"Girls Who Tank"

Hi all, there are many streamers and players of World of tanks out there, but not many who are girls. I have had the privilege to interview 4 amazing "Girls who Tank"

They are Ims89, Ritagamer, Sofi and SwedishLadyC.

For the few who may not know you, who are you?

I’m SwedishLadyC, a lady with a dirty language that is on level 33 in age, married and mother to 2 kids. Streaming with my husband Masse, a.k.a. the purple warrior, since he got a latex outfit to stream in (and did, there is clips of it on Twitch). The C in my name actually stands for Christine, but everyone is saying my nickname, Kicki. I’m the one that people hate or loves. I don’t think that’s anything in-between. People don’t come to my channel for the pro tip gaming (I still have so much to learn) but for the laughs, jokes and the filthy humour.

My IGN is Sofilein, I'm a Community Contributor for Wargaming from America and have been playing World of Tanks since early 2013

I’m Ims89 a 27 year young lady from the Netherlands. I met my boyfriend Cathril through World of Warcraft, we've been together for 7 years now. Ims is my nickname and everybody calls me that . I’m more use to the nickname than I’m used to my real name.

I am Rita "Gamer" Sobral, a Portuguese lass standing tall at 5'3 and living in the UK. I'm a Tank Connoisseur, Cat Mother, Geek. I drink like a man and swear like a Sailor.

I've got a wide set of skills, I'm able to talk random for hours, I can eat a 1/2 pound messy burger in 5 min and I'm an M3Lee Unicum.

And for whatever is worth, I happened to be the first girl now woman to produce WoT content for the English community, I started back in 2012 and been part of the furniture ever since.

How long have you been a gamer, and who or what inspired you?

I grew up with Commodore 64, The Great Giana Sisters, Nintendo, Gameboy and was kind of a gamer girl as a child. Played a lot of Tombraider when it came out, Backpacker and Need for Speed. Also had drunken nights with Crazy Taxi on Playstation, so many laughs back in the days. And then I lost interest for many years, I’m gonna be honest and say that I thought it was very lame to just sit inside and play games and only interact with online friends. I’m so glad I was wrong.

Almost every night I'm laughing so hard and having so much fun in the games and on teamspeak.

I have got so many new friends online since I started to play. Hopefully a whole bunch that will remain friends for the rest of my life.

I think I've been “real” gamer since 2008. Before 2008 I played a lot of the Sims, but I don’t think I was a real gamer at that time. Because of my sister's ex boyfriend I fell in love with World of Warcraft. This was the first game I was really addicted to. Since I met Cathril I started playing more different kind of games.

I've been playing games on the PC since an early age- I've a scant memory of playing Red Baron II on my Dad's lap at the age of four, he liked flight games and dabbled around with RTS and so I joined in and got hooked, too.

As long as I can remember. I grew up with a "Gamer mom" and would often watch her play on an Atari, she used to be a queen at Arcades. I definitely got my geeky side from her.

What games do you play the most?

World of tanks, well almost only World of Tanks. Trying to learn Minecraft and on rare occasions I play GTA5 on Playstation. After a couple of glasses of wine Cards against humanity is really fun.

I've played World of Tanks for many years now. World of Tanks is the game I am streaming the most. But recently PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is catching up to World of Tanks. I really like to play that game in my spare time and want to stream it more often as well.

Currently I work very actively and have my schedule very full with my job and with volunteering, so I stick with World of Tanks primarily as it's more rewarding to stick with a game and community I already know and very much dig.

World of tanks is still my main game but I took a likin on Player Unknown Battlegrounds and been delivering some Portuguese Imperialism in Hearts of Iron IV.

I also started catching up on single player playthroughs that I had been ignoring for years in my steam account like Bioshock.

You all stream World of tanks, who or what got you into wot, and why do you play it?

That’s a funny story actually.

I was so tired of having a husband that just sat up all nights, talking to other people on TS, I missed the social life with him and I missed to have a common hobby together. You could probably say that I was VERY pissed off at him. During that time, I had “a part” of a horse that I took care of, so I said to Masse (my husband) one day: “Okey, if you come with me to the stables from time to time, then I’ll try to play on of the games you are playing..” At that moment he was all into World of Tanks so I started an account and started playing and then I was stuck. Do I even have to mention that I quit the horse-thing and Masse never ever had to follow me to the stables? LOL. And here I am, 2 years later.

The funniest thing is, Cathril started playing World of Tanks and I thought it was a really stupid game. Why shooting tanks? But the moment I found out that it wasn’t only shooting tanks I really got into it as well.

Me and Cathril are interested in War, Tanks are also a part of it. And because it isn’t only shooting but also a very tactical game I fell in love with it.

I started back in 2013, saw a WoT ad online and as a military history hobbyist with a wargame pastime going back years, it caught my eye and I tried it at the start of my junior semester in uni. The main features of the game that keep me engaged are the armor mechanics and strategy elements, as well as the 15-mins-or-less timeframe. The main games I played with PC were RTS and MOBA, and a typical FPS style of game gets repetitive for me. I like having to think with angling and with terrain, while the learning curve can be steep for a newcomer, eventually gittin gud by committing tank and map features to memory is something rewarding!

