Frag Dolls, PMS boycott Miss WSVG contest

Girl-gaming clans denounce beauty contest at WSVG event; hold male beauty contest in protest.

When the World Series of Video Games announced that it would be holding a Miss WSVG contest, the only game-related requirement for contestants asked for the girl's favorite game. That didn't sit too well with serious girl gamers the Frag Dolls and the PMS clan, which protested the first regional competition held in Louisville, Kentucky, this past weekend. Rather than cramp the WSVG's style, PMS (Pandora's Mighty Soldiers) and the Frag Dolls boycotted the competition and decided to put their own spin on the event by holding a Mr. WSVG competition.

"It's not really a video gamer [who'll be crowned]. It's a model," PMS cofounder Amber Dalton told The Courier-Journal of the Miss WSVG contest. Ubisoft's Morgan Romine, who markets Ubisoft's Frag Dolls, said she and the women "have to fight the perception that we're booth babes. We're gamers first. We felt that this [beauty contest] was threatening that."

In a press release today, the WSVG shot back, saying, "The [Frag Dolls and PMS clan] have stated that they plan to run another Mr. WSVG competition in [the tour's next stop in] Dallas. If this happens, and in order to be fair, the WSVG may feel compelled to run another Miss WSVG competition as well."

Curiously, some of the PMS and Frag Dolls members have been coming under fire by some gamers for their own gaming credentials. Several of the more visible PMS members' Xbox profiles are readily viewable to the public via the Xbox.com Web site, and detractors have critiqued their low gamerscores--some of which don't even crack 500 points. Defenders of them are quick to point out that gamerscores only reflect Xbox 360 games played, and not other games, such as Halo 2, which the women frequently play in competition.

89 Comments

  • Hamodizzo

    Posted Oct 4, 2006 2:43 am PT

    Game on!, though this might be a late post, I'm down w/ Gamer Girls... Simply because we have some in our clan... HOG or H.ouse Of. Grief. has been around 3 - 4 yrs and we've competed w/ them as equals... Keep it rockin ladies!

  • Dougystyle79

    Posted Jun 27, 2006 12:29 pm PT

    Wait wait wait... There's a 'World Series of Video Games'?! And I used to think that the "World Series of Poker" sounded unathletic...

  • Keksi

    Posted Jun 26, 2006 11:32 pm PT

    Aren't Miss something and something - beauty pageants, and aren't beauty pageants about the most "beautiful"? They have Miss Hawaiian Tropic, Miss Universum, Miss America, Miss Internet - what have you. All the winners look alike the only difference is that they're wearing a different outfit.
    So it's a beauty contest, duh. They shouldn't run it on video games but then again, no beauty pageant should be used in any other context that of beauty. What the hell has Miss Internet to do with beauty, the most beautiful female nerd in the world. Puh-leez.

  • never-named

    Posted Jun 24, 2006 10:58 pm PT

    Eat my shorts!

  • FighterHayabusa

    Posted Jun 24, 2006 3:26 am PT

    yeah really. he's being a holier than thou tool.
    And hye talkslike such a geek, you can tell hes never seen a chicks pretty pink panties unless it was on a manequin, or one of the many inflatable dolls he no doubt owns.

  • lucerovski

    Posted Jun 21, 2006 8:20 pm PT

    So, Civil Dead, it's okay for you to guess and assume that we're all immature goofballs, but we can't guess and assume that most girl gamers aren't very good game players? Drop your nose a little, sport.

  • psycho_wombat

    Posted Jun 21, 2006 1:14 pm PT

    Alright, maybe these girls aren't as 1337 as you. Who cares? The point isn't that they're the best gamers ever, the point is that they're trying to break free from the stereotypes that bind female gamers, one of which is the "attractive girls can't play videogames" theory that has been voiced multiple times throughout this discussion. They take their gaming seriously, and for that they deserve a little respect. Males may be an overwhelming majority of the gaming population, but many of us are casual gamers like myself, who would get destroyed by any devoted gamer, regardless of gender.

  • FighterHayabusa

    Posted Jun 21, 2006 7:28 am PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • crithon

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 10:56 pm PT

    I agree with a lot of this just being a whole entire boothbabes for guys to imagine that they are regular video game players. Although proving that they are fake from their 360 points, could just be a small thing, because there aren't that many appealing games on the 360 compared to variety on the PS2, PC and Nintendo DS games. I'd say wait till Windows Vista or PS3 and Nintendo makes a while point system, the whole "gamer score" that the 360 has done so well gets adopted by everyone else. So then we can evalute people from their game habbits, I mean my sister spends all day playing Tetris Attacks on the SNES and she considers herseld a devoted video game player.

