A Nexus Night

Last night I went to the local arena that uses Nexus equipment in order to mix things up a little and get a better feel for some of the differences. I have played here only twice ever, so it is not as instantly familiar to me as the feel of the packs/phasers at the other arenas. There are different sound indicators, no courtesy shot that I could identify and a slightly different feel when taking a shot and making the tag. The bases are a bit different also and, though we did not take advantage of it, I know the system is capable of a much wider range of game functions than just the basics.

I've started and restarted writing about this experience several times, deleting and beginning again because, you see, last night felt really "meh". It was not because of the game...I was consistently pulling either first or second place, so this feeling isn't because of how I was doing personally. It's more a feeling of not being particularly welcome to this scene by some of the regulars...but I payed my money at the door so I was going to power through for as much practice as I could squeeze out anyway. Here's how it went...

This night was played with a handful of guys in their twenties, a handful of teen/young adult women, a couple parents and a few kids. And yet, for some reason the first vibe that hit me in the briefing room was apprehension and I don't really know why. They looked like they were regular players, but certainly no more formidable than anyone else I might cross paths with in another game. Certainly nothing that would intimidate me. Still, I immediately felt like the outsider. Since this is not really an arena where I plan to spend a lot of time it's not really a big deal, so I figured I'd just ignore the vibe and focus on practice.

The first game was a surprise to me...I lost the top spot because of something stupid. I know in this arena you can get each opposing base twice (that's four base hits in all). And if each base is worth 2001 points (which was new info to the game master who was insistent it was a flat 2000 until I pointed out the stray digit at the end of each player's score) then why did mine end with a three when I know enough to (and did) shoot all four? Either one of my base hits didn't register or I thought I got it when someone else actually did. Whatever the case, I did not have four bases on the screen, which knocked my points down. Meaning the base I thought I got that did not count/register cost me the points that would have been enough to win that first game for me. Instead I was shy about 1000 points instead of ahead by 1000. Sigh. Losing to a better player is one thing. Losing due to carelessness or error is something else entirely. I am not letting that happen again.

The second game I played as Marvel. I won it and proved my point about base values to the game master who had never before noticed or been aware of why the score would end with an odd extra number.

The third and fourth games I came in second to a veteran player at this arena named Douglas. He was good competition and a very nice person. We chatted a bit about the tournament, the differences in the game and the fact that I was clearly not very popular tonight among the teen girls. They have quite vocally expressed that they hate that I am tagging them and there are a couple who seem to think I am shooting them in particular and they have launched a little vendetta against me it seems...of course this is not the case, I'm just aiming for whomever is on the other team. Nothing personal ladies. Cue the music..."Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat some worms"...and show up in Philly better prepared. I am here for practice and that's all I am concerning myself with tonight. Yep, there's where I was picking up the vibe.

However, I do have one thing to address. Ok, there are a few players in here who have learned some terminology and seem to like to show it off. Unfortunately, their definition needs work. They are very vocal about "respawning"...in short, the point they are addressing is that if a player has been shot it's just not sporting to follow them around during the eight seconds it takes their pack to come up again. Absolutely, I'm sure we can all agree not to follow people and to play nice. However, that is NOT the same as shooting a player who makes no effort to move or hide and just stands right in front of you.  Especially if while standing there they are aiming their phaser right at you. It's also not the same as tagging a player who inadvertently happens to cross your path at the same time their pack comes up. And it's not the same as you standing in one spot and sniping what you see if they run into your line of vision instead of seeking out a safe place to regroup. Following is not nice. But players over the age of 14 whining about being shot in fair game is also not nice...and damn annoying. The arena we are playing in tonight is one of the smallest I've ever played, so the game is fairly close quarters. The guys are great competition, but keep landing on my team. Meanwhile others are taking this game too personally when it is really not.

The fifth game I again took first with the Marvel pack. 

The sixth game went back to Douglas and we went back and forth with it. He's quite good on his home turf. I started using the Phantom pack at this point.

This was about the point where I began to once again ponder scoring values. Every now and again I wonder how it is possible for the average scores to be so vastly different between arenas playing a similar game. So I made some specific inquiries to the management of my local arenas and these are the values they confirmed (although these values may not be the same for every arena)...

