Dear readers, be upstanding and, more importantly, deeply respectful in the presence of Jam, Kitt and Sarin, the no-messin’ girl gamers of Ubisoft’s Frag Dolls UK.

Ladies, a huge thank you for giving GamerSquad a chunk of your time in order to field a few gaming and life-related questions.


GamerSquad (GS): Let’s get the mundane opening question out of the way first – for those who, amazingly, may not have heard of the Frag Doll phenomenon or don’t quite understand what it is you do and/or why you do it.

Jam: Frag Dolls UK is an all-girl gaming group brought together by Ubisoft to promote gaming as a fun and inclusive hobby for everyone. We travel all over Europe for gaming events, write blogs, record podcasts, attend interviews and hang out with our FDUK community through community days and our forum. We also play games!


GS: You must have answered this a gazillion times, but what exactly is the Frag Dolls’ mission statement, how did the group come into existence, and what attracted you to a life spent professionally clasping a game controller?

Jam: Frag Dolls UK was brought together because we want everyone – regardless of their age or gender – to have an equal chance in discovering what a wonderful and rewarding hobby videogames can be. The industry has come forward in leaps and bounds with getting more people involved through a bigger scope of games and better marketing, but there’s still a lot more to be done. That’s why we try our best to make sure that Frag Dolls is a relaxed, fun and friendly environment, whether you’re a hardcore gamer or a beginner.

We became Frag Dolls via Ubisoft’s recruitment drive back in 2005. We’re all from gaming backgrounds, though not necessarily of similar gaming tastes. Kitt is a puzzle and FPS fanatic, I love my quirky Japanese games, and Sarin is an action-adventure junkie. I can’t say what attracted them to the job, as I can only speak for myself. But personally – who wouldn’t want a job where you get to play games and check out the inside scoops?


GS: Continuing in that evolutionary vein, what were you all doing in the big wide world before donning those eponymous Frag Doll T-shirts and setting about changing the sexist and, frankly, unjust perception of videogaming being a boy-only enclave?

Jam: I’ve had a pretty crazy employment history. I’ve worked from handling logistics for a fashion wholesaler, to running administration in a mental ward for the NHS.

Kitt: I was a games journalist and still am. Now I just get to play even more games for a living. Ha ha! You hate me now don’t you? If you don’t, you should.

Sarin: I was working my way through a Pathology degree, chopping up tumours and growing funky cells. I now divide my time between Frag Dolls and being a GCSE science teacher.


GS: Being a Frag Doll is your job, your day-to-day, your collective 9-to-5, your team-based daily grind. As with any job, do you ever find yourself loathing the prospect of getting into the office and picking up the controller or pulling on said T-shirt?

Kitt: Well we don’t do it every second of the day, It’s not like we’re being whipped while we’re forced to repeatedly play Assassination on Rainbow Six Vegas or something. I have two jobs playing games so yeah it can be a bit like working in a cake shop. Sometimes you just don’t want cake. I could be working down a coal mine though so I think I’ll hold off on the complaints.

Jam: Like Kitt, I have another job as well as Frag Dolls. I’m a researcher for an eSports television channel. I also do a bit of freelancing for gaming press when I get the time. Thus, like Kitt, I can relate to the ‘working in a cake shop’ syndrome. Sometimes you can be playing a computer game and realise you’re viewing it as a work object, and not an object of simple enjoyment. However, I love working in the industry. I am incredibly lucky. I am very fortunate to be here.

Sarin: I love being a Frag Doll, I love the games, the events, the parties, and the people. It does have work elements that can be annoying and sometimes I get back from my day job and just want to go down the pub instead of sitting in on the computer, fortunately Frag Dolls gives me the flexibility to do that. I think it would be hard to tire of this position since we are all quite free to fill our hours when we want to, and since gaming is a passion for us all that’s not too hard to manage.


GS: Did any of you personally experience focused gaming abuse from the (often idiotically prepubescent) male online gaming contingent before signing on as Frag Dolls, and did it play a defining role in inspiring you to do so?

Jam: I grew up around male gamers, and very rarely have I ever had problems relating to my gender. Most people are just plain curious. Very, very few of them are abusive.

Kitt: Not really. Online play has never really been a problem for me as a girl. It’s more the industry's attitudes that needed altering than the gamers’ attitudes I think.

Sarin: I didn’t tend to play games that had a high level of ‘idiotically prepubescent’ people joining them, so I never really encountered it until I started playing a lot of Xbox Live as a Frag Doll. Having said that I encounter it rarely even now, and when I do there is always a higher proportion of pleasant people in the room.


