Interview w/ Reckful World #1 Rogue 3v3 AKA Anti Parazi ACDT

Kyra

New Member
May 21, 2009
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We had a chance to interview Reckful over the weekend. This interview kicks off a series of interviews we will be doing with top PvP figures.

We hope you guys will enjoy. So far, we've had a blast doing these and getting to know these guys a little better.

General Information
In-game Nickname and Alts:
Reckful
Real Life Name: Byron Bernstein
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Age: 21

Player Introduction
How did you get into gaming?

I don't really remember it, but when I was two years old, I started playing mega man on regular nintendo. My brother played a lot of MS DOS games when I was growing up (he's 10 years older than I am), so I played some Civilization 1 and Bullfrog's Syndicate, but I mostly played console games. The most memorable ones are Secret of Mana and Super Mario RPG for SNES and then later on Final Fantasy 7. Eventually around 1999 my brother (he's a programmer) wanted to make a Pokemon MMORPG when Pokemon was peaking in popularity. We went to buy an MMO to see what they're like. We first picked up the Everquest box but someone working at Circuit City told us Asheron's Call was much better and to get that, so we did. I ended up playing that for years. He never made Pokemon: The MMORPG.

Favorite game of all time?
Asheron's Call. In that MMO, if someone was Frostbolting you, you could move out of the way and avoid it (spells moved very quickly but so did players). Because of this, it was possible to beat people 1v5, even 1v10 and I ended up making a name for myself as a mage named Anti Parazi, clearing out entire cities sometimes in FFA PVP and looting everyone's items. When I started playing WoW I was disappointed that instant spells automatically hit me.


Tell us about your personal gaming rig. Type of mouse, keyboard, and headset?
I use a Noppoo Choc Mini chinese keyboard, a Logitech G500 mouse, and when I use a headset I use Creative's Sound Blaster Sigma (but I usually play with speakers and a table mic).

What classes do you play in WoW? Which are you competent with on a competitive level?
Only confident as a rogue, but I enjoy warrior as well.

Current PvP Spec?
8/2/31 Subtlety now, probably 10/0/31 Subtlety in 4.1.

Why Alliance?
My friends wanted faster random BG queues at the beginning of Cataclysm... they're impatient. I don't really care alliance or horde.

What do you do in your spare time, besides playing WoW?
I've been with the same girl for 5 years now, so that (Hi Jenna), and I did some photography when I was younger (anticide.deviantart.com), but recently I've only been going out for restaurants. I really like going out to eat for some reason. Took two trips to Las Vegas this year that I really enjoyed but traveling gets hectic sometimes.

What is your most important gaming accomplishment to date?
I still consider my biggest accomplishments to be in the other game I played, Asheron's Call. Hope that changes someday though.

Why are you a hardcore arena player and not, say...a hardcore raider?
I've tried hardcore raiding (raided with Exodus on Ysondre) but I just can't stay focused for entire boss encounters. It doesn't interest me.

What goals do you have for your gaming career?
I feel like I'm satisfied, I guess my only real goal would be to make consistent money from gaming somehow, something that won't go away when I stop playing WoW. Releasing a popular product, for example. Maybe the world's most comfortable ass cushion.

You're known for making epic videos, Reckful 3 being your most recent. What's your motivation for putting these together? When do you think we'll see Reckful 4?
Positive responses sometimes make me smile. It's also a nice feeling to create something permanent, as unimportant as a WoW video is in the big picture. Reckful 4... maybe season 10.

Team Perspective
What's the most critical aspect to a team's success?

The ability to handle a loss - continuing to communicate well and not losing respect for each other.

Current ideal team composition?
Rogue / any dot class / healer. I don't like playing with mages and I don't like playing cleave. Rogues feel way less important in RMP than in other comps - garrote, cheap shot, kidney, gouge, blind, sap all share diminishing returns with RMP crowd control. It's a good comp, of course, just not my style.

You play for Complexity on coL.Red with some other huge names in WoW PvP. What is that teams greatest strength?
Our greatest strength is Snutz's positivity.

Weakness?
Our greatest weakness is my negativity.

How do you think your teammates would describe you?
I'd like to think friendly, but probably bipolar.

What are you goals for coL.Red?
Happiness : ) I don't like for it to be too attached to winning.

Pro Tips
How does a player know when they are ready to try and go pro?

I don't really know. Lots of players are over-confident and others have low self-esteem. Personally I never intended to go pro; I was asked to join and ended up doing alright. I didn't watch many WoW tournaments or care for it, but I enjoy it now. If you're first in your battlegroup with a non-FOTM comp, you're probably ready to try.

Any mistakes you might have made in your professional gaming career that other players who might be trying to go pro should try to avoid?
Mostly just some social mistakes, but I can't help with those

What are the top 3 most important pieces of advice you would give a rookie arena/rbg player?
•Watch buffs/debuffs/cast bars more closely

•Learn all the defense & offensive abilities of each class

•Keep experimenting for the most efficient ways to use your own


Wrapup
What do you enjoy MOST about WoW?

When little things make a big difference.

What are your thoughts on World of Warcraft Arena and where it is going?
There will always be some balance issues for people to complain about, but I like arenas now more than WOTLK. I have way less matches where I feel hopeless, like what I do doesn't matter. (I'm sure some classes have more match-ups like that, though.) I also like the pace of the game. It can be really demoralizing when teams beat you spamming cooldowns, so it's good to see that going away a bit.

If you could change one thing about World of Warcraft Arena, what would it be?
Less instant crowd control and more maps. The maps don't have to have ground-breaking differences, just a change of scenery would be nice. As for instant CC, it takes away the fun when you're put in too many unavoidable CCs (I know rogues have a lot of them).

Shoutouts?
Shoutouts to Complexity, Creative, everyone I play with, and Jenna.

Thanks so much for chatting with us Reckful.
 

Mishra

Member
Jan 12, 2005
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He didn't play on Darktide, that's for sure. He must have been what, 7 or 8 back then?
 

Kyra

New Member
May 21, 2009
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Anti Parazi(Reckful) played on DT. How do you not remember Anti Parazi?
 

Rakzor

New Member
May 10, 2004
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Re: Interview w/ Reckful World #1 Rogue 3v3 AKA Anti Parazi

AP played on DT after the o_O invasion when most had already quit thats why mishra can't remember him, since Mishra left before that :)
 

Kyra

New Member
May 21, 2009
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Re: Interview w/ Reckful World #1 Rogue 3v3 AKA Anti Parazi

Damn, is this thread a year old already?
 

Kyra

New Member
May 21, 2009
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Re: Interview w/ Reckful World #1 Rogue 3v3 AKA Anti Parazi

"Thread" = 11 months. Time flies. What have you been up to Rak?
 

Rakzor

New Member
May 10, 2004
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Re: Interview w/ Reckful World #1 Rogue 3v3 AKA Anti Parazi

Working... working... and... working !

Pretty busy life, no more time for MMOs these days... although I guess company management is more or less like guild management: looking for inovative strategies to beat the competition, setting common goals and incentives to boost the troops moral to reach goals... its pretty much as time consuming but it can be more rewarding ;)

What about you?
 

Kyra

New Member
May 21, 2009
204
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Re: Interview w/ Reckful World #1 Rogue 3v3 AKA Anti Parazi

Family, 3 year old son, wife is pregnant with boy number 2, due in April. And like you, working, working and working(networking). Attending Chris Peris Riding School this spring, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeBIZuaF1rc I'm an amature trackday rider, love the sport. And after the wife and kids are in a bed, a little MMO pvp.