Nexus center: 50 shoulder, 100 front, 200 back, 50 phaser, 2001 base

Rift center: 50 shoulder, 50 front, 100 back, 50 phaser, 2000 base

Infusion center: 100 shoulder, 200 front, 100 back, 50 phaser, 2000 base

Until putting that down side by side I kind of thought they were all relatively equal. Well, that puts in perspective why the outcomes between arenas are what they are. Although, just as a side note, I appreciate that the Infusion packs from the night before have a feature to additionally compliment good performance. Beyond higher scores, the speakers in these packs will say the following things in periodic succession when you reach a certain amount of uninterrupted tags without being tagged out yourself...

Well done

Excellent

Impressive

Awesome

Zone God

Gender bias aside, I love when my pack calls me a "Zone God". However, my Nexus pack had no such compliments for me this night. But it's ok. I'll settle for a few good wins and a chance to shake up some new practice opportunities. And that was my Nexus night.

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Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Blog: tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com

Perspective

Sometimes a little perspective goes a very long way. Last night I had an interesting evening playing in Albany. I went in primed to play a perfect night and aim for the top score each game. Sure, you could say that's usually my goal, but after last week's streak of success here I felt pretty confident I could pull it off. However, for a very good reason which you will understand shortly I did NOT go after the win every game...and yet I really enjoyed what actually happened.

I chatted with two people and besides them I couldn't even tell you who was in that first game. These two were a father and son team (the son is headed into the army so I want to take a moment to say thank you Austin for your service in advance) and they apparently play at this arena all the time and yet somehow this was the first time we had crossed paths. I went in fully expecting to win...and so did they.

That first game I came in second to the son by a small margin. I was surprised (and truth be told, agitated I wasn't going to get my perfect night). I set my resolve to not let that happen twice and the next game I went in phasers blazing...except that I got a bad pack and my phaser wasn't blazing or doing much of anything else. A quick switch to a new pack and phasers were blazing again. I made up for lost time and pulled out the win in spite of it. Afterwards those guys came up to me and they said "we're very used to winning here, so when you beat us that last game it kind of shook things up". Thank you guys. I told them I was also used to winning so it would be an interesting night as we collectively realized who the main competition was going to be. However, moments later it really did become an interesting night in a whole different way and suddenly winning didn't matter anymore.

A group of close to twenty players arrived. They were special needs adults, I assumed coming from a local ARC group or the like. The guys disappeared from this game, but I decided to go in...let me be clear, NOT to play against this group, but instead to help lend some support if I could. I showed a couple of them how to put on the pack and buckle the sides. This was a brand new experience for these players and upon walking into the arena it was clear that most did not quite know what to do from there and there. The side wearing red clumped together on one side of the bridge while the side wearing blue clumped together on the ground level on the other side until a game master encouraged them to spread out. So I decided to help as many of them as possible to get bases. I walked up to one man and asked if he wanted to get a base and he excitedly said yes so I led him to where the base was and gave him directions on how to shoot at the green lights three times. He was so happy! So I repeated this and found a young woman drifting on her own and offered her the same guidance. Teaching laser tag to these individuals was a really special experience that gave me a much needed dose of perspective. I am glad I got to be there and got to help a few of them have a little extra success.

From somewhere in this group emerged a real talent. I have a feeling I know which player it was. At the end of this unique game I helped some of them to put their packs back in the vesting room and when we exited most of the scores were on the low side, but one player got over 20,000 points. The father and son from earlier walked up afterward and asked if that score was mine. I said "no, of course not." Did they not see the group I went in with? I told them I am not a monster and was not about to do something like that to those people. All I did was I shot a base and that was it, but clearly one of them was very skillful with the shots. The guys said they did see the group and they sat it out because they didn't want to play hard against them either. So I repeat for the benefit of any of the guys at Zero Gravity who might be reading this...I swear it was not me!

A couple of games later this same group played again, I went in again to help (I shot a base and NOTHING else) and came out having only been a bystander in the arena lending a hand if I could. That game I took the Venom pack. Look at the photo and you'll see it is true that I took only the 2000 points from the base and nothing else. However, look closer at those scores...

One of those players had it all over the rest of the group and hit a score of 45,000 points! So again, I must clarify for anyone who saw me walking out of the arena and then saw that score...I did NOT do that...but a big "wow" to whichever of those players it was. I quietly said to the guys "I've never hit 45,000 when I play" and they nodded and the son said he didn't even know that was possible. I mean, when nobody is shooting back, sure it's possible. But in this scenario...well, someone in there found a new talent while this group was enjoying their night out.

