"I've only just started my career"©GaB.Demuslim
Hi! Tell us some words about yourself (name, age, city, where you live/work).
If it's not a secret, how much have you earned during these years? What do you consider as your best achievement?
Do you have idols in real life or in Warcraft 3? How have they affected you?
Hey, My name Is Ben Baker, i'm 19 years old - I recently finished my studies within the UK and am devoting most of my time to Gaming.How did your nickname appear?
When i first played BNet, very long time ago, my friend who lived in my town used to be a real fanatic about games, i used to go round to his house alot and play SC and diablo II, and he always had serious names - "HellsFlame" or something.Have you always played for human?
At first i kinda copied, i thought that was the general lingo, but then i came across some guys who were making a clan with really weird nick names, and the nickname "muslim" for me was all about Muhammad ali and stuff, really hard muslim guys!
So my nick was "The MusliM" or DeMusliM. Obviously i know a little different now :).
Actually, in ROC i played orc and elf - my friend who i mentioned earlier played human, so i picked orc since the healward/Bloodlust combo with human slow/if was really cool. But then i played RT alot - and i really liked DH fast tech dryads. It was later on when i joined one of the better UK teams that i started playing human, since we didn't have a human.Do you have a hobby instead of Warcraft 3? What do you like to do in your free time?
I rarely go out drinking, I used to in my first 2 years of college, But arriving home at 5:00 am to get back up at 7:00 am was really bad. Now, i might go out for the occasional drink - i play some swingball - (like tennis) and i enjoy going to the cinemas.Describe please a usual day of your life.
I wake up between 9-12 am, get some cereal and a tea, or juice - then might watch the news for 10 minutes. I then go to my pc room and start playing some games, My first few games might be random/random with someone, or just not so serious games. After maybe 30 minutes of this, i'll head out and play some practice games for quite a few hours.Do you play other computer games?
Later food again, maybe cinemas if i'm lucky ! or if something i really wanted to see was on.
Right now, my pc/mouse is broke - recently ordered a new pc so that should be here soon, but in the mean tim. I've been playing HoN a fair amount - since i dislike practicing wc3 without having perfect conditions - Right now wc3 with these conditions, is like asking a swimmer to swim through mud or something. my mouse acceleration has gone crazy, and when ever i move my mouse fast, i have to reconnect my mouse :S. PlayingHow many years have you played WC3? When did you become a professional gamer?
I started playing wc3 in 2004 i think, I got RoC about a year after it came out, and only played AT/RT with my friend but mainly custom maps like AoS. I didn't spend much time on it. Then later on i got a new pc and played some solo, I couldn't micro before, since i had 128MB ram, with a 1gig processor - was pretty bad but i got pretty good in the UK scene. From then on one of my friends 4k.Kre-peR told me you can earn money this way, and linked me to the wcg UK online tournament, and showed me pics of FoV with a big ESWC Check. I was so confused, but happy and ambitious at the same time. Didn't realise you could earn like this from a game. And So from that point - that's when i really tried, aswell as school. And as for being a professional gamer, i wouldn't really say i'm professional yet, semi at best :).
If it's not a secret, how much have you earned during these years? What do you consider as your best achievement?
Well, it's kinda secret - not as much as i would of hoped for, but alot of the money that should be in my bank, clans still owe me - i guess it's no wonder you get people quitting wc3, when the people they play for end up betraying them with such cases. I can't tell you how much i have earned, but i can tell you i'm owed roughly 3000 euros.What has WC3 taught you?
As for greatest acheivements, i guess i haven't really had a major breakthrough. I do think i've done well, but i hope to do better in a big event - rather than doing good in small ones :).
Patience, Solitude and appreciation. Also Hardwork solves.What aims were in front of you, when you started your professional career? Have you reached them?
Well, in my eyes i've only just started My career ! I only just recently finished school, and so now i can focus 100% on gaming. My aims are - to do the best i can, to train the best i can and put as much effort in as i can. With these aims, no matter how hard i lose or win, you just keep going. As for Aims, i have settled being the best in my country, But i really want to head out to a wider stage.How many hours did you use to spend on training in days of old, and how much do you train nowadays?How do they go by?
Maybe 3 hours in the old, Now it can be anything up to 8 hours. I spent a recent 3-4 weeks at grubbys house, and trained for anything up to 8-10 hours a day, i believe this was a big learning curve. Since then, arriving home had a few problems with the PC, but i will get back onto that regime asap. As for how they go by, i really enjoy it. Sometimes training sessions can be tedious - finding appropriate partners of similar skill can be tough, or finding enough players to play with, i just wish the Ladder system was better, by that i mean alot less delay, and lower search times. Would make things more enjoyable.Don't you regret about time, which you have given to cybersport?
I regret somethings yes, i wish i spent more of my highschool life doing other things, which i can't really get away with now i guess, As you get abit older, past the teenage years you can't get away with half as much stuff, So looking at it like that, i wish i did more. But i do not regret what i got into, by any means.Do you remember any moments of your life, when you wanted to say "no" to progaming?
Yes, when i played for a team a while back, PGS - > nGize with Lloth. I actually quit shortly after leaving that team as i lost faith in it all. As some people may know - 4K, had BIG money problems, that were never resolved. After that, i was owed quite a bit, Be it travel money - That was meant to be reimbursed, but never was - or salary money. Both never got handed out, so after leaving that i joined attax. Attax was everything i dreamed of, a Great clan, i had good friendswithin the team, especially ixi and yaws. But money problems cropped up again. I was doing pretty good in attax, But i got paid the least, by less than half of what everybody else got - i got pretty demotivated by that. I asked for an increase but it couldn't be done, So i left shortly after - as offers i got elsewhere were up to triple the amount, which obviously as a young lad looking to make a buck or two was very endearing. So that's when i joined Lloths crew.What kind of a person would you like to stay in your fans' memory after your retirement?
