Thanks to my computer fan breaking down over Christmas, it's been a while since I was able to write anything for SK, let alone an entire column. But it's a new year, I have a new computer, and I'm writing about a new game - at least, new for me.

However, instead of sprouting off ignorant opinions about one of the fastest up-and-coming esports games in the world, I thought I'd take a back seat. Instead of the usual Zechs Files format, the lovely Miss Neha Nair tells SK-Gaming all about American esports, girl gaming and, of course, DoTA.

DoTA gets a lot of stick from non-players, especially the WC3 community in Europe. why do u think that is

PMS.Rinoa: People compare it to wc3 too much, and that's what pisses me off. Zomg, in wc3 you have to control 500 units and in DotA you control 1 hero. So what? There's more depth to it than that. I've seen professional wc3/cs/cod/wow players completely fail miserably in DotA. There are so many elements to the game that you will not understand and appreciate until you play it at a competitive level.

I understand that DoTA is incredibly popular in Asia and you appeared in a newspaper in Malaysia recently. Why do you think the contrast in scenes between East and West is so stark?

PMS.Rinoa: Asia has always just embedded gaming into their lifestyle. For one I think that's one plus of the crappy internet there, people typically don't play at home so that's why so many LAN shops exist. It's because of that, that gaming is more of a lifestyle there. It just seems a lot more "embraced" by people in general, and companies. I was shocked when I saw the SMM office (the company that hosted the event) It was all decorated like the various Blizzard titles.

Do you see the DoTA scene in west ever catching up with the Asian one?

PMS.Rinoa: DotA is rising in Europe I think, but it can't battle with CS/Halo 3 etc in America. But that's what happens when there are no American LANs for it.

Do you think being a girl in such a widely male oriented community is a help or a hindrance?

PMS.Rinoa: Both. I wont lie, women get their advantages and perks for their gender in gaming. For one, sponsors want us to work at their booths and pay us for it, not guys and there is definitely the marketing/publicity perk but not everything is a walk in the park when you're a gamer girl.

When it comes to actual competition, it's harder for women to gain trust and respect from fellow male players. Speaking from personal experience, I've always felt underrated by many male DotA players. There are some people that will never expect you to play well. And come on, I know every girl has heard it at least once, "you're good....for a girl."

Are girls as good as boys then? Why don't we see so many of them?

PMS.Rinoa: We can't say that in general girls are as good as guys, because I think the balance is way too off. When it comes to DotA for one, there is a much, much smaller pool of players to choose from, so it's less likely that you're going to get a full team of skilled players that happen to all get along too. I think I completely understand why though, in general female players are typically not as good as guys.

Most women think just playing the game repeatedly is enough "practice" which is completely false. You can't just play DotA over and over and understand everything you need to understand. Rather than just playing, you need to study replays/pay attention to how people move on the map and learn the patterns of your enemies. Those kind of habits are very rarely found in female players.

Why do you think that is?

PMS.Rinoa: I really don't know, it was always a struggle for me to get my team-mates to watch replays and stuff, they just don't do it. And if they do, I'm not with them to see what they're doing. It could be laziness, it could be lack of motivation or it could be intimidation.

In terms of gaming, you've been round the block a few times and you currently work with Fnatic. What's it like working with another of the biggest female names in the scene?

PMS.Rinoa: Hafu is awesome, I was actually surprised how friendly she was the first time I met her. She's one of those rare female gamers, that do really have that desire to not just play competitively, but really understand everything in depth which is why I think she's so successful. She is pretty young though, but she's doing well and it's nice working with her.

While we're on the subject, what do you think of DotA as an esport?

PMS.Rinoa: Well, I can understand to some degree why it's an esport but I think there's way too much randomness/luck involved. I went to ESL Montreal and all the WoW players were so angry at the new patch. I remember watching Fnatic play Roccat, one round lasted like 5 seconds and I thought that was retarded. WoW players themselves just complain all the time about how "stupid" that game is sometimes.

I think it's weird....most players are passionate about the game they play! There is luck in DotA but it's not as major as WoW for sure.

So you're the manager of a WoW team, player in a DoTA team and you're named after a Final Fantasy character. Gaming's only a small part of your life it seems...

PMS.Rinoa: You forgot DotA coverage, but ya, very tiny part in my opinion. I have a life, I swear (laughing) I’m just really good with being busy.

Never the less, you're quite passionate about esports, do you think that's more difficult to live with in America?

PMS.Rinoa: I want to move to Singapore. I would not call it difficult, it's just not as fun.

Do you think America will ever truly accept gaming, or will it always be a sideshow like the CGS?

PMS.Rinoa: It's getting there, a year ago when I'd talk about it in some of my college classes people were pretty shocked and didn't seem to know it exists. Now it seems esports is a lot more well known, some guy even asked me about MLG once when I mentioned gaming.

So, ending where conventional interviews begin, what brought you to DoTA in the first place? was it your first competitive game?

PMS.Rinoa: My older brother plays too, he played starcraft a lot and one day I was bored and saw wc3 sitting on our computer desk. I played around with the campaign first and then got gracefully slaughtered in my first ladder game. Some of my ladder friends asked me to join a DotA to take a break from ladder and I got hooked, basically. Yes it was my first competitive game. Unless you count me owning kids at DDR/supersmash bros at my school.

Next week sees the return of the world's first and only weekly esports column, The Zechs Files in its traditional format but look out for more interviews in 2009.