Pirates: 2019 Year in Review

Hi everyone! This is a thread where you can share what Pirates stuff happened over the past year. It can be just about anything, from accomplishments to purchases to cool ideas. If this seems too vague, you can look at mine for an example. There’s also the option of stating your Pirates Goals for 2020.

It will be nice to look back upon the entire year and find joy and amazement in how much we’re capable of. List (possibly with links and/or a short description) everything you accomplished in 2019 in regards to Pirates that you thought was a good thing that happened. Everyone could make their own post and contribute their own things that they did or are currently doing. When I think about this past week for example, I don’t really think much of it, but when I consider everything I’ve personally done in the entire year, I feel amazed at myself! 😀  I think others could share that feeling as well if they look back at everything. Also, little things count too, so it doesn’t have to be all about one particular event or anything. Once everyone has posted, we can talk about what we accomplished as a whole forum.

a7xfanben

Pirates Goals for 2019 (set last year)
-Didn’t end up teaching any players. 🙁
-I did make a bunch of videos and podcasts about the game.
-I didn’t play The Hourly Campaign a lot, but I found a lot of satisfaction in playing a handful of games that could actually be finished.
-I made some improvements to Pirates with Ben and saw the site grow quite a bit. I finished reposting ALL of my past Battle Reports, which was great. I did set a new personal record for a one month affiliate marketing total, so the site is sometimes paying for itself in some months.
-Although no real progress was made on the NECA/Wizkids front, I did do some “big” podcasts, along with my first physical game with another member of the online community.

General accomplishments:
-Helped with somewhat successful transition from Miniature Trading to PwB/FB groups/etc.
-Produced 13 podcast episodes, including those with James Ernest, Mike Selinker, Jason Mical, Tiffany O’Brien, and Tony Vigil.
-Produced 76 videos for Pirates CSG, including plenty of game footage.
-Created 6 fleets
-Got to 3,000 posts and 300 followers on Instagram (though now it’s lower lol).

Games:
-Played 11 games
-Continued CG4 and THC
-For the first time, played a physical game with another member of the Pirates CSG community
-Did what I set out to do with specific game objectives: Legend of the Giant Turtle, 4 fleets at 100 points, 6×150, game with Captain Randy, November game with family, and the final (for now) game with Xerecs.

Pirates Goals for 2020
-Play at least one game.
-Play my turns in CG4 when/if I am able.
-Teach at least one person how to play the game.
-Check in to and maintain Pirates with Ben when I can.
-I’d love to do a podcast episode and maybe a few videos, but these seem less likely than the above.

Feel free to comment below with your own 2019 Year in Review!

Pirates: 2018 Year in Review

Hi everyone! This is a thread where you can share what Pirates stuff happened over the past year. It can be just about anything, from accomplishments to purchases to cool ideas. If this seems too vague, you can look at mine for an example. There’s also the option of stating your Pirates Goals for 2019.

It will be nice to look back upon the entire year and find joy and amazement in how much we’re capable of. List (possibly with links and/or a short description) everything you accomplished in 2018 in regards to Pirates that you thought was a good thing that happened. Everyone could make their own post and contribute their own things that they did or are currently doing. When I think about this past week for example, I don’t really think much of it, but when I consider everything I’ve personally done in the entire year, I feel amazed at myself!  I think others could share that feeling as well if they look back at everything. Also, little things count too, so it doesn’t have to be all about one particular event or anything. Once everyone has posted, we can talk about what we accomplished as a whole forum.

a7xfanben

Pirates Goals for 2018

-At least 8 new players taught: Pathetic, ZERO players taught.  🙁  Darn.
-VASSAL module (get more players on the module, hopefully edit for more ship types, execute on plans with Xerecs): Somewhat successful, The Caribbean Game has begun but no consistency has been established.
-Finish VASSAL Tournament #2: Done!
-Make a bunch of videos for youtube: DONE!  I technically have produced/uploaded 231 videos to youtube in 2018!  O_O
-Make great podcast episodes and have more guests: The podcast doesn’t seem to have a growing audience from the numbers I see on ShoutEngine, but we did have some great episodes including the reveals of Unreleased game pieces.
-Finish stuff for Ocean Terrain Contest #3: I didn’t really do this, but it was because more important priorities got in the way.
-10 year anniversary games (RotF, F&S, SS): These were played, and eventually the Battle Reports for the first two will be restored/redone.
-Try to play at least one game in every month of the year: Another total failure, as I missed four months in a row from July through October.  I also finished with just 11 total plays (not counting The Hourly Campaign and the Caribbean game, which are ongoing), my lowest ever total for a single year by a wide margin since I started playing in 2011.