These games with the special needs adults alternated against more serious games where I could play hard. From that game on any game I played against the serious players I won the top score, so if you disregard the ones where I really didn't play I almost ended up with a perfect streak with winning all the remaining games. However, that dose of perspective stayed with me and in a weird way by the end of the night I almost felt badly for winning too many times. I enjoyed playing with these guys with lots of experience in this arena and I hope I didn't play it too hard because I sensed the enthusiasm dropping by the last game (which was stealth "Midnight Madness" free for all...I kill it at stealth). I have a really competitive nature and sometimes I think I need to keep it better in check. So while I felt great about being successful for the rest of the night I also want to give credit to the very worthy competitors who gave me a wickedly good run in there. And I also want to give a shout to the other group for whom I really enjoyed being able to see spending a night enjoying learning laser tag.

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Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Blog: tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com

Tag All Weekend and the Return of the Ducks

I started on Thursday night in Albany and then didn't stop, returning to Syracuse area on Friday and Saturday . For me Friday was marginal, So I'm tempted to skip right over to Saturday which was awesome, but I should at least make a passing note about Friday. I've had a wicked sore throat recently (I was seen by a doctor and am not currently sick, but I have had almost no voice and this throat pain for almost two weeks). So Friday night I was not in the best of moods because of that, but I wasn't going to let that slow me down. Nope...instead I let coming in second all night slow me down. Sheesh. Now, I was coming in second to Joe and I actually have great respect for his playing skills. He has gotten to be a very impressive player, but anyone who knows me knows I hate to be in the "runner-up" spot, especially when it's close. But all night long he was just a step ahead when it came to scores. Until the end of the evening when two interesting things happened.

Jared made quite a show out of telling him in front of the group that he was "not going to come in first this game". Well, call it coincidence (or not), but that game a young boy ended up with a pack that "malfunctioned" in an unusual way and a few of us realized pretty quickly that he had permanent invulnerability with that pack. And the kid knew it too :) So he had a wonderful time using that against everyone in the arena and, true to Jared's word, Joe did not come in first...the invulnerable pack was at the top of the scoreboard. At the end of the night the kid and I had a little standoff in the vesting room because I wanted to know which pack had the issue and he wanted to hide it so he could use it again next game. I said "I have a car, I can wait this out longer" and he giggled and went on his way, allowing me a moment to check out the pack. Jared watched me and wondered aloud why I was so interested in this pack and when I explained he said "Ha...and I didn't even tamper with it!" So...take that for what you will, coincidence or...whatever. But the pack was taken out of the mix before the next game.

Then Jared challenged Joe to come in last place. Not quite sure what was up with those guys, but Joe took the challenge and did absolutely nothing but walk around in the open without trying to score a single point. Frankly, it was a waste of time and a waste of a game. At the end I told him "Although losing to you irritates the hell out of me...what was that about?" That may have been sharper than intended at that point in the evening, but we all know and have better respect for a hard fought game, so Friday just ended on a soft, tired note. However, Saturday was a whole different animal.

I had not expected to be able to play on Saturday because of work schedule, but a last minute change freed up my night after all, so I returned. Joe wasn't around when I arrived for the first game, but who was? Almost 20 fully grown men...young, athletic and solid and ready to play...and I knew I was about to mop the floor :) After having come in second all of the night before my resolve was strong. Hell hath no fury like this chick after a second place slump! And these men didn't know what hit them. It was THE BEST GAME because not only was I on fire, but for anyone who looked at this group of guys going in you would have thought my coming out on top was defying all odds. But that's what lit the fire and started out an excellent night.

Unfortunately, those guys only let this girl have her fun for one game. They all left after that and the next game was just an average Saturday night mix. It was an easy second win. Then when I exited the arena and returned to the game room I saw Joe and Tyler...the return of the ducks! I'm referring to those little Jim Jim ducks from the first night I ever played with those guys. We used to play together every weekend, but t has been months since I've seen Tyler there, so this was a treat to get to play with them together. We went in as a team for the first game and it was a little nostalgic playing "like the old days". It gelled right away and I felt like I was on the same wavelength with these two other players. And ok, I came in second to Joe again, but my attitude about it was way different in this Saturday setting. Again,  respect that he has the skills. They were hard won. There was a time when I was winning every game and these guys used to look out for me and always make sure I got to play with my favorite pack, Legend. Well, harkening back to the old days Tyler found the pack first and offered it to me, but I told him that now that pack goes to Joe..."the politics have changed"...although it was cool he found it for me and I didn't even mind that I now defer that one to somebody else.

