There's no real point working relic knights until it's available for sale, and while the KS stuff is being airfreighted I'm sure the regular retail stuff will be boating so a month or two away
better to concentrate on SDE while the KS is live, and RK when it arrives
I don't really see how hiring a model to attend a large game convention during your campaign is any different then paying gaming websites to run adds, offering contests and paying well known reviewers to review your game. I can understand that the use of scantaly clad women to promote something might be distasteful though. If thats the case Soda Pop might not be the company for you... It's kind of what they do.
Catyrpelius wrote: I don't really see how hiring a model to attend a large game convention during your campaign is any different then paying gaming websites to run adds, offering contests and paying well known reviewers to review your game. I can understand that the use of scantaly clad women to promote something might be distasteful though. If thats the case Soda Pop might not be the company for you... It's kind of what they do.
Sure, then there is also no difference from dropping pamphlets from hot air balloons and tattooing your logo on fat guys... Marketing has degrees of effectiveness and abilitiy to reach your audience. I would argue a website banner add or a paid game review (especially during a KS needing rules exposure) is going to reach way more potential customers and deliver much more bang for your buck than other avenues... especially a Booth babe.
And claiming 'it is their own money' is laughable... it is a shell game, Debt is debt. If you don't think your KS pledge is paying for this or the other current expenditures the company has, you are fooling yourself. You just have to hope that it isn't enough to sink the project at the end. (with the amount of bloated paid-add ons, I think they will be fine as they are charging over retail)
I think a cosplay babe at a big convention when your KS is running is probably more cost effective than generic advertising
you'll get a lot of photo re-posts from people there and many of them will mention SDE and/or Soda Pop, you'll also get additional coverage on news sites who won't pass up the chance to post a picture of a pretty girl
It also fit's with a company playing to it's 'established' strengths, Soda Pop is already heavily associated with cosplay from it's volunteer Soda Pop Girls (they even have their own tab on the website) and Marie Claude for Relic Knights.
(I don't necessarily think going the cosplay route would be such a sensible spend for many other game companies)
Catyrpelius wrote: I don't really see how hiring a model to attend a large game convention during your campaign is any different then paying gaming websites to run adds, offering contests and paying well known reviewers to review your game. I can understand that the use of scantaly clad women to promote something might be distasteful though. If thats the case Soda Pop might not be the company for you... It's kind of what they do.
Sure, then there is also no difference from dropping pamphlets from hot air balloons and tattooing your logo on fat guys... Marketing has degrees of effectiveness and abilitiy to reach your audience. I would argue a website banner add or a paid game review (especially during a KS needing rules exposure) is going to reach way more potential customers and deliver much more bang for your buck than other avenues... especially a Booth babe.
And claiming 'it is their own money' is laughable... it is a shell game, Debt is debt. If you don't think your KS pledge is paying for this or the other current expenditures the company has, you are fooling yourself. You just have to hope that it isn't enough to sink the project at the end. (with the amount of bloated paid-add ons, I think they will be fine as they are charging over retail)
That's interesting cause they haven't received the KS money yet. Also, you keep talking about debt. How bout you back your words up with some hard proof?
The potion rule preview is not really big news, but the fact there are now three types working differently mean they're not all powerful like before. Only the Emergency one can be used during the Consul's turn, which is quite a big change in itself.
For now, Forgotten King Heroes don't have overpowered Potions. There are good chances that the previous heroes won't work the same as well. If the Paladin or the Riftling Thief can't use their Potions like they want as before, that's quite another thing to play.
I remember the original rulebook being quite unclear about potion timing (among other things), but his seems much clearer.
I like how the new rules are shaping up so far. I'm just hoping that either the classic rules don't make it even harder on the consul (read: me) or the arcade rules are good enough that it doesn't matter.
I was actually the one that questioned paying for cosplayers, but when I looked at the (estimated) associated costs and the fact that it is legitimate marketing (whether or not you agree with the "type" of marketing it is); and I softened my stance considerably. I think for SPM that type of marketing is consistent with the brand and makes a lot of sense.
Not only it is marketing and legitimately used to support the kickstarter, but I also view something that is in price brackets I can afford to pay as not really that expensive.
PsychoticStorm wrote: Not only it is marketing and legitimately used to support the kickstarter, but I also view something that is in price brackets I can afford to pay as not really that expensive.
Completely agree.
I was actually surprised at how low some of the estimates were. Granted, I'm sure M-CB, being a 'bigger' name, commands a bit more, but still 'within reason' for a company
I hope that means we'll get more Rattlebones. Silly to only put 4 skeletons in a box when they're generally only considered a nuisance when there's hordes of them.
Soda Pop has posted a teaser that will slowly fill in as we get closer to the next goal.
It appears to be another new warband/pack.
The teaser is a neat idea - but won't work out to well timewise - it'll all be unlocked by the time we all get up in the morning. And it just went up a few hours ago. So it's not exactly creating a lot of suspense.
Still, seems we'll get more kobolds - but these ones will be riding/leading dragons/wyrms into battle. Fun!
