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The Media Entertainment Games

Interview with the Frag Dolls 93

Posted by Zonk from the now-that's-a-good-gig dept.
Staci writes "KillerBetties.com, a site with a focus on the female gamer, is running a interview with three of the ladies that comprise the UbiSoft sponsored FragDolls FPS Team. Rhoulette, Jinx and Katscratch sat down with Nicole of KillerBetties to talk about the controversy surrounding their existence and connection with UbiSoft, how they feel about representing female gamers and a few other personal tidbits." From the article: "We wouldn't be the Frag Dolls if it weren't for Ubisoft, so promoting games is certainly a distinct part of what we do. However, all of us have our dreams for where we would like to see girl gamers a year from now. And as girl gamers ourselves, we can't really help but represent some of their interests and desires."
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Interview with the Frag Dolls More

Interview with the Frag Dolls

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  • Thanks for this interview (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @12:39PM (#11254371)
    Good that they managed to pin down these 3. If they had managed to get a hold of Morgan Webb, they'd have managed to score an interview with every single girl gamer in existence!
  • Interview with the Fag Dolls

    I thought someone had created a new subdomain porn.slasdot.org.

  • Heh... Nice choice of ads... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by _xeno_ ( 155264 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @01:03PM (#11254636) Homepage Journal

    I don't know if anyone else got this ad, but when I pulled up the interview about woman gamers, I got a nice long banner ad for Anarchy Online next to it that read "I Got Implants Baby!", complete with an ingame female character in underwear. Another ad in the corner features the same ingame model, with the text "Play Me!"

    Really goes well with a site "focused on girl gamers." Apparently their advertisers are focused on a certain subset of girl gamers...

    (I'm assuming "I Got Implants Baby!" is a reference to something ingame that I don't get because I don't play the game, but still - it's kind of crude. It's the Internet, I've got other things available to satisfy the "oggling at women" need, that an MMORPG just isn't going to be able to offer. I always wonder about games that try to sell themselves using a hot ingame character - it's like they're trying to distract you with that, to get you to overlook something else, like the fact that the game sucks or something. Makes me wary.)

    • yes I got the same ad. Freaky as hell...
    • the whole thing is focused on MALE gamers.

      if they wanted to focus on girls they'd get brad pitt or someone... though, it's all about PR and adverts, just think what 'clan' games they could play from bugisoft...

      • The ads are placeholders -- we aren't in any position yet to sell ads since we just technically launched yesterday. We thought the ads were cute -- a little sexy and very tongue in cheek -- just like me and Nicole. It's supposed to be a fun site. Most women, despite the common opinion, are not offended by scantily clad women.

        • Re:Heh... Nice choice of ads... (Score:4, Interesting)

          by EnronHaliburton2004 ( 815366 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:26PM (#11255676) Homepage Journal
          Most women, despite the common opinion, are not offended by scantily clad women.

          There's nothing offensive about scantily clad women.

          But promoting women as simple, sexual objects with unrealistic body proportions to sell a product to stupid men is offensive.

          Many young men are so warped by the fake silicone and false stereotypes they have no idea what a real women is like. Hopefully these men won't breed.

          It's offensive to most women that I know, and it's offensive to me as a man, because the coropations are trying to use sex to manipulate me. Sex is very primal, it is hard to ignore.
        • but wouldn't women like more of the "brad pitt swinging a sword" look?-)

          they may be not be offended, but they don't usually get aroused either(the bikini girls are damn well focused on male audience)... not to mention that if boobs are the only thing in it, whats the point? it's the internet for christsakes! there's boobs everywhere.

          btw, add some ultra sarcastic black humour...

        • You have to understand, that every single ad for Anarchy Online I have every seen online was basically "scantily clad woman with Anarchy Online logo" with absolutely nothing to really sell me to the game except the scantily clad woman.

          In fact, I can only guess that it's based on some sort of sci-fi setting soley because there appears to be a spaceship in the background, I actually don't know. The ads have told me nothing about what Anarchy Online is. (I suppose, on looking closer now, that the text "the

          • This is nothing new. Do you remember the ads for the game Forsaken? There was absolutely nothing about the game in the ads. Was it a FPS? An RPG? A RTS? Who knows?! (As it turns out, the game was a Descent clone).