It was a great night playing with worthy competition. Between the three of us the challenges were set, the games were played hard and the points were close. It was almost the best night ever, marred only slightly for a moment by one random girl with a bad attitude. Now somewhere around the 5th or 6th game as I was trying to take out a heavily guarded base a young "lady" (older teenager, possibly very young adult) quite literally got in my face and in my space, shoving me with her phaser and physically pushing me toward the base exit. As I reminded her that physical contact is not allowed she responded with more immaturity, calling me a nasty name and told me that I was making it so it wasn't fun. Excuse me?! There were four or five of her team guarding on that base and she's coming after me for taking a shot at breaking the stronghold by myself? If she's not having fun I'll just suggest that this young woman might want to consider growing up and learning to play the game better...then she might have more fun. I do take the game seriously, but I am also a nice person, so I really find nonsense like that unnecessary. I chose to vacate simply to end it with her there because it was too stupid a situation to handle any other way. I told her "go get your base", but I must say from that point on I held back nothing when we crossed paths during the rest of that game. And I'll also say that from my vantage point I don't find it fun to play with people who think they can bully others. She may not like me or my game play style (and I don't have a clue who she is, so it matters to me even less), but she was the one who broke the game rules about physical contact and inappropriate language, so I take the high ground on this one, base or no base...of course two minutes later I went back and took the base :) Let the scores speak for themselves.

But thankfully she left after that inane little incident and the final hour was fun for everyone else. We played a game of free for all...and I won. And then in the final game of the night the "ducks" spread out, one of us on each team to make it a more level playing field, and we just had a good final game. At one point when we were in close proximity and strategically shooting at each other in one corner area Kimmy commented that the way we play almost looks like dancing. I would agree that there are times that as "moving pieces" in the game we probably do look a bit artful in our strategy. There's an even mix of comfort and challenge in playing against people whose moves you can predict to a certain degree. I guess that might be part of why I enjoy playing with these guys. It's a higher level, but an even level and was a nice way to end the night. Then, just to round out the weekend on a laser tag note, Sunday was a trip to Darien Lake to see our friends from Canada (TJ and Ankur came down for a visit), so I got this fun caricature done...

And the light shines on this weekend full of tag!

Comments or questions?
Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Blog: tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com

"You Got The Best One"

It had been about a month since I'd gotten back to play in Albany for some Zone Infusion, so I ended my day out east so I could take advantage of their Thursday night special. I have to say I was really impressed with the crowd they drew on a weeknight. There were steadily around 20-25 players, and past the first game they were all adult players. I could identify two factions that came out...one group was college aged kids and I assumed they were all from the same local university. The other were employees from a local business who told me they were there taking part in a company challenge. So this was an excellent night because everyone was there to play the game hard.

I was there to play hard too and was off to a very solid start. I was consistently pulling the top score. In fact, the first four games in a row I took the top spot. I picked a pack at random in the beginning, but then I stuck with it all night, so I played as "Link". After four consecutive wins I must say the other team caught on and made a target out of me. By game five I could have used some team support because there were three guys there who came at me and I was a little irritated I could get no backup out of my team who was too focused on not leaving the bridge. I took third that game, but then came back for another couple of wins...was hoping for a perfect night, but at least I know my scores were earned because those guys were not giving it up without a fight.

I enjoyed the competition with these guys. All the more so because I was using my newly acquired hint from last week left and right on these guys...(is that courteous?) because I didn't know if it would work with the older equipment we were playing on, but it did :) One guy couldn't believe I was consistently getting the shot while right in front of him so mid-game he asked to change packs, convinced there was something wrong with his. Once he did I enjoyed continuing to do exactly what I was doing and prove that there was nothing wrong with either pack as my shots kept coming.

I chatted in the vesting room with a few of the employee challenge members. One woman asked if I was there to check out the competition as she noticed I was wearing my Laser Edge t-shirt picked up during the Armageddon. I said no, that Laser Edge was in Michigan and I was just there practicing tonight for a tournament. Another gentleman asked me a bit more about that and I explained that in this case when I say "practice" I just mean "keeping up the chops" and shared some of the differences between what we were doing here tonight versus what was involved with the upcoming competition. However, the best interaction I had all night was with another employee from the group who inadvertently (absolutely no ill intent here) gave me the most backhanded compliment I've ever received and here it is...