  • namename88888

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 5:45 pm PT

    Who needs beauty contests in the internet age anyway. Just go to sites like hotornot.com and you got a contest for any gender, any time you want.

  • lucerovski

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 5:27 pm PT

    We know girls play games. We have no problem with that, we accept that. However we still like to look at good looking girls. What we see as harmless fun they want to protest over, so fine. We got ours, shoot, go get yours. Maybe when girls make up the greater percentage of buyers then they will get their male beauty pageant, and then we can stand outside the walls and whine.

  • Maquis_UK

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 5:27 pm PT

    also, where are the hot guys then? I don't care if they can actually game... as long as they're cute.

  • Maquis_UK

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 5:25 pm PT

    ... aaaand thats how you alienate 50%+ of the population. Nintendo will steal your would-be xbox users away, because it doesnt treat them as second class citizezens. European chief of PR, for example, is a Miss Shelley Friend. end this sexism!!!

  • gametester1424

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 5:15 pm PT

    // ErikTheDead
    // Hell yeah PMS and Frag dolls - Don't let them ruin all you've worked for - there // are so many all girl teams playing on the MLG pro circut right now, and it can
    // be atributed to thier hard work at changing sterotypes.

    I agree with ErikTheDead on this one. There are many gaming girls out there that can mop the floor with men when it comes to Halo 2 (mad props to Lady In Red). And even the non Halo playing girls need to get recognized. This isn't just a boys hobby anymore. And trust me guys, the sooner you accept that girls play games to, the better. Besides, wouldn't you rather know that you may meet one of these ladies someday and be able to continue your sick gaming addictions without the nag of a significant other, because she is gaming right there with you. It's a good feeling, I should know (spoken for).

  • civil_dead

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 3:56 pm PT

    Wow...that's all I can say. Not to the report, but to the incredibly asinine comments posted by the boys about the report. Seriously, if that is your attitudes towards women, then prepare for a long and lonely life.

    But then again, I assume most of you posting are under 16, which means you're still boys, not men. My guess is that most of you have no idea what it is like to really be with a woman. And by the reactions you're giving, many of you won't. Your reactions of "Well, if they want to decrease stereotypes then change names blah blah blah" are very ironic to me. Your responses do nothing but cement the average opinion of male gamers as fat neanderthals with little to no social skills who's very life is dictated by the time spent in front of the TV. Way to go.

    As for the comments about skill vs. beauty...well, they may not pwn all, but if you are saying the Frag Dolls aren't easy on the eyes then you've really gotta leave the basement more often. *IF* any of you are lucky enough to have a girlfriend, I doubt she could compare to some of those girls. Say what you want, you know whether or not you sleep alone at night, despite what posturing you might do on these boards.

  • Azzzel

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 2:58 pm PT

    oj.. ....... girls rock!!!

  • FighterHayabusa

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 12:11 pm PT

    They are full of crap. Ive never heard of PMS clan until now. But the frag dolls are all models. Ive seen thedm on spike TV. not one of them is normal, fat, or average looking. That's great, I mean I'd like to poke all of them at once. But they are being hypocrites by saying WSVG beuty contest is objectifying women. Frag dolls are not real gamers and ubisoft is objectifying them . Its all media grabbing bs and hypocracy and the frag dolls are just BSing to get free press.

  • SgtJericho

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 9:55 am PT

    As crappy as Miss WSVG contest sounds, I had never even heard of it until the Fragdolls/PMS clans did a boycott and I think I keep fairly up-to-date. Way to give it publicity ladies!

    I don't think either Fragdolls or PMS gaming skills can come into question. They are great gamers and are totally dedicated to their cause. I think you have to give the FD's and PMS clan props for that. Having said that, the Fragdolls are corporate schills for Ubisoft and PMS have a leaning towards Microsoft. This is fine in itself, because we live in a capitalist world. I just think flinging mud at others because of their intentions for a competition are bad or because it brings 'pro gaming' down and puts it in a bad light' when you are doing something similar by being a mouthpiece for a corporation, is a bad idea.

    Where are the curvy or plain girl gamers in Fragdolls or PMS? Why are they all so incredibly gorgeous? Is that just a coincidence? Of course not. They were selected for their excellent gaming prowess AND their looks.

    Whats more, isn't holding a Mr WSVG to protest Miss WSVG the same as stabbing someone in the eye because they stabbed someone in the eye? I guess the Bible was right after all...

  • jennyfur

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 9:03 am PT

    Wow. As a girl gamer I find the majority of these comments truly insulting. I'd seriously thought guy mentality had come out of the stone ages by now. Guess I was wrong.

