Well we're past $3million, I think the final "Big" thing might just be a giant. Seriously able to still stand on the large base, but tower over all the other things.
I honestly think that they explicitly wanted to keep all things dragons for a second KS, probably based around some sort of 'not tiamat' and endless dragon-like types with kolbolds, half-dragons and cultists being the mooks. Hell, I was surprised we got lizardmen as I could see lizardmen and snakemen being servants of dragons. I also would have loved to see a more gothic undead... Peasant survivors are not what I expect to see in a dungeon... I want some crypt zombies or wights. I assume those will be in Z:BP2
Almost every roaming monster and minion pack has been a slam dunk for me from an RPG aspect. So many holes filled where the bones sculpt/material suffered or the model was 50$.
I hope we do see a final big bad of some sort... Maybe a chimera, Giant or balroggy type thing.
Giant actually sounds most logical to me for a big single model.
Looking at their timeline the plan is about 4 months ish till the pledge manager deadline. Im actually considering just tossing a buck In a waiting to goto full that way just in case anything I like more comes out in the next few months. I mean 4 months is a decent amount of time.
Wasnt there a site or thread someplace that listed upcoming kickstarters and their estimated start time? Wonder if anything I might care about will go off in that timeframe.
I originally thought we'd get evil, ringwraith versions of the original Lightbringers as minions of the Darkness, but it's too late for 6 more minis. At this point I just expect one or two more roamers to finish things out.
Dropped to $1 after adding up all the add ons etc. I need more time to think about how 'in' I want to be and at least give zombiecide a try to see if it scratches that itch anyway.
Still pretty sure I'll be down for the $400+ all in once the manager closes.
Hellsbane is a demon imbued with the essence of Darkness, and driven by the hellish flames that burn inside him. His malice is unparalleled, and to stand before his fiery maw and heavy blade is to face death. His melee attacks are as lethal as they come, even at lower levels. However, it is really the shadows that push Hellsbane to the limit. He feeds off of it, and heroes who try to exploit it only make him stronger! For each hero in Shadow Mode, anywhere on the board, Hellsbane's attacks gain an automatic Hit. It is not wise to hide from the shadows!
I got the impression that he meant it was the final stretch goal. The last few zombicide campaigns have finished all the stretch goals with a couple of hours to spare if I remember correctly so perhaps they are doing the same here but a bit more extreme. Alternatively he may just be tricky and there is a final final secret stretch goal to come.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Edit: also they never gave us extra dice which is a staple of zombicide, but at this point I wonder if that would steal money from the total as people buying the add one might drop.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Edit: also they never gave us extra dice which is a staple of zombicide, but at this point I wonder if that would steal money from the total as people buying the add one might drop.
This came up often. Not to reignite the argument, but they didn't give extra dice because the game is capped at 3 of each dice. You never roll more than 3 blue, 3 green, 3 red and 3 yellow at once. Since it's capped, they didn't see the need to give out more.
Hellsbane looks great. I'll almost definitely buy back in at the pledge manager stage. 4 months is plenty of time to get the funds together.
Well if this is the final model its disappointing to me. Not entirely because of the model or anything hes fine. Even if he seems a little generic imo. Was just hoping for a bigger finish even thought it seemed kinda clear to me a while ago that it was going to taper out more than go out with a bang...
Oh well theres still a chance theres more coming I guess, they didnt do any favors with the wording on that announcement. Could be the last one or he could just be talking about the final stretch of the campaign.
Hmm to toss in a buck and up it later... or just buy the damn thing now... decisions decisions...
I suspect the wording is it's the last stretch if we hit it with not long to go
but not if we crack it with many hours to go and backers still pouring in
I think they're happy enough to give us a goal if we miss it by a little but not if we're way short, and this lets them avoid showing something we're not going to get (as they judge it)
Very possible, no matter what it was intended to mean itll slow the incoming money down, I mean if its the last one theres no real reason for me to throw 120 in now, I can toss in a buck and up in the PM. Well make this SG just fine without me. Im sure Im not the only one thinking that.
And if enough people are, while we will still hit this one easily. itll go slower, maybe slow enough that it ends up being the last one even if it wasnt the original plan.
Kickstarter (the company) has to crack down on the whole $1 pledge and use the PM later thing at some point, right? Otherwise it's just going to keep going until it becomes a "tragedy of the commons" situation where nobody sees any need to actually pledge during the campaign. Right now Massive Darkness is at 9% no reward pledges which is a decent chunk of change Kickstarter is missing their cut on. Maybe CMoN has a deal with them where they still pay the split on the non-shipping PM payments?
As one of the $1 pledger I hope they never do that . I have a very tight budget, and multiple projects come at the same time. The pledge window gives me time to gather the cash most of the time, but it also allows the companies to see just how large the demand is because they can see how many more people want to buy into the game. Maybe they should cut out the letting people but 10 sets as you know those are going to ebay
I'm definitely going to be one of those people too - I'm in for $1.
The main motivation for getting this is to have something to do with all of the Black Plague stuff I ended up with. But do I really need another dungeon crawler? I have SO MANY already. I'm hoping there will be a little more information on how it actually plays before the PM closes.
ecurtz wrote: Kickstarter (the company) has to crack down on the whole $1 pledge and use the PM later thing at some point, right? Otherwise it's just going to keep going until it becomes a "tragedy of the commons" situation where nobody sees any need to actually pledge during the campaign. Right now Massive Darkness is at 9% no reward pledges which is a decent chunk of change Kickstarter is missing their cut on. Maybe CMoN has a deal with them where they still pay the split on the non-shipping PM payments?
Given that KS isnt privy to the post campaign information add-ons, I dont see how they would crack down on it. CMON might if their campaigns didnt do gangbusters, but since they don't pay a 10-15% KS fee on post campaign add-ons or have to create stretch goals for that money, it benefits them as well. Smaller campaigns might have to worry, but you can add certain pledge tiers that are onnly available during the campaign. Mierce experimented with this on their more recent ones, with a unit that gave a bonus figure based on your in-campaign total pledge, that I thought struck a fair balance between needing money to fund the campaign, and their usual procedure of leaving the pledge manager open until near shipping.
ecurtz wrote: Kickstarter (the company) has to crack down on the whole $1 pledge and use the PM later thing at some point, right? Otherwise it's just going to keep going until it becomes a "tragedy of the commons" situation where nobody sees any need to actually pledge during the campaign. Right now Massive Darkness is at 9% no reward pledges which is a decent chunk of change Kickstarter is missing their cut on. Maybe CMoN has a deal with them where they still pay the split on the non-shipping PM payments?
Yea I mean I do get what youre saying. And I even agree for the most part.
In my personal situation Im only buying one boardgame/miniature lot for the forseeable future (itll take me long enough to paint it and the stuff I already own as is)
So for me the question is, is this the one... throwing a buck in means I can wait a bit and see if something I like *more* happens along. This way Im not already locked into this one and upset if something that suits me more shows up in 2 months.
I think all the stuff you get in here is pretty damn good for 120. But there are some models Im less than thrilled about.... which is why theres a decent chance Im going in for 1$ and will probably just snag it all in the PM down the line.
RiTides wrote: Do we know what that blue base size is? With a head swap, I could use that model for all sorts of things if it's big enough!
The Overseer is on the same blue base and pretty much fills it. We have picture of the Overseer without base next the Abominotaur and it's clear that the Abominotaurs base is bigger. I'd need to check the size of the Abominataurs base then it should be easy enough to figure out I'll let you know later unless someone does it in the meantime.
EDIT scratch that the Overseer is on a smaller blue base. It looks like the Hellsbane is on a 55mm base like the Abominotaur (which is 80mm tall to the tip of the horn) - still hard to tell without another miniature for context though.
Theophony wrote: Edit: also they never gave us extra dice which is a staple of zombicide, but at this point I wonder if that would steal money from the total as people buying the add one might drop.
This came up often. Not to reignite the argument, but they didn't give extra dice because the game is capped at 3 of each dice. You never roll more than 3 blue, 3 green, 3 red and 3 yellow at once. Since it's capped, they didn't see the need to give out more.
Zombicide never rolls more than 6 dice, and yet they gave 2 extra sets in Rue. If you have 3 or 4 players, you'd want more dice, simple as that. It's very chintzy.
____
ecurtz wrote: Kickstarter (the company) has to crack down on the whole $1 pledge and use the PM later thing at some point, right?
Why? They allow it for everything, and it's not like CMoN locks the PM to backers only.
Pacific wrote: Hopefully this damned thing will finish, and KS charge my card, before the value of the bloody pound drops any further
Yeah, I was only intending to pay my $110 now but may have to add in the addons even though I really shouldn't just to save some money further down the road when the exchange rate plummets further.
