5, but I was at least able to introduce one of my teammates to the environment and the system to get familiar with the space to avoid having him jump blindly into the fire at the event. And that was my main purpose also...even though I've spent many hours playing at this location I have also been away from it for awhile. And while I know my Zone location so well I could probably play there blindfolded (ok...that sounds like either an exaggeration or a fun challenge for next week) I recognize that the thing I have in my favor here is simply access. So I went and played a fun night with an unexpected crowd considering it was a weekday night. And we went over the systems as best possible from there. Had a great night, definitely a worthwhile trip. But between now and Saturday I'm going to just rest up for whatever is about to happen and know that regardless of what goes on at the tournament I'm going to have a great time playing laser tag with my team.

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Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com
Blog: tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com

Perfect, Undefeated Night

This happens now and again, but it's been awhile since I've accomplished it in Syracuse...last night I had a perfect game streak, start to finish, first place every game of the evening. How? Sarcastic voice: "Joe wasn't there" (...and ok, that was true, but I say that just kidding...smiley face). But I prefer to think it's because I was just very goal oriented and focused last night as I had set my mind to do this even before arriving at the arena. However, there was still an ample challenge in front of me. Nearly every game had between 30-40 players...

So there was plenty of competition anyway. Particularly from a few distinct factions that formed throughout the evening. I stayed on one team using the same pack all night. I am recovering from a cold so I figured I'd confine any residual germs to one pack so I picked up my old friend, Legend, and stayed with that pack all night long.

After a couple of games the other players had me in their sights as a target...especially a few on the blue team. A couple of them stood out to me in particular. There was an older guy there hanging out with quite a few college aged players. Turns out this guy is a professor (of the cool, hangs with his students variety) who came out to play tag with his twenty-something daughter. He chatted me up because I was wearing my Lasertron shirt and he deemed me a "pro"...so I think I was his target from the get go. But once I made efforts to keep his daughter from taking a base, let's just say the switch was flipped and it was "game on". The daughter actually played quite well. Another young woman about the same age was WAY more aggressive when it came to the bases. She seemed to lead a coordinated faction to go get the bases (and prevent others from doing so) while another young woman seemed in charge of defending their base. There were actually quite a few college aged women there playing smart, coordinated efforts. I had the benefit of experience on my side, but I really give them respect for coming in and executing a decent strategy. This illustrated something I've thought for awhile...please forgive how sexist this sounds, but laser tag really would be a very different sport if there were more women who played. And that's not to say that there aren't quite a few good, female players, but what I witnessed this evening was just a great example of the ladies leading the charge and a very good show of coordination on their team. Call tonight the Nivian challenge. But with so many players there was plenty of opportunity to play hard and achieve my goal. Even though what happened tonight has absolutely no bearing on anything, this was a good way to reinforce some confidence before next weekend's tournament (one more reason I played seriously for the wins tonight) and I can't wait. This was a good evening.

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Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com
Blog: tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com

Merry Day After Christmas!

When your best friend knows exactly what you want for Christmas and shows up with the perfect gift...

Merry day after Christmas!

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Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
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Blog: tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com

Returning To Rochester

I'm going to post this at the top because, well...who knows if this will ever happen again...

This was at Lasertron in the sport arena where I got an especially worthwhile education out of my game play. However, that's fast forwarding to the end of my day. Let me start at the beginning.

I decided that another trip to Rochester prior to Snowmageddon would serve me well, so I first headed out to the Laser Quest arena. First game out was a chance to warm up, but I ended up in second place. First and third place players were clearly regulars here as were a couple others who seemed surprised by the outcome. :)  Getting some practice time with those packs and phasers (which are so large with triggers that I really needed to get accustomed to again) was such a benefit. I figured out how to tweak my aim a bit to get better target accuracy and I also got some quality time scoping out the arena.

One of the employees who remembered me from a month ago commented to me "I really want to watch you compete." The next game I came in first place, but I played it stealth and with less gusto, so I'm not sure I really gave him the show he expected. I took less shots, but I also hid myself better, so my score was the highest of that round, but not by way of terribly aggressive playing. Still using this time to get familiar. The third game does not count or merit discussion...I pretty much ended up just walking the arena that game. Trust me, that was the right thing to do. However, the final game for me at that arena I saw a group of teen guys come in very confidently and I decided I was going to really go for it. To quote one of my coworkers...aww, yeah!