Now this was probaly the most stressful stint in a clan i ever had - First month, i managed to qualify the team into wc3l Which they were extremely happy with, But i didn't receive salary that month. The next month, i continued to do well, i beat Check in the newly formed mTw for example. But the 2nd month, i received 50% of the salary amount. So he owed me a months salary and a half already, in 2 months. After 5-6 months, you can imagine this spiralled even more out of control, And yeh, after this string of bad luck i did actually call it quits. As there was nothing i could do to get my money back.
Hmm, i'd like them to remember my style if nothing else, or my attitude. From getting into the wc3 field, there were always big characters, Some intimidating, like tod/grubby - Others hilarious like fury/Zeus. I'd hopefully like to be remembered, for being a nice guy, although intimidating - with abit of character too. I'd Class my playstyle as maybe abit cocky :).
Do you have idols in real life or in Warcraft 3? How have they affected you?
My first "idol" was homeruneball, i didn't know much about the scene, but i watched a few replays where he did a mortar rush with militia/casters vs elf, i really thought it was genius. But after i closely studied reps, i couldn't help but admire Tod's play, Thus he became my major idol. He helped me with alot in game, always cheered me up too. I could pretty much say, he'd kick me into shape if i was slacking or something, and fury/zeus were like father figures.You have been in many countries. Which one did you like most?
Grubby, also a idol of many has been an inspiration to me like no other. He has done, what i deemed impossible - almost fairy tale like. Did what he loved, got the girl - and made a mint out of it. Literally, what dreams are made of.
I really enjoyed Singapore - The City was so clean, the air was fresh, but very humid - and the people beyond kind. It must be an Asian culture thing, but the people elsewhere won't go to half the trouble to please you, as what i met in Asia. Thus i have great respect for their way of living, To be so giving - and to be so happy about it, The thought just makes me smile.What about your relations with managers and players in your new clan? Whom did you know before joining GaB?
I actually train with a few of the players, ente/luke - and i was good friends with Nicker before joining. At blizzcon regionals, nicker, i and Shriek actually got up to abit of "Wodka" drinking, and other things :) but it was really cool.Nicker is a really cool guy ^^.Why in your opinion a lot of Europeans treat with contempt to the players of russian WC3 community?
Hmm, i don't know - What i believe, maybe different to the next guys story. But after meeting a few russians that i really liked, Such as Rob, Xyligan and Nicker - i don't really think of russians any differently, apart from they drink alot of "wodka". As for europeans treating russians with contempt, i guess early days - like i don't know if this was true, quite a few famous russian players maphacked - and acted with bad attitude in games. I guess this image is Imprintedthroughout time now.Traditional question: will you professionally play SC2?
Yes, without a doubt i will try.What do you think about balance in Warcraft?
If i was an orc player - i would say everything was fine. If i was any other player, i would say change orc. But seriously - people who think wc3 is balanced, only have to look at recent results. I have NEVER in all my time, seen one race, come top 3 at a tournament for a whole year. And the fact it isn't the same players every time, pretty much cements the fact the race is too good. When human or elf were deemed imbalanced. It was only sky/tod or Moon winning tournaments, Everyone else of the same race didn't touch them. But the race was classed as imbalanced, Even with different races finishing top 3. But when you literally have orcs coming top 3 every tournament, you have to wonder. As for what makes the race imbalanced - Sws, blademaster and raiders. - The fact that the race is easy to play too, doesn'thelp. (any player can switch to orc vs ud and win, i think that is very stupid).Many humans think it's impossible to win undead without an expansion. What is your opinion?
I don't think it's impossible, i believe it to be an inferior strategy, although now adays undeads get very little practice against it, thus they maybe inexperienced, and not be totally on the right scale about knowing what to doand when to do it.What devices do you use?
Steelseries Ikari mouse, Samsung DT-35 Keyboard and S&S mousepad.British Warcraft 3 community doesn't shine with strong players. Why?
In 2005, we had a few decent players - when i started playing in UK qualifiers. We had BoNd, pureball and i think tillerman just quit at this point, Along with a few other names like Shad, Yarakyo and spike. All of these players were pretty decent, but i guess lacked the motivation needed. Most of them switched games or fields with easier competition. Gaming in UK, Not many people have made a living off it, and so i guess the thought of putting in so much time is daunting, when you never may reap the reward. As for the UK itself, rts, wc3/sc take alot of time to get good at, it doesn't just happen because your naturally talented or what ever, it takes time. And so some countries where 1 player Excels, other players don't tend to catch up. Quite a few examples In Europe especially, such as France, Netherlands, Spain, Lithuania etc. Once you have a good player, that can do well internationally, i guess it's a daunting prospect for other players to try hit that level.Do you have any real opponents at your national qualifications?
Hmm, there are decent players which, if i don't play at full potential can take a map, but in general i am the best player from the UK.Not long ago a legendary human player ToD has returned to the wc3 scene. What do you think about his comeback, what relations do you have with him?
Tod has always been my successor, he's a good friend, who happens to be very good at wc3. I don't believe his comeback will be as strong as he was before, Unless as he said if he quallifies for a major tournament. But i think he's the kinda player who hasn't lose his talent, he will be able to pick it up very quickly and easily. So yeh, if he's serious he will be able to make a huge impact that's for sure.You can find russian version here.