Pacific wrote: Hopefully this damned thing will finish, and KS charge my card, before the value of the bloody pound drops any further
Go in for a dollar, and add $119 in the pledge manager! That is, if you have any faith that the pound isn't going to be even more in the toilet in 6 months. In which case, you might well have better things to be spending your money on than boardgames, like a tarpaulin to cover your cardboard box!
Still bummed I missed the early bird but glad it's almost over. I don't think I can afford to add on any add ons though, but the core pledge seems like a great enough deal as it is.
Just when I thought I had enough fantasy minis to paint...
Pacific wrote: Hopefully this damned thing will finish, and KS charge my card, before the value of the bloody pound drops any further
Go in for a dollar, and add $119 in the pledge manager! That is, if you have any faith that the pound isn't going to be even more in the toilet in 6 months. In which case, you might well have better things to be spending your money on than boardgames, like a tarpaulin to cover your cardboard box!
I expect the £ will drop very close to a 1:1 ratio to the $ over the next year if we continue on our current rudderless course so I put in my $308 today (no need for dice or 2nd set of tiles, never opened the extras from Z-Cide Seasons 1 or 2).
As slightly underwhelming as it is as a 'final' goal for a campaign as successful as this one is, I did want more loot cards, so I'm glad they'll soon be in.
IF there had been one more 'free' Minion box though?
And that box was Dark Elves?
That would've added another $500K here easy, if not more!
Anyway I dunno I called the lackluster ending @3.5 days ago.
I still just ended up pledging, a weak ending doesnt really change the overall value etc of it that much.
And Im sure plenty of people are fine with the last couple unlocks. (its not that theyre bad or anything I was just hoping for something better at the end is all)
I was referring to the last several unlocks, not the total raised.
You sat here and were so sure some amazing thing was coming... the demon is the closest thing you can claim to be that...
And you know it wasnt nearly as good as what you were hoping for.
edit- and really the total raised is pretty meh when the unlocks are adjusted accordingly, if this campaign was a "huge failure" we probably would have still got a large portion of the things that got added to this big successful one. so while 3.5m or 20m or whatever means something to cmon, it doesnt mean much to me.
large balrog demon and ettin are pretty damn good, both in theme and in sculpts.
This has more backers than Z:BP and a hell of a lot less add-ons for completionists. I would have to really blur my vision to see how this has been anything but a total and complete success as a KS...
You can always try to appease the mob and shoot for the moon, but CMoN keeps gak on the rails and I think we are all better off because of it.
edit- and really the total raised is pretty meh when the unlocks are adjusted accordingly, if this campaign was a "huge failure" we probably would have still got a large portion of the things that got added to this big successful one. so while 3.5m or 20m or whatever means something to cmon, it doesnt mean much to me.
Overall total is considerably higher than pre-campaign estimates.
I've settled on $175, for rats, BP cards and bridges / doors, in addition to the main pledge. Would have been more but for our stellar decision to tank our own economy, regardless I think this is superb value, cant wait, will be painting BP in the meantime.
nkelsch wrote: large balrog demon and ettin are pretty damn good, both in theme and in sculpts.
This has more backers than Z:BP and a hell of a lot less add-ons for completionists. I would have to really blur my vision to see how this has been anything but a total and complete success as a KS...
You can always try to appease the mob and shoot for the moon, but CMoN keeps gak on the rails and I think we are all better off because of it.
Exactly!
Plus, when today is done, this campaign will have raised over $1M...in the last three days!
I would have like another Mob or two (Yes, Dark Elves, but Demons even more!), but the number of free large wandering Monsters has me quite content!
Clearly, I've been playing it wrong by not letting Zombies accumulate and bonuses stack to the point that I can roll a dozen more more dice for a single attack. Sorry for the mixup.
Soo.. anyway..
I am in for a basic box and will likely add 2 boxes of rats and lizards in PM plus whatever else is an expansion and not something I want to wait for retail on.
As to the finish.. They "were" going to finish with a massive demon. A wingless demon that looks awesome.. That's kinda hard to find to be honest.. and something I happened to be on the lookout for.
People asked for one more unlock and they added the cards.. They didn't have to do that.. it was not going to be there.. but handwave it as underwhelming.. that's fine. Except.. it isn't.. If you're planning on actually playing the game, that's more gear that wasn't going to be there, expanding the content. I personally couldn't care less about more dice. I have dice. I have enough dice that everyone on my block could play games with the dice that I have. I am not put off that some specially marked dice didn't make it in.. They would've gone in the same cask style humidor all my other dice stay in waiting to be abused.
For me.. extra dice.. not useful.. extra cards.. useful. I'm quite pleased with everything about this and judging by the total and other comments here.. I'm not alone. I think some people are just really truly never happy..
Well you can't say they don't listen to their backers (no matter how crazy the idea).
I can't see it doing $200k in 55 minutes but CMoN normally add the last stretch goal even if it's not reached so I don't think they added this knowing it wouldn't be reached and they wouldn't have to make it.
Painted it Black, fiery mane and tail call it a Nightmare
Bring back the Brian Blessed comments! (I know different KS still damned annoying) but it does set a bad precedent all right. The MD comment section was near unreadable and next to worthless through out.
The person mostly behind the Unicorn spam (not sure if he started it but he relentlessly spammed it for the entire month) was the same guy who spammed the Walking Dead: All out war comments and was rewarded there with a zombie miniature added to the Kickstarter pledge based upon his likeness.
This just encourages people to spam more and more.
Well I guess we can expect future CMON projects to become filled with fan service then. As if the "big bang" characters and "real zombie bosses" gak wasn't enough.
Calling it now: BP2 will be filled with spam demanding the whole MLP crew.
They still have the retail pledge levels to add in which will contribute to the stretch goals, I wouldn't be surprised if they just use that reasoning to hand wave it through just after campaign ends.
Anyway, even when there's not spam (I didn't happen to read the unicorn comments), I don't read the CMON KS comments. Same old questions all the time, and minor comment s about the sculpt. Pretty tame KS, particularly after LOAD.
I assume though, that CMON's already calculated shipping costs, so know the unicorn won't make it as a SG. I did notice that if every $1 pledge was converted to $120, we would have reached it.
"Yes but does it poop out Lv 5 treasure?!?" -- Surgeon Sturgeon
Its just whether or not they want to give you one, they knew it would be highly unlikely to reach 3.6 let alone the 3.7 they put it at.
It was either- heres something we dont need to worry about giving them but itll shut up those people who wanted a unicorn.
or they just say screw it and we all get one.
But yea the 4m dragon woulda been funny. I dont think it would have had any chance of making it either, but I do wonder if there might have been a noticeable attempt by backers to get it there.
You have to laugh at those backers who are rage quiting the project because of the unicorn. I don't particularly like it but you can always give it away... (or sell it)
It's in according to the update.. Everyone acting like you can't get a Bones Unicorn right now for $3 though.. Ugh.. I do like the idea of turning it into a nightmare..
I thought Super Dungeon's pony was cooler and fit the aesthetic better.
Maybe Dakka members all should vote on some inane creature/ object to get included in all future KS campaigns, and with our united powers make it a reality.
Happy with the overall campaign though. Should definitely get my money's worth.
Maybe Dakka members all should vote on some inane creature/ object to get included in all future KS campaigns, and with our united powers make it a reality.
xevv wrote: I was referring to the last several unlocks, not the total raised.
You sat here and were so sure some amazing thing was coming... the demon is the closest thing you can claim to be that...
And you know it wasnt nearly as good as what you were hoping for.
edit- and really the total raised is pretty meh when the unlocks are adjusted accordingly, if this campaign was a "huge failure" we probably would have still got a large portion of the things that got added to this big successful one. so while 3.5m or 20m or whatever means something to cmon, it doesnt mean much to me.
text removed.
Reds8n
While I was hoping for something different than the unicorn, I'm going to admit I'll laugh like a hyena when the first high level player gets skewered by the horse.
xevv wrote: I was referring to the last several unlocks, not the total raised.
You sat here and were so sure some amazing thing was coming... the demon is the closest thing you can claim to be that...
And you know it wasnt nearly as good as what you were hoping for.
edit- and really the total raised is pretty meh when the unlocks are adjusted accordingly, if this campaign was a "huge failure" we probably would have still got a large portion of the things that got added to this big successful one. so while 3.5m or 20m or whatever means something to cmon, it doesnt mean much to me.
Are you just a smug jerk or is it the keyboard? I'd buy another keyboard if it is.
While I was hoping for something different than the unicorn, I'm going to admit I'll laugh like a hyena when the first high level player gets skewered by the horse.
I want a unicorn character for zombicide Black Plague now. Going around and seeing how many zombies I can spear each turn would make it all the better .
Maybe Dakka members all should vote on some inane creature/ object to get included in all future KS campaigns, and with our united powers make it a reality.
Happy with the overall campaign though. Should definitely get my money's worth.
