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FFF'99 Player Interview - Meet Hellchick

August 2, 1999

Twenty-seven year old Caryn Law (aka Hellchick{HB}) from Laramie, WY has been an "id gamer" since the days of Castle Wolfenstein. For the FFF event, she is fragging her way through the HPB Central division with a usual 48.0 Kbps connection! Will this fearless leader of clan Hell's Belles ever get her tongue pierced? Read on...

[FFF.com]How long have you been playing "id games" ?
[Hellchick]: I actually cut my teeth on Castle Wolfenstein. I got hooked on the game and on how it made you feel to actually be in it rather than playing it from some third person view. Then I graduated to Doom, and then to Quake 1. I didn't start playing online until Quake 1, though; I had gone to a male friend's house and he hooked me up to a server, and I was addicted. He told me that I really should consider playing online more and letting people know that I was female, because there was such a lack of women playing at that time. I'll always thank him for that. ;)

[FFF.com]If you could change any one thing in Quake II, or add something what would it be ?
[Hellchick]: An automatic evening-out of pings. There's a server-side mod out that does that for you -- it somehow evens the playing field between HPBs and LPBs so that ping no longer matters in the score. I find that ping and lag are huge problems for me, and while I have beaten people with a better connection than me (on rare occasions) and have learned to play through the ping, it seems like everyone is so focused on ping that if someone with a better connection than you beats you, you can't help but wonder what would have happened if you'd both had the same lag factor.

[FFF.com]What other games do you play?
[Hellchick]: You mean there are other games?! :) Lately I've been into the new Battlezone game. I love the combination of both strategy, world-building types of things with actually getting into one of your own ships and participating in the battles. A far cry from the green and black line drawings in the 80's Activision game! I've also been playing Q3TEST a lot; I like it so far, but I think it lacks some of the oomph of Quake 2. I also like other FPS-type games as well.

I just recently got hired as a free-lance writer for Computer Games Online as a mod/game review writer, and soon I'll be playing all the Shogo, Descent 3, Half-Life, and Kingpin I can handle!

[FFF.com]Are you in a Quake Clan? If so, tell us a bit about your clan.
[Hellchick]: About a year and a half ago I started the clan Hell's Belles with the goal of attracting women who have just started playing Quake 2. Slowly we built up a small membership, and pretty soon we began playing matches and garnered a bit of recognition. After serious time pressures forced me to reconsider whether or not I could continue running it -- I'm a recent astronomy/astrophysics graduate and I observe a lot at night as well as working during the day -- I handed the reins over to Azure, who has been doing a superb job ever since.

Both Azure and I are adult women with families -- she has a husband and small children, and I have a husband that is like a small child (just kidding! ) :) -- and so we tried to attract women into the clan about our age. It worked; now our membership is basically women our age who are a little older than the average female Quake player, and I think it really creates a nice atmosphere for playing. I really enjoy playing with my clanmates and wish I had more time to do it.

[FFF.com]What do you enjoy most about playing Quake II?
[Hellchick]: I enjoy the realistic feel of being in the action. I can get so immersed in the game that I feel like I'm actually standing there with the rocket launcher in my hand. I love those moments when you execute a slick move that you've never done before that you didn't know you could do, such as jumping into the waters in Tokay's Towers from the third story and firing a rocket halfway down that hits a guy on the second story. Things like that are only possible in Quake and Quake-like games.

I also like the community that has grown up around the game. Quake and gaming in general have become a huge part of my life. One of my favorite Quake-sites is PlanetQuake, and the game has created its own little universe in such a way that it makes it fun to get to know the people involved in the game. PlanetQuake regularly hosts a Friday Frag, for instance, and I really enjoy sitting in the mp3spy chat channel with about 50 other Quake players and chatting with them and the guys who run PlanetQuake, and then fragging their butts afterwards. :)

[FFF.com]What is your favorite MOD?
[Hellchick]: Hands down -- Action Quake 2! I love this mod so much that the A-Team, the guys who created it, asked me to do the female radio voice, so if you've played any teamplay Action Quake and heard the female radio commands, that's me you're hearing. ) I love it's realism. The guys who created it have definitely put their best efforts into it, and it shows. It's more of a challenge than regular Quake 2 because you use weapons based on real weapons, you have to reload when you run out of ammo, and you bleed (and there's no health packs!). If you haven't checked it out, you really should.

[FFF.com]At present time, you're sitting as the winner of the winners bracket in the HPB central division.... meaning your chances of making it to the finals is looking pretty good! How do you feel about making it this far into the tournament?
[Hellchick]: Increduluous! :) I honestly thought I'd get fragged out of the tournament in my first two matches, especially after seeing the names of some of the women in this tourney. I'm really excited, because I hadn't thought I'd get this far. At the same time, I have a guilty twinge that hits every now and then, because I've had to beat my own clanmate Azure to get here. :) But Azure has told me that if I win, she's glad to see that Hell's Belles will be represented in NYC! Now if Pandora can win her division, we'll dominate the place. ;)

[FFF.com]To take the position of first in your division, you will be playing either LeeLoo or Azure. What do you think your chances are of winning ?
[Hellchick]: Both women are good players. I've beaten them both in the previous two rounds, so I think that means I stand a good chance of repeating that no matter who I play. My match with Leeloo was a lot closer than my match with Azure -- 4 to 1 -- and that was a little too close for comfort for me. ;) We shall see if I can do a repeat performance!

[FFF.com]Why did you decide to join the FFF'99?
[Hellchick]: I'm heavily into the whole competition thing in Quake 2. I love playing matches, and that's one reason why I like being in a clan. Also, it was the first all-female tournament, and one that's being seriously run. It seems to be a first. I thought it would be a great way to get a feel for the level of playing by other women, and I have to say I'm really impressed!

[FFF.com]So far, what do you think of the tourney? Is it what you expected it to be?
[Hellchick]: It's everything I expected it to be. There have been the usual problems and wrinkles that need to be ironed out, such as problems using HEAT.NET, but other than that, it's been incredibly fun. My friends and family know all about it, and I've been posting progress on my webpage, and they've all been following it with glee. I think those running the tournament should get a round of applause for doing the best job they can do on it, and for devoting their time to running it.

[FFF.com]Any words of wisdom you'd like to share with other FFF'99 players?
[Hellchick]: Enjoy the tournament whether you make it into the semi-finals or not. This is a first for women who play Quake 2, and I think we'll see a lot more like it in the time to come. I've also learned that despite the fact that most Quake players out there, men and women alike, are your average nice guy or girl, you will meet the occasional Neanderthal whose ego explodes if he's beaten by a woman. When that happens, witty words are sometimes even better ammunition than rockets. ;)

[FFF.com]What is the craziest thing you've ever done? :)
[Hellchick]: Dye my hair purple and shave half of it off! Twelve years ago I was the classic punk Goth chick -- all black clothes and shocking purple hair. I've since let me hair grow back to its natural blonde and I don't wear a monochrome wardrobe anymore. But I still have traces of Goth in me; Four years ago I got my nose pierced, and to celebrate my BS degree back in May, I got a tattoo of a 5th century Viking gripping beast on the small of my back. Will she get her tongue pierced?

Stay tuned for details......

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