If you checked out "Look Who's Tagging" (a new
feature on my website) then you probably saw the video where Perez Hilton
shouts out his recent laser tag experience saying "We just played it a
week and a half ago in Miami at this venue in Wynwood called Fun Dimension".
This is not why I chose Miami, but once I heard this I knew that visiting Fun
Dimension in Wynwood, FL was an absolute must. You know, because Perez says so.
I must say I had some reservations about this place upon arrival
as it appears to be in a part of town where there is more tagging happening with
paint than with lasers. However, the small 1v1 game we played early in the day
in the arena was enjoyable. After checking in and signing the waiver (and
buying my t-shirt to show I was there...
...we were led to a combined briefing/vesting area to watch
the Delta Strike briefing video and select from a wide variety of color
choices. Then it was time to enter the arena.
If you have been following this blog for a while and would
like to hazard a guess as to how many times I’ve taken a photo next to this
same CW center structure then just drop me an email and I'll send you a
wristband for playing the game. I have to laugh at just how many times I’ve
seen it and I may actually have to go back and count for myself how many pics I
have with this same structure in various laser tag arenas throughout the
country.
But other than the overly familiar aesthetic the arena was
nice. It’s small (I'm going to guesstimate it at around 2500 sq ft) and there are
two raised turrets to give the arena some height with clear sight lines from
one side to the other so long shots are fairly easy. The bases were not
active although it was interesting to check them out though as this may be the
first time I've seen a Delta Strike base in this particular arch style housing
structure that I associate more with Zone and Force arenas (for no particular
reason other than that's where I tend to see it the most).
And the game was fun. We let ourselves out (I have no idea
where the game master was at the end of the game) and I took a couple more pics.
This place must be of some note in the area as not only did
it get a mention from Perez Hilton, but as you can see on their website the
band Imagine Dragons filmed their music video for Zero here on the Fun
Dimension website.
This past weekend in Miami was not intended to be a tag
trip...but who's kidding who, every trip is, right? Tag is life! The trip was
also not intended to detour to the airport in Sarasota, but whenever I travel I
just roll with things and this change in plans meant getting to visit Laser Quest
in Sunrise, FL a little ways outside of Miami was unexpectedly added to the
agenda, so everything worked out pretty well after all!
This turned out to be the start of a really fun night. Not
just because I got to play some LQ, but because this site showed us all a really
great time! We got into a game right away and I explored the maze. Honestly, I
don't remember anything particularly distinctive about the left and right
towers, but at the far back the third tower was like a gorgeous neon crystal
castle! All sorts of crystalline designs were artfully painted on the walls and
this became my favorite spot in the arena.
Another thing that made this site memorable was the staff,
particularly game marshall Chance who led a group of adults in several front of
house "mini games" in between tag rounds. In the past I have watched
these games be played with children at various LQ locations, but this was the
first time I'd been part of a group of adult players who got to act like
children and it was such a blast! We were all getting into it as Chance led the
group in "Don't Flinch" with a big blue ball, "Bank, River,
Sidewalk" which was reminiscent of elementary school gym class and
"Zap" where he would point to one person and the player directly on
either side would have to point to and yell "zap" before the person
directly on the other side of the first player could do so. Everybody was
really getting into it! That was probably the most memorable part of the night
besides the laser tag. Well, that and picking up another magnet for my
collection. :)
The staff here was great. I enjoyed chatting with them about
my tag travels and when I shared some of the photos from Texas and the promo
pics we took in Mississauga one team member was positive he had seen my picture
before and thought I might have been on one of their banners. Interesting! I'm
not certain if that is actually so (we didn't find it in any case), but as I
did give LQ my permission to use those images it's kind of cool to think my pic
might have ended up on a banner somewhere.
Unfortunately, this first night in Florida was a little
rainy, but I got a pic in front of the Sunrise center and left with great
memories of another terrific night at Laser Quest. Many thanks!
