As a law student, John Laster is a novice.
But as a businessman in the online gaming community, he's a pro.
Laster, a first-year law student at UF, has added bucks to his bank account and years to his business experience by working with gaming websites since he was in high school.
He previously worked for TheGameReviews.com, first writing reviews and later being paid to manage the website while he was studying economics at the University of Central Florida. His responsibilities included managing a budget of up to $5,000, although its size diminished over time as the economy and advertising revenue dipped.
That's when he and Ben Fisher, who originally owned TheGameReviews.com, decided to start a new website. This one focused on a niche market, as opposed to trying to cover gaming in general.
"If we try to do every single thing, we won't do anything well," Laster said.
Laster and Fisher started XBLAFans.com about two years ago, providing game reviews and other news about Xbox Live Arcade games.
These games are less popular than big-name titles like Halo and Modern Warfare, which gave XBLAFans the opportunity to make a name for itself by including content on a subject that isn't as well-covered by other gaming sites, Laster said.
Microsoft releases these downloadable games on the Xbox Live Marketplace, accessible on Xbox 360 consoles, although they started as features for the first Xbox system.
"We weren't really expecting to make money right away," he said. "But we were hoping to grow it."
The website is still in its early years, gathering fans and regular visitors.
"We've been really embracing social media," he said.
XBLAFans.com often gives away free copies of arcade games using Twitter. Its account, @XBLAFans, has 3,337 followers.
Andrew Crews, 29, community manager for the website, said he enjoys working with Laster.
"He doesn't run a tight, strict ship. He lets you be an individual," Crews said. "He puts you in a position to be successful."
When he needed a break from working on the website so he could move from Pittsburgh to Seattle to take a job at Microsoft, Laster didn't mind.
Crews' work with XBLAFans even helped him land the job, he said. The site has a working relationship with Microsoft because of its coverage of Xbox arcade games.
Laster is proud of how well XBLAFans is growing, although he has had to reduce his daily role in the company due to his law school workload.
He isn't allowed to work more than 10 hours a week as a first-year law student, so he is focused more on big-picture projects and handles communications with companies like Microsoft while delegating much of the work to other employees.
He has wanted to go to law school since he was in high school and hopes to later work with video-game companies in a legal capacity.
His online experience in the gaming community has helped him make contacts with industry professionals in the field, which may be helpful in his career.
"There isn't anyone else who's doing what we're doing right now," he said.
John Laster is a first-year law student at UF but has been working for gaming websites for years. Laster helped start XBLAFans.com, a site focusing on Xbox Live Arcade games.