As stated in the Risks and Challenges if any stretch goals cause a delay in production we will ship in multiple waves.
-Deke
but who picks up the extra shipping bill?
My bet would be on the exact same people who are paying for "actual shipping costs" currently (i.e. - the backers). So that then becomes an interesting question; if SPM decides to break it into waves, does this mean that international backers take a bath twice on the shipping costs or have to wait and watch as products they paid for 6-10 months ago arrive at retail with no clue when their's will ship (assuming a "ship once at the end" option is available)? Seems somewhat dodgy since SPM is the one who gets to make that decision somewhat unilaterally long after the money has been collected.
Definitely worth a question about how that would work out. If the scenario I described is accurate (and it may not be), that's something people should know before they commit funds. Not saying that making backers pay for multiple waves if SPM screws up is right or wrong, just that it's not something that should be sprung on the backers as a surprise "give us more money or you won't see what you already gave us money for" months down the line.
I'm going to sit on mine until the last couple of days to see how they go with international shipping before adding more/dropping the pledge. I'm currently sitting at the $100 level, there's a few add-ons I like but if they don't sort out an EU hub then I can't actually add on anything without the risk of the unknown shipping costs tipping it over the import duty level.
While dual waves is not a killer for us domestic people, it does mean potentially double costs. I suppose I would rather that to get product faster.
Doubles hipping for EU and RoW people as it stands now is a killer.
If they do reach a point where they have reached their contracted production capacity, I thinkt hey need to say 'all new stuff after this point will be wave 2" so people can then choose not to pick add-ons from two waves if they want to avoid double shipping.
Well, the real problem when they hit the "double shipping wall" is that it will basically signify no more freebies. As people can choose to not get any paid add-ons and wait for retail on them, having to pay ROW shipping for a few freebies, or waiting on your whole pledge for an extra 3-6 months might make it unattractive.
Salacious Greed wrote: Well, the real problem when they hit the "double shipping wall" is that it will basically signify no more freebies. As people can choose to not get any paid add-ons and wait for retail on them, having to pay ROW shipping for a few freebies, or waiting on your whole pledge for an extra 3-6 months might make it unattractive.
The issue isn't whether they hit the wall, but do they know WHERE the wall is and will they disclose when they feel they are getting close to it?
Right now, one has to assume that the core project and all the stretch goals can be produced by December 2014. If they estimated funding goals and had all these pre-planned and reserved in their manufacturing plants, that could be a very valid date. Of course, they may have just been sitting on concept art and are adding stretch goals (since we have reached the land of no Renders) and that if they haven't thought this far ahead, they could have hit the double shipping wall already and either 'don't know it' or 'know it but not telling'.
The thing is, these are the *EXACT* issues relic knights hit and I see nothing that shows they have learned or changed processes from that. If they said 'everything past Glimmerwing will be a wave 2, I could respect that. Shows some planning and that they have confirmed capacity. Delays can happen but ones from lack of planning are avoidable.
Also, they have a sketchy track record on delivering on concept art. Due to some of the RK SDE designs, they are very much a 'Must see renders' company for me. If it doesn't have a render I can wait.
I hope they address RoW and fess up in how they actually feel about the delivery date or not as their 'risks' section is not enough to satisfy the question of 'do they have manufacturing capacity for all of this by december or not) A phantom second ship is not good for everyone. (not particularly an issue for me, but I am domestic)
Edit: I think Deke already said 'expect no more loot' so everything from here out is paid add-ons I think. (IE: putting the breaks on, which is not a terrible thing for a KS, I support that sometimes)
I think they really need to put their heads together, sort out the shipping issues, and let everyone know quickly and clearly. More than anything else, I can see this being the biggest sore point about this campaign.
One pledge level, no exclusives, lots of paid add-ons, limited discounts, far-off delivery date; these are all controversial, but you could make arguments for or against any of them, but I don't think anyone's happy about the shipping.
Ooh! I know!
Class of the Wurd
Angry dragonkin who just can't pass 2nd grade. They just failed a spelling test and they're out for blood!
Update #17 Apr 4 2014
$500,000 Reached! 38 comments Like 32 likes
In the immortal words of Ted 'Theodore' Logan, "Whoa."
Really that says everything doesn't it?
Let's see what we've unlocked!
Expand your dungeons with six, new double-side dungeon tiles!
Next Up
Candy's dark doppleganger is up next as a free LOOT. Once we reach $525k all pledges of Always Super will have this little bundle of mischief included for free!
The Fae Wood has been explored a great deal in this Kickstarter so we think it's time to get back to what started it all—Kobolds!
The Cult of the Burning Star worships Starfire as not only their king but as a fiery deity of destruction. It is the Claws of the Wyrm who enforce the Dragon Priests' order among the unruly masses of Kobolds and bring death to their enemies.
Claw Trainers are bestowed the honor of guiding Starfire's brood of drakes into battle. With their barking commands and the crack of their whips the drakes are brought to new heights of savagery.
Black Claw Assassins are feared by Hero and monster alike. They excel at blending in with the seething mob of kobolds, springing out to deliver their lethal strike.