This section will be
dedicated to spotlighting people of note who enjoy laser tag. Right now you’ll
find some videos featuring celebrities talking about their experiences playing
laser tag (including Melissa Joan Hart, Joey Lawrence and Perez Hilton just to
name a few) and some pro athletes offering their thoughts about tag and tips
for tournaments and competition. Watch for this area to expand soon to include
articles and links to tag on tv, tag in the news and more from people you
probably never knew also love laser tag too!
Over the weekend I went out to play some laser tag as usual. I
had been playing for almost the entire night before something caught my eye.
Apparently this had been flashing right in front of me all evening and,
oblivious me, I hadn't actually noticed it until the last fifteen minutes of
the night.
I didn't even see the whole message at first, just my name
blinking on the new LED board. I asked Jared why my name was flashing and he
informed me that I was the member of the month. Well...that's a nice surprise!
To be perfectly honest I have no idea what that means or how I was chosen, but
I was told that it's a new promotion that they are starting and I appreciate
that they picked me to start it off. Many thanks! The Fun Warehouse is a great
place to play laser tag and I enjoy being a member...I must, because I have
roughly seven or eight memberships here!
This actually gives me an opportunity to bring up something
that I've had a few interesting discussions about recently...memberships in
general.
Most places where memberships are offered there are a few
incentives that make them particularly appealing to the players. Things like
choosing your own custom code name, tracking personal stats and unlocking
achievements or power-ups are among the typical perks common across most laser
tag systems that have membership options. Sometimes there may be discounts or
other perks made available depending on the individual business location as
well. And often times the more frequent, dedicated players won't mind paying a
little extra to have access to these perks.
Like with anything, there can
be pros and cons, so from the site operator's perspective there may be reasons
both for and against implementing memberships. Here are a few varying perspectives.
When asked about memberships at
this particular Laserforce site where I was playing in Syracuse, NY manager
Michael Brandt explained why they see memberships as a benefit to the business,
saying “We use memberships to help create a customer
database and a repeat customer. All of our memberships come with special member
pricing, access to member only events, and in game features that makes the
laser tag experience a much more interactive one. We encourage all of our
customers to become members if they want to be involved in leagues and
tournaments, as these are required to access them.”
Meanwhile Laser Quest
has taken a different approach in recent years. Although traditional
memberships were once offered at Laser Quest locations, that is no longer the
case. However frequent players can become an LQ Arena member and use
their app instead which allows access to other kinds of incentives. In this excerpt from a February 2019 interview, Laser Quest Vice
President Jeff Morris related his take on memberships...
I've also heard opinions from some people about reasons to
NOT have memberships. During a recent discussion I had with one site owner
who has seen and helped laser tag establishments all over the world I learned
that for his own business he opts against offering memberships. I asked him the
reasons why and, I'll paraphrase, but the essence of what he said is that
sometimes members can feel a bit too entitled, can start to take over and
become overbearing when playing with the public and he also told me that most
of the highest grossing laser tag facilities actually do not offer or encourage
memberships. I was a bit surprised to hear that last part (let me say the
source is quite knowledgeable, but this was a casual conversation so I have no
statistical info at hand to corroborate that). I can certainly understand his
point, but personally I
think there is also potential for these same members to have their “enthusiasm”
redirected in ways that can be helpful to a business. As you can see there are
a variety of opinions about the value of memberships and what they can mean to
a laser tag operation.
As a player I think memberships are a way of adding to the
sense of community that I value in the tag sites I visit the most. And while
I'm not deterred by the lack of it, I definitely feel that I am more likely to actively
take interest and engage in the activities at the sites where I feel that sense
of community the strongest, whether it's local or from afar. I don't become a
member everywhere I go of course, but I do have active memberships at laser tag
centers in North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, California even Hawaii (codename
"Tivia in HI") just to name a few. To me being a member is more about
the experience and the people, so when I decide to become a member somewhere
that means more than just having a codename...it means having a connection.
This is a customer service cautionary tale more so than my
typical kind of review, so I won’t be naming any names or posting pics.
In fact I held this for awhile before deciding it was worth posting.
A new laser tag arena has opened up near me and you may be
surprised to hear me say this, but...I'm not exactly in love with it. I'll just
tell you why I had a less than favorable first impression and I'll try to make
this a constructive criticism because I really do want all laser tag to thrive.
