 |
The Women of the Online Gaming League
By: Jube
OGL/Gaming Nickname: MsConduct / MsC
Location: Minneapolis, MN (yes, it IS cold here)
Birthday: April 2
Current Games: RA3, Urban Terror, taking a look at newest WFA release
Favourite Games: LMCTF, Q3Urban Terror, RA2
Clan: Phule's Company (CPC)
Former Clans: PMS (Psycho Men Slayers), =V= (Valhalla)
[LG]: How did you come to be involved in the wonderful world of online gaming?
[MsC]: A good friend and former roommate (who also happens to be my clan leader) got me
addicted, then helped me build a computer based on the Q2 systems specs... I was hooked.
[LG]: What do your family and friends think of your very time consuming gaming hobby?
[MsC]: My mother's learning to accept it, my sister and her family (husband and two sons)
play a LOT of DAoC, so they understand. My brother's been a geek from day one -- he was
Electrical Engineer in the Nav, now works for HP, so no problems there.
Many of my real-life friends think I'm crazy, though they've been dealing with it for about
five years now and it hasn't gone away, so most of them have gotten used to it.
[LG]: How did you get started with the OGL, and which games do you work with currently?
[MsC]: I actually came into OGL about three years ago when our current President was a
VC and needed to give up his Q2 Weapons Factory ladder because he was moving up into Management
with RazorCut's (one of the Founders) departure to a real, paying job with one of the game
companies who was getting into ladders. He wanted someone to take over WF with an eye to
also working WFA. I'd had a lot of team-based mod experience (Q1TF, Q2CTF, Q2LMCTF, and
some WF on public servers, though never with a competition clan), so I took a shot at it.
Three years and a whole lot of water under the bridge later... I'm still here, which occasionally
surprises even me.
Currently, I've got RA3 and WFA 2v2, plus working one night a week answering e-mail on OGL's
Helpdesk. Immediately prior to this, I had 3 Urban Terror ladders (TS, TS 2v2 and FTL).
[LG]: Based on your OGL experiences, which game's community makes you think "*phew* glad I don't
work on that ladder", and why do you think they're rowdier than other communities you're familiar with?
[MsC]: Oooooh, boy... about the only community I can say that about is CS, but I HAVE worked
CS (under Alric when he was still a League Official), so I know for sure that yes, some of those
teams really are/were that bad at times. Even the Tribes Renegades gang was tame compared to this
scary crowd! When I dropped my last CS ladder, I made myself a solemn promise that I'd never work
that game again just because of the sheer number of disputes and issues on those ladders ;-)
[LG]: Are you currently competing in any ladders or tournaments yourself? If so, what's your
record like, and do you think your opponents take you less seriously because you're female?
[MsC]: I'm not currently competing -- If I had 48 hours in each day, maybe... but not now.
I'm also under no illusions as to my skills (or lack thereof) -- it would take me several months
of several hours a day of hard work and frustration to get back to the level I was at when I was
competing with PMS, and that's not something I need to do right now. I have competed (Queen of
the Hill 2, Female Frag Fest), and it was a lot of fun, even though I didn't win anything besides
great friendships!
As for the whole issue of "being taken seriously as a gamer," I have other skills besides the ones
I use in-game. I am more than the sum of my onscreen gibs. I'm happy to use the skills I have
to help the community, doing stuff that others don't have the time or inclination to do because
they're too busy TRYING to get taken seriously as gamers. Last I checked, Gaming was supposed
to be fun -- and I play for fun, when I can. If people are going to take me less seriously as
a ladder admin (or as a gamer) because either (a) I'm female or (b)I can't whip their butts
in-game, that's really not my problem, is it? ;-)
[LG]: What game(s) are you most looking forward to the release of?
[MsC]: It's a mod, not a game, but I'm definitely interested in the future of
Urban Terror (Q3 Mod) from Silicon Ice Development. Two of the SID guys (Apoxol and
Sweetnutz) were hired away from the team by Raven, but there's a lot of talent there
with Oz, Dragonne, BladeKiller, BBQ, and many, many others! 2.6 just came out, and
with their development cycle, 3.0's a ways off, but with the improvements they made
in 2.6 over 2.5, this is going to continue to be a really fun and really interesting
mod to play! Anyone who enjoys the reality-based stuff, hit www.urbanterror.net and
give it a shot.
Speaking of Raven... Quake4 should be cool, even though Quake's been done and done
and done (and will be done yet again!), this should be another great installment in
the series judging from Raven's past work. I'd like to see what kind of twist and
storywork they put into the singleplayer aspect (I don't call playing bots in an
arena a singleplayer storyline), and where they take the multiplayer physics
(i.e., more Q2 or more Q3) but no matter what they do, odds are I'll be playing it!
I'm also really waiting for DUALITY (www.e-duality.com) it's a Trilobite / Phantagram
project -- class-based, both single- and multi-player game with awesome graphics and
what looks to be some interesting game mechanics posited for a late 2003 release.
Who knows, maybe I'll even get to run ladders for it on OGL. Cyberpunk fans, keep your
eye on this one, it looks to be very interesting!
[LG]: Are you currently romantically attached? If so, are you with a fellow gamer?
If not, would you rather date a gamer or non-gamer, and why?
[MsC]: Well, I'm not with anyone right now, and there aren't that many I WOULD get
involved with. At the moment, it's a short list of one, and he knows who he is... 'nuff
said.
Let's just say that it's more likely to be a gamer or someone from the gaming community,
just for the level of relative clue and intelligent conversation. I've tried dating the
"cute but stupid" types, and, well... elbow-candy is nice, but it can't hold up its end
of an intelligent conversation or play in my D&D campaigns. I do a lot of technical and
computer-based stuff with work (never mind my gaming habit!), so me being involved with
someone who's completely technologically impaired is pretty much out of the question.
I think there are a lot of guys out there, both within and outside the gaming community,
who need to learn to deal with women with their own income, attitude, and talents.
[Back to Women of OGL Index] |
 |
