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If you're reading this… Then chances are you've already had a chat with
someone who's been telling you just a bit of how much fun is to be had
in a hobby you probably never heard of before! If not, then here we hope
to answer some of the more common questions people ask:
"So it's the same as Airsoft / Paintball / Laser-Quest etc.?"
Put like that, No, No, and No! All those, very popular and well-known,
gaming systems, differ from our system in one major respect, and several
minor ones. The major difference is what it says at the top of this page:
Role-Play! A typical paintball game, for example, is about 10-15 mins
of frenzied gunfire, and no more complex than "capture the flag", or "Kill
everybody"! LazerQuest tends to be very similar, but indoors.
Some Airsoft groups do simple 'mission' based games, on themes such as
'Rescue the Pilot', for example. While it's true that LazerTag started
as a 'paintless paintball' game, a typical 'simple' game will be about
90mins - 2hours or so, with several smallish teams (typically about 10-15
players), who may have more or less complex and conflicting missions;
a large, complex game may run for several 'episodes' of a couple of hours
each, with a theme linking through all of them, with numerous individual
characters, who may or may not be all they appear! It is also common for
there to be hidden plots, storylines, secrets to be discovered, puzzles
and mysteries to be investigated…
Over a year of gaming, a player might find themselves as a Colonial Marine
from the 'Aliens' universe, a member of a Star Gate SG-team, a trooper
of the SAS, a confused civilian, a spy, a bad-boy gangster, a corrupt
cop, a Klingon, or even a God in disguise! And that's just for starters…
Another difference is that, because we are role-players, we don't have
the 'one hit and you're dead' system common to paintball and airsoft;
we operate a highly flexible medical system, allowing a game organizer
to stipulate how many Hit Points the players have, so benefits may be
gained from body armour, helmets etc…
The system also allows for some characters or creatures to be very tough
to kill! This allows us to have Terminators, or war droids, or very hard
alien beasties, or even Daleks, for example! Another facet is that a squad
medic (or tribal Shaman, or Wise Woman, or Doctor…) may have a supply
of medicine which will diminish as the casualties mount… Also, the system
allows for random wound results, so a player may find themselves carrying
an injured limb for the rest of the game, or blinded, or deafened… Or
even cursed, needing to be released by the local Witch-Doctor before they
can continue!
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"So, who writes these games?"
Anyone who wants to! It's true to say that the majority of games, especially
the more complex events, are written by a fairly small number of the "Usual
Suspects", but anyone is welcome to come along and bring a game! Fancy running
a game based on a story or movie that fascinates you? Go for it! The degree
of complication, plotting etc, is all down to you! If you want to talk through
ideas, there are always experienced game organizers, more than happy to give
advice, hints etc… We're not at all snobbish, we just want to play!
"So, where do you play?"
Simply, anywhere we can! We do not, unlike the typical paintball club, have
a big site in the woods somewhere. We play, exclusively, on private land, most
often in areas of private woodland, as these are, not surprisingly, the easiest
areas to find and hire… Over the years, Tag events have taken place on the disused
Greenham Common airbase, at sites near Kings Lynn, in hedge mazes, in cave systems
under London…
"How often do you play?"
The last couple of years have seen an increase in the number of events being
run, with Fiat Lux! running a skirmish day down at Wickham, near Eastliegh,
on the last Saturday of each month; there are also events run by groups further
north, and of course DropZone, the big annual get-together, over the late May
bank-holiday weekend… The Laser-Tag Forum, Firefight (www.firefight.org.uk)
exists to provide a calendar/notice board for people to announce upcoming events,
typically announced several weeks or months in advance depending on the game.
"Where are you based?"
As you probably guessed from the above, we are a spread-out hobby! It's probably
true to say that we are based on the internet! The best place to find out what
is currently happing is Firefight, a dedicated forum which also includes an
online album (The Armoury) that contains photos, documents and some video of
past events.
"How much does it cost?"
This is another area where we score over the paintball and, to a lesser extent,
AirSoft, communities! It is important to note that Tag is a small hobby, not
a business: No-one is making any money out of this! With regards to the cost
of playing the games, the price simply reflects the cost of running the event,
including site hire, divided by the number of players! So, at one end of the
scale, a simple skirmish day, involving 2-4 simple games, at a site like Wickham,
which is cheap to hire, with a typical attendance of about 20 players, will
cost £5 a head, while DropZone, which includes 7 games, 2-3hours each, camping
for Friday-Sunday nights, and a barbecue if anyone volunteers to do it, will
cost between £30-40, depending on how early you book… Yes, we did say £5-£40
as the fee range! At the same time, a game in an unusual site that costs more
to hire, such as the Secret Bunker at Kelvedon Hatch, which costs a lot to hire,
might be as much as £40 per head.
"How much does the kit cost?"
To a great extent, that is up to you! The guns and sensors used to be sold
commercially, by a company called Worlds of Wonder, which is where the name
LAZERTAG originated. The commercial stuff has long been out of production, though
they sometimes may surface at car-boot sales, etc. From this point of view,
some clever lads in the hobby started to make their own, compatible systems,
from scratch.
The tricky bit is finding a suitable gun body to put the kit in; it is about
to become impossible to buy our preferred platform, cheap airsoft guns, but
there are weapons in the hobby based on big water pistols, or scratch-built
from metal or plastic, which are just as good! Basically, you need a gun and
a sensor. Assuming that you, or a helpful friend, can use a soldering iron and
a mini-drill without hurting yourself, and you can lay hands on a suitable gun
body, you can be in the hobby for as long as you like for about £100-120, plus
the occasional battery for the sensor.
As a rough guide, a sensor battery should last a good year's-worth of gaming,
while charging your gun for a weekend of gaming will cost about a penny! (Remember,
a decent Airsoft weapon or paintball gun will set you back a good £200-300,
plus ammo every weekend; paintball, in particular, can be about £6 per 100 shots,
which gets a bit dear if you're trigger happy!) New players, perhaps like yourself,
might want to play a couple of games to see if you like it, before putting proper
money into buying kit; some of the bigger clubs, like the Warlords and Fiat
Lux!, have small numbers of 'club guns' and sensors, specifically for loan to
new players.
At big events, like DropZone, this may cost about £10 per item, for the whole
event. This is toward the cost of repairs that may be necessary, as accidents
can happen. For other kit, you'll want a pair of stout boots, and clothes you
don't mind getting muddy. Beyond that - how flash do you want to be? A set of
DPM trousers/jacket from a market or army-surplus store, could be as little
as £20; at the other extreme, if you choose, you could spend loads on camos,
webbing, helmets, body armour etc… It's up to you! Most events are self-catered.
So, barring your travel expenses and whatever food and drink you want to bring,
once you've got the kit, about £120-150 will see you through a year's gaming,
say two big events at £40, and several small, one or two dayers, at £5 or £10
a time.
For a further description of how the Laser-Tag system works
please click here.
Based on an original document by Justin Crayton.