Most revered of all are the Wyrm Claw Templars. These elevated Ironscales are granted mighty draconic steeds and thick armor. Their ferocity and extraordinary skill at arms is legendary. Truly their threat is tempered only by the small number of kobolds that can rise to the challenge.
The Dragon Blades are sworn enemies to the Cult of the Burning Claw. These enigmatic figures are always solitary and only found in areas where draconic creatures make their homes. They are ruthless combatants against any foe but take particular relish when faced with their most hated foes—dragons.
The Claws of the Wyrm is an all new warband. Perfect for expanding your games of Super Dungeon Explore. It will be available as an optional purchase add-on for $30.
Unless I very much miss-remember, the Wyrm Claw templar is the missing Dark Hero, and he looks pretty sweet!
Mehhhhh... (That would be a "meh" that turns into an exasperated sigh.) An expansion aimed towards the original core rather than KS material.
I haven't changed my stance since the very first day of this KS: expecting to get the core, and maybe not-San and/or the KD crossover. I've felt the add-ons to be pretty uninspiring.
I'm starting to get mid project cold feet. Concerned that this project may go the way of Relic Knights with the added worry that SPM can announce whatever postage price they want to the "captive" EU market. Plenty of time to settle my nerves though.
Has anything been confirmed about EU shipping yet?
I'm wavering this but might get in if I won't need to pay Import Duty on it as well otherwise it'll cost more than retail (albeit will all sorts of little extras)
Nothing definite yet. They are still working on fulfillment houses for EU and APAC. They have said rather than daily "we're still working on it" updates, they'd rather update when definite information is available.
Point of note, and not directed to you Herzlos, I have not seen any mention by Deke in either the KS comments nor the SPM forums of a stop to the free Loot stretch goals. Just clearing up something I saw on an earlier page.
As stated in the Risks and Challenges if any stretch goals cause a delay in production we will ship in multiple waves.
-Deke
but who picks up the extra shipping bill?
My bet would be on the exact same people who are paying for "actual shipping costs" currently (i.e. - the backers). So that then becomes an interesting question; if SPM decides to break it into waves, does this mean that international backers take a bath twice on the shipping costs or have to wait and watch as products they paid for 6-10 months ago arrive at retail with no clue when their's will ship (assuming a "ship once at the end" option is available)? Seems somewhat dodgy since SPM is the one who gets to make that decision somewhat unilaterally long after the money has been collected.
Definitely worth a question about how that would work out. If the scenario I described is accurate (and it may not be), that's something people should know before they commit funds. Not saying that making backers pay for multiple waves if SPM screws up is right or wrong, just that it's not something that should be sprung on the backers as a surprise "give us more money or you won't see what you already gave us money for" months down the line.
Oh yeah. This one is going to be a real train wreck. I took an entertainment-bullet for the team with Robotech and Raging Heroes. I got burnt by Sedition Wars. I'm still waiting on WGF-produced KS that are months and over a year late. Incursion just announced 8+ months worth of delay without batting an eyelid. I've watched Relic Knights from a distance (and feth I am glad I pulled that pledge). This one is going to provide entertainment for years to come.
Azazelx wrote: Oh yeah. This one is going to be a real train wreck. I took an entertainment-bullet for the team with Robotech and Raging Heroes. I got burnt by Sedition Wars. I'm still waiting on WGF-produced KS that are months and over a year late. Incursion just announced 8+ months worth of delay without batting an eyelid. I've watched Relic Knights from a distance (and feth I am glad I pulled that pledge). This one is going to provide entertainment for years to come.
Damnit Az, you're making it hard to pass this one up. So far, my "worst" KS experience has been DFG and it's year-long delay. Given the quality of the final product though, it's hard to call that one a "train-wreck" so much as "horrifically optimistic" in terms of timeframe. The next closest would be DreadBall switching up materials on me, which is an annoyance to be sure, but compared to some KS feth-ups is still minor.
Ended up not backing (despite being interested in) Sedition Wars, Relic Knights, Raging Heroes nor Robotech. Also didn't back Defiance, but that's less of a "ooooooooo...but no" and more of an "yeah, not in this lifetime" situation. So I'm feeling like I don't have the e-cred with the Dakkaites who back KS projects with only minor burns on my projects. This one certainly seems like an opportunity to get that experience, tho I'm still not sure it's entirely desirable.
Still a few days to ponder if my liking of SDE will override my leeriness of ND.
Well, I didn't say they were all train wrecks. But let's face it - over a year late and no real ship date on wave 3 for DFG isn't exactly "good" either, even if the final products are of high quality.
SDE is going to be a train wreck, but it's going to be a much more horrible mess for non-US backers due to likely wave shipping, "pay actual costs" and no real information on either. Oh, and Ninja Pop not ever actually having shipped anything at this point, despite how many Kickstarters on the go?
Azazelx wrote: Well, I didn't say they were all train wrecks. But let's face it - over a year late and no real ship date on wave 3 for DFG isn't exactly "good" either, even if the final products are of high quality.