To be honest I did not want to play World of Tanks but after enough insistence I was convinced to try it out and got immediately addicted to it. I've always had a natural predisposition for anything History but my native country is not a tanking nation, such subject is not even taught back in school, I grew an interest and passion for tanks, real tanks through this online game.

Do you have a favourite tank in the game, and why?

E50 is a very fun tank when you get to fully upgrade it. A bit of good armour (yes, I got a Steel wall for one of the games with it), a accurate powerful gun and okay speed. But my fun tank will always be KV-2. So many one shots I have done with that derp gun, and so many evil laughs when hitting enemy with it.

Yes I have! I really love the M46-Patton and I think every viewer in my stream knows that! Ive been to Tankfest for 3 years in a row now and everytime I need to hug the M46-Patton in the Bovington Tank Museum (UK). Why do I like it? Well I just like the way it moves, the way it shoots, the gun depression and it’s also a good looking tank :D !

My favourite tank tends to change with the season (and/or the patch updates...) but I've stuck with the heavies and an aggressive playstyle overall with favorites including T-10, Cent AX, E-50M and of course the very balanced Maus.

I started by loving the IS-3 and then the Tortoise mostly but the game meta has changed so rapidly that I no longer have a favourite tank. I try instead to play with a wide range of tanks from different classes and tiers.

What is your favoured playstyle?

On stream I would like to say medium. I have just started to play mediums, and its fun when you learning so much about that play style. Off stream I like to play heavy and TD’s. One point in my life I was a huge arty-girl, but I’m happy I decided to change from that ;)

I love to play mediums and heavies. I like to be on the frontline with my medium or heavy tanks. Sitting back in a bush like a TD isn't really my thing. I really don’t have the patience to be in the back all the time. As for light I haven’t found out how to play it yet but since I learn more about it I really enjoy it so far. And arty.. lets not talk about that :P

I appear to have answered that question in the last one lol

I would say I have an orthodox playstyle, by that is that I do not bound a tank's capabilities by whatever class Wargaming calls it. I very much like to take the M3 Lee as a TD and vehicles like the Tortoise and Jagdpanzer E-100 as HTs. I am not shy to use the amazing WASD-key game feature even in artillery, as example, that one -recent- time I got a Raider medal on the SU-14-1.

Do you think players in stream chat talk differently to you as opposed to if you were a male streamer?

Of course. First off all, I don’t think it, I know it. People (and actually other streamers) says often to me: “Yeah, you get viewers just because you are a girl…” Maybe that’s right, BUT. The highest amount of viewers isn’t in my stream to watch my face, they are actually there to hear the entertainment from me and Masse and watch the games we are playing.

Combine World of tanks and some dirty humor and then you will have a epic evening. People laughs at us, laughs with us and have fun with us.

And they are also there to hear me swear in Swedish ;)

Yes, because I think its more special to see a woman streaming because there are more men gaming then woman.

Contrary to popular expectation I find the majority of people that interact in my chat are actually nicer, and more forgiving of my error than they would be were I male, I think.

I believe each streamer caters a different type of community doesnt matter if its a male or a female. My community is quite on the sick and twisted side, just like after my own heart but we are also quite helpfull towards one another.

Do viewers ever try to chat you up?

Oh yes. The amount of inappropriate stuff I have got during this year I have been streaming is crazy. If you are regularly in my channel and interact with me, then its okay to make jokes about marrying me, jokes about sexual stuff or move in with Masse. I have a very high tolerance in my stream. But when I get whisperers from random guys that never said anything or doesn’t have any “friendly” relationship to me at all, then it’s just creepy. And the amount of “F**k me”-chats directly on stream is unreal. Used to happen much more before I had my personal settings of moderators in my channel.

Most of the creepy guys was actually Swedish guys. I have had a amount of trolls in my channel ofc, but with all of the friends and the mods, they doesn't turn up that often anymore.

Yes sometimes they say how beautifull I am, or that they like the way I look that day. They give me compliments every now and then.

Every so often, sure. Typically any 'flirt' attempted with me is rather light and probably in jest.

Do you mean in "whatcha doin girl" manner? I suppose every now and then but one of the reasons why I made WoT my main game was mostly because of community. The WoT community is far more mature and respectful than the communities of some of the other games I've streamed in the past.

What is the strangest thing you have been offered whilst streaming?

I hope there will not be any kids that would read this, but a**l rape and someone that would like to be the father of my unborn kids.

Someone wanted to see my feet, I was like why do you want to see my feet!? I think it wasn’t a joke but a serious question….

Sometimes people want to gift uniform pieces or cool tank items, but never anything strange.

I have been offered some strange things along the years, most of which I do not feel comfortable telling.

Do you have any gaming idols?

I like to support small streamers ofc, but if I need to say someone with a little bigger audience then I would like to say Skill4ltu and SpasmaTV. They interact with the viewers even if the chat is going crazy.

