Frag Dolls

Frag Dolls
Location United States
Founded 2004
Dissolution 2015
Sponsors Ubisoft
Website www.fragdolls.com

The Frag Dolls were a group of girl gamers recruited and employed by Ubisoft with the aim of promoting games made by Ubisoft. The term refers to three different teams: the original American Frag Dolls, the UK Fragdolls, and the newest team in France.

On May 29, 2015, it was confirmed that the group had disbanded.[1]

American Frag Dolls

History

Originally recruited by an advertisement on Craigslist[2] in 2004, the first 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.[3] 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.

During QuakeCon 2007, the Frag Dolls announced an open casting call looking for new members. Applicants were also able to apply online. Eight finalists were flown into Seattle for the Penny Arcade Expo, where two new members of the team were chosen—Pyra and Mischief. At Major League Gaming Dallas 2008, The Frag Dolls announced Phoenix was joining the team. 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 then consisted of Rhoulette, Brookelyn, Seppuku, Valkyrie, Psyche, Pyra, and Phoenix. Rhoulette, Brookelyn, Seppuku, and Valkyrie were the remaining four original Frag Dolls.

In April 2009 the Frag Dolls announced a casting call for one or two new members. Eight finalists were chosen from a group of eighteen semi-finalists based on a public vote, 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 Los Angeles for the Electronic Entertainment Expo, where they competed once more. The two winners and newest additions to the team were Fidget and Spectra.[4]

Pyra and Seppuku retired in September 2009.

Rachel Quirico at E3 2014

Weeks before E3 2010, the Frag Dolls announced their newest members, SiREN and glitch, who were recruited from the Frag Doll Cadette pool without a casting a call. This act emphasized the benefits of taking part in the Cadette program as interns, and encouraged Frag Doll hopefuls to stay involved and become noticed.

In February 2011, Psyche retired from the team so she could give her full-time job at Ubisoft her full attention.

Furthermore, the Frag Dolls opened another casting call in August 2011, where eleven girls, Frag Doll Cadettes, were flown out to San Diego to show their skills in public speaking, crowd interaction, and demoing at Comic Con. Moreover, the finalists were also required to showcase their on-camera interviewing abilities through video submissions on the Frag Dolls YouTube channel. The team announced shortly after the winners and new additions—Sabre and Pixxel.

The Frag Dolls underwent a drastic change when two of their original members, Rhoulette and Brookelyn, retired from the team in September and November 2011. As a result, Valkyrie remained the last original Frag Doll on the team.

However, the Frag Dolls proved they had big plans after the New Year rolled around, and without a casting call, another member from the Frag Doll Cadette pool was hired to the team in January 2012—Cryptik. Valkyrie also announced that the team would be hiring one or two new members before the end of the year.

Shortly after, changes continued to roll around when Jinx announced her retirement after receiving a job at Rooster Teeth in late January 2012. Less than two months later, glitch had also retired from the team, leaving the Frag Dolls with seven members: Cryptik, Fidget, Pixxel, Sabre, SiREN, Spectra, and Valkyrie. Shortly after, Fidget also retires, leaving Frag Dolls down to 6 members, Cryptik, Pixxel, Sabre, SiREN, Spectra, and Valkyrie.

In August 2012, the Frag Dolls announced the most recent casting call. Instead of pulling from the Frag Doll Cadette pool, they decided to open the casting to the public. The 2 newest members, Daze and Esper were announced in October 2012. Cryptik announced her retirement on October 2012.[5][6]

Members
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
Morgan Romine Rhoulette August 2004 September 2011
Brooke Hattabaugh Brookelyn August 2004 November 2011
Faith Harrison Phoenix November 2008 January 2012
Sarah Oliver Glitch June 2010 March 2012
Lanai Gara Fidget June 2009 June 2012
Melonie McElhannon Cryptik January 2012 October 2012
Amy Brady Valkyrie August 2004 May 2013
Anne-Marie Wilson Spectra June 2009 January 2014
Edelita Valdez Pixxel August 2011 December 2014
Kimberly Weigend Sabre August 2011 February 2015
Michelle Roberson Esper October 2012 March 2015
Krystal Herring Siren June 2010 March 2015
Nicole Cullop Daze October 2012 April 3, 2015
Rachel Quirico Seltzer November 2013 April 24, 2015

Activities and goals

The Frag Dolls attend industry events and play competitively, both online and offline. The team members have acted as ambassadors of competitive gaming, touring with the Major League Gaming console professional circuit in the 2005 season and the 2007 season. In December 2006, they placed first in the Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 tournament at the Cyberathlete Professional League, making them the first all-female team to win a pro circuit tournament.[7]

The Frag Dolls' mission is to encourage more women to play video games. The team promotes Ubisoft games during interviews and events. Katscratch, Valkyrie, and Rhoulette spoke at the Women's Gaming Conference in Austin, Texas (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 conference in San Francisco, California, speaking on panels and at a roundtable discussion entitled "Women Who Play." They also appeared at the Women in Games International conference in Dallas, Texas (April 2006).

