So, we’re nearly at the end of the year… (although for some, it’s already 2019) and that’s traditionally a time to put on our retrospective mirrorshades and reflect on how we want next year to be different. With that in mind, we’re going to take a look at Things We Could Do Better.

Mistakes (that) Were Made Next Time We Will... 7 articles in 7 days (especially when you can’t write them all in advance) Get our ducks lined up faster, so we can write them all in advance. Although if possible, avoid needing to have seven articles in quick succession ever again... Some good ideas were implemented too quickly and so didn’t work perfectly (such as the idea to have two streamers battle it out with the new core set, when they only have 12 hours to make decks) Postpone ideas we don’t have time to refine until we do. Dropped a new core set, MWL, and format information in one (very, very large) article Split it up into multiple, easier to read articles

Have reference guides to each available on the site immediately

Get someone who doesn’t know all the info already to proofread it, to make sure it’s easy to absorb Articles have different fonts and text sizes on Finish the style guide, so everyone knows what font and size to use Spanish customs is… difficult Order product from within the EU, where possible CAPS LOCK INTERN annoyed people Leave him on Mars, mining something useless Relied solely on text-based communications Host more voice or video calls in each department, and NISEI-wide calls to facilitate better communication between departments because text has its limits and comes with its own host of issues When running a tournament on jnet... Started each round immediately Announced the event in the middle of a big announcement about something else Assumed all players have turned up Give commentators 5 minutes to do a sound check Give it an article all to itself Make people check in before doing the pairings Withheld Ashes design documents early on to allow design an echo-free space to work Allow the rest of NISEI to observe design progress and iterate alongside creative and development before design phase is complete. Instruct team on how to accept and filter feedback as needed Devoted too much time to card design and not enough time to product design, which led to a set that is very close in presentation to FFG datapacks/deluxes Design NISEI Set 2 from the ground up not as just a collection of cards, but as an experiential standalone product. Focus on making each product more of a game! We did a good job of designing fun and powerful cards, but we shouldn’t have gone as abstract as we initially did given all departments involved in product construction needed to learn how to integrate our teams as well as how to refine content. Too many initial ideas got scrapped due to lack of time This shouldn’t be as much of an issue now that we have an established development system. No major changes needed; we can go back to making dynamic designs.

Anything we missed? My door is ALWAYS open for constructive criticism. Pop into #nisei on Stimslack, message us on FB or email projectnisei@gmail.com and let me know your thoughts!

And that’s the end of 2018 from us… I’ll return next Monday, not with the usual Community Champion article (which will come a week later), but with a summary of our Five Year Plan and what you can expect from us when. Until then I hope you’re going to join me and resolve to