--- In virtualeclipselrp@..., david_shepheard
<no_reply@y...> wrote:
>
> --- "David Roman" wrote:
> > So has there been any games lately with this group? I havn't
> heard any news comming from this quadrant in a while. How are things
> going?
> >
> > .....Dave @ www.1SLT.com
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> Thanks for the post.
>
> VE *has* been much quieter than usual for more than two years now. We
> have been running some table top role playing games, but our Lazer
> Tag games have not been happening at all.
>
> :-(
>
> I'm quite sad about this myself as I miss running around and shooting
> at people. More than that I miss the LARP element. For me a 100%
> mecanical game like Quasar or Laser Quest doesn't give me the same
> buzz. I love the fact that I am playing something like a Merc medic
> and am crawling through a bush trying to rescue an injured comrad. (I
> shall have to pop over to 1SLT and see what else is going on in the
> UK.)
>
> :-)
>
> Some other UK Lazer Tag groups also seem to be quieter than usual at
> the moment, so I don't think this is a problem exclusive to VE.
>
> What is the situation like in the USA? Are all the groups as strong
> as they used to be?
>
> As it has been a while since our last game, I think VE would need a
> equipment checking/repairing session, before we could run another
> game. Apart from that issue, I think we could easily be ready to run
> a game within a few months.
>
> I think part of the problem (with VE) is that some of our most active
> members have started families and there is a bit less free time
> available for the club. I know that a lot of our members are still
> finding time for re-enactment and other hobbies, so I think we need a
> bit of a push to get things restarted. (I'm not acually part of the
> VE organising committee, myself, but I will be doing my best to
> support the people on the committee when they do start work on a new
> game. I've got a dead PC at the moment, so have been doing less for
> VE than usual.)
>
> I think part of the problem with 'Tagging' as a whole in the UK is
> that it is *very* tied to the original Worlds of Wonder system. WoW
> seems to be the only company that could build anything that would
> work reliably in sunlight. Most UK groups seem to have started with
> WoW and ignored the systems that have followed in its wake. Reliance
> on stuff that hasn't been sold for years is a bit of a bar to new
> players. If a group doesn't have spares it can't bring in new players
> and if a group can't bring in new players it will eventually loose
> its energy.
>
> Do you know what tag systems are most popular in the USA?
>
> The new Lazer Tag Team Ops *could* come to the rescue of the hobby.
> Their people certainly seem to be very willing to make the system
> compatible with the old signal (which will help groups transfer
> across to the new system when individual players can afford to).
>
> However, as LTTO is marketed to children, they can't fully cater to
> the smaller LARP market. Last I heard they still had the gun and
> sensor tied together. This is something that makes the system much
> less usable for LARP (where we might have unarmed players) but is
> probably essential to get the toy past the marketing boys at Hasbro.
>
> It is a real shame that the equipment must be aimed at children as
> this forces the manufactures to produce low cost items that are not
> as strong as taggers would like. For example most tagging systems I
> have seen make no attempt to waterproof equipment. Tagging groups
> seem fairly able to make this sort of improvment.
>
> The equipment situation at VE is that we pull starsensor circuit
> boards out of their packaging, mount them into military style
> helmets, then do our best to waterproof them. If LTTO start making a
> stand alone sensor (especially with their heads up display option)
> I'm sure that we would be very interested. People (over here) are not
> so hungry for guns as a lot of gun circuits are already available on
> the internet, and guns are not in short supply.
>
> For me the perfect situation would be if Hazbro did have separate gun
> and sensor circuits and was able to give tagging groups discounts
> and/or sell us bare circut boards. I would also like Hazbro and other
> groups to agree on licencing their tag-signals to each other so that
> every tagging system could be used together. At the moment the lack
> of compatibility makes groups and individuals resistant to using new
> kit when it comes onto the market.
>
> This stops groups feeding money back to the manufacturers and
> probably makes them think that we are not a market worth targeting.
> So far every tagging system manufacturer seems to have protected
> their signal, like Betamax video recorders. Nobody seems willing to
> use a common signal, like VHS video recorders did very successfully.
>
> I have a feeling that the current political situation in the UK is
> also going to affect Lazer Tag games in a bad way. There is
> increasing political demand to ban replica guns and this may well
> make tagging (and possibly BB-guns and paintball) illegal in the
> future. Hopefully the attacks on London, will not make the government
> shove though a lot of knee-jerk reaction laws that interfere with
> hobbies that are not a threat to anyone.
>
> That is the unofficial news from me. If I hear anything useful from
> our committee, I'll make sure you are the first to know.
>
> Yours taglessly,
>
> David 'Big Mac' Shepheard
> Webmaster
> Virtual Eclipse
> http://virtualeclipse.aboho.com/
> http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/virtualeclipselrp/
>


hi just joined the group and rea dur messgae. you nkow theres another
system on the market right now. But its got a twist. Its got
something that sends a shock to your hand every time the chest sensor
is hit. I know this might not appeal to all Taggers but i thought i
mention it alll the same in case anyones interested