If you lead the charge with something reptilian, I'm with you. I used to be pretty involved with KS comments but I barely paid attention to this one. I did notice that there was a small contingent of people who share my taste in monster sculpts (loving the Nightmare Thing and Overseer above all else), hardly a majority, but nice to see I'm not the only one.
I did like the ZBP deal quite a bit more. It's cheesy, but getting a not-Tim the Enchanter, not-Xena, and not-David Bowie in a game recently was excellent, and the Paul Bonner character set is perfect, and ZBP's simpler mechanics made the game more accessible for my kids. There's some great Hendricks sculpts in both campaigns, though, and while I'm not enthused by the Guiton-designed mobs here, I wasn't enthused by them in ZBP, either, and that's still been a great game.
I like to go all in for projects that capture my imagination, but this one was an odd duck. There were some great sculpts, but not enough to go all in for, so I put in my dollar and will wait for the pledge manager and see what I think then. All moral arguments about "jerk pledges" aside, that final Unicorn stretch goal killed any guilt I might have felt for not putting down $120 up front.
I like many of the Roaming Monsters, along with the Goblins and Orks. I am lukewarm over the Chaos Dorfs. I dislike the Cavemen. I very much dislike the Unicorn.
I am disappointed that they didn't throw in any extra dice, which has been a staple bonus of CMoN KS until now.
I am concerned that Shadow Mode was not balanced against not using Shadow Mode, resulting in shallow gameplay.
If Shadow Mode is balanced, and Story Mode makes sense, I may back for the base pledge. Otherwise, I'm totally OK to walk away from this.
I think it totally fair to have only put a buck in with both Shadow Mode and Story Mode being major question marks.
Lovely mix of miniatures and I'm sure will be a fun game.
Amusingly considering the final stretch goal, other half has tolerance for my hobby as long as "it doesn't include unicorns". Not sure what I'm going to do now..
Lovely mix of miniatures and I'm sure will be a fun game.
Amusingly considering the final stretch goal, other half has tolerance for my hobby as long as "it doesn't include unicorns". Not sure what I'm going to do now..
Like others have said, paint it up as a nightmare.....or paint it up as a zombicorn and use the rules for the abominotaur in zombicide Black Plague. Basically it's horn blows holes in walls to get at you
nkelsch wrote: I don't know why people are bent out of shape with a unicorn...
If you put it in the garbage, then it doesn't impact you.
And it clearly can be and is a Nightmare, which is a perfect creature for this game.
I think it was more that it represented another company encouraging inane spamming in an already unhelpful comment section. I don't think the fact it is a Unicorn is what people are bothered about.
Yep, it's not that it's a unicorn but that encouraging people to spam in the comments by rewarding them just makes an already poor comments system unbearable.
There was a lot of good information provided by Thiago in there but actually finding it was next to impossible due to the spam.
nkelsch wrote: I don't know why people are bent out of shape with a unicorn...
If you put it in the garbage, then it doesn't impact you.
And it clearly can be and is a Nightmare, which is a perfect creature for this game.
I think it was more that it represented another company encouraging inane spamming in an already unhelpful comment section. I don't think the fact it is a Unicorn is what people are bothered about.
Amen. I got tired of the same guys discussing useless stuff, or the guy complaining that there's not enough here for him to resell on eBay later .
Theophony wrote: the guy complaining that there's not enough here for him to resell on eBay later .
Thats a good thing right? He wants to keep it all?
Personally the only things I will probably sell off are the nightmare thing/overseer/chun ra or whatever his name was. I just dont like any of them really. Plus two of them seem to be models people out there really liked so I may as well ship em off to someone who appreciates it.
Just message me in 9 months, you can have the first shot at them, assuming-
I dont change my mind when I actually see them.
I dont keep them just for completions sake.
But yea they do seem to be big hits for everyone that isnt me. I think my standout favorites are the rockbreaker cyclops and the werebear. Love that bear.
I backed for a buck yesterday. If the Euro is less gakky come PM time I'll get it any maybe the lizzards. If it is still bad I'll have to grumble and still get it, thanks to the bear, tiger, troll and Jason's tentacle monsters.
If that makes me a jerk so be it, CMON KS commenters have lost all sympathy I had when they complained about BP's knight level pledge until CMON made the Abominarat that I *had* to have a knight exclusive, forcing me to up my pledge AND destroying a possible retail rat release.
Well, if you like the art style, even the add ons are a bargain.. Especially if you play Frostgrave.. A were-rat/Skaven/whatever warband for $35!? I still am not crazy about the sculpts of some of the minion types from the base game but not so much that it put me off the whole thing.
I need to track down a gameplay video for MD now (if there is one).. My kids like Z:BP and they have no clue about this.. they will be floored
MLaw wrote: Well, if you like the art style, even the add ons are a bargain.. Especially if you play Frostgrave.. A were-rat/Skaven/whatever warband for $35!? I still am not crazy about the sculpts of some of the minion types from the base game but not so much that it put me off the whole thing.
I need to track down a gameplay video for MD now (if there is one).. My kids like Z:BP and they have no clue about this.. they will be floored
Add ons will be same price or cheaper at retail and there's been a gameplay video on the KS page since the start of the project.
The Add Ons are at a 10% discount CMoN have really reduced the discount on add ons recently. The $27 boxes are $30 retail and the $32 boxes are $35 retail. US backers will definitely find them cheaper at retail but availability might be an issue and you will have to wait longer.
For me in the EU that $30 retail becomes €30 retail which is $33. $27 is €24.50 so it's a nearly 20% discount so it's worth it for me to add them to the pledge now.
Presumably because the do a bunch of other stuff that's not just KS business,
so the happier the retailers are about being able to get in on that sweet, sweet KS exclusive action the more likely they will be to stock stuff like dark age or wrath of kings going forward
(or at least not have a KS related tantrum and vow never to touch a CMON product again)
MLaw wrote: Well, if you like the art style, even the add ons are a bargain.. Especially if you play Frostgrave.. A were-rat/Skaven/whatever warband for $35!? I still am not crazy about the sculpts of some of the minion types from the base game but not so much that it put me off the whole thing.
I need to track down a gameplay video for MD now (if there is one).. My kids like Z:BP and they have no clue about this.. they will be floored
Add ons will be same price or cheaper at retail and there's been a gameplay video on the KS page since the start of the project.
I figured that's what it was
You're right about the add on prices but the wait time .. actually.. hm.. retailers tend to get this stuff before backers.. sooo.. maybe I will hold off on the addons and get free shipping on them to boot.
Getting a slightly better discount at retail - if/when you can find them vs. getting everything at once has me leaning towards...getting everything at once.
I'm OK with paying a bit more and not having to chase everything down later, at some point.
JohnHwangDD wrote: What I don't understand is why CMoN is reaching out to retail for this. Retail drives basically none of the KS revenue, so why bother?
Because CMoN sells 80k units at retail post-ks and CMoN products sell pretty well at retail from what I have heard from stores. Every KS game I have gotten from CMoN can be bought as a core box, never buy one add-on and people have a great fun experience without ever feeling like they missed out.
I think CMoN is totally ok when they release add-ons which are close to retail and people pass on them. They know they still get their monies. This is the second campaign I have seen where they stopped force bundling exclusives with retail-bound add-ons and it didn't seem to hurt the KS one bit.
I think playing nice with retailers and running campaigns which will send backers retail purchasing later maake stores want to carry CMoN while they tell other companies to go screw knowing the KS took 98% of the market for that product.
I think playing nice with retailers and running campaigns which will send backers retail purchasing later maake stores want to carry CMoN while they tell other companies to go screw knowing the KS took 98% of the market for that product.
Which is also why Bloodborne, Potion Explosion, and The Godfather are all currently slated as straight to retail.
JohnHwangDD wrote: What I don't understand is why CMoN is reaching out to retail for this. Retail drives basically none of the KS revenue, so why bother?
CMON games do well at retail, in addition to doing well with their Kickstarters.
Blood Rage, for example, sold extremely well at retail- despite not having any of the extra content from the KS. Zombicide has also done well at the LGS level.
Overall, the evidence is pointing towards Kickstarter being very good for retail game sellers. Or at least, it hasn't been bad for them as there has been constant retail growth in the US since a little before Kickstarter began, and several of the top selling games at retail have been Kickstarted projects.
Still- if you can make a fan out of a retail store owner, you'll sell a lot of product. So it isn't a bad idea to keep them on your good side.
Alpharius wrote: Add-ons will probably be cheaper at retail later - but availability might be spotty.
I think the only KS Exclusive add-on is the BP Crossover cards?
It also depends on where you live - for those of us outside of the US, it will probably work out cheaper overall to pay the RRP being asked in the KS for the expacks since shipping is all rolled in together, as opposed to paying local prices or shipping from a place like Minimarket or Noble Knight.