SDE is going to be a train wreck, but it's going to be a much more horrible mess for non-US backers due to likely wave shipping, "pay actual costs" and no real information on either. Oh, and Ninja Pop not ever actually having shipped anything at this point, despite how many Kickstarters on the go?
god, i'd forgotten just how long ago it was that relic knights actually funded...i think it was like the 2nd kickstarter i backed.
and now, around a year past its expected delivery date....its about to ship...if the last update is to be trusted
Well, Ninja Pop only has 1 KS on the go. They wholesale took over Relic Knights, buying it away from CMoN. Robotech and Megaman they're only peripherally affiliated with, they're squarely someone elses gakky KS's. They only "designed" the models and figures, which they can claim they've completed their parts of, though we know as far as RRT that it's complete bull-gak, and their gakky fingerprints are all over the fail of RRT. Only time will tell if Megaman transforms into Megafail. So, we can't even really measure their effectiveness based on Relic Knights, as they've inherited the infrastructure for delivery on that project from CMoN, who is well established in delivering KS's at this point.
So, TFK will be their first example of a self-run KS, and whether or not a bear gaks in the woods...I do feel bad for foreign shippers, as multiple waves really screws you guys.
So, TFK will be their first example of a self-run KS, and whether or not a bear gaks in the woods...
Quite the thing, since there are indeed a few differences with the Relic Knights project.
I do feel bad for foreign shippers, as multiple waves really screws you guys.
Gak happens. I pay for the sin of not being born on America Holy Ground and I'm fully aware of that.
But honestly, that's not really the fault of Soda Pop Miniatures if Europa is taxing so much for imported products from outside its borders.
Will ask if there will be possibily to have it shipped in a single shot, even if it means I will have to wait more. That would be in worst case scenario, of course.
Free is free, and I can't complain about getting extra monsters to run.
Expanding stretch goals to more distance between them is officially 'putting on the breaks', which is good if they realize they need to do that opposed to letting stuff spiral out of control. 35k instead of 25K and reusing existing resources is a good thing to help prevent scope creep where people are rushing to draw doodles on napkins and throw up there to keep stretching.
Maybe we will see that Rattlebone 6-pack.
Von Drakk has been notoriously 'out of stock' and it coincides with the observed cash-flow issues so maybe they can use the extra money from the KS to help replenish the legacy boxes and re-print/pack/re-run the productions for those. If it helps get Von drakk back in stock, then so be it.
I think the completionist for models is 235$ and with the extra tiles is 255$.
It's a nice extra to get and adds to the Von Drakk set now really need those extra Rattlebones I fear they might be Blacksmith but hoping for Loot. It looks like they have reached the end of the new stuff or are close to it so it shouldn't go much more than $250 all in (I hope)
Extra Rattle-Bones would be amazing (and much needed).
My current thinking is I'm going to stick with the base level pledge since there's quite a lot of stuff in it, and even with $50 shipping shouldn't tip over into import duty territory. I'll then wait for retail for all the add-ons since at least then I can get them from my local shop without having to pay an unknown amount extra.
That's most certainly the case. Otherwise, they would have added a third tile on Candy's little dungeon trip.
That's not a bad thing. There are enough "new things" for this Kickstarter and adding existing products is a given for sure. It's also easy to produce since all the tools are already there.
And besides, the Pumpkin Patch is a great favorite for SDE players. Gotta curse these too lovely Coven Witches for that!
Still hoping they show more rules previews, especially about the Arcade Mode and the Explore Deck. So far, there are good ideas (spawning points not infinite anymore, clearer rules about potion use and so on).
Agreed. In fact if they start winding things down now by putting out repackaging of existing models and very little that's "new" that would actually incline me more towards backing, as it shows they have an idea of what's feasible and what isn't. It's not too much of wishful thinking to imagine that the existing stuff could be made easily while new stuff (that isn't already molded which I suspect is the case for the base game) is being engineered. Where I'll get jittery is if we get to the last few days and they start promising eleventy thousand new sculpts.
In other words in light of their record, a smaller and more reasonable amount of model designs is going to make it more enticing, to me at least. And those ARE the most important dollars to chase after all; not any of the other hundreds of thousands that they've amassed...
Azazelx wrote: Well, I didn't say they were all train wrecks. But let's face it - over a year late and no real ship date on wave 3 for DFG isn't exactly "good" either, even if the final products are of high quality.
SDE is going to be a train wreck, but it's going to be a much more horrible mess for non-US backers due to likely wave shipping, "pay actual costs" and no real information on either. Oh, and Ninja Pop not ever actually having shipped anything at this point, despite how many Kickstarters on the go?
Hate to keep bringing it up, but Tentacle Bento got removed from kickstarter, Soda Pop finished funding through their website, and got product out to backers. So they have managed to at least complete one funding project, even with all the problems surrounding it.
Yeah - lack of new map + reusing of old minis makes me think we've hit the end of the "limited" campaign. (Though really, it doesn't seem all that limited)
I'll probably wind up selling my extra pumpkin patch, but that's fine with me - as I have too much to paint anyway.
Had it been an extra skeleton spawn point though ... that I might hang onto.