    I'm not a fan of PMS or FragDolls, but I have to at least agree with their motives. That WSVG contest is strictly a modeling contest, it has NOTHING to do with gaming. It's just looking for the next brainless booth babe. There's plenty of REAL girl gamers out there, and this isn't a contest for them.

    Quite a few of you have complained about PMS or the FragDoll's skills. I'm surprised no one has brought up the Girlz Of Destruction yet...

  • GKBeetle

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 8:42 am PT

    Beauty contests are an insult to humanity anyway. I think it's wrong to judge someone on their looks. It happens all the time in real life, so why should we have competitions to just further it. I have no problem with fitness competitions where contestants are judged on how fit they are. They have to work hard to do that. But you are born with how beautiful you are going to be, barring plastic surgery. Even that can't make a truly ugly person look better than a good looking person. I'm not saying that I don't judge people based on beuaty. Everybody does that, whether they say they do or not. I just don't think we should be making it even more important by rewarding people just because they have good genes.

    On a side note, Morgan Webb from X-Play should definetly win this if they have one. She's a real gamer and is so hot!

  • sigma8

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 8:20 am PT

    I guess nobody here has figured out yet that feminists aren't big fans of beauty contests. These girls aren't saying "don't use models or hot girls on box covers" You pay for models. Pageants are exploitation.

  • Flan_Man

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 8:00 am PT

    So, they are tired of people throwing a beauty contest... Maybe they weren't around when E3 got that huge boost from Lara Croft's first appearance. Whining over a Video Game Girl Beauty Contest which is obvious in its intentions doesn't really accomplish much. Mr MSVG... that sounds like it is actually attempting to do something.

    Yeah, sadly pretty faces sell the games. Maybe that is why someone is trying to throw some pretty faces and attach them to Video Games... G4, pay attention. You are next.

  • sancezz

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 7:48 am PT

    chubbums, you are such an ididot. i cannot believe you jsut said that. How old are you? 10? you ever even talked to a woman? shut the hell up.

  • NaughtyZeut

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 6:24 am PT

    Well, it doesn't look like most male opinions have changed in 8 years. I remember playing Starcraft online and when answering the "asl?" question stating I was female. As soon as I did that, everyone went "You're joking. I bet you're really a [insert any gay male hate slur] here to stalk me" and blocked me. That bothered me on two different levels 1) not believing I was a female and 2) being that hateful toward gays. It doesn't make playing online that fun if you can't state who in general you are. Also, whether or not these girl clans are any good, they want to break free from the male instituted stereotypes -- which is a good thing. Maybe in 30 years the fact a girl plays video and/or computer games will be understood and accepted.

  • sonnyfromda02

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 5:53 am PT

    Workin' in a videogame store.....every now and then I see some hot chicks that actually know whut they're talkin' about when it comes to videogames. I won't lie, they're mostly Nintendo fans.........but having a dude beauty contest is pretty stupid when they're not even gonna care if they play videogames. And until they allow guys into their clans.......I don't see how they're being fair either. They could always call them f@g dolls. I'm not sayin' they should allow guys......just don't get their panties twisted when a group does somethin' for guys like a beauty contest.

  • GaussGoat

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 5:39 am PT

    Anyone who thinks there are no female gamers is clearly clueless. There are millions of female gamers, spanning practially every genre. I think it's hillarious that some of these guys haven't played games with women, since there are TONS of girls playing games. The fact that certain guys get upset about this fact shows how socially innept some of our gaming peers really are.

    As for the Xbox Live score... please. If Xbox Live was the only watermark for gaming skills, then every PC gamer and PS2 player out there isn't a "real gamer." Total Rubbish.

  • Dirk13

    Posted Jun 20, 2006 12:26 am PT

    are they amateurs to the sociological differences between men and women? I'm pretty sure that men in general dont mind being objectified by women, so this isn't much of a protest in my mind (if anything, where do i sign up?).

    I think this, case in point kind of proves it, as i sincerely doubt this would ever happen the other way around.

  • GrayWolf323

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 10:49 pm PT

    wouldn't it make more sense for them to compete and if one of them won to say that a real gamer girl won instead of some model? now we are almost guarenteed that some model who doesn't actually game will win instead because the real gamer girls are boycotting it

  • osxgp

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 10:40 pm PT

    Some of the galls can pay off their breast implants, so quit complaining! Who cares anyway?

