Lasertag (Matsui)

This article details Lasertag as it is played in Terra Matsu and Tyage aer Matsu.

The lasertag of Matsui is similar to its RealWorld counterpart, but is similar to paintballing in tactics, radio, and fields.

Matsui Lasertag

Matsui lasertag is nothing short of bloodless warfare. In the lasertag games, the participants put on thin suits which cover the whole body. Every area of the suit is sensitive to lasers. Additionally, the suits come with a radio. These are used for side communications and transmitting damage data. Since they are necessary to transmit data, if the players go beyond 5 metres of the radio, the signal will be lost and the player will automatically be disqualified.

Weapons

The base weapons are often similar to sniper rifles in design. However, they are not limited to such things, as they also include trip-grenades, bazookas, and automatic laser weapons.

Teams

Lasertag warfare is divided amongst two fronts. Each front consists of several teams who are formed either formally or informally. Although the team members are decided before the battle, it is not uncommon for participants to join late in the game. They also get to choose their side/teams. Different teams wear different coloured suits, but in the usual accompanying darkness, these colours aren't terribly easy to distinguish amongst each other.

Because participation in lasertag is generally extremely high, it is not uncommon for teams to have anywhere from 200 to 800 participants. There are usually between 2 and 5 teams on a front. In most situations, the teams are vying for control of a field.

Participants can join/leave at any point in the game. However, if a player is "killed" in battle, they cannot rejoin until the field until the battle is decided and a new game is started, which often takes a week or two. Because of this extent, teams will often make camp at various parts of the field, and wake up early to resume the fight.

Strategies for fields often arise, and it is not uncommon to see marches in fields army-style, or even in real city streets, where they recruit people for their events.

Fields

Because the lasers of Matsui lasertag don't work terribly well in light, the fields are usually dark, but don't have to be.

Terra Matsu has numerous large arenas for lasertagging. They can range in size from neighbourhoods to the largest arena in Terra Matsu, which is approximately the size of Cyprus. The fields are extremely realistic, often appearing like levels out of RPGs. Arenas, for example, can be based around cities of the world, historic battlefields, etc.

Although "camping" (wherein a player or a group of players stay at strategic locations and attack those who cannot strike them first) is legal, it is generally discouraged in recreational lasertag, which exists alongside warfare lasertag. In warfare lasertag, camping is a fact of life.