My Assistant
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GameReplays: Hello Bashley, thank you for agreeing to do this! Could we start with you telling us a bit about who you are? Age, general location, what do you do? Be as vague or specific as you like.
Bashley: Hello there! My names Ashley, I'm 20 and living in the UK near Birmingham City!
GameReplays: Do you work, attend school or university, or do you do something else?
Bashley: Yes, I'm an apprentice in accountancy, as a result I study part time and then the rest I am working.
GameReplays: What are your hobbies, apart from gaming?
Bashley: General hanging out with friends, restaurants are my ideal place, I love trying new foods from all different cultures. I do find myself walking a lot having 7 dogs also! Outside of this, really I just spend my evenings reading books, watching twitch streams and YouTube Videos.
GameReplays: Tell us one interesting or obscure thing about yourself that we don't know.
Bashley: Oh, i have to say I feel I'm quite vanilla and normal, maybe that I'm having 7 doggos, but it's not that obscure haha.
GameReplays: How did you come up with your nickname?
Bashley: Actually, I didn't come up with my name. There was player called Pain who was from my knowledge the leader of this unofficoal RA3 clan called "ODS" and when I asked to join he recommended this name to me and I went with it! Of course my name Bashley is a combination of my real name (Ashley) and the word "Bash" which was a term used to describe a very one sided game. Anyway that's how I became [ODS]Bashley. The funny thing is, after years of playing i still have no clue what "ODS" stands for.
GameReplays: How long have you played Command and Conquer?
Bashley: Honestly I've lost count of the years. in terms of RA3 I actually initially played on Xbox 360 when I was like 12 years old in 2014. where the game is horribly imbalanced as it received no patches. I actually played Allies back then, but more so because Empire was not at all viable. Anyway eventually I converted to both a PC and a dedicated empire player and I'll never go back!
I think this may have been in 2016 so I've been here for 6 long years now. In total I've been playing RA3 for around 8 years, and still, I enjoy it! I have played Red alert 1 when i was growing up as a child on my PS2 as well!
GameReplays: Which Command and Conquers have you played competitively in?
Bashley: Only RA3.
GameReplays: Are you currently active in a Command and Conquer game? Are you playing competitively?
Bashley: I'm currently active in ra3 and I'm still joining tournament every now and then, especially the 2v2 and 3v3 tournaments.
GameReplays: Do you play other games besides Command and Conquer?
Bashley: Yes! My main game is definetly League of Legends. I'm an Annie Player currently in masters, my IGN is TSU Tibbers. I also play Street Fighter 5 where I Play chun li. I've actually only recently learned how to play chess also and i love it! i suck at it but I'm enjoying learning the game!
GameReplays: What is your favourite aspect of Red Alert 3?
Bashley: There is so many things I love so it's actually quite a hard question to answer! One of the best things about this game has to be the fact that 95% of units have a special ability. It makes the game very interesting in the sense that there is a lot of combinations and interactions especially in team games, but mainly I like the fact it makes it sooo much more micro intensive, one special ability can win a whole game! Certainly for me I have PTSD for the amount of games I lost against 1 bear getting a good stun on my infantry!
GameReplays: Why did you decide to main Empire?
Bashley: I absolutely love everything about the faction, one thing I've joked for a while now is that i don't play RA3, I play empire! But really you can do so much with this faction and play it in so many different ways. I definetly would call myself an aggressive player and this faction allows me to create a opportunity for myself a lot because of their mobility.
Empire has access to fast units early in the game, they also have access to units that can go on the land air and sea early into the game and on top of that their way of building is just so fun, dojo cores are my best friend. All of this allows the faction to be so aggressive, proactive and very very creative.
GameReplays: What got you into competitive gaming?
Bashley: Initally it was Sybert. I saw him casting high level game back when i was just a little boy. I don't play a lot of games and find myself dedicating a lot of time to very few games, so my dedication just allowed me to get better and enabled me to play competitively.
GameReplays: Do you have a least favorite moment? For example, any major fumbles you can think of from your competitive days that you really regret. If so, was there anything you feel you learned from it?
Bashley: During the latest Christmas tournament I was playing strong making my way through the winners bracket. Eventually I ended up against Andrey and we were 1-1 in a BO3 and we played the final game on deep sea 1.12.6, I carved myself such a winning position after destroying his MCV and defending his push to the point where he only had one airfield left.
The only thing he could make was Cryos at this point and stupidly I managed to lose the game by engaging his Cryos with my VX when I didn't have enough, after that I could not keep up and my Mecha Bay got frozen and I lost the game. Following this I met Dimon in losers bracket and I find my EvS definetly my weakest match up and after putting up a bit of a fight I got overwhelmed and lost the game.