They've mentioned before that there is one more map tile for stretch goals but I guess as it hasn't reached $575k which is the last point on the current one they haven't put it up yet.
New rule previews; we have a show of how Princess Coins work.
They drop on the destruction of spawning points. Seems like an action have to be spent to pick them up. Can be used to fully heal or resurrect a Hero. Good thing they can only be used during a Hero's turn!
The skull counters will now be used to show where the Heroes have fallen. Cute. If resurrected, can be placed next the Start button or his skull counter.
We will have to differenciate the skull counters if two or more Heroes have fallen, I guess.
Loots cards drop for each minion/denizen killed, but only three can be won that way on a single turn. Talk about Loot Rain!
Hmm, I hope monster upgrades will be enough to counter these gifts for heroes.
Treasures chests won't be so easy to open, now. You need a dungeon key to do that, only dropped on mini--bosses. Otherwise, you can still Smash or Pick Lock. Looks like the party's thief will have more work to do! Treasure cards still available by killing mini--bosses or boo-booty.
Backpack for the party now clearly stated. Loots aren't in. So keep your Precious, you greedy heroes!
Looks like the heroes keep their shinies. Hope the monsters will follow with some nice upgrades, otherwise it will be Loot Party Time for the good guys.
On to line drawings now (are we worried yet ) - Marie Claude appears at last
More Glauerdoom Moor stuff - Stilt Town Zombies new expansion - $30
Stilt Town Zombies is the final new Blacksmith add on - Completionist will be $280 after this unlocks.
There will be more Loot Stretch Goals but no more Blacksmith Goals.
Rattle Bones are added as Blacksmith option - 12 for $15
EU shipping - that settles that then (except split shipping if it happens but that should be cheaper if it does happen)
We will be shipping from within the UK, so UK and EU backers will not have to pay customs fees from the US.
This will also reduce your shipping charges. We are still finalizing product weight and dimensions. Once we have that we will be able to provide more detailed cost estimates on the shipping charge.
We are continuing to explore options for shipping from within Canada, Hong Kong, and Australia.
Another $45 in for me then just under $300 about where I thought it would end up
Hah, okay, I thoroughly approve of the frying pan and rolling pin combo for Inn Keeper Marie-Claude! Move over, Claw Tribe Barbarian! My wife has a new favourite character!
While I am not overly a fan of the painfully sexist design of the Zombie hero, I am happy to see a 'Cook' and 'Bard' as part of this campaign from a RPG standard. I would have rather have seen a frying pan because the hero is a Cook by trade not because she was some bare-foot kitchen-dwelling peasant forced to smash zombies like a 1950's housewife.
Oh Well, At least in my games she will be Delving dungeons as a Cook-based healer...
The Zombie stuff looks good though, I guess this is the paper napkin stage of the KS!
Very nice - good to see an expansion for the Von Drakkish part of the game. And glad to know no more paid add-ons are coming! It was getting a little pricey. But I'll sit and collect freebies for a week for sure. New stuff will be loved, repeats will hopefully be minimal and sold to recoup my pledge costs (and thus still be appreciated).
I think I'll be going 280 completionist +$15 for extra rattlebones +$5 for shipping will make for a nice round $300.
The new map is a little crazy - since we seem to go off the map after the zombies.
Given that the game itself is an homage to old school video games, my guess is that they will reappear at the goal at the top left. You leave screen to the right, you come back on the left after all.
hmmm this might solve the Candy Heart shipping issue for those outside the US that also back SDE:FK looks like you might be able to order anything from the SPM store in the survey and add it to your pledge to save on shipping. I've asked if the $15 credit can be used to pay fro shipping instead.
----Oh! Question SPM. With the pledge manager, I know you can order older SDE products, but what about game material not SDE. Like Tentacle Bento?----
If we get it up and running through the store as planned then yes.
----Please, can I make mey pledge to Brazil without worry?? ----
We do not have South American specific fulfillment sent up yet. At the moment that will still be shipped from the US.
----Apologies if this has been answered below, but is it likely the shipping for Australia be sorted before campaign end?----
I don't know about "by the end" but now that EU is locked down we're working on other hubs as well.
----Deke if you're still around, any chance of some model previews before the kickstarter ends? We haven't seen the slimes yet, as well as the any minis for some of the warbands.----
We will preview models as they are finished. We have a long stretch of production time after the KS too so we'll get to all of it eventually.
----with no more blacksmith stretch goals, does that mean we'll get the arena playmat as loot for free or that it won't be offered? ----
Arena Mat will be on our webstore in about a month so no need to wait until the KS fulfillment!
----can you please tell me if I will have to buy the pile o' bones to be able to play with the rattle's I already have as creeps.----
Nope your existing Rattle Bones will be creeps with the upgrade deck.
---- i just pledged always super now, will i still be able to add blacksmith items even after KS ends?----
Explore cards are apparently the cards you'll draw anytime you enter a previously unexplored dungeon area (read: tile). They'll be what trigger the creeps of the room, and also various traps, npcs, and other events to add some danger and exploration to the game. We'll be bumping up from 24 cards to 36 now, and each boss will also come with 6 unique explore cards. So you'll have 42 per game. Which should add quite a bit to SDE's already ridiculous replay value.
