Loading ...

Today I, King of Respawns, am given the honor to talk to Death Temptress and Nightmare Nikki, co-creators of the up and coming online community “Curb Stomp Models” (CSM). Now from the outside, this group may seem like “just another girl gamer” online portal, focusing on girls using a mix of nerd cred and sex appeal to try and make themselves famous. However, their basic mission statement made me wonder if there was more to them than meets the eye. So without further ado, it’s time to the pick these ladies brains and see what CSM is all about, how they feel about the gender divide in gaming and what they feel about the gaming industry and community !

King: Good evening ladies! First off, let me thank you for the opportunity to conduct this interview.
So, for those readers who may not be familiar with Curb Stomp Models (CSM), why don’t you two tell
us a bit about what CSM is and how it came about?

Death Temptress: Curb Stomp Modeling was created by me and my sister to bring together a
community of ladies who share both the love of gaming and modeling. We wanted to put together a
place where we could work with the game industry by providing Models who are also knowledgeable
in the products and services that video game companies provide.

King: So, would it be accurate to say the overall aim of CSM is to try and advance your careers within
the gaming industry? I did notice several social aspects to the community – such as gaming nights,
charity events, etc – is there a different aim, or mission, to CSM besides providing the industry with
talented and credible females?

Death Temptress: One of our goals is to advance our models in the game industry, but I wouldn’t say
that is our sole purpose. Our mission is much more than just providing credible females to the game
industry. We give back to the game community by participating in charitable events, hosting game
nights and tournaments and doing contests as well as doing reviews and game related videos. We
love to get to know the community that we have made and give back in any way possible.

King: Now, I do have a question for you (or several, technically) in regards to your take on that
gaming community. One thing I’ve noticed about this generation of gamers is that there seems to be
a “gender divide”, if you will, within the community. Whether it is guys harassing girls online, girls
bragging about themselves or boasting about being a girl gamer, or the multitude of gender separate
clans and communities, there is a decent amount of “hate” out there. Do you think gamers are too
focused on gender and separation? Do you think separation is a healthy thing? Or do you think that
guys and girl gamers get along better than what the internet may lead us to believe?

Nikki: My experience playing online differs greatly. It’s quite random, I will be in a match with a group
and they don’t even acknowledge the fact that there are females in the game. The next match would
then have a bunch of “trolls” that try their hardest to insult you. Of course other girl gamers have
heard all of the different kinds of name calling. Best advice I could tell you is just laugh it off. Then
of course the girls vary as well. You have the overly proud girls that do it for the attention. You also
have the ones that have done it [gamed for] so long they see no difference. Lastly you have the group
of girls that are proud they are girl gamers and still can go pro in the leaderboards. I honestly get
along with guys online perfectly, I do find it hard to find fellow girls online to put aside their territorial
instincts of their gamer pals and accept another girl to their game. CSM has helped me get in touch
with some amazing girls that see no gender differences and we get along more than perfectly!

Death Temptress: I’ve been online long enough to just ignore the harassment and laugh: I’ve heard
it all! A lot of girls like to stick with their gender and feel more comfortable and guys they like to do
what they do best and that’s talk trash. I believe that people focus way too much on gender than they
should. Most of the people on my list are guys and I have my share of females on there as well. It
comes down to who gamers feel more comfortable playing with and who is going to help them to win
the match.

King: Well it’s good to see the head ladies of CSM can balance being strong female gamers while still
having a cooperative spirit with the men (Gives me a little bit of hope for the future of gaming). And
speaking of gaming….do the ladies of CSM prefer to play together in co-op fun, or do you girls prefer
to get competitive and try to kick ass and chew bubblegum? What about it (co-op or Vs) does it for
you ladies?

Nikki: I am more of a laid-back kind of gamer that loves to co-op with friends, but I am not shy of the
competitive side of gaming! So I have a casual side and competitive as well. I can’t speak for the other models of CSM because there is such a diverse group of gamers.

Death Temptress: The great thing about CSM is that we have a wide range of gamers from shooters to
MMORPGers, (Which is great for me personally because I play everything.) We have our competitive
ladies who love spilling pixelated blood then we have our casual gamers creating amazing things on
Minecraft. My sister and I have been known to give our opponents a run for their money. I myself love
my shooters and dominating the competition!

King: Well Nikki and Death, it is nice to see diversity in the CSM ranks. Although as one who gets
dominated online, I feel you should thank me for boosting your k/d! Now…as you are playing across
your different games online, I am certain you have come across a decent amount of guy gamers. What
do you gals like to see in the guys who hit you up, and what are some of your biggest pet peeves?

Death Temptress: I myself love when gamers COMMUNICATE! Nothing is better than getting a
teammate that actually wants to use teamwork to win the game rather than running out like Rambo.
I would have to say my biggest pet peeves online are the people who send you X-rated messages and
people who team-kill. Well then there are the guys that do both at the same time.

Nikki: I love it when someone has good sportsmanship and goes through the effort of sending me a
message saying “good game” or “GG”. It is also fun to come across guys that have a great sense of
humor and overall aren’t rude. The pet peeves could go on forever! While playing Dark Souls online I
absolutely hate when others constantly ask for items. Then of course all of us gamer girls come across
perverts that hit on them. We also get vulgar messages and questions asking to uhh.. trade pictures.
To be put in a nice way! [laughs]

King: Ok, so we gents need to communicate, have a sensor of humor and not show off our…joysticks.
Understand that male readers? And speaking of guys…I have no doubt that a lot of you ladies
are “spoken for”, or have a boyfriend, so to speak. How do the boyfriends of the CSM feel about all
the attention you receive? Does it ever cause any issues?

Death Temptress: My boyfriend usually gets a good laugh out of it and understands the type of
messages and harassment I get when gaming. At the end of the day, it’s just another opponent
destroyed and xp added to my level.

Nikki: Oh jeez the things my boyfriend does to the trolls online! [laughs] There will be times when I
get harassed online and I let my man take the mic, making all sorts of jokes. We both know it’s just a
game and all online, so why not turn it into a laugh, right? Of course he grumbles under his breath at
them guys but nothing to extreme

King: Well good to see CSM game time won’t get in the way of love! Well sadly it looks like this
interview is starting to come to an end. Second to last question – with the New Year almost upon us
and a new slew of games coming out, what are some of the hot must have games to get as far as the
CSM is concerned? What should we eager to play?

Nikki: Halo 4 hands down! I am a Halo fan and must have this new addition to the series. As well as
seeing what 343 Industries has in stores for us!

Death Temptress: Halo 4 is a must in my book, despite being made by 343 instead of good ole Bungie.
We are doing a midnight launch party for it! Call of Duty Black Ops 2 mostly for the zombies: who
knows, they may surprise us this time around. Plus we can’t forget Crysis 3 it’s a must have as well as
Gears of War Judgment. I could go on and on about upcoming titles as I want to get my hands on most
of them.

King: Well I am sure most of us who play on the 360 will definitely check out Halo 4 next week. And
you better have a great paying set of gigs to afford all of those games death! If I didn’t say it before,
thank you ladies VERY MUCH for your time spent on this interview.

So guys and girls, when you get a chance, check out the ladies at www.curbstompmodels.com. You
will get to see the future faces of the gaming industry, as well as some great charity drives and fun
gaming sessions. As always, live and let game!