Frag Dolls
Encyclopedia
The Frag Dolls are a group of girl gamer
s recruited and employed by Ubisoft
with the aim of promoting women in gaming and in particular the promotion of games made by Ubisoft. The Frag Dolls are all avid gamers. The term 'Frag Dolls' refers to three different teams: the original American
Frag Dolls, the UK
Fragdolls and the newest team in France
in 2005.
in 2004, the original American lineup consists of seven Frag Dolls (known by their gamer tags): Brookelyn, Eekers, Jinx, Katscratch, Rhoulette, Seppuku and Valkyrie. Nate Mordo and Rhoulette, full-time Ubisoft employees, helped initiate the group. Eekers, one of the original seven Frag Dolls, left the group in August 2005. Katscratch, another original team member, left in May 2006. In May 2006 two new Frag Dolls, Calyber and Psyche, were recruited as part of an online reality show produced by GameTrailers with website co-host Amanda MacKay following the action.
The American Dolls have attracted a lot of media
attention, primarily because they are female gamers, which is rare. Not all the media attention is positive. In the past, the Frag Dolls have come under fire for their collective appearance, with claims that the team members are models or booth babes
rather than legitimate gamers. The team cites tournament participation and appearances at women's interest conferences as evidence of their intent.
The Frag Dolls fulfill many functions for Ubisoft, from attending industry events to playing competitively, both online and offline. Leveraging their media presence, the team members have acted as ambassadors of competitive gaming, touring with the Major League Gaming console professional circuit in the 2005 season as well as the 2007 season. In December 2006, they placed first in the Rainbow Six: Vegas tournament at CPL (Cyberathlete Professional League), making them the first all-female team to win a pro circuit tournament.
Much of their press has indicated that promoting professional gaming isn't their only goal. The Frag Dolls' mission is to encourage more women to play video games, and to prove that women can enjoy the same games as men. Also, the team has been known to actively promote games published by Ubisoft
both during interviews and events.
Katscratch, Valkyrie and Rhoulette spoke at the Women's Gaming Conference in Austin, TX (October 2005) about their role as Frag Dolls, and how they are attempting to reshape the image of female gamers and raise industry awareness of the female market. In February 2006, the Frag Dolls attended the Women in Games International http://www.womeningamesinternational.org conference in San Francisco, CA, speaking on panels and roundtable entitled "Women Who Play." They repeated the appearance at the Women in Games International conference in Dallas, TX (April 2006).
During Quakecon 2007, the Frag Dolls announced an open casting call looking for new members. Applicants were also able to apply online through August 5, 2007. The 8 finalists were flown into Seattle, WA for the Penny Arcade Expo and after much deliberation over 4 days, two new members of the team were chosen - Pyra and Mischief.
At MLG Dallas 2008, The Frag Dolls officially announced a new member to the team - Phoenix FD. At her first event as a Frag Doll, they competed in the Rainbow Six Vegas 2 tournament and took 16th place.
On November 1, 2008, The Frag Dolls announced the departure of Calyber and Mishchief. The team, as of December 1, 2008, consisted of Rhoulette, Brookelyn, Seppuku, Valkyrie, Psyche, Pyra, and Phoenix. Rhoulette, Brookelyn, Seppuku and Valkyrie were the remaining four members of the original Frag Dolls.
In April 2009 the Frag Dolls announced a casting call for one or two new members. Eighteen semi-finalists were chosen. From these, eight finalists were chosen based on a vote open to the public, a phone interview, and a competition via Xbox Live on three games: Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, Call of Duty 4, and Halo 3. These eight semi-finalists were flown to L.A. for E3, where they competed once more. The two winners and newest additions to the team were Fidget and Spectra.
In September 2009, Pyra and Seppuku retired.
It appeared that the heavy focus on competitive gaming had been dropped with the UK team. The group placed heavy focus on showing everyone that games could be fun, rather than acting as ambassadors for professional gaming, as the original American team has been shown to do in the past.
On 30 June 2008, the UK Frag Dolls were dissolved.
In December 2007, Arwen announced in a blog entry on Myspace that the group was disbanded by Ubisoft for reasons unknown.
In addition to being an internship for girls desiring to get involved in the gaming industry, the Cadette Academy also serves as a recruitment method for future Frag Dolls. Since the program launched, two of the Fall 2009 Cadette members, Sarah and Krystal, have been promoted to Frag Doll status, and are now known as Glitch and SiREN. In August 2011, Edelita from the Spring 2011 class and Kimberly from the Fall 2010 class were promoted to Frag Dolls, and are known as Pixxel and Sabre. Therefore, the Cadette Academy works in a multifunctional fashion of introducing the gaming industry to girls striving to get involved, along with eliminating the demand for casting calls for future Frag Dolls.
Girl gamer
A girl gamer is a female who regularly engages in the playing of video games, role-playing games, or other games...
s recruited and employed by Ubisoft
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
with the aim of promoting women in gaming and in particular the promotion of games made by Ubisoft. The Frag Dolls are all avid gamers. The term 'Frag Dolls' refers to three different teams: the original American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Frag Dolls, the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Fragdolls and the newest team in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 2005.