When I started watching streams on twitch I saw Ritagamer playing World of Tanks. We started chatting, I joined FILO (First In Last Out) and since then ive been following her streams for a long time. Besides watching her streams we became friends. We met a couple of times in the Netherlands and the last couple of years in England. I consider Rita to be a friend and not a idol.

Nah

Do you think there should be more female streamers?

Yes, there is always room for more. As long as they do it for them self and the right reasons. E-sport is a fantastic hobby, because you are allowed to be YOU on stream, and if someone doesn't like it then they could leave.

Yes. I think everybody that wants to stream needs to start streaming, doesn’t matter if they are male or female.

Sure, I'd hope any lady out there who would like to stream ought to get involved and give it a try.

The more the merrier.

One thing I noticed is that the female WoT playerbase is far different than the females from other games.

Unfortunately and generally speaking, most females in the gaming community tend to be a bit hostile towards one another on their personal attention seeking quest to be the "alfa gamer girl", that doesn’t happen here. All the girls are super nice and we do help each other. I could not recommend more Sofilein, IMS89 and the newcomer SwedishLadyC. Also, she may not stream very often but check out WhiteIvy, she's a cheeky little demon.

Do you enjoy the interaction with your viewers, does it make it hard to concentrate on gaming with all the chat?

That’s the best part of all, the chat. And the worst. Because I cant concentrate on the game for full because I’m curious about the chat and what they are talking about. One of my things that I need to be better at. LOL.

Yes I really enjoy the interaction with my viewers, that’s the biggest reason for me why I like to stream and play a game. You can share your experience with each other and have a lot of fun about other things as well. The interaction makes the concentration harder yes! Since I decided to finish the game before I look to the chat I have better games in my streams. But its still hard, because you want to talk with your viewers aswell and you don’t want to miss a thing.

Yes, that's part of what makes streaming so fun and worthwhile for me! I love this community and the groups I've found myself a part of through WG over the years. Multitasking and social interaction is sort of my shtick but I do get distracted sometimes! "Look at the map, NOT AT THE CHAT"

Personally, Interaction with the chat is what makes it so much fun. Viewers in the chat as just as important as the streamer him/herself in my opinion.

WoT is even at the perfect pace to keep fluid conversations with the chat while you play.

I ask this to all streamers I speak to, what do you think you bring to a stream that is different to other streamers?

I bring the quirky and weird in to streaming. I bring a dirty mind from a “girl” into Twitch, that play a masculine game and actually improves in it. My guilty pleasure is tanks, and men in military outfit. My stream isn't about how to play the game, but to show that you could still play bad or good and still have fun and have a place were we all can meet and have fun together.

I think I have serious stream where I want to show people nice games but its also important to have a lot of fun. I also think that the community I have so far is really close. They know me, I know them and they know when they can troll me and how far they can go with that. It's more a family then I am the streamer and they are my viewers.

Each stream I play, I aim to both improve AND have a good time doing it. A chat environment where people are comfortable hanging out and interacting or asking questions about the game is what I like to have and what I hope the community digs, too. Typically a chill attitude to the game is well-received and I intend to maintain that- as well as a damn good music playlist.

I like people to know and feel that they can reach me when I am livestreaming. I like to keep a relaxed and friendly atmosphere and explore different topics with the chat while playing a wide variety of vehicles. And the music of course, can't go wrong with some Rita.fm too.

I’m sure there are many things but what would be the main thing you would change in world of tanks?

Everyone else is talking about the matchmaking, so that’s already on top for Wargaming (LOL!). I would like to say more maps into rotation and limit the number of premium ammo.

The matchmaking when you play in a platoon. Matchmaking alone is a lot better! But it feels like when you’re in a platoon that they punish you for being in a platoon. I don’t like the stunning effect from arties as well, it’s not funny when the hit from the arty lands 20 meters away from you and you’re still stunned for 10 sec, it can ruin my mood.

Without a doubt, the change to 25% RNG. For me, learning weakspots and understanding armor, pen, and angling is part of the fun and the challenge to improving as a WoT player- the more it comes down to 'luck', it ruins the fun and motivation to improve, and I think it also heightens the learning curve for new players. A low-exp crew makes it all the tougher to damage the enemy, and way too many of my friends IRL have washed out before Tier V and quit the game since learning weakspots and doing 0 damage anyway just isn't any fun. I want WoT to grow and improve and feel that high RNG is a barrier to that.

It's hard to pick one thing :-)

Is there anything you would like to say to your followers and fans?

I am a big pile of love for you all. Many of you are my best friends and I always love when you come and join us on stream or teamspeak. I really do. Love is free, spread that s**t everywhere!

I really want to thank everybody that’s in my community already, without you I didn’t make my stream this far. I want to say to the people that don’t know me yet. You’re more then welcome to join my family! I am a open person that like to talk and share my experience. Also I really like to have people around that can give me tips to make me better and better. Most important thing for me is, having fun and trying to learn as well!

You rock! Streaming has been a tremendously cool experience and a fantastic adventure over the years, every person who has come along and been a part of it has added something and I'm beyond appreciative of those who enjoy it and support it in their own way. I started streaming on a dare and never thought people would even bother watching, much less dig it and give back as you have. You're valued very much. THANK YOU!