General accomplishments:
-Made a lot of progress in salvaging Miniature Trading content (database pictures backed up, Master Spreadsheet saved, many threads and other content saved)
-Completed 4 trades
-Submitted 5 fleets
-Wrote 2 Miniature Reviews
-Posted a lot of pictures on Instagram and surpassed 250 followers (as of now)
-Was the driving force behind starting VASSAL Campaign Game 4
-Produced 24 Podcast episodes
-Produced 231 videos for Pirates CSG (including starting a Pirates CSG Blog/Vlog series)
-Tried out a Facebook ad and an Instagram ad – good “reach”, but not many people seem to actually care about the game.
-Made the transition to Pirates with Ben from my Weebly site – up and running, content transferred over, speed is now improved, more posts coming, forum up and working with some members posting, huzzah!!
-Actually made a little money from Pirates through affiliate marketing rather than direct sales – this is important going forward because my time commitment to the game is simply not sustainable financially in the long run….

Games:
-Played 11 games (my lowest ever total, though massively affected by the amount of campaign game playing rather than games that can actually be completed in a reasonable time frame)
-Finished and WON VASSAL Campaign Game 3
-Started CG4
-Started The Caribbean Game
-Started The Hourly Campaign

Pirates Goals for 2019
I’m anticipating a number of potential major life changes in 2019, so I may not be able to do all the things I’d like to with Pirates.
-I’d like to teach at least one person how to play, though of course I’d love to break my record of 7 from 2015.
-Make videos and podcasts about Pirates
-Continue The Hourly Campaign with at least some consistency – although I doubt I’ll play and finish games in every month of the year, playing THC each month and sometimes each week can satisfy my “playing bug” and allows me to be playing consistently.
-Continue optimizing, building, and monetizing Pirates with Ben
-Actually do things that matter in terms of restarting the game – realize that posting on Instagram all the time, playing random games on the VASSAL module, and doing “random” Pirates stuff really isn’t going to move the needle at this point. I’ve done a TON of the “small stuff” over the years, and it doesn’t help much in the grand scheme of things even if it’s fun.

Pirates: 2017 Year in Review

Hi everyone! This is a thread where you can share what Pirates stuff happened over the past year. It can be just about anything, from accomplishments to purchases to cool ideas. If this seems too vague, you can look at mine for an example. There’s also the option of stating your Pirates Goals for 2018.

Link to 2016 Year in Review thread (you might find your 2017 goals here)

It will be nice to look back upon the entire year and find joy and amazement in how much we’re capable of. List (possibly with links and/or a short description) everything you accomplished in 2017 in regards to Pirates that you thought was a good thing that happened. Everyone could make their own post and contribute their own things that they did or are currently doing. When I think about this past week for example, I don’t really think much of it, but when I consider everything I’ve personally done in the entire year, I feel amazed at myself!  I think others could share that feeling as well if they look back at everything. Also, little things count too, so it doesn’t have to be all about one particular event or anything. Once everyone has posted, we can talk about what we accomplished as a whole forum.

a7xfanben

Goals for 2017
-Taught 4 players, not 8. (including 2 in the past week)
-VASSAL module. This was hit and miss, with plenty of no-shows and excuses from others. However, it was still a solid year, with progress made on T2, a handful of players new to the module, and a THIRD campaign game starting up (with SIX players no less!).
-10 year anniversary games – These were played: FN (x2), OE, PotC
-I didn’t quite play a game in each month of the year, missing March and October (though of course CTO was going on in October)

General accomplishments:
-Taught 4 new players
-Had a good first full year as forum moderator
-Recently became a moderator at the Black Mongoose Tavern
-Completed 12 trades
-Submitted 37 fleets O_O (many of which could use more comments and votes!) (new personal record, and quite possibly a record at MT for Pirates fleets)
-Wrote 8 Miniature Reviews (new personal record)
-Posted a lot of pictures on Instagram and BGG
-Won two fleet challenges
-Won a Miniature Review Contest
-Was the driving force behind the creation of VASSAL Campaign Game 3, the first virtual campaign game with not just more than 3 players, but 6!
-Reached out to NECA and Wizkids, and did some legal research about the patents
-Ran the Pirates CSG Survey
-Started the Pirates CSG Podcast with godmason

Games:
-Played 76 games, my second highest single-year total
-Played Command the Oceans, the biggest game ever by a wide margin (at the time)
-Started CG3
-Finished VASSAL Tournament #2 with Xerecs

Pirates Goals for 2018
-At least 8 new players taught (strive for more!) (previous high for a year is 7, so I’m trying to top that each year)
-VASSAL module (get more players on the module, hopefully edit for more ship types, execute on plans with Xerecs)
-Finish VASSAL Tournament #2
-Make a bunch of videos for youtube
-Make great podcast episodes and have more guests
-Finish stuff for Ocean Terrain Contest #3
-10 year anniversary games (RotF, F&S, SS)
-Try to play at least one game in every month of the year

Original thread on Miniature Trading

Pirates: 2016 Year in Review

Hi everyone! This is a thread where you can share what Pirates stuff happened over the past year. It can be just about anything, from accomplishments to purchases to cool ideas. If this seems too vague, you can look at mine for an example. There’s also the option of stating your Pirates Goals for 2017.

