AV : Tell us a little about yourself, where were you born? How old are you? What kinds of things do you like to do besides playing Quake?

Kornelia : I am 20 years old, I was born in Budapest, Hungary. I came to the U.S four years ago. I finished high-school and learned English. (They both happened around the same time so it was kind of hard.) I like basketball, ping-pong, chess and reading. I update and change around my web page a lot. I love going back to Budapest to be around my friends and family. It's a beautiful city.

AV : You recently won 1st place at the All-Female Quake Players Tournament. Can you tell us a little bit about the tournament?

Kornelia : I was surprised to see how many girls play Quake. Over 150 had signed up. It was also a great opportunity for us to get together, play Quake and have fun. The finals were held in Los Angeles, it was double elimination on a LAN, quad, etc., disabled. Both players picked a map and we played two 15-min games, combined highest frag wins. Very fair!

AV : What was it like to win? Was the battle hard fought or were you able to devastate the competition?

Kornelia: I was very nervous and didn't know how well I would do or how good the competition would be. One of my favorite 1 on 1 levels is deathmatch 6 (dm6), but with dm3 settings I run out of ammo very fast so I couldn't play as offensively as I wanted to, and also that could be a low fragcount level. That's why for my later games I picked DM4.

AV : What other tournaments have you participated in, how did you rank?

Kornelia : My first tournament was at CGDC in Santa Clara, I won that one and the winner had a chance to play John Romero. At Quake Con '97 I placed eighth. (I've also won a Hungarian Reaper Bot contest a few weeks ago but I'm not sure if that counts.)
 

AV : What got you into playing Quake?

Kornelia : My roommate downloaded q-test and we started playing. I never played computer games against a human opponent before and it was very cool to play with my friend. After a while servers started popping up. Quake came out and I just kept playing.

AV : After winning this latest tournament you're being hailed as the new Queen of Quake. How does this make you feel and what does it mean to you?

Kornelia : It means a lot to me! Holding that trophy in my hand after the tournament was so amazing.

AV : What does it take to seriously compete against other Quake players? What kinds of skill are involved? What do you do to prepare for a tournament?

Kornelia : You need to take it seriously. It is just a game but you need a lot of practice and you need to play a lot to keep in shape and to be able to play your best. In Quake, aim and reflexes are very important, and to have a good strategy. Before tournaments I try to practice 1 on 1 games against players who are better than me.
 

AV : You are one of the renowned Cyberathletes. Can you tell us what the Cyberathletes are and what it means to be part of this exclusive team?

Kornelia : The Cyberathlete team is a few of the top Quake players who will be competing in tournaments throughout the country. The Cyberathlete team is an initiative for Quake and other Deathmatch games to become internationally recognized as a sport.

AV : What made you decide to become a Cyberathlete? Can anyone just join the Cyberathlete team? What does it take to be part of it?

Kornelia : The organizing team selects a few players to join the team and they have to offer the position to you. (Like Mortal Kombat. :)

AV : Tell us about your sponsors? How does someone even get a sponsor for playing games?

Kornelia : The Cyberathlete's objective is to get sponsors that typically would restrict themselves to sponsoring only those that fit the conventional definition of an athlete. Quake is a sport just like any other. And it would probably be more fun to watch than synchronized swimming or bass fishing. (No offense.)

AV : Can you tell us about The FRAG being held Halloween weekend in Dallas? Will you be competing?

Kornelia : Definitely. :) I'm looking forward to this tournament a lot. This will be double elimination on a LAN no quad just like Quake Con '97 and that is the fairest way to compete. No ping disadvantage and you can lose once, so even if you get paired up with a better player than you, you have a chance to place higher by beating your upcoming opponents.

AV : Women generally aren't associated with computer games, and certainly not with games like Quake. Yet trailblazers like Killcreek and yourself have shown that female players do exist and are serious contenders for titles.

Kornelia : I think this tournament made it obvious that there [are] A LOT of girls involved with this game alone. Hype isn't everything and there are a lot of skilled players out there who no one knew about and they should get some exposure too!

AV : What would you recommend/suggest that other women players do to succeed in the world of Quake?

Kornelia : Umm Play? Practice a lot; play against better players, find a setup that works and is comfortable for you, learn to switch between rl and lg so you can do it in the middle of a battle, listen to the sounds get (try) the best powerup. But that goes for every person that plays Quake not just for women.

When a guy is being vulgar to you on a server it's easy to get pissed and think "men are pigs!" I think that those guys call other guys names too, it's not because they are "male," it's because that is their personality. Woman want to be treated equally in the computer scene, but some of them make a big deal about being a girl. Just play and have fun. Win people's respect because of your skill not because you're female. I know that there are way less females playing Quake, so no matter how hard we want to be known for our skill, as long as there are so few of us we will stand out because we are women.
 

AV : Are you looking forward to upcoming games like Quake 2, Unreal and Prey? Do you expect to play in tournaments for these games as well in the future?

Kornelia : I am looking forward to Quake 2 a lot. I think it will take a while to learn the new maps, get used to the handling and weapons but I'm planning on competing. And I'm also looking forward to the new female model that for a change will have cool armor and won't be some poor half naked playboy bunny.

AV : What would you like to see happen or change in 3D games?

Kornelia : I'm looking forward in Quake 2 to the option to talk to people that you are on a server with. It's gonna make a big difference in CTF and teamgames.

AV : What do you think makes a 3D game capture gamers hearts and minds?

Kornelia : It's the sense of "reality". You feel like you're in that world because it looks real (in a game sense).

AV : What do you see as the future of Deathmatch? How about the future of 3D Games in general?

Kornelia : My crystal ball is foggy...