When I sat down to interview Benz “One Soul for the Other” Benson, world record holder for most Dota 2 games played (14,542 at press time), I figured: what better medium than Steam chat?
This interview has NOT been edited for readability. Whoops lol
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5:07 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Hey my friend 🙂 I am available to do the interview after this game if you’d like.
5:07 PM – One Soul for the Other: alright, one moment please
5:08 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Yeah no rush!! I am watching your game! Good luck 🙂
(He was Axe; he won.)
5:24 PM – One Soul for the Other: alright, i’m pretty much done
5:24 PM – One Soul for the Other: may i know what time in your region?
5:24 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: 5 pm
5:24 PM – One Soul for the Other: it’s 4.08 am in my place
5:24 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: lmao
5:24 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: u should sleep huh
5:24 PM – One Soul for the Other: yeah i should
5:24 PM – One Soul for the Other: but well, if it doesn’t take that long
5:24 PM – One Soul for the Other: i could tank a n hour
5:24 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: oh yeah shouldn’t take long
5:24 PM – One Soul for the Other: cool
5:24 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: i figured we could do it right here in steam chat
5:24 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: if that’s cool w/ u
5:25 PM – One Soul for the Other: no problem
5:25 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: so, first question: do you want us to use your real name?
5:25 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: we can just use ID if you prefer
5:25 PM – One Soul for the Other: yeah sure, it’s benz benson
5:25 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: kk cool
5:25 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: well mr benson it’s nice to meet you
5:25 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Where do you live, how do you spend your time, how did you get into Dota?
5:26 PM – One Soul for the Other: nice to meet you too mr groot
5:26 PM – One Soul for the Other: i live in indonesia right now, im staying with my family.
5:26 PM – One Soul for the Other: mostly what i did was trying out to finish my uni stuffs , then whenever i have a free time. i’ll play dota.
5:26 PM – One Soul for the Other: meanwhile i’m doing a small business
5:26 PM – One Soul for the Other: so basically when theres no purchase going on , i’ll be still spending my time with dota
5:27 PM – One Soul for the Other: the first thing that brought me into dota
5:27 PM – One Soul for the Other: i had a senior at middle school
5:27 PM – One Soul for the Other: he’s a buddy since childhood
5:27 PM – One Soul for the Other: i liked wc3 back then, i even make maps out of it
5:27 PM – One Soul for the Other: then this dude brought me to a lan cafe
5:27 PM – One Soul for the Other: which my parents told me not to
5:27 PM – One Soul for the Other: and i played dota still.
5:28 PM – One Soul for the Other: it was kinda secret, so we were playing 1 or 2 games
5:28 PM – One Soul for the Other: but the first 2 games i played kinda tell me, this thing is what am i going to spend for a really really long time in the future
5:28 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: haha
5:28 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: How do your parents feel about it now?
5:29 PM – One Soul for the Other: well since im 23 now, and i have a decent income. and university’s going to end for me. they think as long as i am able to manage everything it’s fine
5:29 PM – One Soul for the Other: except my eyes aren’t in good condition and i have to keep taking vitamins and something like it to keep it alright.
5:30 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Oh dang, you mean because of the game?
5:30 PM – One Soul for the Other: both of my mom and dad had uh, what is it called? is it hypermetropic or something?
5:30 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Ah
5:31 PM – One Soul for the Other: i just couldn’t see that far enough
5:31 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: hypermetropia – Farsightedness
5:31 PM – One Soul for the Other: i was a gene thing so it just got worst by time
5:31 PM – One Soul for the Other: yes thats it ;D
5:31 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: got it. That sucks dude, I’m sorry :/
5:31 PM – One Soul for the Other: no problem.
5:31 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: When did you realize you were in the running for the most games ever?
5:32 PM – One Soul for the Other: i honestly don’t know when it started, i was like top 8th or top 9th
5:32 PM – One Soul for the Other: it was bluechips who was sitting at #1
5:32 PM – One Soul for the Other: he had ama in reddit before
5:32 PM – One Soul for the Other: then i saw sonic too
5:32 PM – One Soul for the Other: then i just kept playing like theres nothing going on
5:32 PM – One Soul for the Other: and a while later someone told me im going up
5:32 PM – One Soul for the Other: like 5th or so
5:33 PM – One Soul for the Other: then it just keep climbing
5:33 PM – One Soul for the Other: and here i am now
5:33 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Is keeping the record a big part of why you continue to play?
5:33 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Or do you still enjoy it just as much?
5:34 PM – One Soul for the Other: well , keeping a record is hard to be honest
5:34 PM – One Soul for the Other: like you have to maintain how much games you have to play in a week
5:34 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Yeah
5:34 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: That sounds stressful
5:34 PM – One Soul for the Other: but lately i have been busy with business and uni stuffs
5:34 PM – One Soul for the Other: so i think theres like 500 games gap between me and the number two guy
5:35 PM – One Soul for the Other: so i guess i am fine if i play like 8 games a week maybe 12
5:35 PM – One Soul for the Other: depends
5:35 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Is it still fun?
