As one of the most popular PlayDates on GameCrush.com, Ieva Vashkus is used to getting judged for her looks ("'Hey, nice boobies,' is how a lot of guys start, she said) but she'd rather get attention for her gaming skills. Vashkus, a 24-year old college student from Seattle, is also studying microbiology at the University of Washington, is a hardcore PC-gamer who uses GameCrush has a way to make a little extra money. Vashkus, who goes by the alias "Vodka Clarity" on GameCrush played Call of Duty: Black Ops and spoke with GameSmith about her experience on the site.Interview with a PlayDate - A Chat with GameCrush's Vodka Clarity
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As one of the most popular PlayDates on GameCrush.com, Ieva Vashkus is used to getting judged for her looks ("'Hey, nice boobies,' is how a lot of guys start, she said) but she'd rather get attention for her gaming skills. Vashkus, a 24-year old college student from Seattle, is also studying microbiology at the University of Washington, is a hardcore PC-gamer who uses GameCrush has a way to make a little extra money. Vashkus, who goes by the alias "Vodka Clarity" on GameCrush played Call of Duty: Black Ops and spoke with GameSmith about her experience on the site.GAMESMITH: What's been your GameCrush experience been like?
It's been positive. I mean there's definitely some women and people on the site that don't really understand what it is. Some people think it's a dating site for gamers, some people thought it was pretty much a porn site. And there are girls that treat it like a porn site. I've heard of a lot of things like people going into games to play strip games or whatever.
GameSmith: Strip games?
Yeah, like you play little casual games and as you win or lose that clothes come off. Personally that's not what I do. But on the other hand I've met a lot of interesting people and a lot of good gamers, which has actually blossomed into some non-paid gaming friendships.
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GameSmith: The guys that you play with, what are they usually looking for?
What I find is that you'll find the ones that have some kind of fetish, or want you to get naked. I mean, I did have a foot fetish guy ask to see my feet. But I wouldn't show them to him. I'm usually pretty straightforward and say "Look, I don't do this, this, or this." But a lot of people, I just booked for an overweight Brazilian guy who works in IT and he's clear he just wants to make friends because he's very lonely. I find that gamers can be very lonely, especially in the department of spending time with women.
GameSmith: Has it been weird for you to get paid for gaming?
I find it so far that it's a pretty natural progression - there's definitely some people where there interest only goes so far as the transaction. There's some people, you're playing these games and you're constantly talking, and you kind of connect, especially if they're good. I really appreciate good gamers. If I know when I invite them, they're not going to bring me down, I will have absolutely no problem playing with them. I get a lot of random invites for friends on Steam and Xbox and I always accept them.
GameSmith: How do you handle it when you deal with the people who just want fetish stuff or people whove gone too far?
I nip it in the bud from the beginning. If they're right off saying "Hey, nice boobies." That's how a lot of them start. I say "Well, thank you very much, but I want you to know that I don't show them." Even if some of them get very aggressive about it, I break it down for them with how fiscally irresponsible it would be for me to do it. That usually gets them to shutup.
GameSmith: Wait, fiscally irresponsible?
Yeah. That's a logic they can't argue with. Why would I show my breasts to this individual for $20 bucks an hour when I can go to a site specifically dedicated to that kind of thing and show them for $50 or something like that.
GameSmith: Of course, you also wouldn't be wearing a gaming headset on those sites probably. Is this something you can tell friends and family that you're doing this? Is it awkward?
I definitely tell some people because I stopped hiding the fact that I'm a huge nerd a long time ago. My boyfriend knows. My mother knows. A bunch of people know. And believe it or not, a lot of people appreciate the hustle of it. The idea that I'm already a gamer so to turn it into something that I'm receiving a profit on? That's pretty amazing.
GameSmith: How many hours a week do you spend on GameCrush?
Not that many. It depends on how busy I am. It could be like 4 hours a week, or sometimes closer to 40 hours a week. If I'm at home at my parents, but I don't do it much when I'm busy with school and want to do my own gaming for fun.
GameSmith: How much money to you make a month off it?
I've made $700 or $800 a month, but I actually haven't been there a whole month yet. I'm relatively new, but I'm outspoken so I think I've attracted a lot of attention. I love the forums, and I'm constantly posting. I have a feeling I'm one of the higher yield individuals. I mean, when I first read about it, I heard stories of people waiting two to three weeks before they get a single person to play a game with them. For me within 20 minutes, I already had paid games.
GameSmith: Do you feel like there's a stigma about gamer girls?
Yeah, that we're all terrible. Or we're attention whores. Even my boyfriend's friends - they all work for Microsoft and when they first heard I played WoW, they all assumed I was just an attention whore. And then when I started talking about it, they figured out that I was above them as far as what I completed in the game.
GameSmith: Some girls I talked to hide their identity when they play online normally. Is that something you do?
I just learned to embrace it. Humor is one of the best defense mechanisms. I'm not very dramatic, so if you don't give them anything to fuel it then, if they say, you're an attention whore, I'm just like "Ok ." I say I actually have more problems with other gamer girls.
I used to raid in EQ2 on a PVP server (I know, I know, I'm a big nerd) and there was a female warlock and she actually started crying when I joined the guild because it meant she was no longer going to get all the loot and all the boys would stop paying attention to her. She actually posted this and the Guildmaster was like "Woah, keep your personal shit out of here." And so, I noticed, the gamer girls get really catty with each other.
GameSmith: How do you feel when sexuality does get used in games themselves?
I don't have a problem with it because usually the aesthetic is much nicer. Like, I wouldn't want to play a game as a warrior and have this big metal uniform. My only problem is in military games, the only thing you can play as a male. I wish there were more female playable characters in games. It's still a male prodiminated industry, I realize. I like playing attractive character models.
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