Special Edition: Slambie

A long, long time ago I interviewed Slambie for an article I was planning to do about women gamers. The article itself went nowhere and for the longest time our chat log has collected dust on my hard-drive. Seeing as how Elysium seems to either be dead or moving into his new house or something I thought now would be a good time to post the interview.

Obviously this was done before I showed her the light and made her pre-order WoW instead of EQ2. Since then I do believe she is a prominent member of the GWJ horde on Blackhand.

Certis : When did you get into gaming?

Slambie: The year I started going out with the Mr. Slambie was 1986.

Certis: He turned you onto the hobby?

Slambie: Yeah. He was one of the few people around at the time who actually had a computer at home....He was a programmer at the time.

Certis: Would you say you played as much then as you do now?

Slambie: Not even close. Back then gaming was pretty new...technology wise as well as availability wise. So there wasn't a lot to choose from (taking PC gaming only here, I never was one for the consoles). Plus I was poor and maybe only bought two or three games in an entire year. That has grown into a full blown addiction over the years and as my husband has pretty much ceased to be interested in games, I'm always trying out the new ones, buying way more than I'll ever play in this lifetime and keep up on all the gaming news.

Certis: Why did Mr.Slambie quit caring?

Slambie: The funny thing about him is that he always like the early simple graphics of the D&D Gold Box games. For some reason as the graphics got better he just didn't like them as much. These days he plays mostly card games and some of the D&D adventures of the 1990s.

Certis: And what keeps you so highly interested in games?

Slambie: I like the interactive entertainment value of games. To me they're like reading a good book except that you're involved in the character's decision making and the direction the story takes (depending on the game, of course). I never was on for passively sitting in front of a TV and gaming keeps me on my toes, so to speak, while providing entertainment value.

Certis: When you started gaming more, did it affect your social life? Your life style?

Slambie: Not really, but that's only because I'm naturally anti-social and have never been interested in spending my free time in the company of people. I've just replaced other hobbies with gaming over time.

Certis: Do you play any "social" games or are you pretty much a single player only kind of gal?

Slambie: I've been totally single player so far. I do have the EQ2 CE on preorder, though, so after investing in it I suspect I'll actually be brave enough to jump in and get my feet wet in the MMORPG world later this fall...we'll see.

Certis: Why EQ2 as your first foray into online gaming?

Slambie: Because I'm such a RPG/fantasy ho. It's the type of game that never gets old for me. And EQ2 just looks so good that I thought I'd give it a shot.

Certis: And it will really be your first shot at online gaming?

Slambie: I actually bought Ultima Online at one point but have never installed it. Yep, it will be my maiden voyage into online gaming.

Slambie: Oh, to be a noob again!

Certis: So you've almost been gaming for 20 years... you read the news, you post in forums.. yet only now you look to test the online waters. That flies in the face of every woman gamer stereotype!

Slambie: Does it? It's the anti-social in me....I've always been convinced that the addition of other people to the mix is going to spoil my gaming experience.

Certis: Typically, women tend towards social gaming experiences and many I've talked to are perfectly happy sticking with a select few games. Yet by all accounts, you buy quite a few yourself and they're all single player.

Slambie: Yep, it's me and my PC and I like to try new things. I like PC gaming so much that I feel like I'm missing something if I don't try out different genres. I can generally be found playing everything from Painkiller to Spongebob Squarepants.

Slambie: BTW, I actually collect PC games. So I buy 5 or 6 for everyone I mange to finish.

Certis: Why do you collect them?

Slambie: Why collect....I don't know. It could be my latent chipmunk tendencies to hoard for times of famine or it's because I like games and feel I must have them. Not much different than books, stamps, or coins I think. Which may or may not be worth anything over time.

Slambie: I have no idea. I never think in terms of male/female gamer and often wonder if it isn't anything more than some artificial marketing ploy that doesn't really exist. I only know of a hand full of women gamers and those have been in online game-related forums. And I've never chatted them up about games. As far as I'm concerned, typical female gamers are no different than typical male gamers. I'll be trying to score with the chicks in the latest Leisure Suit Larry game in a couple of weeks just like all the other people who bought that game, whether they are male or female. I realize, I may be completely clueless in this area but I think the only problem is that women are (or have been) more likely to fall for and follow society expectations then men and think that gaming isn't more of an appropriate way to spend their time as an adult. Or they end up investing their time in family/children...a time sink I've managed to avoid over the years.