I was so disappointed after this game because I really believed I could have made it to the finals because I was confident against the players who were remaining in the winners bracket! I just want to add to this though on a unrelated note that this was the best tourney every for RA3 in recent times and I really appreciated it, i hope to see more big ones like this in the future!
GameReplays: Do you have a favorite moment?
Bashley: Haha I couldn't pinpoint it down to one game but years ago me and Stryderr used to play with and against each other a lot and we would be on call, we were both kinda nooby back then but we would share so much laughter and also saltiness when we lost hehe, but these times have always been a highlight during my time playing RA3.
GameReplays: Is there anything you feel you excelled at? Something that made you stand out?
Bashley: I'd like to think that if to play like Bashley meant anything, it would be relentless aggression. I believe a player must always be on their toes against me, I am always trying to distract my opponents whilst simultaneously attacking somewhere else!
GameReplays: What is your favorite unit and map and why?
Bashley: Definetly Tengus, they are the heart of empires game play and you can create so much opportunities with them. Attacking, scouting, mobility, counterattacking, multiple attacks, distractions, kamikazee playstyles, harassment. Though I must add that i do also love dojos.
My favourite map is Corporate Warfare (2v2 1.12.6 map) because of it's very macro style meta, very often in games on this map you can see things not common in other maps, like t3 naval, big air battles, big land fights if both players go to the centre, overall just a map that always provides exciting games. In terms of 1v1 maps, I actually enjoy the small maps where the fight begins within the first 10s, like Infinity Isle and Fire Island.
GameReplays: Are there any players who you particularly enjoyed playing against, be it the fun aspect, their ability to push you to your limits or another factor?
Bashley: EvA is probably the match up I find most fun and that I'm most comfy with. I like playing against Pika for his play style and high level.
GameReplays: Who is your most feared opponent? Who was it when you were actively playing back then?
Bashley: Definetly Dimon for me, I really find Soviets hard to deal with and he plays very aggressive. there is so little room for error and he is always on top of his game and I find it hard to distract him and find opportunities, he always defending so well.
GameReplays: Are there any (up and coming) players you want to highlight?
Bashley: Yes.Firstly, Dutch has improved a lot and it's been a long time since we saw a player reaching high level of play. Secondly I'd say I'm taking a lot of inspiration from ZugSpitze playstyle over the year, and I would recognize him as a strong empire player currently who has improved a lot. Lastly Dimon who I regard as the best empire player, I would recommend him for anyone wanting to get good at empire.
GameReplays: Any advice to players hoping to become better on how to improve?
Bashley: You'll only hear it again and again, stop dodging good players, and take advice from better players. 1v1 and higher leveled 2v2 is your best friend for getting good I believe.
GameReplays: In a few words tell us what you would change if you had control during Red Alert 3's development.
Bashley: Okay I'll split this between the 3 factions!
Empire: Nerf Point defense drones. / Soviets: Remove building block, remove terror drones ability to force fire on ground and stun multiple units at once, buff orbital drop to come down faster. / Allies: Nerf tier 1 turret, allow Cryo to only shrink 1 unit at a time, make Athena shield more squishy, nerf Cryogeddon and let it be seen on the map like with soviets orbital drop.
I recognize that there would need to be compensation for each faction with these changes to make game balanced, but you should not take it so seriously and I am just outlining what I believe is unhealthy in the game.
GameReplays: What would you like to see from the RA3 staff or the RA3 community in the future?
Bashley: Despite my clashing with staff sometimes, overall I am grateful for the staff and their work. I hope there will be an Xmas 2022 tournament, it was so amazing last year.
GameReplays: How long have you been a member of GameReplays.Org? What's the reason you joined our website?
Bashley: I'm unsure how many years exactly, but I joined the moment I started ra3 and I joined to play ra3.
GameReplays: What would you say were your major roles in the community?
Bashley: Always I've been prevalent among the mid/high level players in this community joining their games and participating in tournaments.
GameReplays: Do you have messages to the community or shout outs to certain individuals? Do you want to thank certain individuals?
Bashley: I'd like to say that whilst it's not always obvious, I really am grateful to all of you that you all still play and keep this game alive and I love you all. My special little thanks my friend |m8s|Stryderr for being my lil rock in this community!
GameReplays: Bashley, on our behalf and on behalf of the entire Red Alert 3 community, thanks for your time and this thorough interview!
Bashley: Pleasure, ty for having me!
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