This guy looked at the name on my pack and saw I was again playing as Link. Then he told me I was lucky, I got the best pack because that "gun" has been getting the highest scores all night! Disregarding for a moment that he called it a gun (it's a phaser...this is not real battle) I had to take a slight bit of issue with the fact that he was giving all the credit to my pack. I tried to politely say it isn't the pack and he didn't quite get what I meant. Then one of the college guys spoke up and clarified, it's not the "gun", it's the person doing the shooting that racked up the scores. Ah...lightbulb. :) He followed up with another nice sentiment though by wondering aloud if since I was on his team if he could count my scores towards the company team's average. I hope they did well, however, I left before the second to last game. This Tivia is tired people...my final round I was moving much more slowly and sniping from a corner because I was worn out after this long day. So I told the guys at the counter that "I'm too old for this (smile), I'm going home" and wrapped up another excellent night playing in Albany.

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Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Blog: tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com

Practice with a Purpose

Last night was a small group, but a very solid night of tag and from the start it felt more purposeful to me than the average Saturday night. With the Philly tournament in mind Joe and I worked on "self-imposed" rules to follow to simulate tournament play as best we could in our arena that is really not set up for that. He had some friends there and the public players came in and out of games all night, but regardless of what anyone else did, for at least the first half of the evening we worked on shot rationing, proper base evacuation and walking through what would be reload stations (and once upon a time were reload stations in this arena, but haven't been used as such for many years) to simulate some of the things that will apply in the tournament, but don't generally apply to us any other time we play here.

Now, here's something I didn't know about myself...apparently when in the heat of battle I lack the ability to count quietly to myself in my head! To simulate the energy loss of taking shots and taking hits we just estimated that if for each you count up to 60 when either occurred you would know about what the equivalent power supply would equate to before a reload was necessary...and then we'd just walk through the place where the reload ought to be considering we were never really depleted of power. I thought this would be a good exercise to get accustomed to how much energy we are actually expending, because when it doesn't count I just shoot at everything (I've always cared more about score than accuracy). So I could feel this was making me more aware and breaking me of my normal habit. However, the point is I found myself unable to count in my head. For every shot I was muttering the number to myself under my breath, but you know how it is to play actively and more often than not I would tag someone out while simultaneously saying aloud "17!" Smile...just my funny observation.

From the way he was playing last night I know that Joe was a smart addition to the team. Most of the games went to him for top score and I was generally next in line. Sometimes I miss the days of feeling like queen of that arena (he has successfully taken me down a notch by bringing the level of play up a notch), but I respect that this just means a higher bar has been set. Dan said something last night (don't remember what) that made me reply with "I can hold my own against Joe" to which Dan answered "You can?" (which I know was inadvertent smack talk with no malice behind it)...but that exchange was enough to make me say "game on"...and count out loud a little bit more ferociously :) But seriously, last night was excellent practice because the games and the competition, small as they were, were good quality all the way around. And I appreciated learning a new tip for implementing the courtesy shot. So, I tip my hat to Bhodi and all the other players for an excellent night of practice with a purpose.

Comments or questions?
Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Blog: tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com

"How's NOT playing laser tag?" Well, Barney...

Sigh...

I'm ready to play laser tag. I find it really ridiculous that I can't.

Since the next tournament is a Zone competition I figured I would show up at the local center that uses Nexus and mix it up some. I also thought I'd use tonight as a solo practice opportunity before tomorrow when I hope to work on some teamwork with my local teammate. However, I am instead sitting here in the outer lobby NOT playing laser tag because the weather is beautiful and nobody has bothered to show up tonight. And while I am killing it at the Wheel of Fortune video game, this is most definitely not what I came here to do...at all! Here's what I have achieved so far tonight...

It's been almost an hour now...

(Sound of crickets...)

Ok, Laserforce it is. Heading over to the other arena in hopes that there are people there, even though I know that the best regulars are pretty much all in Colorado at the NATS right now.

8:30...still haven't played any tag yet. Ok, a game is going in.

Beggars can't be choosers. This is a really tame game with some little kids and some bigger kids, but not a game where I belong. I didn't sign in as a six because I know I'm about to get chased be a swarm of little beings and I'm just not up for that. However, I don't want to be a monster so I'm not really chasing them. This is NOT playing laser tag. This is walking around an arena feeling like a bully who is fighting every impulse to play because it's not sporting. However, I came here for a game so if they cross my path...so be it. Why is it so hard to just play some laser tag tonight?!

Another game. Signing in as six because it's the only way it's even close to right.

Free for all...with one other level six. However, he's pushing for the win by zeroing in on me, so we're at least entertaining each other. Ah...at least it's a game...a very slight game. All in all this night is mostly a washout, so let me answer..."How's NOT playing laser tag?" Not nearly as good as playing laser tag will be tomorrow!