American Frag Dolls
Originally recruited by an advertisement on craigslistCraigslist
Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities featuring free online classified advertisements, with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums....
in 2004, the original American lineup consists of seven Frag Dolls (known by their gamer tags): Brookelyn, Eekers, Jinx, Katscratch, Rhoulette, Seppuku and Valkyrie. Nate Mordo and Rhoulette, full-time Ubisoft employees, helped initiate the group. Eekers, one of the original seven Frag Dolls, left the group in August 2005. Katscratch, another original team member, left in May 2006. In May 2006 two new Frag Dolls, Calyber and Psyche, were recruited as part of an online reality show produced by GameTrailers with website co-host Amanda MacKay following the action.
The American Dolls have attracted a lot of media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
attention, primarily because they are female gamers, which is rare. Not all the media attention is positive. In the past, the Frag Dolls have come under fire for their collective appearance, with claims that the team members are models or booth babes
Promotional model
A promotional model is a person hired to drive consumer demand for a product, service, brand, or concept by directly interacting with potential consumers. A promotional model can be female or male, and typically is intended to be attractive in physical appearance. They serve to provide information...
rather than legitimate gamers. The team cites tournament participation and appearances at women's interest conferences as evidence of their intent.
The Frag Dolls fulfill many functions for Ubisoft, from attending industry events to playing competitively, both online and offline. Leveraging their media presence, the team members have acted as ambassadors of competitive gaming, touring with the Major League Gaming console professional circuit in the 2005 season as well as the 2007 season. In December 2006, they placed first in the Rainbow Six: Vegas tournament at CPL (Cyberathlete Professional League), making them the first all-female team to win a pro circuit tournament.
Much of their press has indicated that promoting professional gaming isn't their only goal. The Frag Dolls' mission is to encourage more women to play video games, and to prove that women can enjoy the same games as men. Also, the team has been known to actively promote games published by Ubisoft
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
both during interviews and events.
Katscratch, Valkyrie and Rhoulette spoke at the Women's Gaming Conference in Austin, TX (October 2005) about their role as Frag Dolls, and how they are attempting to reshape the image of female gamers and raise industry awareness of the female market. In February 2006, the Frag Dolls attended the Women in Games International http://www.womeningamesinternational.org conference in San Francisco, CA, speaking on panels and roundtable entitled "Women Who Play." They repeated the appearance at the Women in Games International conference in Dallas, TX (April 2006).
During Quakecon 2007, the Frag Dolls announced an open casting call looking for new members. Applicants were also able to apply online through August 5, 2007. The 8 finalists were flown into Seattle, WA for the Penny Arcade Expo and after much deliberation over 4 days, two new members of the team were chosen - Pyra and Mischief.
At MLG Dallas 2008, The Frag Dolls officially announced a new member to the team - Phoenix FD. At her first event as a Frag Doll, they competed in the Rainbow Six Vegas 2 tournament and took 16th place.
On November 1, 2008, The Frag Dolls announced the departure of Calyber and Mishchief. The team, as of December 1, 2008, consisted of Rhoulette, Brookelyn, Seppuku, Valkyrie, Psyche, Pyra, and Phoenix. Rhoulette, Brookelyn, Seppuku and Valkyrie were the remaining four members of the original Frag Dolls.
In April 2009 the Frag Dolls announced a casting call for one or two new members. Eighteen semi-finalists were chosen. From these, eight finalists were chosen based on a vote open to the public, a phone interview, and a competition via Xbox Live on three games: Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, Call of Duty 4, and Halo 3. These eight semi-finalists were flown to L.A. for E3, where they competed once more. The two winners and newest additions to the team were Fidget and Spectra.
In September 2009, Pyra and Seppuku retired.
| Name | Alias | Join Date |
|---|---|---|
| Brooke Hattabaugh | Brookelyn | August 2004 |
| Morgan Romine | Rhoulette | August 2004 |
| Amy Brady | Valkyrie | August 2004 |
| Faith Harrison | Phoenix | November 2008 |
| Anne-Marie Wilson | Spectra | June 2009 |
| Lanai Gara | Fidget | June 2009 |
| Sarah Oliver | Glitch | June 2010 |
| Krystal Herring | Siren | June 2010 |
| Kimberly Weigend | Sabre | August 2011 |
| Edelita Valdez | Pixxel | August 2011 |
| Name | Alias | Join Date | Leave Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theresa Pudenz | Eekers | September 2004 | August 2005 |
| Ashley Jenkins | Jinx | August 2004 | August 2008 |
| Kat Hunter | Katscratch | August 2004 | May 2006 |
| Alexis Hebert | Mischief | August 2007 | November 2008 |
| Marcella Fernandez | Pyra | August 2007 | September 2009 |
| Alyson Bridge | Calyber | May 2006 | November 2008 |
| Emily Ong | Seppuku | August 2004 | September 2009 |
| Renelly Morel | Psyche | May 2006 | February 2011 |
UK Frag Dolls
After the success of the American Frag Dolls, Ubisoft ran a similar recruitment drive in the UK http://www.fragdolls.co.uk. Five Frag Dolls were selected: Jam, Kitt, Sarin, Voodoo and Lucky. Lucky left the group shortly after formation due to an increased University workload. Ubisoft never replaced Lucky, even though she was employed as the "newbie gamer" of the group, and her role was mostly to bridge the gap between hardcore gamers and "noobs"; this was an experiment that had not been attempted in the American lineup, and is probably not in line with the concept of the Frag Dolls ideology. Lucky and the UK Frag Dolls had not been established enough at this juncture for the loss to have any real relevance or impact on either the group or the group's fan base. In July 2006, a second Frag Doll, Voodoo, left the team to form a rival group with another female gamer. Ubisoft has made no official comment on Voodoo's departure, but has announced they intend to recruit two new members to the team.It appeared that the heavy focus on competitive gaming had been dropped with the UK team. The group placed heavy focus on showing everyone that games could be fun, rather than acting as ambassadors for professional gaming, as the original American team has been shown to do in the past.