The deadline for submitting and paying for your pledge is October 23rd, 2016. Don’t be late! If you fail to finalize your pledge by the deadline, your order will be shipped later and from the USA hub, incurring higher shipping costs and possible customs fees for international backers.
and remember the main pledge includes some of the things also offered as add ons (eg the Troglodytes box) so look at the list at the top of the page to see what you're getting before adding duplicates you didn't intend to
Same boat. I'm in for $1 and I can't decide if I want to go for it. Part of me thinks of all the Zombicide: Black Plague stuff I have - this would be another way to use that massive pile of plastic.
On the other hand, I have yet to actually play Black Plague itself, so it's hardly a crushing need.
Played Black Plague recently and it is indeed loads of fun.
Only add-on I got for my Lightbringer pledge at this time is the cross-over set for Black Plague since that seems to be the only kickstarter exclusive item right now. That will be a ton of cross over possibilities between both games.
Will likely get the expension boxes at a later time.
At the time of the KS, I wasn't really feeling the game (neither the minis nor the gameplay); however, I still kept a buck in, just in case. Since that time, I still feel like it's overpriced at $120 + (expensive) S&H to CA.
And then, Kingdom Death said they would be doing a KS on Black Friday... Given the choice, I think I'm more excited over potentially more lovely Kingdom Death over not-quite-Zombicide.
Won't be going in on the PM after all. In fact I sold my entire Black Plague Knight pledge with lots of extras. Nice game which can be quite fun but not worth the massive investment for me since I won't be painting the minis nor use them elsewhere. My wallet just cried from joy
We played through the core set of Black Plague and had a lot of fun with it. Haven't gotten back to it since the rest of the KS landed (we basically played Zombicide every week for almost a year), but based on Zombicide and BP I've got no hesitation in going all in on Massive Darkness.
Azazelx wrote: We played through the core set of Black Plague and had a lot of fun with it. Haven't gotten back to it since the rest of the KS landed (we basically played Zombicide every week for almost a year), but based on Zombicide and BP I've got no hesitation in going all in on Massive Darkness.
Same here!
This one looks great, and will probably even see more play in my gaming group than Zombicide - especially if the campaign mode/persistent story mode is good!
MrDwhitey wrote: In fairness, if they hadn't used a 1 day bank holiday to delay shipping a month, this would not have happened.
Their excuses and communication are rubbish at best, look up Aetherworks' facebook to find out that CMON hadn't even told their AU distributors that they were shipping only about 1/3 of the AU pledges on the boat that they told us about, and that the rest would show up several weeks later. I doubt a 1-day holiday or long weekend in the US actually made any difference to when they shipped from China.
As you're all filling out your Pledge Managers, many have been wondering whether or not to get the Enemy Box: Reptisaurians expansion, given that you haven't even seen these guys' sculpts yet.
I love the reptiloids but i'm less convinced by the big bad (has a bit of a 'blown up with a bicycle pump' look), but all in all it looks a good box
I like them, except for that pose both champions seem to have where theyre leaning back arms out roaring or whatever it is theyre supposed to be doing lol
Still in for the basic pledge but there are a couple things Ill be keeping an eye out for at retail.
The deadline for submitting and paying for your pledge is October 23rd, 2016. Don’t be late! If you fail to finalize your pledge by the deadline, your order will be shipped later and from the USA hub, incurring higher shipping costs and possible customs fees for international backers.
and remember the main pledge includes some of the things also offered as add ons (eg the Troglodytes box) so look at the list at the top of the page to see what you're getting before adding duplicates you didn't intend to
Remember, I think today is the last day to lock in your pledge - at least without getting put at the back of the line/having to jump some hurdles!
I couldn't say no because of some of the monsters, but that's it. No more KS until the Euro gets stronger. I'll import GW stuff at laugh-at-the-£ prices instead.
Man I hope the "persistent" mode ends up being satisfying. Locking down that $400 pledge was rough, and I couldn't tell if I had buyers remorse or not. :-p
The deadline for submitting and paying for your pledge is October 23rd, 2016. Don’t be late! If you fail to finalize your pledge by the deadline, your order will be shipped later and from the USA hub, incurring higher shipping costs and possible customs fees for international backers.
and remember the main pledge includes some of the things also offered as add ons (eg the Troglodytes box) so look at the list at the top of the page to see what you're getting before adding duplicates you didn't intend to
Remember, I think today is the last day to lock in your pledge - at least without getting put at the back of the line/having to jump some hurdles!
(I locked mine in last night...)
Yeah I'm out. After the intial hype died out I forgot all about it. If I'm forgetting it that quickly, it's not something I really need to add to my collection.
I went for the main pledge, the rats box and the BP crossover cards. I think for the amount of great models included, this is a bargain, having a game to tie in BP is just a bonus.
This will probably be my last non UKKS for a very long time due the current state of the £, but at least I'll have a lot to paint in the meantime.
I caved at the last minute, which I have mixed feelings about. Only got the Black Plague cards for extras.
I admit I have hope that this will finally be the Dungeon Crawl-lite that I can bring to the weekly public board game night. While I have what seems like a million sort-of-similar games, most require a semi-dedicated/savvy group.
Plus, who am I kidding, the monster miniatures look fantastic, and that was the main selling point.
The sheer massiveness of this Kickstarter campaign has posed a few hurdles on our production. Aside from the already daunting volume of products to manufacture, one rather problematic issue is the huge amount of unconfirmed pledges we still have, and the fact that every day we get dozens of new confirmations. This creates a big problem for us to lock down the necessary production quantities, and has already caused delays in our pipeline. While our initial delivery estimate was April 2017, I’m sorry to inform that the updated estimated delivery to backers is July 2017.
In order to move forward with this production, we have to enforce a new procedure: Make sure you pay and confirm your pledge NOW. We will produce based on the current numbers of confirmed orders. If you don’t confirm your pledge now, your package may be shipped 5 or 6 months after the initial wave of deliveries, or if we run out of a product we may have to cancel your pledge as per our terms and conditions.
So please don’t run the risk of long delays or losing your pledge due to not confirming your order now. If you haven’t already, go to the Pledge Manager and make sure you’ve paid for shipping and Confirmed your order. If your pledge is confirmed there will be a green button at the top of the screen saying it's confirmed.
After all, you don’t want to be left out of such goodies as the exclusive Dice Bag, which we have just received a sample of and I must say it’s just about the coolest dice bag we’ve ever done.
Bossk_Hogg wrote: Sounds like they arent necessarily going to be selling this retail, given the comments on production being based on pledge manager orders.
What they are concerned with are the exclusives, that's what's holding production.
I cant say Im fond of one of the delays being due to people missing the cutoff day for the pledge manager... you know that thing that was back at the end of october.
Guess the term "cut off" meant something different than I assumed it did :/
Not like bitching is going to help though, and it isnt that big of a deal that its delayed a couple months to me. (odds are itll be sitting in its box in my closet anyway, and I bet thats true for several of you).
Chopxsticks wrote: I think its a weak excuse to pin a delay on people not filling out their pledge manager. 3 months? seems a little sketch.
Right? First it's CNY, now it's people who haven't filled out their PMs? You'd think if it was that big of a deal we would have seen an update or two prior to now reminding folks..
If I were to guess.. they caught some flak on their NEXT KS.. and thought they would deflect. This is pretty cheap IMO...
I suspect that KD brought a whole raft of new people onto KS who are looking for stuff to back of a vaguely horror nature and Massive Darkness got recommended a lot (certainly based on what I've seen in the facebook groups I'm part of)
so CMONs normal sign up for a late pledge button which is expected to pull in a few extra backers (especially this late after the KS has ended) is pulling in enough that it's going to require extra unit production, certainly of the exclusives and maybe even the main game
OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote: I suspect that KD brought a whole raft of new people onto KS who are looking for stuff to back of a vaguely horror nature and Massive Darkness got recommended a lot (certainly based on what I've seen in the facebook groups I'm part of)
so CMONs normal sign up for a late pledge button which is expected to pull in a few extra backers (especially this late after the KS has ended) is pulling in enough that it's going to require extra unit production, certainly of the exclusives and maybe even the main game
Probably closer to the truth than any of the other nefarious scenarios bandied about!
They kind of made this more difficult on themselves due to the sheer volume of Kickstarter Exclusives too though...
OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote: I suspect that KD brought a whole raft of new people onto KS who are looking for stuff to back of a vaguely horror nature and Massive Darkness got recommended a lot (certainly based on what I've seen in the facebook groups I'm part of)
so CMONs normal sign up for a late pledge button which is expected to pull in a few extra backers (especially this late after the KS has ended) is pulling in enough that it's going to require extra unit production, certainly of the exclusives and maybe even the main game
Probably closer to the truth than any of the other nefarious scenarios bandied about!
They kind of made this more difficult on themselves due to the sheer volume of Kickstarter Exclusives too though...