GS: Even though you’re now collectively endorsed by French publisher and developer Ubisoft, has that backing and your subsequent global reputation as ‘serious’ gaming competition in any way served to paint a huge target across your chests and actually magnify the flaming, or has it marked a much deserved decline?

Kitt: Well at first we got everything levied at us. Not attractive enough / Too attractive. Can’t really game / Think they’re better than everyone else. Again though, much of that came from press rather than actual members of the gaming public. As time’s gone on though, we’ve won most people over. Playing well, being fair and fun and not rising to the bait has served us well.

Jam: As Kitt said, we had a lot of rubbish hurled at us when we first launched. People couldn’t understand what we were about, so they slagged us off instead. I can’t deny that it hurt – of course it hurt. But you just take it on the chin, stay firm for what you believe in, and get on with it. Now we’ve been around for almost two years people have relaxed and realised it doesn’t have to be a matter of ‘Us Vs. Them.’

Sarin: Once people meet us, either online or in person, they like us and accept us as fellow gamers who are truly fanatical about games. Prior to finding out just who we are, and what we do, people can jump to conclusions, but then that seems to be a part of human nature, so I will forgive them that!


GS: The international Frag Doll movement has been labelled in the past as little more than a clever marketing ploy by Ubisoft, do you get sick and tired of justifying yourselves (both verbally and in-game) as a genuine gaming threat? And do you have any specific examples you’d care to recount?

Jam: One time I had a games journalist trying to get me to recite quotes from Zero Wing to prove I was a genuine gamer. That was rather amusing! I gave him a good run for his money. If people pop on our site they’ll see we play and talk about a wide range of games – not just Ubisoft. We’re not mindless puppets. Stay and chat with us for five minutes and you’ll see.

Kitt: It is a clever marketing ploy! A really clever one. So clever they’ve given us the freedom to say and do what we want. To promote gaming, not just Ubisoft games. I love Crackdown! I hate Bomberman! Play TMNT just for the cheap gamerscore points! Did you see what I did there? They came up with Frag Dolls as a way to bring gaming to new demographics and to promote both their own games and strengthen the whole gaming community. So what’s the problem? People just can’t get their head round it. They see shadowy figures cackling and rubbing their hands in the background? There’s neither cackling nor hand rubbing going on, I assure you.

Sarin: I have been a Frag Doll for well over a year and in that time we have appeared in many different magazines, shows, websites and on Xbox live. At first there was a lot of justification demanded by the public but as time wore on I find myself more generally accepted. There is usually someone else in the crowd who has heard of us and can do the explaining for me so I don’t need to do it.


GS: This is an odd question to pose, especially as we don’t wish to be overtly sexist in any way, but do you get hit-on more in your personal lives when guys discover that you’re pro gamers? If so, how do you deal with that (un)wanted attention?

Jam: I keep wearing a SEGA T-shirt I got as a freebie from the Leipzig Games Convention back in 2006, and not ONE PERSON from the general public has commented on it. Makes me so mad!

Kitt: Nope they just want to ‘beat me at Halo’

Sarin: I have never been sure when someone is ‘hitting’ on me, so they maybe have but I haven’t noticed.


GS: It’s the exact dream every gaming guy wishes would come to fruition when girls find out they’re game fanatics (well, it’s certainly mine – Ed). Generally though, we find they peel away politely or retreat in fits of mocking laughter.

Jam: Actually, I’m always incredibly shocked when I meet a guy who doesn’t play videogames. I’m probably incredibly rude, as I always recoil with a mixture of confusion and horror. Curse those sexist gamer stereotypes.

Kitt: I don’t go out with non-gamers. They don’t get why I must do this ‘hobby’ for 6 hours straight. It’s too much hassle. I need someone that, when Final Fantasy XIII appears on my doorstep, knows to not speak to me for a week except to offer me cups of coffee once every 45 minutes.

Sarin: It depends what game you are fanatical about. I peel away politely from people who talk about MMORPGs for longer then 30 minutes in a way that suggests it is actually a second life for them. Apart from that I have never run from someone who is passionate about anything. I see fanatical as a rather pleasant trait.


GS: We note there are but three of you assigned to Frag Dolls UK, when in the past the team has been quite a bit larger, what became of the UK division’s prior Dolls, and are you still in contact with them?

Kitt: Lucky went off to be a teacher, Sarin recently heard from her. She seems to be loving that. Voodoo formed another gaming community called Versus. We haven’t heard much from that lately but we are all for spin-off groups and clans. Worldwide there’s been a good half a dozen groups have gone on to form branching communities off the back of Frag Dolls work. They take with them the ethos of inclusiveness and friendly relaxed play. It makes us very proud.


GS: Any plans to expand the current Frag Doll UK team upwards from three?

