Written by Nick Doukas  on March 02, 2005

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GT: So what is next for Teamcompete and what can the community look forward to?

TV: Well, the only thing you can count on is that it won't be the same next month as it is this month. This is a continuous work in process that, as we see it. will never be completed. We're building in the background all the time to have new features and capabilities to launch or update regularly. Without growth and changes a site gets stale and begins to die from withinЕ.and we're not going to allow that to happen at Teamcompete. Here are a few things to whet your appetite:

We're working on a new portal site (the 5th portal linking all aspects of Teamcompete together) called the TCCommunity Portal. In it we will showcase the INTERNAL community of gamers and teams as well as the EXTERNAL community friends and good people/sites we link to and support. This is where we will post this article and a link to Gaming Target for example.

We're going to be able to broadcast both radio and video our key playoffs, weekly BIG matches and tournaments.

We're going to be running a whole series of tournaments REGULARLY to bring some variety to the play as well as chances to win cash or prizes posted by the sponsors.

We're adding several feature enhancements to the TCOL and TCPL not available currently and in some cases not available elsewhere on the web either.

We're working with some of the biggest and best LAN competition people to bring their events to our Teamcompete community locally and vice-versa.

Several sponsors have ideas for unique and interesting promotions and events that will get gamers attention and interests----more to follow.

We're aware of huge user communities in Europe and the developing community in Latin America and are working to bring them their more localized version of the Teamcompete experience as well

If you like what we have done for the community thus far you will LOVE what we will be doing in the near future. Gamers are not shy about telling us what they want or what would be cool and we have developed good listening skills. We'll continue to push the envelope and innovate.

GT: Obviously this is an exciting business to be in. Who wouldn't want to be dealing with playing games for a living? But there MUST be some challenges and hurdles along the way. What are your biggest challenges?

TV: On a daily basis there are teams and individuals that LOSE a match, tournament, playoff or other event. Sore losers or people who want to blame others for their lack of playing skills or - in some cases - their own outright cheating actions is a constant source of problems for Teamcompete, for our admins who deal with the competitive issues and for other gamers who are subject to the rants and behaviors of some of the aggrieved losers in the public forums. Gamers are COMPETITIVE by nature and the challenge of the event and the thrill of the win drives them sometimes beyond what they would ordinarily do or say in other social settings. That is a big problem for not only Teamcompete but for all online gaming sites today. Development is ongoing as we mentioned. Developers like to get paid so they can eat. Funding development is an ongoing challenge for both money and other resources. Sponsors and Advertisers can gain HUGE LEVERAGE dollar for dollar with gaming destinations such as Teamcompete. They just don't have us on their radar yet. They spend massive amounts to have banner ads and text ads placed all over the internetЕ..but don't necessarily TARGET gamers. We need to help them (like hit between the eyes with a 2 by 4 help) realize what we can bring to them. Good people make up the backbone of any business and a gaming business is no exception. Finding or having enough hours in the day to recruit, train and educate our volunteers is a real challenge. The good news is that there are LOTS of good people out there willing to lend a hand where they can. We just need other good people to step in to take some of the operational burden from a few of us and give it to MANY others.

PromotionЧvisibilityЧname recognition, all the same concept. We have grown to date through a lot of word of mouth and pass-along marketing where our members refer us to others who refer us to others, etc. That has worked well and continues to keep us growing. But good partners such as the sites offering reviews, opinions, recommendations and other gaming related sources of information are going to be a lot more important going forward. The GOOD and GREAT sites are starting to rise to the top and the ALSORAN of COPYCAT sites are starting to get pushed aside. We want to get the word out that we are here for the long haul and that we are a serious business and not a hobby for 2-3 buddies in a garage or fraternity somewhere.

GT: What do you want to be your legacy and the legacy of Teamcompete?

TV: Wow, that is a deep question (strokes chin and ponders for a moment). I guess it would have to be that we INNOVATED along the way; we were BOLD enough to step out and attempt to build a comprehensive gamers competitive experience; that we PIONEERED professional console gaming; and along the way we were fortunate enough and smart enough to involve large numbers of VOLUNTEER GAMER MANAGERS to leverage our efforts beyond what any one start up company has ever been able to accomplish. That is what we saw when we first started, and that is what we have been working on and towards for the past two years. If in five years we can accomplish them we will consider our efforts a success. Building a business on top of what most people consider a hobby or pastime is not easy. If we succeed we will be able to look back with pride in our accomplishments.

GT: If you had to do it all over again would you?

TV: In a heartbeat. Start up or no start up. Huge personal risks or no risk. 24 hour days or no 24 hour days. We are BUILDING SOMETHING that is making a difference. Across the board for both the individual gamers and for the industry as a whole. The ONLY THING we would do differently if we had to do it over again would be to NOT START INTO IT until we had a partner to finance the effort----meaning we could do in 6 months what has taken us 3-4 times a long to do in a pay-as-you go manner. But every start up firm suffers from capitalization issues at some point along the way.

GT: So what is the next venture for the Veeg?

TV: If you mean something like selling Teamcompete, retiring to Costa Rica or getting a consulting job with EA Sports the answer is Уthat would be cool, but we built Teamcompete and it isn't finished yetФ. There is really no Уnext ventureФ in mind. We'll be working Teamcompete tonight and the night of November 7th 2006 as well. This is the tangible result of our vision and the efforts of lots of people. We didn't get in to jump out with a quick sale or anything like that. The next venture for the Veeg is more likely to look like a redesign of the portal site or the addition of live broadcast of matches than it is a retirement home.

GT: What would you like our readers to do for Teamcompete and what can the editors here at Gaming Target do to help you?

TV: Just giving us the opportunity to introduce our company and some of the people behind the scenes is valuable to us in gaining exposure to a community that may not have known about Teamcompete previously. Gamers are welcome to come over to Teamcompete and check us out. We're always available as well at contactus@teamcomepte.com or TCPL@teamcompete.com if people want to question us one-on-one at any time. We'll be linking to Gaming Target on our TCCommunity portal and would appreciate a reciprocal link and mention when possible on your site (Editors note: But of course. We like competition tooЕheh heh heh). Teams that come to Teamcompete for their Xbox Live home are also encouraged to place Teamcompete links from their team web sites as well to help advertise the fact that they are Teamcompete members and play there. Just passing along Teamcompete to your friends is the biggest thing we can ask for from Gaming Target and your readers. Thanks for giving us the time to explain Teamcompete and some of what drives us and much of what motivated us to get into this in the first place. We appreciate the opportunity to share the story with your readers.

GT: You're quite welcome Veeg, and thanks for talking to us today.

So there you have it folks. Pretty much the best, and most fully featured, Xbox Live ladder site on the Net. So if you dig hardcore competition, and you want to really play for keeps, check out Team Compete and get your Squad signed up.