Yea but shouldnt they still have had to do all that by the october something or other deadline?
I mean the way that email came off is its the backers who were late to confirms fault and everyone is being punished for it. Which seems silly. Hell even if thats the actual reason why not send out an email saying "hey guys fill out your damn pledge manager" before the 3 month late mark....
I dunno I think I woulda felt better if the reason for the delay was " aliens blew up our factory and we need time to find a new one guys" it being delayed isnt a big shock, not many kickstarters deliver on time anyway, its something that should be expected when you click pledge. The reasons/excuses could be better though *shrug*
This is how I feel as well. Very few of my KS's deliver on time and I get that, I couldnt pull something off like this so I dont fault ambitious people who can and need a little more time. I just feel the reasons given are a little lame.
Cant do anything about it, and just found out GW is releasing a new Warhammer Quest this month, so its not like I wont have stuff to keep busy with. Plus I was burnt on KD:M 1.0 so hell, anything thats not 2 years late feels great!
If they are having so much trouble with people filling out the pledge manager, then maybe making one of the stretch goal exclusive models be an exclusive for people who fill out the Pledge Manager on time. It should be easy to track, and give a bit of an incentive to get it done. Not done in the 3-5 months they give you to fill it out then you don't get that model. The Pledge Manager gives you a confirmation, so anyone who gets slighted can show that to get the exclusive if they messed up.
Yes right Alph.. And especially given how good the previous CMoN kickstarters have been, both in terms of the KS operation and the final product itself.
Dust, Arcadia quest inferno, massamora, rum and bones, and xenoshyft were all delivered to my door in the last four weeks. I am running out of room (haven't opened them, or "the others" either).
Zombicide and anything related is an auto buy. I'm looking forward to massive darkness. I dont mind and almost welcome the wait so I can clear out some room and sell some other kickstarters, 40k, 30k, etc.
Kickstarters are great until you forget about what you bought and loads of massive boxes flood your house :(
I'm one of those people who enjoys the unknown/forgotten KS arrival. A huge box of random stuff showing up? Heck yes!
(That being said I sadly bought into Robotech...which is years late for more than 70% of the products...and Hero Quest 25th which is a 3+ year old joke now...)
Not to be off topic, but I pledged for those as well.
Robotech is done, they are not even producing the missing items or working on production of them. One of the guys used the ks funds to help build his house, they are out of ks funds and won't invest their own. I got lucky and sold my first wave for my pledge cost.
Heroquest is similar. They are slowly moving forward, but it is slow as they also spent all the ks funds. They games might not Mae it through customs. I refused to pay more for shipping for a chance I may get my game... looks like I lost on heroquest.
That's why cmon is awesome. They may be a few months late, but have never not delivered. They have never been years late. They make quality games with great minis. This is why I am excited for this game, as well as the crossover minis for bp.
455_PWR wrote: Not to be off topic, but I pledged for those as well.
Robotech is done, they are not even producing the missing items or working on production of them. One of the guys used the ks funds to help build his house, they are out of ks funds and won't invest their own. I got lucky and sold my first wave for my pledge cost.
Heroquest is similar. They are slowly moving forward, but it is slow as they also spent all the ks funds. They games might not Mae it through customs. I refused to pay more for shipping for a chance I may get my game... looks like I lost on heroquest.
That's why cmon is awesome. They may be a few months late, but have never not delivered. They have never been years late. They make quality games with great minis. This is why I am excited for this game, as well as the crossover minis for bp.
Where did you hear about the house bit with robotech funds?
I was actually surprised to see they've only pushed back to July. This hobby has a few core assumptions that have never failed me.
1. GW product cost will grow more than inflation every year.
2. FFG will fail to properly estimate demand for new product launches, causing widespread initial shortages.
3. CMON is overly optimistic with their KS delivery dates.
4. FW quality control is terrible.
As you're all filling out your Pledge Managers, many have been wondering whether or not to get the Enemy Box: Reptisaurians expansion, given that you haven't even seen these guys' sculpts yet.
I love the reptiloids but i'm less convinced by the big bad (has a bit of a 'blown up with a bicycle pump' look), but all in all it looks a good box
Asking as someone who have no clue about this game or CMON, what scale and size are these fellas?
Heroquest is similar. They are slowly moving forward, but it is slow as they also spent all the ks funds. They games might not Mae it through customs. I refused to pay more for shipping for a chance I may get my game... looks like I lost on heroquest.
I've given up on the game. If it comes it comes, if not then I have already written it off. Although my concern would be it actually being finished in the first place (this the customs thing was a load of bluster, I don't know how it could be inforced)
Meh. Same old. Blaming a chunk of the customers is an interesting move though, but it did server to turn a substantial amount of the delay anger on "them" instead of CMON itself, which could well be telling porkies and certainly had/has the responsibility to prod the late backers to complete the PM with, you know, firm closure dates.
To me it seems more like Divide and Conquer, or simple redirection. If they're calling 3 months of delay right now, expect another 3 months added later with another callback to those wicked backers. After all, they've been doing it for so long now that "CNY!" no longer works as a good excuse for them to claim innocence about not planning for.
Pacific wrote: Although I didn't think they had a record of doing things like that with their KS so far?
My experience with them has always been positive, certainly by the standards of other KS
It would appear that experiences vary wildly in regards to their track record. As I stated earlier, I'm in the camp that has had unpleasant experiences with them. I am also less than thrilled with the quality of The Others. I appreciate that you're not polarized to instantly demonize people who have had bad experiences and call them out for it though. Their cheerleaders in the KS comments make it difficult to vent frustration over legitimate issues.
IIRC, they once failed to print the character cards for Zombicide S2 properly, made a PDF of the corrected cards and told people to print it themselves.
Production of the Massive Darkness core box is over, while the rest of the expansions an extra remain on track to be finished by the first week of June. Then, all your pledges will be packed, shipped to the distribution hubs, and finally mailed to all of you. There's still some waiting ahead, but we're confident it will be worth it.
Those who attended the CMON Expo last weekend were able to take a look at our first production copy, and try their hand at a quick demo of the game. We're happy the say that the feedback from attendees was extremely positive, with fans eager to dig into the full game. After a full day of running demos, we hear that some of our volunteers used their time off to have a go at a proper full scenario and had a blast doing it (legend says they almost managed to win it, but fell just short).
You might have heard from those who attended the show about some of changes made to the final game. Without further ado, we invite you take a peek at the final rulebook!
We advise that players read the rulebook carefully, as many of the aspects of the game have changed to a greater or lesser degree. All of these developments were made to ensure a gameplay experience that was not only rich and thematic, but also varied and intense.
For the Darkness is Massive, and full of terrors!
Looking forward to reading this - and hopefully seeing a good persistent world/campaign system?
Looking forward to reading this - and hopefully seeing a good persistent world/campaign system?
The campaign system is roughly on par with Heroquest. Basically you get micro-XP instead of XP, so your progression through the skill tree is slowed, but the skills are persistent. Seems like you can purchase new skills as soon as you can afford them, much like the base game.
Between quests you have the opportunity to sell loot. You can either trade it in for XPs equal to the total levels of the items traded in (so if you have 2 level 3 items and one level 4 you would get 10xp), or you can swap your items for items from the 'town market' (which is constructed through card draws when you enter the town phase) as long as the total levels of the items you take does not exceed the total levels of the items you trade in. You then heal back up to max, spend XPs, equip your gak and move on to the next quest.
Workable for a simple campaign system.
If you want something deeper maybe look at Shadows of Brimstone (or wait for Darklight: Memento Mori to come out).
That sounds pretty good. With a bit of thought it could serve as a lite RPG vehicle.. My kids like the idea of RPGs but are still young enough to find D&D style gaming to be tedious.
Theophony wrote: On my phone so sorry for not linking the update, but all production is done, packing should take a month and then shipping. Missing my birthday
Short and sweet(ish):
Packing Update
Hail Lightbringers!
Just wanted to give you all a quick update. Production has wrapped as scheduled, and now the pledges are being packed. The first packed batches will start leaving the factory next week, and packing will proceed throughout the month of June until all the pledges have been packed and placed on boats for delivery. We should be able to supply you with the first ship schedules next week.
It says they're going to start packing it out in June and when all of that is done they'll be put on a boat. This is them leaving an out for schedule slippage.. which has already occurred and they somehow claim they're still on schedule. I would be genuinely surprised if the entire contents were on a boat in the 3 remaining weeks. I'm betting they don't start shipping until mid to late August.
MLaw wrote: It says they're going to start packing it out in June and when all of that is done they'll be put on a boat. This is them leaving an out for schedule slippage.. which has already occurred and they somehow claim they're still on schedule. I would be genuinely surprised if the entire contents were on a boat in the 3 remaining weeks. I'm betting they don't start shipping until mid to late August.