            All the ads showed was a very pretty lady with a tattoo that said "Forsaken" in front of a desolate background. Various ads would show various parts of her body (face, tummy, and so on). I'm sure you could google the ads if you felt like it. IIRC, even the box for the game showed the For

            • And this might be a reason why, even after finding images of the game on Amazon.com and remembering the ads, I could not have told you anything about it. Those type of marketing campaigns don't work if you don't also provide information about what the product is. It might draw attention to the ad, but that's about it.

              Sex alone doesn't sell anything... A sexy girl playing the game might help sell the game (which is probably Ubisoft's hope), but just a sexy girl and nothing else but the title doesn't qui

    • It's the Internet, I've got other things available to satisfy the "oggling at women" need

      This is a recurring argument of the form "If I wanted X then I would do Y, which contains X in a very concentrated form, why would anyone want Z which has much less?" The answer is some people like X, but will get in trouble with their parents or wives or their own sense of self-respect so they want it at a low concentration in another format that may have other redeeming qualities.

      • It's the Internet. I'm sure you can find something out there to satisfy the need that isn't an ad for an MMORPG. Besides, as I mentioned in another post, other MMORPGs have cuter character models to oggle at anyway. :P

  • What a coincidence. All of them have good skin, large boobs, and fairly trim wastes. Am I the only one who thinks there is at least a bit of Milli Vanilli or Backstreet Boys to this group? Do they have anything to do with girls in gaming, or just to get pimply nerds even more hot and bothered than Lara or DOA?
    • It's probably all the low-impact aerobics.
    • Since when does being attractive or not affect gaming skills? First off they have been doing very well (90%+ win rate), and second if you actually took the time to read the interview you'd see they aren't a bunch of airheads. Shesh no wonder so many female gamers pretend to be male online when there are people with your great insight around.
      • Again, reading comprehension skills lacking on slashdot.

        Why are there *only* attractive females in the group? Surely there's some trollish females out there with mad 733+ gaming skillz.

        Then again, you probably think drinking Bud Light will get you all the women as well...
        • No I read it just fine.

          "What a coincidence. All of them have good skin, large boobs, and fairly trim wastes. Am I the only one who thinks there is at least a bit of Milli Vanilli or Backstreet Boys to this group?"

          You said they are attractive, then implied their skills are fake. Although you didn't outright say "they are attractive so they obviously aren't real gamers" it was pretty clear it was what you were getting at. This is just plain ignorance about their group.

          "Do they have anything to do with girl
          • No different from any other marketing in the world,

            But this is very different from most other clans and other FPS teams. Most clans and FPS teams aren't a marketing campaign ...

            It really seems like this is a Marketing Campaign-- a "New Kids on the Block" kind of clan.

            Ubisoft wanted a guerilla advertising campaign targeted at young male gamers, so they hired 8 pretty girls to form a clan. It's not very authentic. Using sex to advertise a product is all too common.
            • I'm sorry but you just sound intimidated. Any sponsored team of any kind (gaming or none) is marketing. It's not like they just show up at the events and look pretty. They are there to compete just like any other team. Just because they don't 'look like the others' doesn't mean crap. Part of the reason this is a good thing is to show other girls that they can play games and compete even though fucktards with more ego than skill will claim they are just a PR stunt and have no talent. Seriously though it's no

              • Re:What a coincidence (Score:4, Insightful)

                by EnronHaliburton2004 ( 815366 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @03:31PM (#11256502) Homepage Journal
                I don't play FPS very often, and I don't actually play many computer games on my 1997-era PC. I'm too cheap to buy a gaming computer.

                I'm sure these women can play games and that they are pretty decent, but it's pretty obvious that the concept of the 'Frag Dolls' is a PR campaign first, and a gaming clan second.

                It's about attracting male gamers to the Ubisoft product line. They are booth babes who are good at video games. It's manufactured group, just like the Bud girls and Britany Spears. They are using sex to manipulate you.