5:35 PM – One Soul for the Other: for me , ranked dota isn’t fun
5:35 PM – One Soul for the Other: but party games are fun
5:35 PM – One Soul for the Other: but mostly the games i played
5:35 PM – One Soul for the Other: in weeks
5:36 PM – One Soul for the Other: they’re all solo ranked, and by playing solo ranked, the only thing fun is winning
5:36 PM – One Soul for the Other: because you have to play 2 games in order to climb up again
5:36 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Yeah
5:36 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Why do you think you keep playing, if it’s not fun?
5:36 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: I’m not trying to flame
5:36 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: I think a lot of people wonder this
5:36 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: About themselves
5:37 PM – One Soul for the Other: because i feel like i got nothing else to do.
5:37 PM – One Soul for the Other: i mean like theres a bunch of friends who have their own space
5:37 PM – One Soul for the Other: and i just cant take people out to go everyday
5:37 PM – One Soul for the Other: and i feel like everyones busy
5:37 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: I totally get that
5:38 PM – One Soul for the Other: so the only place i can spend my time other than going out and school and business is totally dota
5:38 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Do you try other games? Overwatch, maybe?
5:39 PM – One Soul for the Other: i would play it , but right now i’m trying to save money for a better computer
5:39 PM – One Soul for the Other: i play h1z1 sometimes, ark survival
5:39 PM – One Soul for the Other: and cs go if there are friends around
5:39 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Word. Well we’re going to put the word out about your stream, help raise you that better computer money
5:39 PM – One Soul for the Other: single player games are fun too
5:40 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: I think the dota community would like to learn from the wisdom you have accumulated
5:40 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: For instance
5:40 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Is it easier to win games from one role vs another?
5:40 PM – One Soul for the Other: well i would thank you for that.
5:41 PM – One Soul for the Other: but wisdom wise i think there are tons of people out there who’s definitely better than me
5:41 PM – One Soul for the Other: spent time lesser than me
5:41 PM – One Soul for the Other: and even plays 3x or 5x better than me
5:41 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Why do you think that is?
5:41 PM – One Soul for the Other: because i couldn’t find a way up for myself
5:41 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Hmm
5:41 PM – One Soul for the Other: i always sit in a circle
5:41 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: You hit a plateau
5:41 PM – One Soul for the Other: its like an endless loop
5:41 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Do you feel like the answer might be to play less, watch replays more?
5:41 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Or something like that?
5:42 PM – One Soul for the Other: i’ve tried that, but it did not improve me. i always try to do it mechanical wise.
5:42 PM – One Soul for the Other: the only thing that is helping me learning
5:42 PM – One Soul for the Other: is by watching streams
5:42 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: who’s your favorite streamer
5:43 PM – One Soul for the Other: like pov streams
5:43 PM – One Soul for the Other: i’d love to see arteezy
5:43 PM – One Soul for the Other: any day
5:43 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Hell yeah dude
5:43 PM – One Soul for the Other: he’s the best
5:43 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: #1 dota streamer
5:43 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: for sure.
5:43 PM – One Soul for the Other: bulldong way too much memes
5:43 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: +1 +1 +1 +1
5:43 PM – One Soul for the Other: and singsing is kinda for kids
5:43 PM – One Soul for the Other: right now
5:43 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Would you say he is the Sesame Street of dota streams
5:43 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Do they have Sesame Street over there
5:43 PM – One Soul for the Other: haha i guess they have it
5:43 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: xD
5:44 PM – One Soul for the Other: but it was dubbed
5:44 PM – One Soul for the Other: ;D
5:44 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: So is EG your favorite team?
5:44 PM – One Soul for the Other: i don’t have a favorite team right now
5:44 PM – One Soul for the Other: it’s just i have too many players i like
5:44 PM – One Soul for the Other: i can’t idolize a team yet until i found like a 5man roster that i really like
5:45 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Has that happened before? Was there a team that had 5 members you really liked?
5:45 PM – One Soul for the Other: i liked secret when it was zai puppey arteezy and +2
5:45 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: How do you feel about the Puppey drama?
5:45 PM – One Soul for the Other: c9 was awesome too
5:46 PM – One Soul for the Other: puppey drama? i don’t think i could comment anything at it because i’m not involved. i don’t even know puppey that deep
5:46 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Oh, did you hear about Envy’s blog post and stuff?
5:46 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: “Puppey and Secret ripped me off”
5:46 PM – One Soul for the Other: i read them ,it feels like puppey and kemal took their money indirectly
5:47 PM – One Soul for the Other: and giving them service out of their own pocket
5:47 PM – One Soul for the Other: thats what i got from reading the blog
5:47 PM – One Soul for the Other: but it gave me respect to envy tho
5:47 PM – One Soul for the Other: he’s way too real
5:47 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Word.