I had showed up at this new FEC several weeks ago only to
find that, although the rest of the business was open, the laser tag arena had
not yet been cleared to open for players. Sigh, but OK, I understand that
delays happen and the manager told me they should be ready to go in two days.
And yet, by the following weekend (when I called ahead rather than just showing
up again) I was told there was still no tag open. That was a few weeks ago, so
when I at last heard through the grapevine that their tag arena had finally
opened I made plans to check it out.
There were two employees at the front counter when I walked
up to purchase my game pass. Neither initiated a greeting. I had to start the
conversation myself, which consisted of only four words from the
employee..."ten dollars" and "sign here".
So that was my experience before even getting into the arena.
And as for the arena itself? Well, I'll start with a positive...they do have a
pretty arena. It's obviously a CW design with a few elements I don't recall
seeing before.
However, it is rather
unbalanced with the green base on an upper level (there is only half of a
second level as the ramps take you to an upper deck that only runs along one
side of the arena) and the blue base in the center with the red base on the
lower right side.
I walked into the briefing room alongside a family group of
five that included a couple of younger kids. A proper division of this group of
six players would have been two teams of three and I would have tried to be
helpful to the little ones as this appeared to be their first laser tag
experience. The two game masters played the introductory briefing video. Then
the two employees had some discussion between themselves. One employee said
that he'd already played a few games in a row so the other could play again
this time. Ok...
So one of the employees (we'll call him Karm...maybe short
for Karma) announced that we would be divided into two teams (so far so
good) and he would also play as his own one player solo team against all of the
rest of us...sigh. THAT is where Karm made a big mistake! This is a new
business (and a very corporate FEC at that) and while I have no problem at all
with employees stepping in to fill out or balance a game as needed I think it
is a HUGE mistake to let them feed their own ego by playing hard or going solo
against the paying general public while they are there on the clock. I've seen
this happen all too often (usually at locally owned establishments that are a
bit more lax), but that's no excuse to start out with this poor practice.
Usually I find that it's the corporate FECs that tend to be more stringent with
their policies about this.
There was no reason for him to play at all, let alone as a
separate solo team of one, and especially not against presumably inexperienced
players (hey, he doesn't know me from Adam...he probably figured we were all
fish in a barrel). Whenever this scenario is set up it means that the one solo
player has ALL the targets available for tagging for the most potential points
while the players on the other teams have significantly less targets, meaning
inevitably less potential points from the start. It messes with the fairness of
the game as the odds heavily favor the one solo player taking the top score if
they are even moderately skilled. It's mildly annoying when it's a customer
doing it, but totally unacceptable for an employee to pull that move in a
public game.
Please understand that I'm not saying this with any concern
for my own score. My goal this game changed when I heard what he had in mind
and instead I decided to settle it like a laser tag vigilante! Rather, I say
this because a new laser tag business will simply not be well served by this
practice continuing. This place is less than eight miles from an established
tag site operating with the very same tag system so customers do have other
choices and most will not pay a premium per game just to have new staff members
try to farm points on them. The staff should be there to make sure customers
have a safe and enjoyable experience, not just to play free tag for meaningless
bragging rights.
Well, since that's how they decided to separate the teams, I
decided if this guy was going to act all "Cody" in this game that it
was now ok for me to play harder than I intended and be a bit more renegade.
Please understand I did NOT make a point of going after the other team unless
they happened to land right in my path. Instead I focused all of my attention
on keeping this guy's pack down for as much of the game as possible. That's the
only way to counter the one man solo team approach. I took my bases and made
sure I had the points. I also accomplished a bit of my earlier goal by helping
the young ones to at least get a team victory. And in the end I feel like I
settled the game in the appropriate way…yes, I beat his solo score.