After four games of Laser Quest (which neatly utilized the four free passes they gave me last time) I moved on to Lasertron. When I arrived I was told that the first game of sport Lasertron that I could get into would not be for an hour I decided to have some fun and try my hand again at tactical. They advised me that I could get into a tactical session, but because of the schedule I would be going directly from my four games of tactical straight into the sport games. That's basically like an hour of consecutive tag...damn, I'm a glutton for punishment because I said yes!

I found myself consistently doing well at tactical (which made me feel good to know that the last time wasn't just a fluke). Then right on into the sport round, which I have said many times is my least favorite and the format where I feel I am the weakest. I was told I'd be with a group of about 34 people, but the majority of the group didn't actually show. So instead we had two smaller teams. This actually was a tremendous help. It offered a much better simulation of what it might be like in the tournament with six man teams and gave me some valuable insight to how to work that to a mathematical advantage. I won't detail my thought process now, but after having seen how to do it with smaller numbers I think I have a much better handle on what to do next time around (which will be at Snowmageddon) so it was not only a cool ego boost to be the leader on my team at this format (which was unexpected in and of itself), but also a confidence boost to see what I was capable of and what was possible. All in all, this was a really worthwhile return to Rochester.

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Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
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Blog: tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com

Earning It The Hard Way

Moments after I snapped a picture of the scores from a round of tag last night the owner of the Laserforce center says to me "you know I can give you a detailed printout of your score, right?" I said, yes, but I was going to blog about it so the photo was better. Though I really don't even need that because I wasn't recording the scores for posterity. It was more about analyzing the context of this game, not solely my own performance. 

I went there last night to re-familiarize myself with this arena because it will be one of the sites for the upcoming Snowmageddon tournament that I will be playing along with my teammates on team Ascendance (formerly called All About That Base).

Part of me was really irritated because I was playing with several level six players who, during that round, all simply opted not to sign in as such even though I had. I need to practice and if better players are there then they should be playing at a better level, not copping out and getting easy shots...at least that was my temporary thought process. But mid-game as one of those non-signed in sixes was taking aim at me I had a change of attitude. I shouted to him "I appreciate you. You make me earn it." And there was only a hint of sarcasm intended. :) But back to the pic of the scores...who signs in as what really doesn't matter. I took my lumps and didn't score as high as I could have if I played below my level, but I earned it harder than they did in that scenario. And what I earned was one more round of experience to get me further overall as a player. At the tournament plenty of players will be well above my playing level because of their time put in towards building experience. So, if I have to earn it the hard way, so be it. Let the others sign in at lesser levels. What is not always on the scoreboard…sometimes you just need to know what you have done for yourself.

Kids and the Christmas Spirit

Last night I felt a little like Miss Hannigan. Today I feel like an elf. What a total 180 and an infusion of the Christmas spirit! Let me explain.

I knew early on yesterday that I'd be the only one of my group out at laser tag, so my first thought was to mix it up a bit and go to the Laserforce arena instead. When I arrived I was surprised to find that they had a different kind of crowd...two parties, lots of kids! In any other situation kids are great, but I do find having little ones underfoot does make it tough to play an aggressive game of tag. I prefer to play in a more balanced situation (although since I was already there I played one light game for the road anyhow).

Then I decided it would be better all around for me to go to my Zone center where there would likely be an older group of players, but you know what? They had parties going on there too...more kids! In the context of my night out at the arena I found myself feeling like the house mother from Annie (cue the chorus of "Little Girls"), but that was clearly just how the cookie was going to crumble. So, I rolled with it, but basically felt it was a lost evening as far as laser tag goes. Then this morning I ended up with a whole new perspective.

Remember the toy drive I mentioned last week? After several weeks of raising awareness and broadcasting from numerous collection stops we had the most heartwarming finale to what has been our largest toy drive yet...

Over 20,000 toys were collected and made available to 28 charities to pick up and distribute to less fortunate children locally. This overwhelms me on many levels. The toys we collected spanned four bus lengths, two rows deep. The generosity of our community is astounding...as is the need. To realize how many children might have gone without a present on Christmas morning who will now get a gift because of this effort makes me feel really humbled to be a part of this. I realize that I take for granted that I will go out to tag each week, but days like this really remind me of just how very fortunate I am. Some kids may never be able to experience laser tag. Some kids may not have a toy on Christmas morning. I don't have children of my own, but suddenly Miss Hannigan has melted away and I am grateful to be in a position where I can help a drive like this in any way, to make a difference for a child in any way. And that warms my heart even more than tagging a base. :)

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Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com
Blog: tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com

Picture It...