Addendum: For a couple of games Cass was putting me on a team with the older kids/teens playing against the really little kids and I couldn't quite grasp why. When I asked she said it was because the older ones didn't really know how to play and also because they were trying to tire the little ones out...ha, can do! Best moment of the night....when I deliberately turned my back on the littlest one who was lamenting "I'll never win" and he got his "ha-ha...I got you!" moment...smile. Then once the kids left we got to play some real tag with the handful of the better employee-players who were hanging out at that point. So...I did get to play some laser tag tonight after all :)

Comments or questions?
Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Blog: tiviachickloveslasertag.blogspot.com

"Collateral Damage" Gets an Education That Goes Right Over His Head (Literally)

I may not have mentioned it yet (in the mix of so many other things that have happened recently), but I will be playing on a laser tag team participating in the Philadelphia Invitationals in a couple of months, which I am really looking forward to as it is a tournament playing Zone. We will be using the most unusual looking Helios Pro phasers, so I will want to check these out in advance on my next trip to the Philly area, but I am really looking forward to it. I'm also happy to report that our final teammate joining us is Joe (aka Bhodi) from my local Zone center, so it's very cool that I will have someone to practice with locally as the entire rest of our team is all out of state. This news came together the next day following our average Saturday night of Zone where we were both there battling it out in the arena until right before the last hour. At that point the majority of the players who had been part of the evening decided to leave. However, I stayed and the arena took on a very different dynamic.

In the final hour I played the last two games with an unusual mix. Two young adults showed up with a VERY young child. These were not the young boy's parents (the parents were waiting out front...I'm thinking they might have been relatives or older siblings). In any case, the boy was much younger than I would expect to see in the arena that late (it was most certainly past a reasonable bedtime for this child), but he was excited to follow around the young guy while the girl was fiercely independent and ready to win this game on her own. We all went in and took different color vests (although the little one picked the same color as his older mentor) and we went into the arena and this is where I faced an unusual new challenge...consciously trying NOT to hit a moving target.

To be honest, sometimes slightly older kids in the arena are aggressive enough players that you just roll with it and play out the game. Hey, in some cases they may even get in more time in the arena than me! This was not the case here. This child was too tiny and just enjoying being with his "big bro" (or whatever the relationship was) and I did NOT want to zap him. However, throughout those two games it became increasingly difficult for a couple of reasons.

The first reason is he stuck like glue to the older guy and since there were only two bigger targets, occasionally I would aim for the adult and the kid would jump right in the way. And in the dark from a distance it was not always easy to tell how high up those lights were. So I joked that whatever the young boy's pack name was, we should just change his codename to be "Collateral Damage" because if I tagged him it was generally not deliberate...just in the wrong place while I was trying to get the other guy. So...oops for the times that happened.

The other reason not tagging him was a challenge was because there were times he and his buddy would come up towards me together. When that happened I would only aim for the older one, but the little one had an irritating tendency all through the game. He would aim his phaser at me and yell "DIE!" Now most of the time I'd let him at least get a shot off (because it really doesn't matter in a game like this and why not let the kid have fun...and he didn't get the shot every time anyway). However, something really bugged me about a person of any age wishing me to "die". Of course I know that's just how little boys play, but he said it so frequently during these games that I felt compelled to impart some words of wisdom (that went totally over his head and unheard) as I made a half-hearted effort to let him know we aren't actually killing people, so "die" is not the best thing to shout at an opponent of any size. Maybe "I got you" or "zapped" would be more appropriate.

I pondered why "die" struck a chord tonight (as I'm certain this is not the first time kids have been like that around me in the arena and I probably didn't think much of it before). I think after having recently interviewed George Carter and hearing firsthand about how even thirty years ago they took steps with terminology, etc. to diffuse the "war-like" perception of laser tag and be clear with people that it is NOT a violent sport, that this night I just had a need to keep that education going. Now, as I say, I know that my words did not register with this child. He was just having fun getting into the game as he saw it. But thirty years ago this message was being reinforced by the laser tag players of the day, so for anyone who has any misconceptions about laser tag being in any way "violent" (which it is not) I would encourage you to watch this feature from around 1984...at the very least check it out starting at around the 8:00 minute mark...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VhjksqHfwI

Let's keep it positive...and no matter what John Stossel says, laser tag beats volleyball hands down! :)

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Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

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