{"id":4022,"date":"2012-01-02T08:00:47","date_gmt":"2012-01-02T14:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/?p=4022"},"modified":"2011-12-29T19:48:03","modified_gmt":"2011-12-30T01:48:03","slug":"2011-in-review-for-johnn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/2011-in-review-for-johnn\/","title":{"rendered":"2011 In Review For Johnn"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_2638\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/my-goals-2011.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2638\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2638\" title=\"my-goals-2011\" src=\"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/my-goals-2011.jpg\" alt=\"2011 Goals\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/my-goals-2011.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/my-goals-2011-150x99.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2638\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">How high do you dream?<\/p><\/div>\n<p>2011 was a great year and a terrible year for me for writing and gaming.<\/p>\n<p>I suffered a bit of burn out, got a couple of awesome gaming products published and gamed monthly instead of every other week for much of 2011.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s delve into my goals for last year, and then I&#8217;ll reveal my #1 lesson learned that I think might apply to you, as well.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the things I said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/2011-goals-and-content-announcements\/\">I wanted to accomplish in 2011<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><em>&#8220;Goal #1: Hit every scheduled Campaign Mastery post&#8221;<\/em><\/h3>\n<p><em>&#8220;My blogging schedule will probably change in early 2011, but no matter what it is I will hit every deadline. Last year I missed two out of 52 deadlines. This year I aim for zero.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Well, my schedule did change. Due to time pressures, I stopped blogging here at CampaignMastery.com in the fall. My articles trickled off and the great <a href=\"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/series\/gm-toolbox\/\">GM Toolbox<\/a> meta GMing series took their place.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, it looks like I&#8217;ll continue hitting the pause button intermittently for the foreseeable future as there are various projects I need to tend to this year.<\/p>\n<p>Mike will still be publishing his awesome, in-depth articles at least once each week. I will be blogging here too, but just not as regularly.<\/p>\n<p>GM Toolbox will also conclude in a few weeks for those looking for closure on the final techniques and tools Michael and Da&#8217;Vane have in store for us.<\/p>\n<h3><em>&#8220;Goal #2: Maintain current series, start new series&#8221;<\/em><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Ask the GMs &#8211; We answered a few questions this year, including a couple times over at RoleplayingTips.com. And we always answered the questioners by email. However, we have a huge backlog to clear up, and until that&#8217;s under control we&#8217;ve removed the question form so we can catch up.<\/li>\n<li>Hazards &#8211; I did not end up revisiting this in 2011. It&#8217;s on hold for now, though I&#8217;m thinking of rolling it into the <a href=\"http:\/\/fastercombat.com\">Faster Combat online GMing course<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Hooks &#8211; We released <a href=\"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/50-assassin-hooks\/\">50 Assassin Hooks<\/a>, but did not add further to this series.<\/li>\n<li>Generators &#8211; The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/?s=q-workshop\">Q-Workshop<\/a> series was excellent, but we did not follow-up with a new series of similar generators last year.<\/li>\n<li>iPad reviews &#8211; I did get to post a few of these, some at RoleplayingTips.com.<\/li>\n<li>City building &#8211; This one got done in the form of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/series\/city-government-power-bases\/\">government design for your cities<\/a>. When you consider the roots of power in your world, many interesting adventure opportunities surface!<\/li>\n<li>Stat blocks &#8211; This series remained on pause last year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Mike also has two new series out: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/all-the-worlds-a-suggestion-box\/\">Ghosts of Blogs Past<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/pieces-creation-1-dopplegangers\/\">Pieces of Creation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><em>&#8220;Goal #3 Books&#8221;<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>We released one book plus the world&#8217;s first course for game master this year. So, I&#8217;d consider this goal a success.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/legaciescampaignsetting.com\">Assassin&#8217;s Amulet<\/a> debuted in October to critical acclaim. We called it a GM Toolbook, because Assassin&#8217;s Amulet is a 300 page resource for all things assassin in your game, including rarely touched upon aspects of world building and campaign management.<\/p>\n<p>A new GM Toolbook is under development. More news on that is coming.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/fastercombat.com\">Faster Combat<\/a> opened its doors to members in October as well. It&#8217;s a 52 week training program for GMs guaranteed to cut your combat time in half!<\/p>\n<p>Co-produced with Tony Medeiros of <a href=\"http:\/\/LeonineRoar.com\">LeonineRoar.com<\/a>, Faster Combat teaches you how to design combats, manage encounters and master the rules while adding story and drama all at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>While Mike and I had plans for more releases this past year, a 300 page GM Toolbook and a 52 week GMing course did get published, so I&#8217;m very pleased about that.