Community Spotlight:

TriXie interviews Seatag.com

Godfree and Miss Irie keep telling me about Seatag.com. "Seatag this," "Seatag that," blah, blah, blah. So just to shut them up I checked it out ... and it's really cool! I liked it enough to hit up husband and wife founders, Anjo Banjo and liquilife, were nice enough to give us the inside scoop on their project.

Anjo Banjo and liquilife, Seatag.com founders.

TriXie: So tell me how Seatag.com got started. Oh wait, first tell me what the heck 'Seatag' is!

Anjo Banjo: Because "Seetag.com" was already taken.

TriXie: Ohhhhh. Like 'See my gamertag.' NOW I get it.

Anjo Banjo: We've had this idea for quite some time but only until about 3 months ago did we start the development process. You could say liquilife and myself are the founders. However, about one week after we launched, RX G4TORAD3 joined in and helped with various graphics and coding. He even helped us out with the forums. My part is simply to be the motivator. I am the one that makes sure things get done, and I draw custom made artwork for the site when needed. With Liquilife by my side, I became a test subject while we were still developing. We are still looking for a good programmer to help us out.

TriXie: You hear that? If you're a programmer who wants to get involved with Seatag.com, here's your chance. Drop me a line at xlmail@microsoft.com and I'll forward your name to Anjo and Liquilife. So, I heard a rumor that you two have an Xbox Live® love story. Spill it!

Anjo Banjo: It's a funny story actually. We met on an online Xbox Live community site, where I was issued a challenge in Project Gotham Racing® 2. So we picked a date and a time (Which for him was 6pm in Spokane, Washington, and for me 4am in Sweden). I can't remember who won, but I think we both had our share of good races in that game. After being gaming buddies for a few months we started working together on a few websites. We noticed that we worked well together and for some reason we never really got bored of each other's company, and as circumstances allowed, I moved from Sweden to America to be with him. Also to find out if there was more than just these "online interest feelings". As he picked me up at the airport, we knew that our feelings were not only that of an online crush, but they were real. Now we live together. We owe it all to Xbox for finding each other, and letting our love grow on online gaming, even thought it was hard being so far apart.

TriXie: You're welcome. You can name your first kid Trixie. What does Seatag offer that other community sites don't?

Anjo Banjo: Seatag offers a fully customized blog to our members. They can choose from a variety of pre-made blog templates or can rewrite one from scratch. These templates can be used as a blog or simply an introduction page with no blog functionality; it's up to them. We are working towards a vision that will mainly be about that the members can fully create their profile/blog/forum to whatever they want it to look like, give them as much freedom as possible. We want Seatag to be theirs.

TriXie: Do you have any restrictions to Seatag membership?

Anjo Banjo: Seatag is assuming that you have an Xbox Live gamertag. The only restriction is that you have a gamertag.

TriXie: Are there any costs involved to members?

Anjo Banjo: None. Seatag is committed to offering quality membership features at no cost. Our current set of features will always remain free. We don't even have any ads on the site, and are not planning of having any at all. All we have are a few Xbox Live-related syndications. We simply don't wish to make any money out of our members, nor put unnecessary undesirable ads on the site.

TriXie: How many members do you have?

Anjo Banjo: Right now at the time of this writing we have approximately 110 members. These members have been great in assisting us to develop the site, discover bugs and implement useful features.

TriXie: How do you police your site?

Anjo Banjo: We hired a security officer who walks around and looks mean with a big stick in his hands. No, seriously, right now we have a team of 4 members who monitor new signups to make sure the site stays PG-13. Our members help out as well by setting a high standard of friendliness. We believe this standard will have a positive effect on new sign ups. Furthermore, our members are big followers of our code of conduct which encourages people to be competitive yet friendly.

TriXie: Can you give us a sneak peek of any features or benefits you're planning for the future?

Anjo Banjo: One big feature we are looking forward to is Clan pages. This feature will allow a clan leader to set up a clan page and associate other Seatag members to this clan. This system will also tie in with Clan tournaments further down the road. Seatag is also looking forward to our podcast section. Our podcasting section is still evolving, but expect to see some quality podcast shows coming up!

TriXie: Sweet! What would you say is Seatag's 'mission statement'?

Anjo Banjo: Straight from our code of conduct: "We at Seatag are dedicated to building a community of Xbox Live players where competition and courtesy go hand and hand. It is also our goal to create the impression of equality with all members whether you are male or female. Our site will not focus on looks and will have small focus on how good of a gamer you are. The one common denominator we will all carry is that we love gaming with others through the Xbox Live service."

TriXie: Okay, let's get Liquilife in here and I'll hit you both with some gaming questions. How long have you been on Xbox Live?

liquilife: I have been on Xbox Live for 1 year and 11 months.

Anjo Banjo: Roughly 1 year and 8 months.

TriXie: What's your favorite Xbox Live game and favorite offline Xbox game?

liquilife: Halo® 2. No, I'm kidding! I'm a Halo 2 noob, or so I have been told. My two all time favorite Live titles are Project Gotham Racing® 2 and Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow. I'd have to say my favorite offline game is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I wasted away many evenings on that game. Yes, I was an evil tyrant in that game.

Anjo Banjo: I agree on that! Halo 2 noob here as well, and proud of it! No but seriously, it has to be Project Gotham Racing 2 and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3®: Black Arrow™. Those games had something about them that no game out today could take away. Offline I have to say Fable®. I like the way you get to have so much freedom within a game.

TriXie: What is the best game of all time?

liquilife: That is tough. I'd have to say Perfect Dark for the N64.

Anjo Banjo: Non-Xbox game? Then I have to say Final Fantasy 7.

TriXie: What was the first video game you played?

liquilife: Pong! Yes, I played that game feverishly. Soon after that I was playing Q-bert, Time Pilot, Donkey Kong and a few others on the ColecoVision.

Anjo Banjo: Pong as well. My dad bought the pong system at a flea market when I was young.

TriXie: Ah, the ultimate in old-school. Thanks guys, I'm gonna go set up my Seatag profile right now!