Shortly after the casting of Daze and Esper, the Frag Dolls began preparation to compete in ShootMania Storm and Call of Duty: Black Ops II. The ShootMania Storm team consisted of Esper, Pixxel, and Sabre, with SiREN later joining the competitive roster. They competed at PAX East 2013 for the ShootMania Launch Tournament qualifier, and later Esper competed with High Rollers Gaming at the US$100,000 ShootMania Launch Tournament in San Francisco.[8]

UK Frag Dolls

After the success of the American Frag Dolls, Ubisoft ran a similar recruitment drive in the 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. Lucky and the UK Frag Dolls had not been established long enough for the loss to have any 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 made no official comment on Voodoo's departure, but announced they intended to recruit two new members to the team.

The group placed its focus on showing that games could be fun, rather than acting as ambassadors for professional gaming, as the original American team had done. The UK Frag Dolls were dissolved on 30 June 2008.

French Frag Dolls

As Ubisoft is a French company, the third territory chosen for the Frag Dolls initiative was France. The French Frag Dolls were Arwen, Katana, L!lie, Meiko, and Mya. L!lie left the team after three months, citing school studies and her desire to focus specifically on Counter-Strike. The group was disbanded in December 2007.

Frag Doll Cadettes

In June 2009 the Frag Dolls announced that they were beginning the Cadette Academy, described as an internship for women who are interested in working in the gaming industry. To date there have been seven 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), Fall 2011 class (July 2011 – January 2012), Cadette class of 2012 (January 2012 - December 2012), and the Cadette class of 2013 (January 2013 - December 2013).

In January 2012 the Frag Dolls announced that they would be increasing the length of the internship from six months to one year, decreasing the class size to give more individual attention to cadettes (from twelve to eight), and refocusing the Cadette Academy training to include more marketing experiences.[9] The 2012 Cadettes were also tasked with a class project.

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 now known as Pixxel and Sabre.[10] In October 2012, Sunie_FDC from the 2010 Cadette Class was promoted to Frag Doll status, and is now known as Esper.[11]

Current (2013) Cadettes [12]
Name Alias
Cecilia PMS Lumos
Chelsea pms.Delicate
Erika QueenKoopa
Kami lovebattery
Krysti KrystiPryde
Lauren Lugey
Lisa RustlingRose
Rumay Hafu
Sally AlyMew
Samantha SuushiSam
Sarah FlixxyPMS
Vanessa V Rex
Past Cadettes
2012 Fall 2011 Spring 2011 Fall 2010 Spring 2010 Fall 2009
Name Alias Name Alias Name Alias Name Alias Name Alias Name Alias
Ali Alibakes Alexis I3adAMusikChik Amanda Amped Ali Alibakes Adria Dope Kitten Ashton VULCAN PMS
Ashley Ashmosity Amber Ayane Chan PMS / itsAyane Brittany PrincessPoemi Elisa Eventides Cheri HeyCheri Brenna BiG VixXen
Elisa Elisarockdoc/Eventide Ashley PMS Acey/ AceyTM Cerise Jecters Ashlee Jaspir Donna PMS FragQueen/EvilPixie Carolyn Arumia
Katy bunnyxblaze Bonnie Xena Christina sociablextina Kimberly Kimmington/PMS Selisona Ellana Fortune42na Daniela Gypsyfly PMS
Kathleen BOOTY STAR FDCII Kia PMS Honey Bonny GAEMS JANE / GI Jane PMS Dana JforJade Amanda Miz Calamity Jess Ruckus Hannah XShabutieX
Michelle Sunie_FDC/Esper Cee Cee UGetBeatByGirls PMS Edelita Eksy Kerry Anne PMS ClubSammich Karen PMS EUPHIE Jamie Jbot
Tiffany aQueenofHearts Diana PMS Vertigo / Coulow Felisha PMS UNFORGIVEN Jennifer PMS Fedaykin Kaitlyn Lirael Kathleen BOOTY STARR FDC
Tracie Miss_Magitek Emily NyxRose / Rose Jessica Buterflysamurai Frances PMS SourPatch Kristen PMS Epidemic Krystal xHOODLUMGIRLSx
Kristen Kelpie PMS Jessikah Lady Galahad Christine SDWIFEY Megu Midnight917 Nickie PMS Honey
Leigh-Ann UtopianDreams Jodi QueenN0THING Kelsie PMS Texas Melonie PMS Whisper Sarah Sarabellum86
Rochelle Saturneternal Katrina W4FFL35 Sarah VballChick PMS Michelle PMS Sunie Sasha xNINJAxCHICKx
Sheena xxdxvicious Lauren GAM3R G1RL Bianca Lady Graphix Raina SaintPistolWhip Tunesha CHICKAMUNGUS

See also

References

  1. http://morganromine.com/post/120297113242/farewell-to-the-frag-dolls-
  2. "Girl gamers wanted – Video Games Reviews, Cheats". Geek.com. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  3. "Meet the Frag Dolls | Archive". Frag Dolls. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  4. "Frag Doll Wannabe". PCWorld. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  5. "Meet the New Frag Dolls | Archive". Frag Dolls. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  6. "Good Game Well Played;". Frag Dolls. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  7. Preston, Jason (December 24, 2006). "Frag Dolls Win Rainbox Six Tournament". The Escapist Magazine. Themis Media. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
  8. "ShootMania Launch Tournament Recap|". IGN. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  9. "Introducing the 2013 Cadettes;". Frag Dolls. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  10. "Announcing the 2011 Frag Doll Casting Call Results;". Frag Dolls. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  11. "Meet our new Frag Dolls;". Frag Dolls. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  12. "Introducing the 2013 Frag Doll Cadettes". Frag Dolls. Retrieved 2013-04-15.

External links

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