                If the FragDolls were about Gaming first, and marketing second. then you might see more pictures of the ladies playing games, instead of sitting there looking pretty. Do you even see a video game in this lady's profile [fragdolls.com]? What does her eye and hair color have to do with her gaming ability?
        • No, I think he read it quite correctly.

          "Am I the only one who thinks there is at least a bit of Milli Vanilli or Backstreet Boys to this group? Do they have anything to do with girls in gaming, ... "

          You are implying that they aren't really playing their own games are you not? Because Milli Vanilli and the Backstreet Boys lipsync their performances? What other analogy could there be there? Heck, that doesn't even matter, if you question whether or not they have anything to do with girls in gaming, you a

          • Re:What a coincidence (Score:4, Insightful)

            by Pluvius ( 734915 ) <pluvius3@gmai[ ]om ['l.c' in gap]> on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @03:42PM (#11256641) Journal
            You are implying that they aren't really playing their own games are you not? Because Milli Vanilli and the Backstreet Boys lipsync their performances? What other analogy could there be there?

            While Milli Vanilli was indeed fake, the Backstreet Boys is a group of five talented singers (even if you don't like their music, you have to admit this) who were artifically brought together by corporate interests to appeal to the teeniebopper market. I think that was the main point that he was trying to make.

            BTW, I have to wonder how much of their impressive win rate has to do with the unwashed nerds that they're playing against hyperventilating and screaming "OMG GURLZ!!!" How many games do they play where the opponents can't see each other?

            Heck, that doesn't even matter, if you question whether or not they have anything to do with girls in gaming, you are directly saying they aren't gamers at all.

            Not necessarily. I think it would be valid to suggest that the media (as well as the aforementioned corporate interests) isn't interested in this group because it's an example of girls in gaming, but because it's an example of hot girls in gaming. In other words, this doesn't really have anything to do with gamer girls in general.

            Rob

  • Actually... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Kumorigoe ( 816912 ) <rromig@@@hotmail...com> on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @01:25PM (#11254890)
    ...my wife is a far better gamer on some genres than I, and I've been gaming for a while. She can't play Gran Turismo to save her life, but put her in a CS match and watch the frags pile up. I think that a lot of girl gamers are just afraid to come out and say that they like games, because it might attract guys like us.
    • I find it genetically impossible that girls are created to NOT like video games. No way in hell, any genes can be responsible for that. They are just not coming out. Which is ashame.

      • Re:Actually... (Score:4, Interesting)

        by vhold ( 175219 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @03:33PM (#11256544)
        I really don't see how you can so easily disregard the possibility that genes, or at least in someway, gender, has something to do with liking video games.

        My mom used to believe that all behavior was nurture, and not nature, until she became a preschool teacher. 10 years of 3 and 4 year old boys turning absolutely everything into a gun and girls turning everything into a doll house kinda wears down those lofty notions. Even if it is still is nurture based on some really complex societal stuff, the practical upshot remains, an obvious behavior difference tied to gender.

        I admit this is a totally subjective observation, but boys seem more drawn to clear cut competition with well defined winners and losers whereas while girls can be very competitive, it tends to be much more subtle and indirect. To me that's the most obvious reason video games seem so much more likely to appeal to men. "YOU LOSE" "YOU WIN" It just seems to be attached to an emotional hair trigger in the male pysche. Games that purposely defy that rigid convention are more likely to appeal to women in my opinion, The Sims being a fairly obvious example.

  • Corporate shills (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    When you're sponsored by Ubisoft and you tell the interviewer that your favorite game of all time is Splinter Cell, you lose any credibility as a serious gamer. These girls are like Duffman; they're paid to raise awareness of Ubisoft by playing Ubisoft games at Ubisoft-sponsored events. They may be living the "pro gamer" life now, but in 2 years when we all decide we don't give a shit about competitive gaming any more, they'll be out on their asses and Ubisoft will go back to advertising in magazines.

    Bes
    • So it's beyond consideration that there exists a person who thinks that Splinter Cell is a great game?(It is)

      What's wrong with First-person Shooters on consoles?
      • Oh crap, here comes the keyboard/mouse debate again. Yes, yes, we all know. Please spare us.