So now here's the constructive part of my criticism. This is
a perfectly easy thing for a business to fix. With a new business especially
it's important to start out with clear employee expectations. I am not a fan of
the blanket rule that some corporate centers impose saying employees can never
play in public games. That can be equally counterproductive if you have someone
(like me) show up at an off-hour and want to play when there is nobody else
around. And sometimes you really do need a more experienced player to add
proper balance and an employee might fill that need perfectly. There are
sometimes appropriate situations for this. These things happen often enough and
at those times it is perfectly reasonable for a staff member to participate
because they are making sure that you walk away as a happy customer. And in
those instances I really WANT the employees to play well and give me a
challenge. But when there is a group of paid customers ready to go and the game
is not in need of any extra balancing then the employee (guided by a best
practices policy from the management) should know enough (i.e. just have some
good common sense) to not insert himself into the game unnecessarily. Come back
and get good at the game on your own time, not your employer's and not the
customer's. That's my two cents on that matter. And for the record, with this
as my initial reaction to this site I decided to exercise my consumer’s choice
to leave after that one game and did in fact go eight miles down the road to
play elsewhere for the remainder of the evening. So, while I'm always happy to
play in a new arena, I hope this account provides food for thought because you really
only get one chance to make a first impression.
Last night I had the opportunity to speak to a local
community group about my favorite topic…laser tag. :)
Before I had even arrived I had a really nice surprise. While
I was in route I was listening to one of my favorite nationally syndicated radio
programs, the Bob and Sheri show, when I was pleasantly startled by my own
voice! At the beginning of the third hour (roughly at the 47 minute mark) they
had included a pre-recorded plug for Laser Tag Day that I did not expect would
be used after the fact, but how nice to hear that it was included on the show
anyway!
Shortly thereafter I arrived at the meeting destination. I
had been invited to speak about my adventures laser tagging America and give a
presentation as part of the literary program to members of the Floyd Grange. I
appreciated being welcomed to talk to the group about my journey. There were
about 14 attendees who gathered in a member’s home this night instead of the
meeting hall, so it was a really intimate gathering and an informal discussion,
but also an opportunity for me to raise awareness about what laser tag is…and what
it is not.
I began my talk by bringing out a Laserforce Gen 6 pack from
my collection and explaining how laser tag works and showing them the features
of the pack.
Because I know that sometimes people who are not familiar
with the game tend to have questions about the phaser I also took a moment to
explain that this is called a “hand held unit” or “phaser” and it’s used to
deactivate the lights using the words “zap”, “tag” or “target” because this is
a non-violent sport game so the semantics matter for anyone who might have been
concerned that it could resemble a weapon. After addressing this point I moved
on to share some of my favorite memories from my trips to various states.
I shared photos of some particularly unique experiences
like the time I got to play laser tag with Olympic athletes in Denver, Colorado
and how members of the National Guard came out to play tag with me in Wasilla,
Alaska. I showed them some of the more interesting arenas I’ve played in and related
the stories I had been told about how people were housed at Laser Tag of Baton
Rouge, Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I shared the fitness focus
of the laser tag/parkour hybrid of LasRFit in Los Angeles, California and the
finale of my journey playing laser tag with George Carter near where it all
started in the area around Dallas, Texas. It was such a nice opportunity for me
to reflect on the memories as well as share them with others. I thank the Floyd
Grange for inviting me to give this presentation.
When the meeting was over one member hung back to ask me
a question that I really appreciated having a chance to answer. She wanted to
know if I think that games like this have any connection to the gun violence and
the school shootings that we hear about in the news. I was glad she asked me about
this because it gave me an opportunity to explain that I definitely do NOT
believe that there is any connection. Just the opposite really. Laser tag is a
very social game. It is completely family friendly and non-violent, right down
to the terminology that is used. There is no physical contact permitted in this
game. Laser tag fosters friendly competition and is also a great form of
exercise that releases endorphins. For all these reasons I think laser tag is a
very healthy activity for people of all ages to enjoy, so I disagree with any
suggestion that there could be a connection. And yet I am very glad that she asked
me about this because it gave me a chance to address her question with facts
about all the positive benefits that people of all ages can experience through
playing the game. I left the meeting feeling like I had shared some great
memories, but also brought some enlightenment about the game that I love so
much. Thank you to the Floyd Grange for the opportunity to talk about tag!
