Greg Dragon: Well prior to the official launch of 3GK, I am happy to say we have scheduled as THE PREMIER interview, Haleigh “Hawt Bunz” Comette, a soon-to-be hellion in the upcoming Age of Conan MMORPG.

Now as you all know there has been a trend of “I’m too cool for that” girls sliding into the nerd lanscape as of late. What’s up with that anyway? When did it become cool to become a game gal, when did glasses and late night raiding become a fad? My basis? Well if you are wondering, just open your fucking eyes to the media lately, I make up stuff, but this I cannot make up. I blame Felicia of “The Guild” for the trend… I’m just kidding, I was looking for an escuse to plug that awesome web-exclusive show, and the hot red-head at it’s helm.

ANYWAY! Before game galling was a fad, and before it became cool to admit you pulled an all-nighter on Call of Duty… there was that tiny demographic of hotties who played games… I am oh so lucky to know a few, Haleigh being one of them. So she has afforded me the chance to pick her brain on the subject, and maybe we can uncover the secret to the “coolness” in being a Gamer Gal.

So let’s begin… Haleigh, how long have you been gaming? And erm.. let’s see whats the other cliche first question… OH! Ya, what is your first game that you remember playing… (gawd… the cheezeball questions, how I loathe them.). But ya! How long?

Haleigh Comette: Welp, first of all, Felicia is a PvEer. My trend started when I bought my kiddo a Gamecube, it came with a copy of “Clone Wars” and stuffed inside the game was a lil’ leaflet that said: The Greatest Star Wars Story Ever Told: Yours.

I had always been warned by my mother about “freaks” who played games on the internet, so the rebel in me was naturally drawn to it. I first installed Star Wars Galaxies in January 2004, and went for a month without talking to anybody. This was prolly a good thing because I couldn’t tell the difference between NPC’s and other players anywayz. I was a crafter, not a serious player at all, until I experienced my first glimpse of PvP over player-owned bases. Seeing how the Rebels pulled together to defend their city at great cost to all of them, totally blew me away. More than anything else, I wanted to be a part of it. It’s been my passion ever since.

GD: So based on your blast at Felicia, you are more a hardcore PvPer than RPGer, am I correct?

HC: Hmmm … at the risk of costing you a private interview with Felicia, *smirking triumphantly* I think I’m much more of a hardcore roleplayer than she is. I am not a “pure” PvPer at all, I need to have a reason to fight, casual PvP for the sake of PvPing doesn’t do it for me. I’m a passionate PvPer only because of the kind of role I choose to play.

GD: What is it that attracts you to that sort of gameplay? As a PvPer myself, I should know the answer to this question, but humor me. Is it the rush of the great unknown (is he leet or is he a noob?) or is it the thrill of the conquest. Do you favor the ladders in games (proving you are ultimate badass on a server) or do you ignore the numbers?

HC: What attracts me to my style of gameplay is the bonding with other players, and seeing what other people are made of when they are under pressure. As far as ladders and leetness, I’m not really against them, but I have a different scale I measure people against than what the leaderboards say. I’ve seen people who had no ability to PvP whatsoever outperform the most skilled PvPers when there was a base on the line, fighting all on heart. That kind of experience is what keeps me coming back.

Star Wars Galaxies is a hard act to follow, I hate to say it but it will be rare to provide another game that was as social, and as flexible as the original SWG. Being that this is your first MMO experience, your standards are already out of the roof, do you realize this or do you think another SWG is possible on the horizon?

I think you hit on SWG’s strengths very well, it was the flexibility and social setup of the game that made it a class act. I never thought the combat system was terribly good, it went from broken to dumbed-down over the four years that I played. The underlying ideals of the factions in SWG, independent of species, bonded people together, and player bases were the nails. Merchants who set up vendors in contested player cities got great business. PvE lootwhores sold or donated epic weapons to defend the bases on their side. Roleplayers such as yourself proved to be the most valuable allies, since you would fight on for your cause no matter the outcome.

I think it could happen again, it only takes a dev team who can recognize the value of what happened in SWG, and learn how to build that kind of fire. It also takes a dev team who can ignore the whining from gamers, the vast majority of whom have decided a MMO should be approached like WoW, feeding off of players’ greed and insatiable appetite for loot. SOE didn’t nerf the bases and eliminate decay because subscriptions were low, they did it because the flames and hate were too much for them to handle. That’s because our fight was intense, and the hate was always spilling out onto the forums and avalanche of CSR tickets. The devs didn’t experience what it was like to defend a base with your friends against impossible odds, with the personal cost of losing XP, armor, and weapons to decay. It was a beautiful thing, and none of us will ever forget it.