  • Brigmz

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 10:11 pm PT

    I guess these groups never heard the phrase 2 wrongs don't make a right. Honestly I don't take PMS or Frag Dolls seriously for one reason. They are a female exclusive clan. I think any guild that limits membership by sex is a joke. I have been in a couple great CS clans and part of our strength was that we based our membership on skill, not on whether your reproductive organs are on the inside or outside.

    The whole "girls only" thing is nothing but a scam to get them more publicity (this is extremely evident since Fragdolls is sponsored by ubisoft). If they wanted to truly be the best they could be they would create a clan made up of the best female and male players. Sexism goes both ways. If a woman was told she couldn't join a CS guild cause she was a guild it would be sexist, well it is a two way road.

    Now don't get me wrong I respect PMS as I have played some some of them at CS and Halo and they show some skill, but the girls only thing is a way to get publicity, nothing more nothing less as limiting your clan to one sex is not the way to become the best.

  • grzetim

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 10:08 pm PT

    All I have to say is, don't mess with women gamers...my sis is a gamer and when people go "Aw, that's cute, you play too?" it gets rather ugly...

  • Angel_Belial

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 8:09 pm PT

    Good, and I hope they find some nice-looking male models to compete against each other. There are some nasty-looking male models out there - makes you wonder how some of them got into the profession with mugs like that, though they are required to have reasonable bodies.

    Glad to see some female gamers fighting back.

  • chibi-acer

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 7:34 pm PT

    I don't have anything against female gamers, but pro gamers in general are stupid. I take pride in my multiplayer gaming skills, but that doesn't mean I would want to get paid for it. Get a real job.

  • xypher7

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 7:12 pm PT

    Is it wrong that i find the arguments in the comments more interesting then the article itself?

  • gamepunk86

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:55 pm PT

    ok, i looked up the websites of those girl gaming groups and i sorry that i was right. those girls aren't really gamers like guys. those girls are booth babes that get paid to show off videogames. i mostly saw models (which you can tell b/c they stare into camera w/ professional makeup on) and most of them weren't not the average gamer like guys.
    if everyone wants proof that girls are hardly gamers, then look thru gamespot. how many girls in contrast to guys. i mean, look at the employees of gamespot, carrie (though AWESOME) is the only girl spokesperson on gamespot.

  • Luink

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:47 pm PT

    NIce girls!

  • lucerovski

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:45 pm PT

    Has anybody seen the movie PCU? We're now one step closer to the utopian state depicted in that fine film.....MEAT TOSSER!

  • Valen_Ca

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:43 pm PT

    So they are complaining that it won't be a gamer that is crowned, just a model eh? I wonder if they know that a lot people seriously believe that the only reason that both Frag Dolls and PMS have gotten all of the attention that they have been getting is because they are good looking girls first and gamers second.

  • lordxymor

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:40 pm PT

    Man, such hypocrisy. What's wrong with Models being gamers?

  • NeoJedi

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:37 pm PT

    Anybody check their websites? All those girls are cute... I'm kinda shocked by that actually. Anyways, stupid contest, even more stupid protest. Just game and shut up.

  • lucerovski

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:37 pm PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

  • rynmls

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:30 pm PT

    ok, what are we talking about?

  • Jamesp2005

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:25 pm PT

    Gamers complain about how alot of people don't consider gaming as serious as they do the music or movies. Well, after reading some of the posts here, I find it hard to disagree with those that say gaming is still childish.

  • Rammstein_dx

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:15 pm PT

    pff..Girls don't play video games

  • lucerovski

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:11 pm PT

    I frequently play with three women, too, but that's not important right now. Who cares if they hold their own beauty pageant? Good for them. Go off and do your thing, women. Men are the majority right now, so the industry will cater to the biggest audience, it's only economics. There's much more in the world to get angry about than men being men. You won't, can't or shouldn't change us. We don't want to change the way women behave, we like the way women behave, for the most part. Let it go, fraulein, let it go.

  • maddogtannen316

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:09 pm PT

    the 70's are over

  • gdogg4210

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:06 pm PT

    I will do a male beuty contest

  • knives2

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:05 pm PT

    They just want special attention. And the whole women only clan thing is stupid, know one cares. Women gamers are usually ****hy anyway ( I frequently play with 3 women ).

  • dn3datomiced

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:00 pm PT

    Wow. Reading some of these comments has made me embarrased to be a male gamer... what's up with the sexism?

  • WarVengeance

    Posted Jun 19, 2006 6:00 pm PT

    The Reason women don't usually play games is because of the complexity of some games, like games take quite a few minutes to figure out. I know for one that games are getting rediculously complicated on consoles compared to games of the past. I also understand the point of view of gamer girls because our game market are full of sexist men and little boys that is why our market CANNOT compete with the movie or music industry yet

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