They have reached the end of what they feasibly can produce... I have no problems with them putting on the breaks with 'fake' stretch goals. If they have 25k back to back it is effectively a 50k stretchgoal with 12cents of illustrations.
If people think they deserve a unique sculpt and a new mold every 25k until the end of the project, they are out of their minds.
I am fine with the end to blacksmith and end to substantial freebies... I would rather them keep a project in scope than out of control napkin sculpts and empty promises which blow the budget and timeline.
The only two things I wish they would have done is make models for the two little dudes, the town guard and blacksmith. They are great designs and I think just as relevant as the sodapopgirl cameo.
I mean, seriously. They will love it. I can already tell I'll be having to photocopy multiple pages out of this to keep them from getting their grubby paws on MY coloring book.
Both of them love SDE. Both of them love drawing and coloring. My daughter was actually asking me to copy some of the mini boss artwork for her so she could color it.
A pleasant and unexpected stretch goal. I get it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's a cool little promo. And it's free, so there's that.
EDIT- I actually wouldn't be surprised if the guard and smith end up as final stretch goals. It was bound to happen, and everyone's been asking about that since the first day I think.
Yeah that's my feeling too - I expect the blacksmith will show up but it's probably going to be around the 800k mark. It's hard to say if we have the momentum to get there now that there are no more 'new' blacksmith options to pledge for but - personally - I'm pretty happy with what we've got so far.
That said, don't let Internet Negativity (which is worse than regular negativity) get you down on MYTH. The rulebook aside, I'm pretty sure everything is going to be shiny when it does finally arrive and I'm not exactly an optimist when it comes to KS
EDIT- I actually wouldn't be surprised if the guard and smith end up as final stretch goals. It was bound to happen, and everyone's been asking about that since the first day I think.
IIRC - Deke already said that this wouldn't happen, due to Soda Pop being committed to sticking to their plan for the KS and not going over. But he hinted that since they proved so popular they might show up at some point.
plastictrees wrote: Any good reviews of SDE in general floating around (good quality reviews that is).
Starting to regret my MYTH pledge and looking for an alternative.
As someone who owns and has played (attempted to play) both games, I can honestly say SDE has its issues in both style of gameplay and rules... but a lot of what they have previewed in this KS actually addresses a lot of stuff and the current game is playable and fun. Clarifying the cards and timing of potions with the new icons is a huge improvement which will help a lot. Also sounds like the Co-Op will address a 'dungeon master'-less experience which is basically all the rage right now and what Myth attempted to be. Myth just released a 9 page FAQ which is longer than the 40kFAQ!!! Even fi they address the rule issues, Myth is really 'heavy' rulewize, I don't see that changing.
If you can unload your Myth pledge for anywhere close to what you backed it for and backed this, except for the 10 month wait, I suspect you would be pretty happy. I am going to give Myth a real chance but even I may just paint up all the models and then sell the whole thing for close to the KS price to 'move' it should it simply not deliver. I think you mentioned wanting to play with kids, you could easily back this for 100$ and get the core set retail for 60-70$ now and be playing SDE this month with the 'better' rules within a year. They have 4 monster spawns currently between roxor and Von Drakk and 2 mini and 2 mega bosses. You can get roxor, Von Drakk and most of the KS add-ons at retail later and not at all be paying drastic costs as the add-ons are not that much of a deal compared to Myth.
MYTH's eBay price dropped from $400 to $200 for its $100 pledge, but you're still going to get a good price for it. The miniatures are above boardgame-quality, and, while stylized, are quite usable in 28mm generic fantasy games, such as Song of Blade and Heroes, Savage Worlds, D&D, etc..
Still hoping for more mini's from the SDE campaign. Not sure why, considering I had 3.5K of mini's to paint before I got into this KS nonsense...
The Always Super! pledge already features an incredible 95 miniatures. We could send all those free Loot models in a plain old brown box, but it's way more fun when you have a stylish Boo Booty box! The Boo Booty Box will be perfect for carrying around all your free Loot. It will also help to significantly reduce your shipping costs by putting all of your free bonus items in a single box. Super!
Oops! That will teach me not to quote somebody in my reply!I meant the pet models are included in the pledge but have never appeared on the picture for the Always Super pledge level, nor the box contents.
Soda Pop Miniatures is Super excited to be publishing through our sister company Ninja Division. And where there are ninjas there is Kunoichi Candy!
Ninja are notoriously shady characters and they often walk the line narrow line between darkness and light—between Hero and Mini-Boss. That's right, Kunoichi Candy will come with cards to be used as either a Hero or a Mini-Boss! Lets ninja dance!
$70k jump trying to give themselves breathing space as there is only one more goal after this one.
@Lindsay Elyse is at the Booth as Brave Candy! We are also running Super Dungeon ExploreVP Arena Casual Play. Come by and test your stars! #SPARKLEBURST #PAXEast
Soda Pop Miniatures is Super excited to be publishing through our sister company Ninja Division. And where there are ninjas there is Kunoichi Candy!
