I'm off and running on another multi-state laser tag marathon
and this one began with a trip down to Planet X Laser Tag just outside of
Parkersburg, WV.
Actually, things started off well even before I got there
because the owner of the facility, Dave Newell, texted me in the morning to
confirm my arrival time and try to recruit a few players to be there. I really
appreciated that because after nine hours of driving from New York I knew I was
going to be getting to Planet X on a Monday afternoon and I fully realize that
you can never really plan for a crowd on a weekday in the summer, so the extra
effort made a good impression on me.
When I walked in the first thing I saw was the huge
living arena marquee above the door.
We chatted a bit about the system and I got to try out
their G7 Laserforce packs. I swear I didn't even look first, but the very first
pack that I picked up...LEGEND!
Smile...it can't just be coincidence. Wherever I go the
Legend pack just seems to find me!
These packs were a little bit lighter than the G6 packs I
play with in my home arena. I understand this is due to a different battery. I
wasn't aware of hearing the same tones I am accustomed to listening for, but
otherwise they didn't strike me as being all that different. However, what was
different was that they were used at a center that admittedly wasn't really a "Laserforce
arena" (maybe that's just semantics) as they weren't hooked up with the
software that other centers have for reading my membership card...although I'm
pretty sure I already unlocked the achievement for visiting another Force
center, so no biggie. So we all went in as level one players.
The arena itself is in the process of being remodeled.
Regardless, it had a bit of an apocolypse meets neon city feel.
Dave shared some history of the business and how they
landed in this space over three years ago after moving from a more remote
location. So it may still be a work in progress, but he had some very clever
ideas for how it might be revamped in the future with artwork reflecting a
"force" theme...one you might have to think about a little bit. I may
have to return to check that out! But for the here and now we were just looking
forward to getting in some game time.
The text message from this morning mentioned that we
could perhaps play more advanced games like Photon if I wanted. This made me
wonder if they checked out my blog first or if the Photon suggestion was an
amazingly lucky guess! Regardless, free for all made sense as we had a group of
six players (even though a couple of them were camera shy), so that's what we
did.
They play six minute games here, so time in the arena just
flew by. I'd say the set-up was more geared towards younger players or
beginners, which is fine since the main clientele seems to be casual walk-in
traffic from the mall in which the center is located. It's not a competition
arena (I don't think you could play SM5 here), but it was a good time and I
really enjoyed playing with the group that came out just to have some fun.
Thanks to all the players and especially thanks to Dave and the staff. I had a
great time visiting Planet X Laser Tag!
Comments or questions?
Contact:
tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Blog:
tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com
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