On 30 June 2008, the UK Frag Dolls were dissolved.
French Frag Dolls
As a French company, the third territory that Ubisoft have chosen for the Frag Dolls initiative is France. The French Frag Dolls have been announced and introduced as Arwen, Katana, L!lie, Meiko, and Mya. After 3 months, L!lie left the team, citing school studies and her desire to focus specifically on Counter-Strike.In December 2007, Arwen announced in a blog entry on Myspace that the group was disbanded by Ubisoft for reasons unknown.
Frag Doll Cadettes
In June 2009, right after the casting call in which Spectra and Fidget were hired, the Frag Dolls announced that they were beginning the Cadette Academy, which is described as being an internship for women who are interested in working in the gaming industry. To date there have been five classes of Cadettes: Fall 2009 (Aug. 2009 - Feb. 2010), Spring 2010 (Mar. 2010 - Aug. 2010), Fall 2010 (Aug 2010 - Jan 2011), Spring 2011 (Jan 2011 - July 2011) and the current Fall 2011 class (July 2011 – Present). Due to the success of the current and former Cadettes, Ubisoft currently plans to continue the Cadette program.In addition to being an internship for girls desiring to get involved in the gaming industry, the Cadette Academy also serves as a recruitment method for future Frag Dolls. Since the program launched, two of the Fall 2009 Cadette members, Sarah and Krystal, have been promoted to Frag Doll status, and are now known as Glitch and SiREN. In August 2011, Edelita from the Spring 2011 class and Kimberly from the Fall 2010 class were promoted to Frag Dolls, and are known as Pixxel and Sabre. Therefore, the Cadette Academy works in a multifunctional fashion of introducing the gaming industry to girls striving to get involved, along with eliminating the demand for casting calls for future Frag Dolls.
| Name | Alias |
|---|---|
| Alexis | I3adAMusikChik |
| Amber | Ayane Chan PMS / itsAyane |
| Ashley | PMS Acey |
| Bonnie | Xena |
| Bonny | GAEMS JANE / GI Jane PMS |
| Cee Cee | UGetBeatByGirls PMS |
| Diana | PMS Vertigo / Coulow |
| Emily | NyxRose / Rose |
| Kristen | Kelpie PMS |
| Leigh-Ann | UtopianDreams |
| Rochelle | Saturneternal |
| Sheena | xxdxvicious |
| Spring 2011 | Fall 2010 | Spring 2010 | Fall 2009 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Alias | Name | Alias | Name | Alias | Name | Alias |
| Amanda | Amped | Ali | Alibakes | Adria | Dope Kitten | Ashton | VULCAN PMS |
| Brittany | PrincessPoemi | Elisa | Eventides | Cheri | HeyCheri | Brenna | BiG VixXen |
| Cerise | Jecters | Ashlee | Jaspir | Donna | PMS FragQueen/EvilPixie | Carolyn | Arumia |
| Christina | sociablextina | Kimberly | Kimmington/PMS Selisona | Ellana | Fortune42na | Daniela | Gypsyfly PMS |
| Dana | JforJade | Amanda | Miz Calamity | Jess | Ruckus | Hannah | XShabutieX |
| Edelita | Eksy | Kerry Anne | PMS ClubSammich | Karen | PMS EUPHIE | Jamie | Jbot |
| Felisha | PMS UNFORGIVEN | Jennifer | PMS Fedaykin | Kaitlyn | Lirael | Kathleen | BOOTY STARR FDC |
| Jessica | Buterflysamurai | Frances | PMS SourPatch | Kristen | PMS Epidemic | Krystal | xHOODLUMGIRLSx |
| Jessikah | Lady Galahad | Christine | SDWIFEY | Megu | Midnight917 | Nickie | PMS Honey |
| Jodi | QueenN0THING | Kelsie | PMS Texas | Melonie | PMS Whisper | Sarah | Sarabellum86 |
| Katrina | W4FFL35 | Sarah | VballChick PMS | Michelle | Sunie | Sasha | xNINJAxCHICKx |
| Lauren | GAM3R G1RL | Bianca | Lady Graphix | Raina | SaintPistolWhip | Tunesha | CHICKAMUNGUS |