missharvey: "We were really disappointed with the new WESG rules"
While at the ELEAGUE Boston Major, Joe "tolkienfanatic" Cardali had a chat with Stephanie "missharvey" Harvey about her current plans in esports as well as her thoughts on several topics surrounding the CS:GO community.
You've been kind of inactive since stepping down from CLG Red. Just talk about what you've been up to.
We've had a 'secret lineup' for the past half a year. Everyone that knows us knows about it but it hasn't been announced anywhere, we're just waiting for the right moment and the right organization. We're about to announce it within one or two weeks. I didn't retire, yet.
Did you willingly step down from CLG Red or was that a team decision?
At first it wasn't my decision. The original idea was to try out other people to see if the chemistry was better because we were losing for the past year and a half. After being benched for a couple of days, I realized maybe that decision was best for everyone and I decided to leave. I would never have made the move if they didn't make the move first but it ended up being a mutual decision.
Recently, we've seen your former teammate Christine "potter" Chi join the former Dynasty ladies in RES. What do you think of that move in general?
I think for the past years they wanted her and she wanted to go but she was loyal to us and she believed in our dream. We've had numerous attempts at keeping this team together and continuing the legacy we've had for ten years. They've been so solid and so dominant over the past years that I'm sure before she starts thinking of retirement she says "Okay, let's give it another shot one more time."
How do you like the composition of your team right now? You've got Brianna "masq" Becker, Klaudia "klaudia" Beczkiewicz, yourself, Catherine "CAth" Leroux and Maureen "ml-" Macaulay?
I think our chemistry is really nice, it's pretty unique. I've never been on a team that respects everybody's decision and role that much. It's very healthy so when we have issues it doesn't become a fight and we're able to talk about it. We're all 'old' so I guess it takes a certain maturity to be able to solve issues like that and I think we balance each other well. We have two more passive players and two more aggressive players and then there's me. I try to lead the team more like SK does where everyone has their leadership and roles and whatever the opponents do, we try to capitalize on it.
Coming up, you have WESG, which is online now as opposed to LAN. How do you like your chances there?
Honestly, we were really disappointed with the new WESG rules. It was supposed to be on LAN, we were supposed to have two slots for all America and we ended up having only one slot for NA. I personally think this is a mistake. I think there should have been at least two slots for North America as we are an extremely dominant female region in the world. Now, three of the best teams in the world out of maybe top five are fighting for one spot, which is crazy. Our team is really strong, we've been practicing a lot but obviously we're gonna play against CLG who's a full team so we'll see what we can do.
Even before your exit from CLG Red, we had the rise of Dignitas. What do you have to say about that team of girls as a whole?
I love their mentality and their spirit, which is one of the best of any CS team. They stick together, no matter if they win or lose. They're always really proud of each other and they have this sisterhood and I'm actually really proud of Mounira "GooseBreeder" Dobie; everything that she's done from our days in our team to her days now in Dignitas. She's the kind of player that really strived from adversity and became on the best players in the world.
In closing, what are your general thoughts at this point about the entire male vs female debate?
Personally, what I can say about people complaining about female tournaments, they're not for you. The tournaments are to grow the female base and every single female in that tournament plays against guys at all times. We just want one or two tournaments a year where we celebrate the fact that we can kick ass at a game. I don't see anyone complaining about collegiate or local region gaming.
For me, it's another way to create promotion into gaming but it's targeting female gamers. Sometime we target other people and sometimes we just want to have a melting pot like today at ELEAGUE Boston Major where it's the best of the best. I think it's okay to have one or two tournaments a year. We're not stealing anything, sponsors would be there either way or not. I think, for me, I just do my thing and encourage these tournaments and hope there's more females who play with the guys.
You did work for Ubisoft before this and you were on some sort of leave right?
Yeah, I was on a year leave and they eventually said after a year "Okay, you have to make a decision, you either leave or stay" and I decided I was really involved in esports and CS. It was really hard to work both jobs at the same time because I'm so passionate about things I do. I felt like I was letting either esports down or Ubisoft down when I was commuting so I said I'll try for one for a couple years and if anything I'll come back to my game design job.