I guess we will see next week as they said in the update then. Until then I prefer optimism as they at least let us know production was done. While I'd love more updates, they haven't been off the grid and once a month is better than most kickstarters.
Well, January and March had zero updates.. and they really only came "back online" when it was time to foster goodwill to move their latest KS.. but hey.. yeah.. they've been stellar thus far!
MLaw wrote: Well, January and March had zero updates.. and they really only came "back online" when it was time to foster goodwill to move their latest KS.. but hey.. yeah.. they've been stellar thus far!
How much did you back this one for?
There weren't a ton of add-ons here, IIRC, so that should streamline things a bit.
MLaw wrote: Well, January and March had zero updates.. and they really only came "back online" when it was time to foster goodwill to move their latest KS.. but hey.. yeah.. they've been stellar thus far!
How much did you back this one for?
There weren't a ton of add-ons here, IIRC, so that should streamline things a bit.
There weren't that many add-ons but I picked up a few each of the rats and lizards and I think a few each of the scenery related add-ons. Most of my angst comes from CMoN being unwilling to help with change of address.. back a few months ago.. I've backed tons of companies and they're the only ones who just flat out said "sorry can't help ya".. I didn't really mean for it to bleed into this thread tbh but they've pissed me off through our interactions and I'm pretty much done with them at this point. I hope Massive Darkness is cool and I'll use the stuff/play the game for sure.. but I think I'll focus on fewer kickstarters going forward and keep it to the companies that actually need it.. not ones that are just avoiding front end resource allocation.
Cmon and other companies always work with a change of address.... unless you wait until they are starting to ship items. They are starting to ship games (label them, pack, and put them on the boat).
I don't think that's all on cmon if you waited. I've backed almost every cmon kickstarter so far and never had an issue personally. They've always been good about any issues I've had. I had a change of address during the first zombicide campaign, but I notified them before they started packing items, no issues.
No, most other KS companies, don't say "Oh by the way we just printed addresses" at least 2 and a half months out. Please stop making excuses for their jackholeness. I'm so hosed, product is being delivered to Va after I will have moved to Ca and all I get is a "Im sure the delivery company can help you"
I think they're now doing for the US what they've been doing for the EU for a while
getting the orders packed and labelled in China hence why they need the final address so long before to cover the time spent waiting for a container, then waiting for the container to score a slot on a boat, then shipping and customs
although I would have thought that since these things are all barcoded they should be able to put a 'stop' on a specific package, but I guess it depends if they even look at them before passing them on to the courier
455_PWR wrote: Cmon and other companies always work with a change of address.... unless you wait until they are starting to ship items. They are starting to ship games (label them, pack, and put them on the boat).
I don't think that's all on cmon if you waited. I've backed almost every cmon kickstarter so far and never had an issue personally. They've always been good about any issues I've had. I had a change of address during the first zombicide campaign, but I notified them before they started packing items, no issues.
This was months ago.. and even if it wasn't they still haven't shipped so I don't see what you're getting at.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Jerram wrote: No, most other KS companies, don't say "Oh by the way we just printed addresses" at least 2 and a half months out. Please stop making excuses for their jackholeness. I'm so hosed, product is being delivered to Va after I will have moved to Ca and all I get is a "Im sure the delivery company can help you"
This is exactly my point and outside of CMON my expectations on this have been matched entirely. In all cases, I contacted the companies as soon as my new address was known to me.
Recently ordered some items direct from CMON (because no other site or store seemed to have them in stock). They sent me the package in good time....but it contained two items I didn't order and nothing that I actually ordered. So I email them to inform them of the problem and ask how I can receive the items I paid for. They respond within a day, apologizing and telling me I have to print the label they've emailed me, take the package to FedEx and have them ship it back to me. Once CMON receives it back, then they will pack my order and send it to me. I gotta say I'm not real fond of having to go through all the extra hassle and wait because they made a mistake. But I figured I need to stay cool because mistakes happen. So I print the label and send the package back. On a whim, I decided to track the package a few days later to make sure they received it.....only to find that the address on the label for CMON , which they sent to me themselves, was incorrect (apparently it was their old address). At least it's being forwarded to the correct address....lol.
It sounds silly but this is the reason that I actually put my folks address for all the KS stuff I do. Regardless of where I am, they tend to stay put. Gives me an excuse to go visit. A lot of companies are hosed if you move address because many have the labels affixed in friggin' China a month or two ahead of time - some of them ship direct.
Shipping is well underway, I think mostly in ROW and EU locations but...
...there's a bit of an 'Oops' and a fix to it:
Update #70
Jul 29 2017
Resolving a Printing Issue
Hail Lightbringers!
As backers started receiving their pledges, it was brought to our attention that there is a printing issue in a few of the cards from the Massive Darkness core box and some of the expansions. The problem occurred with a few cards that display a colored dice symbol inside a black special ability text box. It would seem the factory ended up printing the colored symbol on top of the solid black color, so it became very hard to make out properly. Unfortunately, as this only happens in very few cards, our quality control process didn't catch this printing issue.
The core box cards with this printing issue.
We apologize for this problem, and want to assure our customers that we will make things right. We are printing packs with corrected copies of all the affected cards (24 in total, encompassing the core box and some expansions) and we will send the appropriate number of packs to all our backers as soon as possible so they can replace the problematic cards. We don't yet have a clear timeline, but we'll keep you updated as more information is made available.
So your gaming doesn't suffer until the replacement packs arrive, we are providing in the links below the proper print files for the 24 affected cards. This way you can either use them as references, or make home prints to use for now.
Not sure how this got past proofs and 'first article inspections' and QC at the factory but at least a fix will be on the way, and the PDFs help immediately as well.
Like to think of my stuff being on the Triton, a not too-fast but trusty container vessel, with an experienced captain that is friendly to the crew but also runs a tight ship and will make sure that it arrives on schedule.
Automatically Appended Next Post: +edit+ Wow, quite cool you can actually type the ship designation into Google and look at 'Vesselfinder.com' you can actually follow the live progress of each boat!
Looks like the Diana is the one headed for the UK (Southampton in fact), is just coming through the channel and off the coast of Hastings at the time of writing.
Played my first game last night with the wife. Man, I forsee this being quite hard.
You do almost no damage in the beginning, and the constant Monster spawning is quite rough.
In the end, we pulled through, but it was a bit of a nailbiter.
The pledges should have been confirmed months ago and the boat to Europe left weeks ago so the parcel missed the shipment. So that £86 postage charge is the charge to ship from US to U.K. via a regular postal service and given the size of the box that sounds about what I would expect, if not a little lower.
Like to think of my stuff being on the Triton, a not too-fast but trusty container vessel, with an experienced captain that is friendly to the crew but also runs a tight ship and will make sure that it arrives on schedule.
Automatically Appended Next Post: +edit+ Wow, quite cool you can actually type the ship designation into Google and look at 'Vesselfinder.com' you can actually follow the live progress of each boat!
Looks like the Diana is the one headed for the UK (Southampton in fact), is just coming through the channel and off the coast of Hastings at the time of writing.
150,000 tons, that's one big-ass boat!
Thank you for the imaginative and informative shipping news
Mutter wrote: Played my first game last night with the wife. Man, I forsee this being quite hard.
You do almost no damage in the beginning, and the constant Monster spawning is quite rough.
In the end, we pulled through, but it was a bit of a nailbiter.
That's good news, since one of the main issues our group has with Zombicide Black Plague (despite lovin' it) is that it's often too easy once the group gets a few bits of gear and we end up steam-rolling through it.
Just received an email from Games Quest who must be handling UK pledges for CMON. They have provided tracking number which isn't active yet by looks like the shipment is already in the warehouse.
Mutter wrote: Played my first game last night with the wife. Man, I forsee this being quite hard.
You do almost no damage in the beginning, and the constant Monster spawning is quite rough.
In the end, we pulled through, but it was a bit of a nailbiter.
That's good news, since one of the main issues our group has with Zombicide Black Plague (despite lovin' it) is that it's often too easy once the group gets a few bits of gear and we end up steam-rolling through it.
Please tell me your secret!
Have about a 50:50 win/loss rate at the moment. Although, we usually play with 4 (scale the game so only 2/3 respawn points function on a given turn) and do a random draw on characters (each person is dealt two, and then choose one)
But a lot of the time seem to end up with the unfortunate issue of masses of zombies repeat activating (as you have run out of miniatures) and things go bad very quickly!
Pacific wrote: In yet more shipping news for the UK deliveries, looked like the ship drew up at port in Southampton at some point today!
Though I know you're probably getting this information from the internet, nonetheless I like to imagine you listening to the pavement, Aragorn style, for the sound of all the gaming goodness arriving
Definitely excited about this game arriving. Had (still having actually) an absolute blast with Zombicide: Black Plague, will be great to mix it up a bit and get some games of this in.