      • Re:Corporate shills (Score:1, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        So it's beyond consideration that there exists a person who thinks that Splinter Cell is a great game?(It is)

        Splinter Cell may be good (subjective) but there's no fucking way it should ever be anybody's favorite game of all time. Shit, it doesn't even make the top 100 lists. Ever. Making that claim is spurious enough without adding the fact that these people are being subsidized by Ubisoft to play games. If the check was big enough, I'm sure they'd say the Dukes of Hazzard game was their favorite game
        • Yay for opinions!!

        • Re:Corporate shills (Score:3, Insightful)

          by vhold ( 175219 )
          Some people think Scary Movie 2 is the greatest movie of all time. You realize that calling a game your favorite is -entirely- subjective right? No top 100 list neccesarily has anything to do with that.

          Having said that, I agree that it's pretty obvious that particular choice would seem rather heavily affected by their status as being sponsored by Ubisoft. But at least Splinter Cell is indeed actually a very good game, the true total shill would have promoted their most underperforming game. Heck, who's
          • Wrong. The true total shill would promote whatever big hit Ubi had out, thus adding to its marketplace dominance and guaranteeing a future of sequels. Remember, thats where the real money is at. Nobody wastes their time trying to prop up the losers.

            • I suppose from a practical perspective that's how you'd use star power, but when I think of the word shill I guess I'm picturing somebody who is -totally- lying. I see Splinter Cell as being a good enough of a game that I can imagine it being a person's favorite game, I mean, it was my favorite game while I was playing it, otherwise I'd have been playing a different game instead most of the time.

              When I think shill, I'm picturing the guy who is in coherts with the shell game guy on the street, basically a
    • An AC (aren't they all?) writes:
      When you're sponsored by Ubisoft and you tell the interviewer that your favorite game of all time is Splinter Cell, you lose any credibility as a serious gamer.

      What you say may very well be true but I also rank Splinter Cell as one of the best titles I've ever played.

      Just 'cuz someone likes a title you don't doesn't necessarily make them a shill.
  • I heard someone saying that they really aren't very good at FPS at all. They really don't deserve the title "FragDolls" unless they can go into the average CS/UT2003/BF1942/whatever server and rack up the kills.

    • Re:But do they have skill? (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I heard someone say that you're stupid. You really shouldn't be allowed to post to Slashdot unless you can show that you have some intelligence.

      Compelling argument, isn't it?

  • It's Anarchy Online... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by madgeorge ( 632496 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:39PM (#11255848)
    You are wise to be wary. BTW, "I've got implants" refers to the in-game ability to increase your stats and abilities with mods that can be crafted, bought or that drop off various baddies in the universe. And AO has been using the same crass advertising ever since they lost a million subscribers after launch because they overhyped and WAY under-delivered. I was one they lost, and I never went back. I've heard it's better, but I don't really care.

  • A friend made this point (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Pluvius ( 734915 ) <pluvius3@gmai[ ]om ['l.c' in gap]> on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @04:02PM (#11256889) Journal
    Mentioning the 95% win rate doesn't mean anything unless you also mention who they play against. Does anyone know if these girls play against people who aren't chumps?

    Rob
    • Who says they even play often? We know that they practice often (or atleast they say they do). Can it be that they've only played a few games, say 5 and happened to win 4 because everyone else were n00bs?

      There are lots of games out there who enjoy it but suck... could they have been lucky or am I just giving them a hard time because they're woman?

      ... Probably the last :-X

    • They were at the Penny Arcade Expo and won every game they played there. I can't imagine a bunch of chumps showing up at a Penny Arcade expo and playing against girls in public.

    • I hear the guys at Bungie aren't too shabby at this here Halo 2 game. Bungie came out 3-0 against the Frag Dolls but it was a close 3-0 (50-26, 50-49, 50-45) and not a total whomping.

      Halo Humpday Challenge [bungie.net]

  • that is quite a fancy website for a brand new clan. It's obveus that Ubi made the site and paid for it. A few random female games don't pull a site like that out of nowhere. Heck, me being a guy I couldn't pull that site out if you gave me 6 months.
    • To be fair, this isn't the first time they've appeared. I saw them hyping Rainbow Six BA and Ghost Recon 2 at the Penny Arcade Expo back in August.
  • This is pretty disgusting as a PR move. I hope everybody takes the time to contact these girls and let them know how they feel about being manipulated like that.