Ninja are notoriously shady characters and they often walk the line narrow line between darkness and light—between Hero and Mini-Boss. That's right, Kunoichi Candy will come with cards to be used as either a Hero or a Mini-Boss! Lets ninja dance!
$70k jump trying to give themselves breathing space as there is only one more goal after this one.
Nice, now we have Ninjas from 3 Chibi manufacturers, Time for a Ninja hero in our gaming group!
Soda Pop Miniatures is Super excited to be publishing through our sister company Ninja Division. And where there are ninjas there is Kunoichi Candy!
Ninja are notoriously shady characters and they often walk the line narrow line between darkness and light—between Hero and Mini-Boss. That's right, Kunoichi Candy will come with cards to be used as either a Hero or a Mini-Boss! Lets ninja dance!
$70k jump trying to give themselves breathing space as there is only one more goal after this one.
I dunno - the path continues off the map again. I was expecting one final map with a "boss" or something for one last stretch goal.
I have been impressed at the impressive clip the project has continued to hum along at. There hasn't been any big lull in the middle like most projects have. We should hit 800k before the final day, and I wouldn't be surprised if we wind up at 1 million (or just shy of it) when all is said and done. Which will certainly be a nice way for Soda Pop to get on their feet and start off on their own.
**Edit**
I stand corrected.
Ninja Candy & Cola are our final two stretch goals.
It's a bit disappointing for them to wrap up 5 days early - I think they were a bit caught off guard with how well the campaign has done this last week (200K in the last 5 days). I'm pretty sure these were intended as "last day" stretch goals.
The fact that we've already seen renders for the bulk of the stretches is a good sign.
I'm honestly happy they're quitting while they're ahead. If it gets the game to use sooner rather than later, even better!
They make an extra bit of money to help keep them running between now and SDE's release, and are able to have some funds for getting the campaign expansion all set up, everyone wins.
I'm more interested in what's Soda Pop going to do once the campaign delivers. Are they heading back to retail for all major releases, or will they walk the same road Mantic does and run more Kickstarters down the line?
Mr.Church13 wrote: Actually I'm glad they're stopping. At least they will have quit while they can theoretically manage the goals. No overreaching this time. Maybe.
Oh, I'm all for them keeping things manageable - it's just a shame for the "ride" to end a few days premature.
And I'm betting whether future releases go KS or not depends on how well these sell at retail. I imagine everything in the campaign will be the sum of Soda Pop's releases for the next year or so.
America is averaging around $15 as well depending on proximity to the warehouse.
So we are in the middle of running some shipping estimates and it's looking great for our European fulfillment. Right now our quotes are averaging $15 for UK shipping for an Always Super Pledge and $25 for rest of Europe.
Australia is still our white whale but we are actively pursuing the solution to get Australian and Asian shipping lower as well.
Those prices are before the $10 credit is applied but do not include additional Blacksmith purchases which will add to the weight.
The extra blacksmith stuff will probably wipe out the $10 credit but $25 sounds good to me.
Backed! Hopefully they add some more goodies to the always super! This kick starter is almost over so anyone wanting to get into sde should def check this out due to all the free loot!!
So if one wanted everything on offer, the completionist pledge is $310+shipping (so probably $325 in the US factoring in the credit)? Want to make sure my math is right as I mull monies.
Krinsath wrote: So if one wanted everything on offer, the completionist pledge is $310+shipping (so probably $325 in the US factoring in the credit)? Want to make sure my math is right as I mull monies.
If you are getting squirrels, no dice, and no doubles, then yes. Though they are comping everyone $10 shipping so probably $315-$320 total.
Zond wrote: I think if I could token pledge a dollar I'd be inclined to go all in post kickstarter.
Nod. The huge question mark of Aussie shipping + multiple waves holds me back from joining this train wreck in the making. Though this is probably a good thing.
I do have to say I'm glad that they stopped pushing out SGs - it's showing some restraint that they may have some form of a plan to get this made before 2015 ends, though I seriously think that early 2016 is when it will wrap up based on "because kickstarter, lol". Though Dec 2014 as a fulfilment date makes me laugh - shades of Robotech Tactics there.
Zond wrote: I think if I could token pledge a dollar I'd be inclined to go all in post kickstarter.
Nod. The huge question mark of Aussie shipping + multiple waves holds me back from joining this train wreck in the making. Though this is probably a good thing.
I do have to say I'm glad that they stopped pushing out SGs - it's showing some restraint that they may have some form of a plan to get this made before 2015 ends, though I seriously think that early 2016 is when it will wrap up based on "because kickstarter, lol". Though Dec 2014 as a fulfilment date makes me laugh - shades of Robotech Tactics there.
I agree, I have no illusions that this will ship before Q2 2015. Anything before that will be 'pleasant surprise'.
I do think the 100$ pledge is good enough to justify a pledge if you can make peace with the shipping and potential delays. Stretchgoals... Depends. Warbands may be worth the value, lone packs may wait until retail.