Confirmation that US backers will have to wait for the replacement cards before shipping starts
Shipping Update - Pledges and Replacement Cards
Posted by CMON (Creator)
Hail Lightbringers!
Delivery of Massive Darkness continues on its way. We're pleased to see that many backers have already received their pledges and their reception has been very good. "But where's my pledge?" I hear you ask. Well, here's the latest update on worldwide shipping:
ASIA/PACIFIC
All pledges have been sent out.
AUSTRALIA
All pledges have been sent out.
EUROPE
Most Germany and Spain pledges have already been sent out. Most of the rest of the containers have already arrived and are being sent out to UK, France, Italy and all other EU countries. It should still take at least 2 weeks to send everything out to backers.
There is just one container with 90 Sweden pledges that was delayed and should arrive at the hub on August 18th.
CANADA
Containers are arriving right now, so pledges should probably start being sent out at the end of the week.
USA
Last containers are making their way to the warehouse. Packages should start being sent out to backers in late August and into September.
REPLACEMENT CARDS
As you know from the previous update, there was a misprint in some of the cards in the game. Thankfully the factory has responded very quickly to this issue and the plan to get Replacement Card Packs to all backers is well underway.
The factory is producing the replacement cards at breakneck speed. They even managed to add them to the last APAC pledges that were sent to backers last week, so some backers in Japan, China, Hong Kong, and South Korea are receiving their pledges with the replacement cards already inside.
Replacement Card Packs are also on the way to the USA hub, so that they'll be added to all the pledge boxes before they get sent to backers. The USA hub will also mail directly to Canadian backers their Replacement Card Packs, separately from their pledges.
For the rest of the APAC backers, as well as EU and Australia, the packs are being printed, and should be mailed directly to them in 4 to 7 weeks, depending on the area.
We'll keep you updated as things progress.
For the the Darkness is Massive, and full of terrors!
The sculpts look great to me, the plastic seems very good, not much bend in weapons and other thin parts, not quite GW standard but very good nonetheless.
For me - I love the fact there are so many models to paint, they are single cast so no building and little line removing ( I like building models, but also like not having to occasionally), you can play it solo, and between the variety of models I can use every paint I own.
I'm sad, probably won't have mine till September at this point.
And also bummed that they won't let me change my address. I just moved a few weeks ago. I'm gonna have to go to my old house to pick it up, unless it comes USPS and they can forward it to my new one. But USPS will likely screw that up anyway...
Looking forward to mine arriving. Still only in for a $1 on green horde. All the extras were only okay to me. I'm glad this can be single player also, my kids are my main players due to my work schedule, but sometimes I have a couple hours to myself.
Here it all is - pretty massive. So very cool. Pretty much everything here is the core pledge, except the 20 odd figures on the right hand tray, which are the Ratlings optional box.
I've put more (zoomable)pics in the gallery below too -
The only other experience I have with PVC is Black Plague (which I bought to see if I liked it, to decide whether to pledge for MD) and this is just the same. A few bendy swords to fix and the guy with the big rock topples over easily, but both of those are easily fixed. Even very thin parts like the cockatrice feathers look like they will take paint ok.
I recognise of course some of the top-end painting gods on here want a better quality of material to create all those 'how the hell did they do that?' jobs we see in the gallery, but I've found that with a proper primer, PVC of this quality paints up perfectly acceptably for me.
So, given trying to put together this amount of models, with this amount of variety from GW would cost about 3 or 4 times what I paid, and need building, for me, at this time, this lot is perfect.
Got mine the other day as well. Will write more in time to come, but have to concur with DarkJim - fantastic quality minis, very characterful. Some really impressive 'boss' characters as well, was one of the things that immediately stood out for me.
Necros wrote: I'm sad, probably won't have mine till September at this point.
And also bummed that they won't let me change my address. I just moved a few weeks ago. I'm gonna have to go to my old house to pick it up, unless it comes USPS and they can forward it to my new one. But USPS will likely screw that up anyway...
You're lucky, just moved a month ago except there is no driving over to my old house as its over 2700 miles away, yes I pretty much went sea to shining sea.
Necros wrote: I'm sad, probably won't have mine till September at this point.
And also bummed that they won't let me change my address. I just moved a few weeks ago. I'm gonna have to go to my old house to pick it up, unless it comes USPS and they can forward it to my new one. But USPS will likely screw that up anyway...
Yeah, I tried to change mine I think in Feb.. you're definitely not alone. It's sad to me to hear how awesome all of this is because after the way they handled this and treated customers.. I'm done with them. I resisted their Orc thing and Rising Sun.. it also has helped keep me from auto-pledging on Reaper's Bones strangely enough.
I am still excited to get this stuff but these guys blew it with me. I'm just hoping the more complicated models or ones that were assembled weren't done so as badly as the ones from The Others.. otherwise this will be an amazing bunch of models and hopefully a cool game to boot.
Ya I tried to change my address a month ago and they said I couldn't even though they won't star shipping to US for another two weeks to a month so basically two months earlier and they can't change an address. I doubt the mail company will forward it unless it is USPS then maybe so I will probably never see the game.
It is complicated. I had to do this.. which did not work.. So I had to call and spend an hour on the phone with someone. They claim to have changed my delivery address but my tracking number still shows my old address.
Myself, I bought for use with Song of Blade and Heroes, Frostgrave, Savage Worlds, D&D, etc. I don't have any 28mm bridges (!) and the bridge add-on was the best price I could find on the internet! Plus evil gnomes (dwarves) with pointy hats. POINTY HATS I SAY.
Alpharius wrote: Just got my notification and tracking number today, over here in Massachusetts, in case that helps/matters!
Mines on the truck for delivery today in Massachusetts; no update in the pledge manager (yet). I remember back during the Sedition Wars fulfillment, CMON mentioning they had to hand key all the tracking numbers into their system which is why notifications from them would come well after pledges had been delivered. I would hope they've come a bit further towards automating the process at this point.
Myself, I bought for use with Song of Blade and Heroes, Frostgrave, Savage Worlds, D&D, etc. I don't have any 28mm bridges (!) and the bridge add-on was the best price I could find on the internet! Plus evil gnomes (dwarves) with pointy hats. POINTY HATS I SAY.
I bought mine for the same reasons (basically everything else) but it sounds like the actual game is a bit like the D&D boardgames. That makes it seem to me lke the emphasis was put on the core mechanics and not progression. It's a bummer but maybe it'll end up like Descent with a 2nd ed that fixes all of that.
Still no word on where mine actually ended up. Anyone else who changed address actually get theirs?
Myself, I bought for use with Song of Blade and Heroes, Frostgrave, Savage Worlds, D&D, etc. I don't have any 28mm bridges (!) and the bridge add-on was the best price I could find on the internet! Plus evil gnomes (dwarves) with pointy hats. POINTY HATS I SAY.
I bought mine for the same reasons (basically everything else) but it sounds like the actual game is a bit like the D&D boardgames. That makes it seem to me lke the emphasis was put on the core mechanics and not progression. It's a bummer but maybe it'll end up like Descent with a 2nd ed that fixes all of that.
Still no word on where mine actually ended up. Anyone else who changed address actually get theirs?
Even if it doesnt get an official one, you can always tweak rules yourself, or just find someone online who did for you.
I was in it for the models anyway. The actual game is more of a bonus.
I'm going to be thinking hard about selling or keeping my pledge before it arrives Wednesday. Both our cars broke down last week and the extra funds could help out. Besides I'm finally realizing my backlog of figs is insane.
Myself, I bought for use with Song of Blade and Heroes, Frostgrave, Savage Worlds, D&D, etc. I don't have any 28mm bridges (!) and the bridge add-on was the best price I could find on the internet! Plus evil gnomes (dwarves) with pointy hats. POINTY HATS I SAY.
I bought mine for the same reasons (basically everything else) but it sounds like the actual game is a bit like the D&D boardgames. That makes it seem to me lke the emphasis was put on the core mechanics and not progression. It's a bummer but maybe it'll end up like Descent with a 2nd ed that fixes all of that.
Still no word on where mine actually ended up. Anyone else who changed address actually get theirs?
I have no clue if they sent mine or not I tried to change my address two months ago but they said they couldn't so. It is in limbo somewhere I am sure.
angel of death 007 wrote: Well considering I sold the house where it will eventually be sent to unless the new owner is feeling exceptionally nice I doubt I will ever see it.
If you still live relatively close then stop by and let them know a package is coming. It'd be mail fraud for them to keep it as it's in your name. As long as you didn't leave the place a disaster or they feel cheated on the house all should be okay. Also if it was a really recent sale you could ask your realtor to contact them if knocking on your old front door feels weird.
ced1106 wrote: What happened when you contacted FedEx about change of address?