5:47 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: OK
5:47 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Your longest game
5:47 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: (i looked at dotabuff)
5:47 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: was 2 hrs, you were techies, you won vs mega creeps
5:47 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: You had a rapier
5:47 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Do you remember that game?
5:48 PM – One Soul for the Other: was it with vurtune?
5:48 PM – One Soul for the Other: i have plenty of techies games
5:48 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: yeah he was invoker
5:48 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: http://www.dotabuff.com/matches/2296802029
5:48 PM – One Soul for the Other: yes it’s vurtune
5:48 PM – One Soul for the Other: kinda remember it
5:48 PM – One Soul for the Other: what we did was
5:48 PM – One Soul for the Other: we bought dominators
5:48 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: LMAO
5:49 PM – One Soul for the Other: stack creeps in our ancient
5:49 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: I didn’t know that actually worked
5:49 PM – One Soul for the Other: and plant infinite mines
5:49 PM – One Soul for the Other: and they just bd the shit out of the opposing team
5:49 PM – One Soul for the Other: also it was in chinese server
5:49 PM – One Soul for the Other: i could play there with a vpn
5:49 PM – One Soul for the Other: i got like insta 5x reports
5:49 PM – One Soul for the Other: for making the game 2 hours
5:49 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: hahaha
5:49 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Is that your most memorable game?
5:49 PM – One Soul for the Other: not really
5:50 PM – One Soul for the Other: i had a game where i beat up ferrari and yyf
5:50 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Nice!
5:50 PM – One Soul for the Other: with a riki
5:50 PM – One Soul for the Other: it was a long time ago
5:50 PM – One Soul for the Other: if you ever know lily
5:50 PM – One Soul for the Other: a caster
5:50 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Sounds familiar
5:50 PM – One Soul for the Other: i played with her that game
5:50 PM – One Soul for the Other: and we went 2v5
5:51 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Lol
5:51 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: OK
5:51 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Do losses bother you any more?
5:51 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: It sounds like maybe they do?
5:51 PM – One Soul for the Other: they do matter
5:51 PM – One Soul for the Other: i’m the type of person
5:51 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Do you think you’ll ever get to a point where you don’t care
5:51 PM – One Soul for the Other: who plays better if i win games
5:51 PM – One Soul for the Other: and i get insanely mad
5:51 PM – One Soul for the Other: if people are not doing the right thing in game
5:51 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: me too
5:51 PM – One Soul for the Other: esp when they are not thinking logically
5:52 PM – One Soul for the Other: i wanna beat them up so bad
5:52 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: dang lol
5:52 PM – One Soul for the Other: like maybe fisting their faces
5:52 PM – One Soul for the Other: but again, it’s a game
5:52 PM – One Soul for the Other: they’re maybe around 16-to 20+
5:52 PM – One Soul for the Other: theres no way you could beat up someone from a game
5:52 PM – One Soul for the Other: whenever you lose too many games
5:52 PM – One Soul for the Other: theres a point where you just dont care if you lose anymore
5:53 PM – One Soul for the Other: what you do , you just play until you’ll get out from the trench
5:53 PM – One Soul for the Other: like you’re on a streak
5:53 PM – One Soul for the Other: you’ll just play until you win
5:53 PM – One Soul for the Other: and starting from that game, you’ll get better games
5:53 PM – One Soul for the Other: because idk thats just weird for me
5:53 PM – One Soul for the Other: like theres something on the matchmaking system
5:54 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Last question. You only have 13 Warlock games – he’s your least-played. What do you have against Warlock?
5:55 PM – One Soul for the Other: well nobody will let you mid, it needs a lot of gold to be effective. and it needs someone to set things up for upheaval. the hero just need a lot of help .
5:56 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Makes sense to me. Alright dude, thank you for taking the time to do this interview! Anything you want to get on here before we stop?
5:57 PM – One Soul for the Other: well you know, i been trying to reach out guinness. but theres no official thing going on. and by registering the record you would have to pay them 5 pounds. and it feels awkward when you set up a record and you have to pay .
5:57 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Haha that’s lame
5:57 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: You should do a kickstarter
5:58 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: “I need 5 pounds to enter the guinness book of records”
5:58 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Done in 2 minutes
5:58 PM – One Soul for the Other: lmao
5:58 PM – One Soul for the Other: hahahaha
5:58 PM – One Soul for the Other: oh well
5:59 PM – Dr. Otter: SlayerS.Boner420: Thanks again, buddy, it was a serious pleasure!! Now get some sleep 🙂
5:59 PM – One Soul for the Other: good god, thank you
5:59 PM – One Soul for the Other: 😀
5:59 PM – One Soul for the Other: your welcome.
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Follow & watch Benz Benson at https://www.twitch.tv/bendehdota
