PMS-Asterisk is a group that will always amaze me. They’re an all-female competitive team and they’re into gaming for fun. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean to say that all the other girls are not gaming for fun. By all means, there are a lot of female gamers that play for fun, but we must also admit that today, it’s quite easy to drown in all the attention girls get from other people. It’s very “easy†to use gender as an advantage or to market one’s self. But that is a topic for another day.
PMS-Asterisk is the first all-female competitive DotA team in the world. That’s really something. That’s why when I learned that PMS-Asterisk was going to attend the Pinoy Gaming Festival 2013 Summer Assembly, I immediately decided to go. I wanted to meet them. No matter what.
Just a little while after I got inside the venue, “Furryfish†Tammy Tang passed by me. As soon as I realized, I just mindlessly said “Tammyyyyyyy†without knowing it. I swear I thought I just said it in my head, but I squealed thoughtlessly anyway and she heard. I know she did because she looked my way. I was taken aback because I didn’t expect it. Thankfully, I was able to pull myself together and introduce myself as “Xairylle, that girl from Twitterâ€. At some point, my cousin approached and squealed “Tammyyyyy†in the very same tone that I did. My fangirly self struggled to talk properly and I recall her asking, “Do you want to meet my team?â€
In all honesty, I don’t remember what I replied. I just remember her saying afterwards, “Okay, we’re over there at the stage.â€
I’m not sure what happened. Except I was too happy. And excited.
After their game against Neolution Orange, we were able to take a picture with them and also asked if they could sign a photo of them that we had. They were very, very friendly. These girls were so approachable. So while my friend Jizza shook hands with each of the members, I was very stupefied and stood there smiling and doing barely anything. I really need to talk to my inner fangirly self to get a hold of herself. For both of our sakes.
A little later, I managed to summon my courage and walk up to Tammy and talk to her. I wasn’t able to interview her that much or anything, but I was able to ask her a few questions:
Today, there are many girls that are entering eSports. If there is one thing that they are NOT supposed to do, what would it be?
Never do it for attention.
I see. But some people won’t realize or admit it. How does one know that she’s doing it for attention?
You will know. You will understand your own motives. You will feel that you are doing this all for attention.
What should be done when a girl realizes it’s all for attention? Should she stop?
She could stop or she could change and think of or find other reasons and motivations.
I thanked her for her time and answers afterwards and then my friend started talking to her about Boracay and other activities they could try while in the Philippines.
The girls from Team Asterisk were “guestsâ€, but they really didn’t act like they were. In a positive way, I mean. They made us feel that they were just like everyone else who share the same love and interest for video games. They were fine with being spoken to by others in the venue. They were not isolating themselves from the rest of the fans. They were always smiling. Once again, I say it is easy to drown in and get carried away by all the attention, but apparently Team Asterisk didn’t. And among their other accomplishments, that is really something.