Certis: So you don't feel there is a difference between how men and women typically approach games?

Slambie: No, I really don't. Granted, men are more likely to be interested in WWII shooters than women. But other than a superficial preference for content/story lines I don't think there's any difference. I'm so out of the water when it comes to what's normal or expected, though, that I'm unable to explain why most women gamers are different or not interested in games at all.

Certis: Hmmm

Slambie: I know, I know....there's probably tons of documents studies telling us that women have a totally different take on games and that little girls are going to love the new Barbie makeover game.

Certis: I think the market research vs. the reality of things is different for sure. I also think you transcend all of it.

Slambie: I just don't get it and am not so willing to believe it. Inside every woman is a person who gets great pleasure out of pillaging and plundering. I just know it!

Comments

IMAGE(http://bryanhead1.home.comcast.net/needpics.gif)

j/k. Nice interview. I just thought it was a good opportunity to use this "smiley"

Not in a million years, the Slambie is both elusive and mysterious.

Oh Mr.Green, you crazy crazy man

I always thought Slambie was a cat with a melon hat myself, don't know why.

I think when the smiley is a page wide, it ceases to become a smiley and becomes something ... sinister.

Great interview though. Interesting take on the whole "women gamers" thing, ususally you hear tales of how "this hot mama plays Quake" or "I play games with my boyfriend!" Sometimes you just gotta call a spade a spade and a gamer a gamer.

I like the "smiley" though... and interesting interview!

Isn't the real question - how the hell did she get a melon on her head?!

Nice interview Slambie. Keep on gaming with the best of them!

Inside every woman is a person who gets great pleasure out of pillaging and plundering. I just know it!

You're so right. Whenever my girlfriend suggest we play a co-op hack and slash it always turns into a power struggle to grab the coolest booty. She's so greedy.

Certis wrote:

Not in a million years, the Slambie is both elusive and mysterious.

But the watermellon helmet on that pic still makes her look fat.

Good gracious, I didn't realize that entire chat was going to show up on the main page. It's riddled with my IM typos!

I was pretty sure I left you with nothing to work with on the "women gamers" front with those answers, Certis.

And for those of you clamoring for pictures, let me assure you that I'm doing you a favor by remaining private and 'mysterious'. I'm old and ugly, so all you're missing is the feeling of trying to hold back the upchuck if my horsey mug was to show up, of all places, on the GWJ front page.

The things I'd do to you if you weren't married.

Swat wrote:
Inside every woman is a person who gets great pleasure out of pillaging and plundering. I just know it!

You're so right. Whenever my girlfriend suggest we play a co-op hack and slash it always turns into a power struggle to grab the coolest booty. She's so greedy.

So is mine Swat, so is mine.

Is it Politically Incorrect to call my wife a loot whore in WoW? Show a girl the autoloot shortcut and never get goodies again.

I think we need to start a support group for our loot' stealin' women. What I find funny though is how nice she is when she gets all her booty, shiny armor and such. Then she's all like "baby, do you want to have my old stuff?" and I'm all like "nah, you keep that crap, thanks for the OFFER".

Mr.Green, here's another one to add to your collection:

IMAGE(http://img215.exs.cx/img215/7136/doesnotdeliver23de2me.gif)

Swat wrote:

Whenever... we play... it always turns into a... struggle to grab the... booty

My first attempt at out-of-context theatre, couldn't miss that one!

Inside every woman is a person who gets great pleasure out of pillaging and plundering. I just know it!

Isn't that called "Marriage"?

CodexMatt wrote:
Swat wrote:

Whenever... we play... it always turns into a... struggle to grab the... booty

My first attempt at out-of-context theatre, couldn't miss that one!

Well done Matt.. well done..

I'm not disappointed about the picture because I'll always see Slambie as Omusa the Wonder Cow, anyway. I've enjoyed our misadventures in Azeroth and look forward to many more. For the Horde!

Slambie is right. We women gamers love plundering and pillaging!

Inside every woman is a person who gets great pleasure out of pillaging and plundering. I just know it!

Truer words have never been spoken.

Robear wrote:

Slambie is right. We women gamers love plundering and pillaging!

LOL!