    Frankly, I think its pretty telling that there ARE NO UGLY FRAG DOLLS. Real game girls run the gamut from 3-10 in terms of looks, and the fact that these are all near model hotness girls says a lot.

    If anybody from Ubisoft is reading this, I will be taking this PR move into consideration next time I am in the market for a video game, or when a frie

  • "Awenyddion: From a woman's standpoint, being so visible in the gaming industry, you are being viewed as role models for women gamers everywhere."

    This makes me sad. Why? Let's take them at their word that they are great gamers and are "so visible". Then I'll take it on the other /. posters' words that they are all good looking (I didn't see any pics).

    Where does that leave us girl gamers? I'll tell you where -- in yet another area of interest where you have to not only be good at what you do but you also h
    • Don't worry. Some (most?) geeks are still very attracted to brainy girls, but I'll admit that beauty still plays a big part.

      Personally, I like intelligent, chess-playing, beer-drinking girls, and I've found that I am very, very attracted by 'quirky'-looking females. A cute face with a playful gleam in the eye, perhaps a few freckles and a cute smile is infinitely more attractive than the IMO boring standard "look at me, I'm a model" look.

      I'm sure I share this preference with many, many other geeks.

      Don't
      • You Sir, have given me hope.

        Hail to the Geeks!
        • As a geeky, relatively plain looking woman myself -- I'm as threatened by the Frag Dolls as I am by the Booth Babes at E3. Which means not at all. Perhaps I'm more secure in myself than others (and maybe its because I'm off the market?) but they don't bother me on that level. Course, were I on the market, I know I would have no shortage of bidders.
          • I didn't mean to imply that I personally felt threatened, nor that other geek girls should feel that way.

            My "sadness" was for for the state of affairs: Gaming companies feeling that to sponsor a female team the members of said team would have to be good gamers AND be of Booth Babe looks. If anyone should be "role models" it should be females like yourself.

            • Well UbiSoft brought together these girls to be more than just a clan. They are supposed to help market UbiSoft's games and, as such, are spokesmodels as much as gamers. They just happen to be able to kiss ass. It's an interesting marketing attempt and it's doing pretty well for them, although maybe not for what they had hoped. I was told that UbiSoft already has the male audience -- this was to try to bring in the female audience. Maybe thats what is being said now to justify them, I don't know. If t
        • You're welcome.

          Now, if only I could find a geeky, funky, chess-playin', beer-drinkin' girlfriend for myself...

          She's got to be out there somewhere, waiting. I hope.
  • Awenyddion: How often do you practice together?

    Katscratch: depends on if we are in competition mode or not. Now we are practicing 3-5 times a week together

    Rhoulette: It depends, but we try to get up to 10 hours of team practice in a week.

    3-5 times a week, for a total of 10 hours? and they are supposedly competitve gamers? weaksauce. i play games pretty much daily, and on a slow saturday i can put in 10 hours on that day alone.

    hmm, looks like all i need is a bra, a box of tissues, a blonde wig and
    • They said that's how long they practice as a team. It says nothing about how long they play by themselves. As far as recent releases goes, Jinx lists American McGee's Alice as one of her favorites (and that's several years old).

      The amusing thing is what caught my attention about her. She lists Perl as one of her obsessions (that and her music and movies lists. It's pretty safe to say that she actually is a geek).
  • so do you think it would be a good thing to date one of these chicks beacause if you do your house will be a mess and both of us will never get anything done. I want to be the one playing the games and I will have her bethe one that does the dishes. man I hope they can cook too

  • We have the Fragdolls, an obviously corporate tossed together group of women who seem to be decent gamers (and of course, eye candy).

    They're in the 18 - under 30 age range, probably have student loans, etc to pay off, know their looks won't last forever and have been tossed together into a corporate sponsored clan.

    It's easy for people to post (Corporate whore!1!!!111) and say they wouldn't take the money to be Ubisoft's marketing eye candy (something akin to BoothBabe+).

    Let's face it, marketing has do

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