Hellchick

This past week, I got to do one of those business trips that never sounds like work and go down to The CPL Summer Championships. It was a chance for me to work with the audience and the community that makes up the bulk of my job. It was pretty fun, although I have to admit that I'm a little pro-gamered out this week. When you look at the gaming audience, shooter gamers are a hardcore subset of gamers, and pro gamers are a subset of the hardcore. So they're the hardcore of the hardcore, and it had been a long time since I'd spent that much time immersed in that niche. I'd forgotten how much of a lifestyle it is for these guys, who are all trying to win prizes like $50,000 for playing games. So for three days I was completely immersed in an environment where the only conversations you had with people were about clipping exploits, PPSh strats on mp_carantan, whether or not getting carbined is a noble death, and which teams were getting which sponsors and making money. Pro gaming is a pretty neat phenomena, but even I'm a little glad to get back to less hardcore conversations.

I did have, however, what turned out to be possibly the weirdest experience of my life as a female gamer.

There was a radio station broadcasting live from the event floor. They decided to give away a really nice gaming PC, and the hosts - who were not gamers themselves - gathered a crowd around them. I happened to be hovering near the back, listening to what they had to say because it was interesting and watching the games on the Intel screen.

One of the hosts said, "you know, there aren't any girls around here. But gamers are geeks, right? I mean, do they even have girlfriends? Tell you what: we'll give this gaming rig away to the first guy who can come up with a girlfriend, or at least someone who's willing to pose as his girlfriend. But she's got to prove she's his girlfriend. Like, make out with him or something!"

Suddenly, the crowd in front of me turned, and I was the only female standing there.

Within seconds, hands were reaching out to me, arms were motioning for me to come up front, and guys were shambling toward me like a pack of zombies. I shook my head and still saw some hands motioning. I actually had to back away, holding up my wedding ring like some kind of holy cross to ward off the evil.

As if I would go up front and make out with some strange guy so that HE can win a gaming rig! I'm sorry, but I think if I had to do that, I need to be the one to win it.

It was such a weird and creepy moment. Fortunately it didn't set the tone for the weekend; while there were maybe five women at that event that day, I did notice a lot more the next day. Whether they were dating the gamers who were attending or gamers themselves I couldn't tell, but I did overhear one girl in the shuttle behind me to the hotel talking about one of the leading clan's map strategies with her boyfriend. I wonder if she could beat her boyfriend in a game?