Caryn "HellChick" Law

What kind of WebMaster/WebMistress roundup would be complete without my very own host site, PlanetQuake's director?? Rest assured I would never leave out such an important person like HellChick ( If I know whats good for me :^). Each day that I'm hosted by PlanetQuake, I need only to look to them to have inspiration and ideas for a successful site ( wow, major boot lickin', apple polishing. . . going on there. )

All joking aside, in a male dominated industry, it's refreshing to see the quality of content brought to the table by Caryn as well as from the other great WebMistresses I have interviewed here. So read on, and learn a little bit about an individual I admire so much. . . . . . . and for the record, CHICKS ( hehe, the C word ) kick ass. . . so there!!! :^p

1.) How'd you get started in the WebMastering Game and/or who was your inspiration.

I actually started a career as an astrophysicist - this past May, I got my bachelor of science in astronomy and astrophysics, and I was doing research on computer modeling in theoretical astrophysics. After I got my degree, I taught physics laboratories for freshmen and sophomore undergraduates at the University of Wyoming for a semester. I was supposed to teach for a year and then head off to grad school to get my doctorate, but over the past year, I became more and more involved in gaming, Quake (been playing since Quake 1), and writing for the gaming industry (reviews, articles, etc.).

I had gotten to know Lowtax of PlanetQuake, and Fargo, shaithis, and the guys at GameSpy, and so in my free time I was writing game reviews for GameSpy.com, articles and editorials for PlanetQuake, and stuff for 3DActionPlanet. Pretty soon, that took almost more time than my full-time job. When GameSpy needed to add someone full-time to PQ, I mentioned that I’d be interested, and they brought me out, interviewed me, and then hired me on.

I’ve had a lot of experience on the web side of things - web development and programming have always been a hobby, so it was no problem going from a career in astrophysics to a career in web development. But my job has more to do with gaming content (specifically Quake) than web development; if I ever needed something on the web side of things that I couldn’t or didn’t know how to do, we’ve got people here at GameSpy whose job is all about the web and HTML.

 

2.) What's the most outrageous thing you ever did ON your site?

We had a contest when we relaunched PlanetQuake with the new design - "Get Naked for PQ". People had to submit pictures of themselves with the Q3A tin box covering the parts that are generally illegal to show in public. Unfortunately, we didn’t get as many entries as I thought…and I’ve decided never to do that contest again.

(**interviewers note**  My entry is posted below. . . that contest rocked!!)

3.) People you admire in the industry. (Please limit your answer to 2 people and EXCLUDE me, thats a given.)

It’s hard to name specific people, as there are so many whose examples I’d love to follow. John Carmack would be one, but he’s more representative of the KIND of people I admire in this industry, rather than as one person in particular. Here’s a guy who loved games, programming, and computers, and he started a trend in video games that has been popular for years. He’s extremely intelligent and has an intellect in programming that I wish I had. He had many experiences in his childhood that I also had - he was a total computer geek who was really into programming. I was, too - I had a computer when I was 10, and when I was about 12, I started programming my own games, and hacking into the games I had to figure out how they were done.

I also admire Kornelia Takacs. She’s a professional gamer who was one of the first women to be recognized as a serious female gamer. She would probably hate to hear that I admire her for this reason, but I admire her because she doesn’t want people to talk about her gender before her skill at gaming. Her basic attitude is that it shouldn’t be considered something special when a woman plays these games. I like that, because I think it’s about time we stopped focusing on how "special" women gamers seem to be when really we’re not. Kornelia is an excellent gamer. Period. I admire her skill and wish I could be a pro gamer like her, and I’d admire her for the same reason if she were a man.

 

4.) What's the most annoying thing to deal with as a WebMistress? ( hehee, I like the sound of that . . . )

The most annoying thing is receiving emails from people who sound like they drink turpentine for breakfast. For instance, when putting out a call for Quake 2 level reviewers, I got a couple of, "I don’t play online, and I don’t have a 3D graphics card, and I only play Quake 1, but I WANT TO REVEIW LEVLES PLLEEZ PICK ME". That’s kind of annoying.

 

5.) Does your Boyfriend/Husband still nag you to "Get off that damn computer before I break it" now that your a famous WebMistress.

Oh, yes. My husband, though, was doing that long before I became a "famous" webmistress. I love computers, the internet, gaming, and web design, so I tend to spend a lot of time on the computer.

 

6.) Tips you can give WebMistress' in training . . ..

The tip I’ll give is more from my own personal opinion: if there’s one thing I hate seeing, as a female gamer, it’s female gamers really playing up the "chick" aspect to the point of being ridiculous. I’m not a big "grrl power" fan - I just like to play, and when guys you play against see that, they like you. I see a lot of female gamers who tend to man-bash a lot in this industry. I don’t think that’s necessary. I think that websites geared toward women gamers have their place, though.

So I guess I don’t really have any tips for WebMISTRESSES specifically. I think that people in this job should just keep the common sense things in mind: know your audience, and most importantly, find that balance between being entertaining and informative - you want both in equal measure for the most part, while occasionally leaning more toward one or the other for variety.

7.) Drink of Choice

Are we talking alcohol or non-alcohol? Alcohol would be Gordon Beirch red amber ale, or whatever that red amber beer by them is called. Good stuff. Non-alcoholic would be Coke.

8.) Tunes of Choice

Oh, so many! I love blues, jazz, industrial, techno, just about anything. When I’m working, I like blues and jazz; when I’m playing or just hanging out, I like industrial/techno.

9.)  Stud of Choice ( ahem, this should be obvious. . . . . )

It’s not Paul Steed or John Romero, I’m afraid.

10.) Where did you get the idea for your Nickname, most women become irate when the term "chick" is even uttered . . . .

I’m not one of those. Back when I realized I needed a nick to play under, I knew I wanted something kind of powerful, but at the same time, I wanted people to know I was female. I know it sounds like I’m going against the very thing I said I stood for earlier, but there’s a difference between being an aggressive "grrl power" person and one who just doesn’t want people to automatically assume she’s a guy. Plus, back then, I had a different attitude - I WANTED to be recognized as a female player who was good. So, that being said, I looked through my gigantic mythology book for something, but the ones I wanted were not really recognizable. So I just kind of settled on Hellchick - it’s a name that’s recognizable as being female. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with "chick" - I use it all the time.

and the bonus question:

O.K. , your in the check out line at your local grocery store, the woman in front of you has THE most beautiful hair, you lean over to comment on the hair and that WOMAN is John Romero. . .and he seems annoyed that your invading his "personal space"! ! ! Now what????

I grab the scissors from the checkout line impulse-item rack (right next to the Pez dispensers), hack off as much as I can before he gets over the shock, and then sell it on eBay and make a killing.

This is usually the part where I jump in and say something really funny, or maybe awe inspiring. But judging by the success of the whole Planets network ( and the funny little fact that I am seeking HellChick for an interview and NOT vice-versa) I think all I need to say is" why are you still here?".

Go see what they got cookin' over at PlanetQuake!! ( it might even be John Romero's hair for sale. . . . wow. . . she said HACK OFF HOMEBOYS HAIR AND SELL IT ON E-BAY. . .  lets start the bidding at $1,000.00)