Trillian Interview

by Bam Bam at Gameloft
October 2000

Recently, the CPL had an all-female tournament, which awarded one of the most abundant sums of prizes in the history of female gaming. This, of course, sparked numerous debates within the gaming community. One of the debates was of the controversy surrounding all-female tournaments in general. Many males felt that this was discrimination, while others felt the female tournament was necessary due to the fact that "girls were not good enough to play with the boys" (Women and Gaming - 22/08). Being a new female gamer, I felt, since tournaments were "male dominated" anyway, what's wrong with having an all-female tournament. After hearing that one of the top female players, Kornelia, was signed to represent Gamespy, I thought it was a step up for professional female gamers everywhere.

[Bam Bam]:   How long have you been playing and what made you become a professional female player?

[Trillian]:  I have been playing video games since I was 9 years old. My father bought me my first game for my commodore 64 game console. I then got into playing Wolfenstein on my Mac and then went to the 1st person shooter games. 4 years ago, I met my husband and he got me into on-line game. I started playing Quake 2 and then I became serious and joined Qgirlz. I have been playing seriously for about a year and a half now. My first tournament was at Ground Zero last presented by the CPL.

[Bam Bam]:  What sparked your interest in gaming in the first place? You said your father bought you your first game, but what initially sparked you interest?

[Trillian]:  I don't know. I grew up emerged in technology for computers. My grandfather taught me basic programming when I was younger and also my father always had interest in computers too. As I got older, I just retained my interest. It seems that computers and games where a natural way of life. My mother was always supportive of me too. There was never a time that they said I couldn't play games because I was a girl and I should be doing the typical "girly" things.

[Bam Bam]:  Well there seems to be a double standard when it comes to children playing games. It's alright for boys to play games, but females can't. Growing up, it was the same for me also. My brothers were allowed to play, but I was not. Do you think there is a change now since the times of when we were growing up?

[Trillian]:  There is somewhat of a change. There is still a double standard, but not as prominent now. Now a days, since females are going outside the norm of everything in general, female gamerz are becoming somewhat public.

[Bam Bam]:  Which brings me to my next question. Why do you think there is a rise in women competing more?

[Trillian]:  I don't know if there is a rise. But there is a disappointing feeling that not all women compete in regular tournaments. A lot of females won't go beyond and take that next step. There is a feeling that during a regular tournament (not all female), people are watching your every move and just watching you in general.

[Bam Bam]:  You do explain this in your article you wrote for GamePig. The difference between playing with an all-female clans and playing in an all-female tournament is that you get to be a part of a team and have common interests with your teammates and that you get along beyond the game. But you also talk of a middle ground. Do you really think this is possible?

[Trillian]:  I don't know because there are a lot of women who don't go past playing at LAN parties to playing in tournaments. For example Frag 4 recently had an all-female tournament which had 27 spots open. Those spots should have been easily been filled, but they weren't.

[Bam Bam]:  I know you went to Frag 4 and played in the all-female tournament. How did you do? What happened?

[Trillian]:  I made it through the first three rounds. I got knock to the losers bracket and played Kornelia and it was a close game. The next day it was the team tournament and I didn't play very well. My mind was elsewhere.

[Bam Bam]:  Lack of sleep will do that to you.

[Trillian]:  That is true.

[Bam Bam]:  You and I recently talked briefly about the whole approach to gaming between men and women. Could you touch a little on this issue?

[Trillian]:  Well, men are willing to give up certain things in their lives to practice. Some practice all day and night and not think twice about anything else. Women have a different approach to the whole gaming practice. We are not willing to give up certain things in our lives. We have a need to be social. I don't know why this happens, but it does go back to the whole social skills and expectations of boys and girls.

[Bam Bam]:  I know Gamespy just recently sponsored Kornelia. Why do you think more females are not sponsored by other gaming companies or other companies in general?

[Trillian]:  Well, Qgirlz are sponsored because we had a reason to approach the company. Not many females have a reason to approach some of these companies. But women have an easier advantage to marketing approach. For example, Frag 4 was a selling point for female gamers because of the all-female tournament which took place. Because of the dedication and commitment issue that goes back to the whole boys and girls’ social order and interaction, many female gamerz do not get many sponsorship opportunity. -Thank you very much for taking time out to talk to me. I am looking forward to playing you some day, when I get better at Q3, of course.

http:www.gamepig.com/articles/women-gaming.html

Look for my interview with Cary, better know as Succubus. She had the pleasure of beating the unbeatable Kornelia at the all-female tournament at frag 4. - Bam Bam

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