<\/p>\n<h3><em>&#8220;Goal #4 More contests and giveaways&#8221;<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;I aim to run one contest or giveaway per month.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>I did not hit this stride, unfortunately. However, we did manage to hold at least four contests with a whole bunch of software and books as prizes.<\/p>\n<h3><em>&#8220;Goal #5 DM 12 times this year, play 12 times&#8221;<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>I hit my GMing goal! But the GM of the campaign I was to play in folded up his screen due to work commitments. Boo!<\/p>\n<h3><em>&#8220;Goal #6 Roleplaying Tips Newsletter&#8221;<\/em><\/h3>\n<p><em>&#8220;Continue to publish this every other week and pack every issue full of GM tips and ideas. I would love to see an HTML, PDF and mobile-friendly edition this year, but I have not solved those problems yet.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Success here too. I even went weekly for a few weeks. However, no HTML, mobile or PDF version saw light of day. There was not enough time to get to this.<\/p>\n<h3><em>&#8220;Goal #7 Gamer Lifestyle&#8221;<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>We opened the course for a limited time to let new members in this year. Check out the new website we setup for Illusionary Press for their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.illfrost.com\/\">Illfrost campaign setting<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We also launched new RPG business ebooks, including <a href=\"http:\/\/gamer-lifestyle.com\/store\/rpg-business-plans\/\">RPG Business Plans<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamer-lifestyle.com\/store\/wake-up-early\/\">Wake Up Early<\/a> for those serious about publishing their RPG work.<\/p>\n<h3>My #1 Lesson In 2011<\/h3>\n<p>Overall, I hit a few goals and missed a few goals. In the end, key goals were met: publishing new products and gaming with friends.<\/p>\n<p>However, the year started out looking like it was going to be a total disaster.<\/p>\n<p>Assassin&#8217;s Amulet kept getting delayed. The thing about a project that gets delayed is its scope increases. While you wait you tend to add more ideas and content. This is great if you only ever want to launch &#8220;someday,&#8221; but bad if you want to finish a project and launch so you can launch other projects.<\/p>\n<p>Further, delays mean you forget all the details of a project that allow you to be nimble during project conclusion and launch. Long delays meant losing momentum and forgetting plans and details. We compensated by developing a great documentation system using Google Sites, but still, that&#8217;s work that gets you no direct sales.<\/p>\n<p>As a result of the delays, I started several projects. And worse, I got BSO syndrome. Bright Shiny Objects took the form of new project ideas. I kept starting projects and did not finish them or launch them.<\/p>\n<p>This was my undoing. By summer I was burning out. Too many spinning plates from open projects inching along bottomed out my morale and energy.<\/p>\n<p>As fortune would have it, my summer vacation hit at the perfect time. As I was thinking of packing things in, I instead had two weeks of rest and relaxation to ponder life.<\/p>\n<p>First thing I realized was I was taking on too many projects and commitments and it was over-taxing my schedule. Second thing I realized was I had no end game. What was I ultimately doing all this for? This answer is critical because it allows a person like me to decide what&#8217;s important, and what to say no to.<\/p>\n<p>I have journals filled with ideas. I love ideas. I get ideas at all times of the day and I write as many down as I&#8217;m able.<\/p>\n<p>But a smart person knows to just pick one idea at a time and make it reality. A smart person knows it&#8217;s just as important to pick what you don&#8217;t work on as what he does work on.<\/p>\n<p>Revitalized, I hit the end of August with a plan to meet all project commitments made to partners, and to cancel all projects that I was just working on by myself. I would use the fall to clear out my backlog and then decide what 2012 would be about.<\/p>\n<p>Which brings us to today and my #1 lesson gleaned from last year:<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold;\">Focus. Do one project at a time.<\/p>\n<p>Some lessons keep biting you in the ass until you get them. I&#8217;ve learned that I needed to focus before. But still, the gleam from all those new ideas pulls like a certain ring in a pool.<\/p>\n<p>I succeeded in launching or killing all my open loops in the fall. I feel like a new man. What to do now? If you say start a new project I&#8217;ll throttle you! lol.<\/p>\n<p>Next week, I&#8217;ll fill you in on my 2012 plans.<\/p>\n<p>For now though, why don&#8217;t you share how your 2011 went. Did last year go according to plan? Did you make any gaming goals and did you reach them?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2011 was a great year and a terrible year for me for writing and gaming. I suffered a bit of burn out, got a couple of awesome gaming products published and gamed monthly instead of every other week for much of 2011. Let&#8217;s delve into my goals for last year, and then I&#8217;ll reveal my [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[71],"tags":[122],"series":[],"class_list":["post-4022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-johnn","tag-hindsight"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1toiD-12S","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4022"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4022"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4031,"href":"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4022\/revisions\/4031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4022"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.campaignmastery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=4022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}