Jam: Yes. More, er – new blood! New blood!

Kitt: We’ll recruit for more UK dolls when the time is right for us. There’s been a huge amount of interest already even without us launching a campaign. When the US Dolls recruited last year it was a massive and complicated task for them. It will be challenging for us to find the right people but it’s going to be super exciting too.

Sarin: Yes, we are working on the cloning tank at this very moment.


GS: Considering the gradually evolving viewpoint surrounding the increased focus of girls in gaming, do you think that developers and publishers are still failing to create enough titles with positive central female figures and embrace the related demographic opportunities?

Jam: I think there’s been a big expansion of focus over the past five or ten years – Sony’s PlayStation did a great job in heralding the age of the ‘casual’ gamer. Of course there is still much that can be done. It’s still a relatively young industry after all, but I’m confident we’ll get there.

Kitt: I think it’s coming along nicely actually. The awareness is the first thing and that’s there now. The industry is a slow moving beast. I think the next few years are going to see amazing things in gaming in terms of opening up the boundaries and allowing for every kind of player. It’s a brave new world.

Sarin: I recently watched a clip for a game in which the central character appeared to be a grain of pollen. I think gaming horizons are broadening, but personally I don’t really care how I am represented on screen, as long as it is appropriate for the game. I was happy being a two-pixel rectangle in Kingdom all those years ago.


GS: While we wouldn’t want to lay nefarious roots of fracture throughout your solid foundations… oh, who are we kidding? Who’s the best gamer between the three of you, or (diplomatic escape route) do you individually excel across different genres?

Jam: I have the biggest gamerscore! MWA HA HA! Oh wait, did I say that aloud? Sarin has a spooky knack for picking up and playing Rainbow Six games like a pro in ten minutes flat. She’s also an absolute demon when it comes to playing Hexic on Xbox Live Arcade. Kitt’s a Far Cry freak, and will sell your granny for a bit of Tomb Raider merchandise. I pwn their n00b arses at GRAW2.

Kitt: I am a terrible dabbler. I have to play a lot of games as a Frag Doll and games journalist. I rarely get time to really hone my skills on any one game where as both Jam and Sarin have really put the time in with the game that they have a gift for. They can’t beat me at Far Cry though.

Sarin: I am really, really good at Minesweeper. So good I used to have it on my phone and play it every night in bed to constantly beat my old score. I had to give it up because I was draining too much power from the Minesweeper cosmos, which makes me the best, in a Highlander-type way but without the severed heads. Does that even count?

GS: Sure, why not.


GS: Has being a member of the Frag Dolls changed your life for the better, and where do you see yourself in ten years?

Jam: Definitely. It’s really opened a lot of doors for me, professionally and personally. And – at the risk of sounding a bit naff – it’s really enriched me as a person. It’s built up my confidence in leaps and bounds, and I have a lot more faith in my personal abilities. I hope I’ll still be donning that pink and black Frag Doll T-shirt in ten years time.

Kitt: Yes completely. It’s developed my career considerably. It’s given me amazing opportunities within the industry and as a gamer. It’s changed my personal life beyond recognition. Whatever I’m doing in ten years I think it’ll be a lot better than what I would have been doing without Frag Dolls. I can also say I’d be happy to be still doing the job in a decade.

Sarin: Being a Frag Doll has massively changed my life, but not in the ways I expected it to. Sometimes I feel it can hold me back, for example when I wanted to get my hair braided into fake blonde dreads I felt I would be betraying my cartoon self and couldn’t go through with it. In ten years time maybe I will have shaken off the shackles placed on me by cartoon Sarin and will be able to change my image at will.


GS: The Frag Dolls are not the only all-girl gaming team on the circuit these days, with the likes of the renowned PMS Clan also striving to destroy the preconceived notion of gaming being predominantly a guy-only domain. Have you gals ever mixed it up with another all-girl team, either professionally or merely for bragging rights?

Jam: I say hello on occasion whenever I bump into another all-girl team. It’s always great to speak with them and see how they’re getting along.

Kitt: I know several PMS girls personally. I’ve been to several events with other female focussed clans. I recently met the French Frag Dolls for the first time too. It sounds bananas but the connection when you meet other girls who do this job is actually fairly intense.

Sarin: I meet other girl clans online from time to time, and I had the opportunity to meet up with the American Frag Dolls a while back. They are always great to talk to and share gaming moments with, it’s nice to meet people with a similar mission in mind.


GS: When and where can our readership expect to see the three of you next according to your busy gaming calendar, and do you have any more special ass-kickin’ Xbox Live Frag Doll events currently in the pipeline.

