Member of the Month February 2015 (Fshguy)

Ah yes, Super Bowl Sunday is here and gone.. and just who was this years MVP?....um...oh wait this the new Member of the Month thread...lol.. well here we go then, let's talk about one of our MVP’s here at GTN, no not me…but thanks for the nice thought.. Let’s get to know one of our developers here a little more and while some of you may already know this gamer from around the web and a recent migration of sites, here is a little bit of info for those that may not know him. Who know maybe now he'll update his profile here... http://www.gamertagnation.com/about/



Name:
Shawn Blagg

What do you do for a living?
It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, but I’m a professional developer. I work for Catalina which is a company that creates coupons that come out at practically every grocery store in the US. I’ve been coding since High School and haven’t really stopped since.

Tell me about your Gamertag?
Fshguy
I’ve been using this tag/variation since my AOL days, I was Fshguy2 at the time. I picked it because I really enjoy keeping tropical fish. It got reinforced when I moved to Florida and took up scuba diving. I have a nice 90 gallon tank with African cichlids now.

What got you into programing for game sites and just how much time does it take?
It all started when, big surprise Trapper and Fatty Chubs added a badge for coding using the 360voice API. I had already been tracking the genre badges in a spreadsheet, so I created the Badge Calculator to get the badge and have an easier way to track the genre badges. I have to give kudos to croaker111 as he invented the Badgescore system for 360voice and I just took it over and adapted it for the Badge Calculator.

Your semi-famous around these parts just how many web sites have you programed for?
If you really dig back, I did run a BBS back in the 90’s, although I think that was so I could play more “Trade Wars”. Then the Badge Calculator and in late 2010 I took over 360voice full time and had a good run until mid 2014. Eric has done a great job here and I’m glad to help out here too.

You play with anyone in particular? (Boosting buddy's or long time friends?)
Mixdj1 is my main gaming pal, we’ve been through every Halo/Gears of War, etc. together, if it has Coop, we’ve probably tried it. Usually I tend to avoid boosting too much online as that implies that I’m doing the same action over and over again for minimal gain. Numerous people have helped me out on occasion, Keans, Frostbite, Dog of Thunder, futiles, Dacoto, Streak Leader, Hotdogmcgee, Buckswana, pTartTX(DW), SITH RICK…

When did you start playing?
Usual story, started off with Pong. Bought myself an Intellivision II and then a Commodore 64. Moved onto Amiga and then PC gaming for a long time. Really started console gaming during the middle/end of the first XBOX.

What's your play style? Ex: booster? Completionist? How often and long do you play?
I feel like I’m a maximizer, play all generalist. It means I enjoy playing almost any type of game, but I’m going to get every achievement in a game unless it’s going to taking a lot of grinding to get that next achievement. You can probably find a lot of games on my card missing that “hard” playthrough achievement. It all comes down to a matter of time versus playing new stuff versus achievement points. I play most days, but most of my play is between 9pm and 12am.

Tell me a good gaming story or experience? ex: Epic win/fail, marathon, accomplishment, a time you visited a game convention or met someone...or anything.
I’ll give a shout out to Achievement Fest, went the last/all 3 years so far. It’s great meeting a lot of people that have helped made the 360voice community(and now mostly GTN) what it is for better or worse. You usually only get a small proportion of what people are really like when you see them in the forums. It’s a lot better knowing these people in person. In other words, people are a lot nicer! I hope to make year 4 and hope to see some more new faces that I only know by their forum presence.

What's your favorite game genre?
Racing is number 1. I’ve fell of sim racing, I really enjoy a lot of the arcade racers. A close second would be puzzlers.

What’s your favorite game on 360? ONE? Of all time (any system)
Peggle, Trials and Burnout Paradise.. All satisfy that top favorite.

If you were a Video Game or game character who and why?
GLaDOS so I can have fun messing with people…

Are you looking forward to any new releases?
Halo 5, Crackdown, the next Gears, Half Life 3 and Borderlands 3, Burnout Paradise 2...

Do you collect or not so much?
Not really, if you looked at my shelf you might think it, but I have a hard time trading in my games for a mere 43 cents so they stay on my shelf.

What's your favorite feature on GTN?
Probably the high level of filtering and comparison of games and achievements along with the Badge system.

What would you tell people about GTN if you were trying to get them to join?
360voice is dead… Well, mostly dead. We do have a great community here and I’m optimistic that many more nice features are coming.

Is there anything you would like added to the site?
A whole laundry list. I want to bend the leader board system into a much more flexible challenge system with discussion, etc. This is the one big thing missing. More filtering/comparison options.

Wow great read Shawn! Nice to meet you! And welcome to the MotM club!

July 17-19 (or 16-20), 2015. YOU BETTER BE THERE.

(although, sounds like I might see you in Kansas?)

Are you looking forward to any new releases?
Halo 5, Crackdown, the next Gears, Half Life 3 and Borderlands 3, Burnout Paradise 2.

You complete me.


Great read! Nice job on the interview, B8ting and congrats to Fsh!

I know you said you don't dive much anymore but I'm sure you haven't forgot how, so that means I have a dive buddy next time I'm in Tampa, right?

You complete me.


Great read! Nice job on the interview, B8ting and congrats to Fsh!

I know you said you don't dive much anymore but I'm sure you haven't forgot how, so that means I have a dive buddy next time I'm in Tampa, right?

Originally Posted by SG Steelhead

Sure... I probably need to take a refresher course on deep dives and nitrox.

Welcome to our MotM club! Nice interview!

Great read, unfortunately for me I already knew almost all that stuff! I did learn Intellivision II though. As a big Intellivision fan I'm sad that was your intro into the brand. It was the shitty scaled back model that didn't even play all the original games, what a cluster. Except for our favorite genres, we are very similar. Except I stay up later than you playing.

Great interview and congrats Fsh!

Thanks for the shout out Fsh!!

Read read though and congrats on being in the moment.

Good read...congrats Fsh!