Picture it. Sicily, 1921...no, wait. That's wrong.

Picture it. The briefing room, right before the last game of the night. The game master comes in and scans the room making an assessment of whether or not to offer us the option of special game play this round. He begins...

Kevin: OK, you all look pretty cool...

Me: Said no one ever in a laser tag briefing room. :)

And with that smartass remark...standard game. But it was a good one to close out a pretty good night all around. I had to work earlier so I showed up late, but there was a decent crowd waiting outside even though there was already a game in progress. Packed house tonight! When I went in for my first game of the evening I was ready to hit it hard. Came out of that game with the top score, only about 300 points ahead of Joe. That set the tone. When my teammate and I compete against each other there is only one thing either of us is after...to take that top spot with the high score. Team play is irrelevant on an average Saturday. One of us and only one of us is getting that spot so the battle is on. The next game was played out just as hard and every pack in the vesting room was spoken for. We played with 42 players (the absolute maximum capacity) and I went into that game ready to take it. I played hard and knew I was killing it. When all was said and done I took my vest off an was positive there was no way I didn't win that one...except, I didn't! I came in second this time and Joe had the top score with a whopping 15,000 (a score not often seen based on the point values in this particular arena...the scoring here is significantly different than at some other arenas where I play). Wow! For that I can't even begrudge him anything. I'm crazy impressed that it happened and reasonably proud of my own outcome also (second place means I still took a whole lot of points). So I snapped a pic of that outcome because you just don't see that happen every time...

Then a few of us played a round just for accuracy before mixing things up with various team combinations for the rest of the night. It was a good, well played night of tag and I always know it's been a worthwhile evening when I go home with a buddy...

A minion in a french maid's costume? Thank you and good night!

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Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
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The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...For Laser Tag and Giving

My heart was warmed by an experience I had with a local shop owner earlier today. I work for a company that puts together one of the largest toy drives in Central New York. Over the course of several weeks our radio stations have broadcast from many different locations collecting toys that will be given to 28 local charities to distribute to less fortunate children prior to holiday time. So today I went into a shop with the intention of buying a laser tag toy to donate to the toy drive myself. My hope was that in doing so I could share the love of laser tag with some child out there who might not otherwise get to have the experience.

I was disheartened to learn that the laser tag toys I found required the use of an iPhone or similar device. Somehow I don't think this technology requirement was a factor when the first laser tag toys hit the store shelves in time for Christmas of 1986. Suddenly this idea seemed impractical because I would think a less fortunate child would be unlikely to have an iPhone. Sigh... I would have to pick out some other toys to donate instead. When I mentioned in passing that this was the reason I came into the store the owner demonstrated some serious holiday spirit. He went into the back and came out with a huge box. I asked him what this was. He said it was a case of brand new toys that he wanted me to take back as a donation. So even though the laser tag toy did not work out as planned, it ultimately resulted in a gift that will benefit many more children in the end. Thank you Art. ;) And thanks to everyone else who has donated to help make the Christmas season more merry for lots of local kids. For anyone else who may be interested in helping you can visit http://stuffthebuscny.com/ .

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Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
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Changing the Name of the Game



Tonight was an unusual situation, but I figured out how to change the way I play to fit the scenario without being either a monster or a total non-entity. At first it didn't look like I'd be able to play any laser tag at all. There was NOBODY at tag tonight until a Boy Scout troop showed up. In fairness, they all looked like teens or close to it, so it's not like I went in with a group of young kids. But I also knew that this was a group that I could seriously hammer if I went in playing hard and I did not want to do that. So I approached the game differently.

What's the thing that I generally care the least about at tag? Everybody say it in unison..."ACCURACY!!!" I probably should care more about that, but I don't. I just go for points any way I can accomplish it. But tonight I decided to make accuracy the name of the game. I deliberately allowed myself to take hits openly. However, I was a lot more judicious with my shots and didn't fire at just anything unless I was pretty certain I could hit it with one shot.

82% accuracy...I’ll take that!

 

This made it interesting and way more fun for everyone because the scores were closer (yes, I ended up winning on points anyway, but not deliberately), and the others got to have a good time while scoring tags against me (I could tell I was a trophy for some of them when they got a successful tag and tonight that was perfectly fine by me). And playing only for accuracy does hone my skills in a different way. So tonight turned out to be fun anyhow. So glad they showed up...but also looking forward to playing way more seriously this weekend!  :)

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Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com
Blog: tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com