Jam: Last week it was Frag Doll Friday. We hold them every month, where we play a game on Xbox Live for two hours between 8-10pm. We’ve just come back from the Download festival in Donnington, and this week we’ll be in London for the O2 festival. We have a string of other festivals after that. You can find out about these events and more from our calendar on our Frag Dolls UK website: www.fragdolls.co.uk

Sarin: Well since Jam has kinda covered it I would just like to add that we can always be found on our website and forum, come and say hi and find out when we will be visiting a sofa near you.


GS: Which one frozen moment of time in your collective and personal gaming histories ranks as your most cherished memory?

Jam: Playing Secret of Mana in 1995 with my brother on co-op, right after beating the final Flammie Dragon.

Kitt: Beating the UK Street Fighter Champion with Chunners against his Ryu 15 years ago.

I had a funny thing the other week. I’m playing the buffed up GRAW1 maps in the Throwback pack on GRAW 2 and I’m on Nowhere map. Me and one of the Frag Doll forumers are walking up the path and I say, " I’m sure this never used to be as steep as this," and he says, " I remember when it was all fields round here." How we laughed. That was a real gamers’ moment. Try telling that anecdote at the average dinner party.

Sarin: Saving all the lemmings.


GS: And which is your worst?

Jam: My first game on Xbox Live with Rainbow Six: Black Arrow. I got utterly destroyed. At one point I remember running around with this little boy chanting in my earpiece: "I’m gonna get you noob! I’m gonna get you!" And y’know what? He got me.

Kitt: Coming last in every single game on the Halo 3 Beta.

Sarin: That time the power card ran out in my stupid student flat when I was thirty minutes into a Boss fight.


GS: If GamerSquad were to, quite foolishly, lay down the Live gaming gauntlet before your blood-encrusted boots, which title would you advise we polish up on the most before daring to step into the virtual ring? Essentially, what do you rock at?

Jam: GRAW2. Failing that, Catan on Xbox Live Arcade. I like to turn everybody against a random player whilst I sneak off with all the cities and development cards.

Kitt: Far Cry Instincts… and 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures. Don’t ask me why. It’s a savant ability.

Sarin: Rainbow Six: Lockdown, or I guess we could have a go at Vegas since it is so much newer and shiney-er.


GS: Conversely, what would you want to avoid lest we unceremoniously disgrace you and subsequently demand the instant forming of the Frag Dudes? Chance would be a fine thing, we feel.

Jam: Too late! Bungie already formed Frag Doodz. Failing that, play me on Rockstar Table Tennis. Just wear a set of ear plugs or put your headset on mute.

Kitt: Halo.

Sarin: PGR3


GS: Which console and game, current or classic, do you find sucks away most of your real-world human existence when not clocked-in as a member of the Frag Dolls?

Jam: At the moment it’s Final Fantaxy XII. Playing an RPG feels like having a child – it’s such a massive, time-consuming commitment, which often kills your social life. Before that it was Phantasy Star Universe.

Kitt: Right this minute it’s Puzzle Quest on the DS. Of all time it’s got to be the Final Fantasy series.

Sarin: Just recently it has been Tetris on the 360. Since I like Action Adventure games they don’t tend to suck at my life as much as Final Fantasy would. 8 hours of story based game play is long enough for me.


GS: Do you have predictions for the present marketplace battle being waged between the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360? Three consoles, three Frag Dolls, did we just give you another diplomatic ‘out’? LOL.

Jam: I used to be an utter PlayStation 2 junkie, but I’m a big Xbox 360 fan now. I try not to get sucked into console loyalty – I had enough of that with the days of Nintendo Vs. Sega! The Xbox 360 supports a lot of titles that I like to play, it’s as simple as that. The Wii and the PlayStation 3 both look promising, but they need another few months and a bigger software catalogue before they’ll be able to really hold my interest. Having said that I can’t wait for Haze and Heavenly Sword on the PS3, and Sadness for the Wii has definitely snagged my curiosity.

Kitt: They are all aiming at different markets I think. The Wii started off strong but can it keep the momentum going over time? The 360 is excellent online but without the support of Japanese developers is it destined to be another commercial failure over time? The PS3 has so much potential but man is it dragging its heels! If I knew the answers I’d be a millionaire. The problem is no one knows how it’s all going to pan out.

Sarin: I want the PS3 to win, Sony have always filled my gaming lust with nice little Survival Horrors and Action Adventures. Currently I hate them, my PS3 is sitting in a box because there is so little on release that I want to play. However I have no doubt that given a year they will be up and running.



Once again, many, many thanks for sitting down with GamerSquad today and granting us a little insight into the life and times of the Frag Dolls. More power to you, ladies.

Oh, and we won’t be challenging you online any time soon, we’re not quite as stupid as we look.