Name: Jessica Ross

Screen name: @ajessiegoldmane

Years gaming: Approximately twenty

Favorite male game character of all time: Yoshi

Favorite female game character of all time: Carmen Sandiego

First game you ever remember playing: Duck Hunt

First gaming console you ever owned: NES

To what game have you been most addicted lately? Ascension because it's quick and I can play it on my phone between experiments.

What game have you played for the longest time, and what about it keeps you playing? MarioKart or Super Smash Bros. (both on N64). They’re great to have around for parties and for when nostalgia hits.

What game did someone convince you to try that you just hated? Dominion—gag me.

What game causes you to rage/tilt the most? Magic. There are always so many variables to think about at any given time that it's easy to misplay or miss a trigger; that's what really gets me.

Do you have any gamer regrets? Maybe it’s a misplay or chance not taken. All the misplays! No, but seriously, I feel that my biggest regret is I haven't been playing games as much as I used to—I just stress out a lot.

Trash talk: mandatory or unnecessary? Mandatory, but at myself. I usually make self-deprecating comments before anyone else has the chance—it stops people from trash-talking to me, and it shocks them when I beat them (or covers my ass when I don't).

Which one do you prefer? Video games, TCGs, or board games? Board games.

If you could go pro in any game, what game would it be? Magic probably. But I like my casual durdling.

Is the overall design of a game the most important aspect to you as a gamer, or is it the fun factor? It's more about the design. I can get over certain aesthetic or play issues if I like the objectives/strategy of the game.

Do you listen to video game soundtracks? Why or why not? No. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Tell me about the game you would create if I gave you unlimited resources. It’d be a legit, nonhandheld, open-world Pokémon game—one that doesn't follow the travel-collect-Pokémon-defeat-trainer model over and over again. It would be like Skyrim for Pokémon.

Whom do you consider one of the most sexually attractive characters (male or female) you have ever played? Was this based on pure artistic design of the character or overall character traits? Juliet Starling (from Lollipop Chainsaw) because she's super-cute and can kick ass.

If you could be any character from any game, whom would you morph into? Probably Kirby. That power-absorbing ability he has is sick, and I would love to float around.

Do you see an issue with the portrayal of women in games, and why? All the time, but I think it's more of a reflection of the general culture than a gaming-specific problem. I definitely don't think that the often-problematic treatment of women in games helps the matter, though.

Describe what makes a central character in a story-driven game appealing to you. She should be intelligent and strong (both physically and mentally). She should have flaws, but they should be gender-neutral—such as cockiness or naïveté. Too much of pop culture focuses on women's flaws arising from their relationships with men (such as Metroid Prime, The Watchmen, and so on).

Have you ever cosplayed a character or could ever see your future self cosplaying a character? I think I will be appearing at Gen Con as Starbuck a la Battlestar Galactica.

Have you ever related to any female character you have played? What about any character in general? The only character I've felt I related to was Link in Ocarina of Time. I was so involved in that game I felt I had become him.

Have you ever used (or considered using) a male avatar and name while gaming to avoid people knowing you are a female? My Magic Online handle is intentionally gender-neutral for that reason. I don't play any other online games.

What do you think about the phenomenon of turning popular gaming characters into types of pornography? Blasphemy

What book or series not already made into a game do you think would just kill it? Gossip Girl, as told by Richard Lawson.

How have your friends and family supported your gaming or tried to change it? People were shocked when I started to actually play Magic, but they got over it.

Do you look for a love of gaming in the people you date, or do you find it irrelevant? I always have. Games have been too significant a portion of my life to not have them be a shared experience. Thankfully, I married a man who loves his games.

What kind of impact do you think MMOs are having on society? Would you change anything? I think that addiction (to gaming) is a real problem in some of these circles, and we need to be looking out for our own instead of egging them on.

Do you believe there is a correlation between violence in video games and violence in society? Yes, I think there’s a negative correlation. I think that having the outlet of playing video games helps most people de-stress. I think they may only be related to violent behavior in real life in the case of mental illness.

Can you rank what you would consider the top five games you have ever played?

1. Magic
2. Poker
3. Professor Layton (the entire series)
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
5. Munchkin