Scorpia (journalist)
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Scorpia is the pseudonym of a
video game journalist Video game journalism (also called games journalism or video game criticism) is a specialized branch of journalism that covers various aspects of video games, including game reviews, industry news, and player culture, typically following a core ...
who was active from the early 1980s through the late 1990s. She wrote for ''
Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...
'', reviewing
role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
s and
adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...
s. Scorpia was known for her harsh criticism of video games she disliked. She was fired from ''CGW'' in 1999, and subsequently retired from games journalism. Her pseudonym is based on a character she created in a role-playing game.


Career

Scorpia became interested in computers after attending a computer expo. Her initial aim was to become a programmer, and she said she bought her first computer games to learn how to program. In November 1982, while working as a data processing consultant, Scorpia co-founded an early gaming-related
Special Interest Group A special interest group (SIG) is a community within a larger organization with a shared interest in advancing a specific area of knowledge, learning or technology where members cooperate to effect or to produce solutions within their particular f ...
on
CompuServe CompuServe, Inc. (CompuServe Information Service, Inc., also known by its initialism CIS or later CSi) was an American Internet company that provided the first major commercial online service provider, online service. It opened in 1969 as a times ...
. It became the group's eighth-most-popular forum, and Scorpia received free access to their subscription service in return for maintaining it. As a
system operator A sysop (, an abbreviation of system operator) is an administrator of a multi-user computer system, such as a bulletin board system (BBS) or an online service virtual community.Jansen, E. & James, V. (2002). NetLingo: the Internet dictionary. Ne ...
, she ran online conferences and hosted games. The following year, ''
Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...
'' (''CGW'') owner Russell Sipe contacted her on CompuServe and invited her to write for the magazine. Scorpia agreed, though she admitted she had never read it. She reviewed
role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
s and
adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...
s there for 16 years. Scorpia became a prominent reviewer in the industry. In addition to her writing and online presence, she provided game hints to players who contacted her through a post office box. She became known for harsh criticism of video games she disliked. ''CGW'' thus billed her as "controversial" and often published a Scorpia review together with another of the same game by a different reviewer. Scorpia's review of '' Ultima VIII: Pagan'' was highlighted by
GameSetWatch ''Game Developer'' (known as ''Gamasutra'' until 2021) is a website created in 1997 that focuses on aspects of video game development. It is owned and operated by Informa TechTarget and acted as the online sister publication to the print maga ...
as one of the harshest video game reviews ever written. Her review of '' Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World'' resulted in an angry response from the game's designer, Jon Van Caneghem, who named a monster after Scorpia in his next game. While usually a fan of
Infocom Infocom, Inc., was an American software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced a business application, a relational database called ''Cornerstone (software), Cornerston ...
, she disliked ''
Infidel An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person who is accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or irreligious people. Infidel is an ecclesiastical term in Christianity around which th ...
'' so much that she never mentioned it in print, although she did lambast the game by name during an online chat with creator Mike Berlyn. ''CGW'' editor Johnny Wilson described Scorpia as "one of the most refreshing people you could ever meet", and he praised her encyclopedic knowledge of games' puzzles. However, he also cited one example where the two clashed over the role-playing game '' Darklands''. Scorpia wrote a negative review criticizing the game's bugs, and Wilson attached an editorial sidebar with a more positive view. Wilson later acknowledged this was a bad idea, saying that Scorpia's fans correctly criticized him for undercutting her review and overlooking the game's flaws. Because the magazine required a reviewer to finish any game before publishing a review, Wilson said Scorpia favored linearity, resulting in unwarranted criticism of some open-ended works. ''CGW'' thus sometimes did not assign her such games. In 1999, Scorpia was fired shortly after George Jones replaced Wilson as editor-in-chief. She stated that someone intimated to her that the magazine wanted to go in a different direction. She neither looked for further work in games journalism nor received any offers; she attributed her reputation for tough reviews as one possible reason for the latter. Scorpia started a subscription
webzine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the computer ...
after this, but it failed when she could not find enough readers. Scorpia subsequently started a free website, where she blogged. She stopped updating the site three years later in 2009, after declaring she was unable to afford the new computer that would be needed to keep reviewing games. In a 2019 interview with ''
Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...
'' she stated that while she still plays video games, she has no desire to return to reviewing them. She insisted it was "really more work than most people realize", and that she is officially retired.


Personal life

Her pseudonym comes from role-playing games and is based on her astrological sign of Scorpio. In an interview with Arinn Dembo of
Gamasutra ''Game Developer'' (known as ''Gamasutra'' until 2021) is a website created in 1997 that focuses on aspects of video game development. It is owned and operated by Informa TechTarget and acted as the online sister publication to the print maga ...
, she said she was already known as Scorpia because of her work in online communities and found it "more fitting" than her real name for her focus on role-playing and adventure games. She values her privacy, citing that as another reason for using a pseudonym. At CGW, only the owner, Sipe, knew her real name. Her favorite video game is '' Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar''.


References


External links

* (archived) {{authority control 20th-century births Living people Video game critics Women video game critics American women bloggers American bloggers Pseudonymous women writers Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women 21st-century pseudonymous writers