If this is directed towards me.. the first person I spoke to said he was unable to take care of it and transferred me to a technician. To..change..my..address.. We spoke and she said that the normal system would not allow me to do it and that she would manually enter it. She informed me that this could delay delivery, gave me a case number and no details as to how long of a delay or anything. The tracking number still shows my old address and the package was supposed to be delivered on Friday. They did not charge me for this but when I was attempting to do it the "normal" way through the main FedEx website, there was a $13 fee associated with the change of address.
So right now, I am waiting for it to show up. After a certain period (have to recheck the policy) I can report it as non-delivered. Then I guess CMON sends me a new one or something. I have no clue how this all plays out in that situation tbh.
Automatically Appended Next Post: UPDATE: I guess they came through after all. It was sitting outside when I went to go for groceries.
Wow that sounds like a pain. I just had to drive over to my old condo to pick it up today. Everything looks cool so far, don't know when I'll get to play it, maybe in the next weekend or 2
ced1106 wrote: What happened when you contacted FedEx about change of address?
They wanted the tracking number for the shipping which most people who got theirs said they didn't even get. I keep checking online with CMON but nothing is posted.
So, when my package arrived, it was the day before a rare Saturday birthday. So I asked my RPG group to meet earlier in the afternoon before the usual session so we could try Massive Darkness out.
We had a blast. We ended up postponing the RPG session in order to keep playing MD. We played the tutorial quest, then decided we liked our characters/classes well enough to start in story mode with Quest 1. We failed Quest 1 twice, but losing was absolutely an enjoyable experience. Also, each loss still netted us some extra xp/skills and gear for the next try.
I can't agree with the BGG opinion that it gets too easy over time. Or, if the case was just that we haven't gotten far enough along the class sheet to experience the issue, that implies you've got quite a ways to go in a one-off quest or a campaign before the issue rears its head. My impression is that it works like Zombicide does after you've spent a lot of mission time leveling and collecting gear - you're suddenly a monster murdering badass...until a few bad spawn cards remind you how easily you can be overwhelmed. We took down the Flesh Golem with a melee weapon that bumped him up to maximum attack dice, but doing so depleted us enough that the next few spawns burned up our resurrects just a few zones from the goal.
So far, I'm really glad I backed this game. The rest of the group agrees with my assessment. I'd say this is my favorite dungeon crawler since Warhammer Quest, and I'm seriously considering tossing my Descent 2E corebox on ebay, as I never really had a taste for that one.
Thanks for the mini-review. Heard the same thing said about Zombicide: BP being too easy, and have to say I absolutely found that not to be the case - so wouldn't necessarily let that put me off the BGG consensus of this game either !
Story mode gets a lot easier over time. I played 1/2 way through the campaign included with the base game and basically, it's very very easy compared to non-story mode because you get to keep equipment. It's harder when you start out because you earn XP at a much slower rate but by the 3rd map, it should be easier. Or at least by the spider-map.
Reason? Certain bosses/mid-bosses need really good equipment to damage. The fact that you can keep all your equipment from the previous maps lets you basically cycle through the equipment deck several times and keep the really good stuff instead of just depending on random draw for the equipment.
Example. First time I played the spider-map in non-storymode where you had to stop a greater spider from escaping, I lost several times. Because there's a turn limit and within this turn limit, you have to find good enough equipment to deal with the spider-boss AND fight him. Several other maps also have turn limits.
However when I played in story mode, cause I had played the previous maps before, my friend and I just walked up to him with my lvl 2 kings set and killed him. We already had the equipment so all we needed to do was concentrate on killing him.
Just got my pledge this past Saturday and have been able to go through the components, sort them, sleeve them, laminate class sheets, and get some games in.
This game is similar to black plague in how tough it is. I think folks who say it is too simple are not fully using the rules correctly, or haven't added in all the enemy types. There are definitely enemies that are tougher and heroes that are better than others. This game will take many playthroughs to master the perfect hero with his/her best class, getting the right gear, etc.
Nonstory mode is better when learning classes and characters. Story mode is a blast and great if you get attached to your characters, as you can see your character progress slowly as the campaign goes on. Your upgrade choices really matter here! Remember you are limited when keeping gear item in story mode too... so it starts harder, and is still more difficult in the long run due to slow upgrades (abilities are needed to assist weapons with defense reduction, etc).
After several plays, i have to say that this game is awesome! It is a bit more complicated than many cmon games, but still easily grasped. I love the random spawning. This past game I faced reptisaurs (ranged and melee), rats (ranged and melee), dwarfs, goblins, trogs, oni, werebear, zombies, zombie dogs, and the Balrog thingy. So cool to have such a diverse pool of minis to pick from and fight. The game does take up a bit more table space and takes longer per game than black plague, but is totally worth it. My only wish is that the hero minis weren't as cartoony as their art... it's just a tad off compared to black plague and conan minis. Game is still great though and no regrets here!
Now time to make custom hero cards for the other zombicide minis, abominations, and conan minis (tons of great wandering monsters and heroes in a kings pledge!)
455_PWR wrote: Just got my pledge this past Saturday and have been able to go through the components, sort them, sleeve them, laminate class sheets, and get some games in.
This game is similar to black plague in how tough it is. I think folks who say it is too simple are not fully using the rules correctly, or haven't added in all the enemy types. There are definitely enemies that are tougher and heroes that are better than others. This game will take many playthroughs to master the perfect hero with his/her best class, getting the right gear, etc.
Nonstory mode is better when learning classes and characters. Story mode is a blast and great if you get attached to your characters, as you can see your character progress slowly as the campaign goes on. Your upgrade choices really matter here! Remember you are limited when keeping gear item in story mode too... so it starts harder, and is still more difficult in the long run due to slow upgrades (abilities are needed to assist weapons with defense reduction, etc).
After several plays, i have to say that this game is awesome! It is a bit more complicated than many cmon games, but still easily grasped. I love the random spawning. This past game I faced reptisaurs (ranged and melee), rats (ranged and melee), dwarfs, goblins, trogs, oni, werebear, zombies, zombie dogs, and the Balrog thingy. So cool to have such a diverse pool of minis to pick from and fight. The game does take up a bit more table space and takes longer per game than black plague, but is totally worth it. My only wish is that the hero minis weren't as cartoony as their art... it's just a tad off compared to black plague and conan minis. Game is still great though and no regrets here!
Now time to make custom hero cards for the other zombicide minis, abominations, and conan minis (tons of great wandering monsters and heroes in a kings pledge!)
I'm thinking of Rum N Bones and B-Sieged characters too..
Dr_Keenbean wrote: I got a notification from CMON last Thursday (Aug 31) just as I was wrapping up a Wrath of Kings tournament at NOVA.
Delivered today - 3 days before the estimated delivery!
My notification came Friday and its due tomorrow by end of day. I think some of why yours got their quicker is because of the hurricane and some things have been jostled around. You'd think there'd be more delays, but with them not being able to ship to some areas, the workers are able to focus more on the places they can reach.
I'm in Maryland... and no, no shipping notice or delivery for me as of yet. I think I did see some people comment in the comment section of the kickstarter saying they had gotten theirs in Maryland already though...
Doublecheck the cmon Kickstarter campaign manager page to see if you are wave 1, and that your pledge got finalized. I've seen other kickstarters where people thought they did, but it never got finalized and they didn't get the pledge at all.
WUWU wrote: I got mine this afternoon. Hopefully I don't stir up any salt by saying this, but it might helpful to know that I was also a late backer
I was as well. I only got the basic pledge and the Black Plague crossover cards. Did some of you in this region get more addons?
I know when Hawk Wargames was shipping out their DFC pledges they packed & shipped the smallest pledges first and worked their way up to the largest. Perhaps CMON is doing something similar?
In southern PA and got it several days ago. Not sure how much extras I got, it was $120. This is my first CMON product, and I am very pleased. I immediately put in a late pledge for the Greene Horde set and cursed myself for missing Black Plague.
The minis are much better than I expected. Not gummy like Bones but quite rigid. I am not sure what it is but the details are superb.
Have not played the game and might not. I mostly got it for the pointy hat guys to use for Oldhammer.
This is amazing.......................................
My pledgemanager was completed and confirmed. (Just double checked. They say they are still shipping US for 2 more weeks, and someone has to be last... Guess I will be one of the last.
Order status: confirmed
Shipping tracking Phase 1
Total
Pledge level $110 $110.00 1 $110.00
Sub-total:$110.00
Shipping cost:$12.30
Pledge Amount:$110.00
Total:$12.30
Paypal payment:$12.30
Total outstanding:$0
, something that moves faster, like the runners in zombicide.
. I have a very tight budget, and multiple projects come at the same time. The pledge window gives me time to gather the cash most of the time, but it also allows the companies to see just how large the demand is because they can see how many more people want to buy into the game. Maybe they should cut out the letting people but 10 sets as you know those are going to ebay 
)
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