Link to 2015 Year in Review thread (you might find your 2016 goals here)

It will be nice to look back upon the entire year and find joy and amazement in how much we’re capable of. List (possibly with links and/or a short description) everything you accomplished in 2016 in regards to Pirates that you thought was a good thing that happened. Everyone could make their own post and contribute their own things that they did or are currently doing. When I think about this past week for example, I don’t really think much of it, but when I consider everything I’ve personally done in the entire year, I feel amazed at myself!  I think others could share that feeling as well if they look back at everything. Also, little things count too, so it doesn’t have to be all about one particular event or anything. Once everyone has posted, we can talk about what we accomplished as a whole forum.

a7xfanben

Goals for 2016
-Taught 6 players, not 24. I think for the future I will simply try to beat my previous record for a single year. In that case, I will do my best to teach at least 8 players in 2017 (I taught 7 in 2015).
-VASSAL module. This was a huge success, with two huge campaign games and around 9 different players on the module.
-10 year anniversary games – These were played: SCS, DJC, MI
-I did play at least one game in each month of the year

General accomplishments:
-Taught 6 new players
-Became a forum moderator
-Completed 27 trades
-Submitted 19 fleets
-Wrote 2 Miniature Reviews
-Posted a lot of pictures on Instagram, Tumblr, and BGG
-Won three fleet challenges
-Ran two fleet challenges with VASSAL
-Started a Miniature Review contest
-Planned, designed, and created the World game with Xerecs
-Edited the VASSAL module (fixed a few errors, added 10 masted junk ship type, and added things for the World game)

Games:
-Broke my personal record for single-year plays with 92 total on the year
-Played VASSAL Campaign Game 1 with Xerecs
-Started VASSAL Campaign Game 2 with Xerecs and El Cazador
–Experimental cumulative game
-Played VASSAL Tournament #1 with Xerecs
-Started VASSAL Tournament #2 with Xerecs

Pirates Goals for 2017
-At least 8 new players taught (strive for more!)
-VASSAL module (get more players on the module, start a new campaign game)
-10 year anniversary games (FN, OE, PotC)
-Try to play at least one game in every month of the year

Original thread at Miniature Trading

Pirates: 2015 Year in Review

Hi everyone! This is a thread where you can share what Pirates stuff happened over the past year. It can be just about anything, from accomplishments to purchases to cool ideas. If this seems too vague, you can look at mine for an example. There’s also the option of stating your Pirates Goals for 2016.

I think this will be a great thread, and I’d like to make it a yearly tradition. It will be nice to look back upon the entire year and find joy and amazement in how much we’re capable of. List (possibly with links and/or a short description) everything you accomplished in 2015 in regards to Pirates that you thought was a good thing that happened. Everyone could make their own post and contribute their own things that they did or are currently doing. When I think about this past week for example, I don’t really think much of it, but when I consider everything I’ve personally done in the entire year, I feel amazed at myself!  I think others could share that feeling as well if they look back at everything. Also, little things count too, so it doesn’t have to be all about one particular event or anything. Once everyone has posted, we can talk about what we accomplished as a whole forum (ex: getting Custom Ships to 64 pages!).

a7xfanben

General accomplishments:
-Created new fansite (Pirates with Ben)
-Taught 7 new players
-Joined the Pirates CSG reddit community and became moderator there (community grew in number from ~23 to 41)
-Bought a ton of sealed packs and acquired more duplicates, all to be given away or traded
-Gave away lots of duplicate ships and packs (including some Christmas giving)
-Successfully completed a whopping 49 trades (some started in 2014 but all finished in 2015)
-Built my own custom islands and terrain

Forum:
–Thread of Threads
-Finished the Rankings threads (20 total)

Ideas:
-Sealed pack game(s) (finally played one!)
-Live-streamed Pirates game

Games:
–Economy Edition
-Played games in every month of the year for the first time ever (56 games total)
-Posted lots of BR’s at BGG to get more exposure

Other:
-10 year anniversaries of CC, RV, and BC

Pirates Goals for 2016
-At least 24 new players taught (strive for more! Hopefully not too ambitious lol)
-VASSAL module!
-10 year anniversary games
-Once again play at least one game in every month of the year

We can also edit new things in when we think of them!

Original thread at Miniature Trading