Once I realized that I could play my 250th
arena in Texas I decided to look for a really special site where that milestone
number could happen.
The reason I chose Lazer X in Longview, Texas is because
of the current rarity of being able to play using their system. Lazer X is one
of the last three laser tag centers in the United States where you can still go
to play Intersphere and that made this site a MUST for me to visit.
As soon as I arrived I was greeted by owner Bill and his
wife Cindy. A short time later I met game master Kathy and Bill took me for a
tour of the equipment and gave me some history of the business and the
Intersphere equipment that they have been using since they opened in 1999.
Originally this business was located in Tyler, TX and
there was a different Laser X location established in Longview. The first
Longview site opened in 1998 using the version 6 packs (O packs) which were
made with a harder plastic. Later on some of the version 6 packs had plastics
with a tendency towards breaking at the joints. However, by the time Lazer X in
Tyler opened in 1999 there had been a change in EPA regulations that resulted
in a change in the plastic formula they used on the subsequent Beta packs used a
softer plastic. They have a Y front pod and the O design style and when
compared side by side (Beta on the left, version 6 on the right) you can see
some of the subtle differences.
The fact that these packs are still holding up speaks
well to the quality. Today Lazer X has packs with the original yoke and
only the inner shell removed.
A later generation, the version 7 packs had a
distinctively different design with the square front featuring the X that were
manufactured in Des Moines, Iowa, circa 2000.
These packs also featured a double strap on the sides, while
the earlier version only buckled with a single strap.
Here’s a better look at the single strap Beta…
…and the double strap version 7.
There was also a change in battery between the two.
The differences between the Beta (left) and the version 7
(right) are much more apparent.
The phasers have a comfortable, ergonomic design.
And the screen on the back of the phaser has pertinent in-game
info including credits, points and rank.
Lazer X moved from Tyler to Longview in November of 2004.
Here they are able to run up to 30 packs in the games played inside their over 6000
square foot double level arena with six wall unit targets and two switch back
ramps leading to the upper level.
My first peek at the arena came when I was able to join
the local venture crew who came out to play a few games. We watched a video briefing before entering the briefing
area and being assigned packs for the game.
The public games were all Solo Invis (basically stealth)
and when you successfully tag an opponent you earn 20 points, meanwhile the
tagged player loses 2 points. We entered the arena passing by Mike and Jerry…
…and I got my first peek of the spacious playing field. The
lower level is more your typical maze while the upper level (which everyone
gravitated to) featured more obstacles like barrels and separated “rooms”.
I didn’t immediately notice the gem style wall units that
count down and fire back during the game, very similar to those used in
Darklight.
Actually, during the first games I was just shooting at
everything, so although I took first in every game I was accomplishing that
with ridiculously low accuracy.
It wasn’t until Bill gave me some guidance about
targeting the shoulder sensors (they would stay off until hit and then would
flash to indicate the tag had been made) and showed me how accuracy factors
into the scoring with this game that I made strides towards really developing
some skill for this system. He explained to me that the accuracy is multiplied
by the enemy score to give you what is called a “sniper bonus” so higher
accuracy really does matter in this game (unlike in many others). So in the
next couple of games I played I made a concerted effort towards getting my
accuracy up and it jumped significantly.
Bill indicated this poster on the wall for a reference on
how to read the scorecards.
After about five games in the arena with the venture crew
we took a break and had a second night of celebration with party snacks and
cake.
And before too long I had a chance to play with a few of
the center’s more experienced players for an “Owner’s Game” which means that Bill
got to join in the fun too!
Here’s a look at how that went with a GoPro view of a
game of Intersphere at Lazer X Texas!
I had such a great time here! By the end of the night I
really felt like I was getting some skill with the game and I had to lament
that unfortunately there is nowhere I can go to practice this system. However,
I am so glad that I got to really play this system properly and learn so much
more about it in the process. It was a fantastic evening of laser tag and I
want to thank Lazer X Texas for hosting me and becoming my 250th
laser tag site. Whenever I make it back to Texas I would definitely like to
play here again!
