The Frag Dolls are a group of women recruited and promoted by Ubisoft to bring the presence of women in gaming to the industry's attention.  At least, that's what they started out to be.  However, they are really a bunch of really cool gamers who can kick some serious ass on the PC - and they just happen to be women.

Our top notch network news reporter, Becky "Tovin" Simpson, caught up with the Frag Dolls recently for some interviews, and here is the first in the series.  We start out with Emily "Seppuku " Ong , who has not only degrees in both Computer Science and Mathematics Applied Science, but also is a champion gamer with 3 titles under her belt!  (She has a serious penchant for PS3's Rainbow Six!)

I remember when “free to play” meant limited content, virtually no updates, and having to pay for the really cool stuff in order to compete with everyone else.  It was low graphics, simple game play and lack of challenge.  And the term “multiplayer” really wasn’t a true experience when connected with this type of model.

But is this the case these days?

Last week at GDC in San Francisco, I noticed a trend that was both surprising and startling.  The “new” MMO is a free-to-play model with fantastic graphics, exceptional game play, variety, challenge, and many of the same features that the traditional MMO provides.

So why is there so much excitement surrounding this game? Well, Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO) has been out for a short time, but regularly expands its content and continues to develop tools and content that provide players a varied game experience without waiting for expansions. This type of approach brings a viability to the world that encourages player retention as well as new subscriptions.

His new company is attempting, and succeeding, in bringing a new storytelling mode not only to gamers but to online world participants who have so far eluded the attempts to contact them.

It's Day Three of my trip to San Francisco for GDC, and I've had a busy few days walking the convention center and meeting with developers on their titles.

So far, I've sat with folks from Cabal Online, Fiesta Online, Age of Conan, Earth Eternal and Requiem.  I've also sat with someone from EA Mythic and attended a party hosted by SOE at a little place called The Public.  On the lighter side, there was a casual gathering of myself and Tovin along with Jon Wood and his team from MMORPG.com (thanks again for dinner, Jon!), which was a great time at the Cheesecake Factory.

Throughout it all, I've met some fantastic new people, and hooked up with some old friends.  I've also spent hours at my computer, listening to hours of taped interviews and looking at what's coming up next on my schedule so that I can find out the answers to those burning questions you guys have on your favorite titles, and engaged in strange sleep habits that involve climbing into bed in the wee hours of the morning to just get up in the wee hours of the same morning.

All in all, GDC has been a success for us to date.  I've got some great information headed your way (just as soon as I can find a few more minutes to finish it all up!), and we're working hard on some exciting giveaways, too!  Yes... that includes beta keys.  We're schmoozing with the people that allow us in their airspace, and pouting our way to some great things!  (Hey, what's a girl to do?)

However, some people did make me promise to not let Tovin dance with anymore random strangers!

We've come across some interesting characters, and I hope you'll stay tuned to find out what we've got to share.  GDC has some exciting stuff this year, and we'll be bringing it to you soon!

I’m always amazed at the amount of people that you will find at these types of events. I mean, seriously… are there that many of us gaming geeks out there?

We must not be such a rare commodity, after all. And that’s a comforting thought. I intend on being 72 years old with my teeth in a glass on my desk, playing some MMO on my mega-computer that we can’t even conceive of right now with my grandchildren around me.

So gaming geeks, unite! I need a gaming future to look forward to!

At GDC this year (for those unfamiliar, this is the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco, CA), we will have a grand showing of gamers – developers, players, industry-watchers, techies, you name it. Where they all come from is only a guess I can attempt to make with my limited expertise… but I’d say from their various twinked out computer rooms where they have the ultimate system to play their favorite titles. All have come here to meet the others that share their fanaticism (what, you mean you haven’t accepted it yet?) in their hobby.

For the rest of this week, I will be here at GDC – meeting with the people that make the games you love. And the games you hope to love soon. I’ll be sharing it with you here. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

I might even get some good pictures… but the best ones I’ll save for blackmail later on, when I need a special favor from someone…

Until then…

End Game, Casual, Hard Core, Raiders, Crafters, 'toons, Characters. Why can't we all just get along! If you prick us, do we not all bleed whatever pixelated blood a T rating will allow?

For me, the hardest is "casual", because technically, that's me. I don't raid anymore. Gone are the days of 2am wakeup calls as the mob spawns, 12 hour corpse runs and timing zone expirations perfectly so as to beat the other guild that’s been waiting 12 weeks to take a mob down.