Actually providing an EU solution does give hope they are not paying lip service and could be attempting a solution.
And shipping is finalized for all, save for Australia, and Australia shipping is just about there. From the KS:
SPMKS Update wrote:We are happy to say that we have secured fulfillment options in multiple countries to reduce your shipping costs significantly. This means that you will not be required to pay the customs or VAT costs that would be incurred by shipping from the United States.
We will have shipping hubs in: United States, Canada, UK, Hong Kong, and before shipment begins Australia.
Based on the anticipated size and weight of the Kickstarter rewards we have put together these cost estimates. Please note that these are estimates only.
United States: •Always Super Pledge $15 ($5 after credit)
•1 of Everything $25 ($15 after credit)
Canada (Toronto Warehouse):
•Always Super Pledge $15 ($5 after credit)
•1 of Everything $20 ($10 after credit)
United Kingdom (London Warehouse): •Always Super Pledge $15 ($5 after credit)
•1 of Everything $20 ($10 after credit)
Germany (London Warehouse): •Always Super Pledge $25 ($10 after credit)
•1 of Everything $30 ($15 after credit)
Hong Kong (Hong Kong Warehouse): •Always Super Pledge $10 ($0 after credit)
•1 of Everything $15 ($5 after credit)
Australia (Local Warehouse to be finalized): •Always Super Pledge $15 ($5 after credit)
•1 of Everything $25 ($15 after credit)
Australia (Hong Kong Warehouse): •Always Super Pledge $60 ($50 after credit)
•1 of Everything $75 ($65 after credit)
That last one is a bit of a buzzkill isn’t it?
Our new fulfillment partner has plans to have their Australia local warehouse up and running this year. Once that occurs Australians will get the local pricing we have been quoted. If it doesn't look like it will be up and running in time, we will make sure we find a local option to make your options cheaper. Nonetheless, we wanted to make sure the Hong Kong Warehouse option was represented so that our Australian fans don’t have any surprises if it comes to the worst.
While I'm not in the market for the chibi minis, I appreciate that they're trying to get the Australian shipping partner. A 90% reduction in shipping costs would make it much more likely for me to buy their products in the future.
Has anyone made a rough calculation as to what this'll cost at retail? I'm wavering and just need a small push that this is in fact the awesome deal that it looks
Officially the second Kickstarter my fiancee and I have backed. Unlike Kingdom Death: Monster, we're only in for the base game and a Twilight Knight. Lord knows we'll buy everything else when it hits retail, though, we have the base game and it's so addicting, we just want pretty much everything they sell. Damn this Kickstarter for being such a good deal. No longer needing a Consul player will be nice too, since out of our group, most people refuse to try playing anything but a hero.
Herzlos wrote: Has anyone made a rough calculation as to what this'll cost at retail? I'm wavering and just need a small push that this is in fact the awesome deal that it looks
The Core 100$ pledge works out to about 264$ retail going by current prices of equivalent sets and the stated 20-30% discount of products (a 10$ hero is 12.95$ retail) This makes ti a really good value.
All of the stretch goals, not so much. Heroes will be 12.95, Creep packs and small bands will be 20-25$ and Warbands will be 40$. With the reality of 20% discounters the KS price is barley a 2-7% discount from what we will realistically get these for at retail (-20%). The only way some of these are a MUST BUY deal is if you need to combine shipping or Sodapop doesn't release these via distributors later which mean we have to direct buy at full retail.
So the core pledge is a great value, more than 50% discount.
None of the stretch goals appear to be a 'break your back' to get them deep discounts. They are almost all designed to dilute the core pledge. If you did just the 100$ now, I do not feel like you will be kicking yourself later for missing the stretch goals because you are either paying 205$ now for all the stretch goals or 280$ish - 20-30% later. Which means the 'missed value' is going to be maybe 50$.
So, how many minis in this thing, and how many in the KS vs. in the regular retail box?
Is international shipping sorted or still fuzzy?
Curious about backing this but haven't paid much attention. I love the little wound counters, could get a lot of use out of those for all sorts of games.
HankMcCoy wrote: And shipping is finalized for all, save for Australia, and Australia shipping is just about there. From the KS:
SPMKS Update wrote:We are happy to say that we have secured fulfillment options in multiple countries to reduce your shipping costs significantly. This means that you will not be required to pay the customs or VAT costs that would be incurred by shipping from the United States.
We will have shipping hubs in: United States, Canada, UK, Hong Kong, and before shipment begins Australia.
Based on the anticipated size and weight of the Kickstarter rewards we have put together these cost estimates. Please note that these are estimates only.
United States: •Always Super Pledge $15 ($5 after credit)
•1 of Everything $25 ($15 after credit)
Canada (Toronto Warehouse):
•Always Super Pledge $15 ($5 after credit)
•1 of Everything $20 ($10 after credit)
United Kingdom (London Warehouse): •Always Super Pledge $15 ($5 after credit)
•1 of Everything $20 ($10 after credit)
Germany (London Warehouse): •Always Super Pledge $25 ($10 after credit)
•1 of Everything $30 ($15 after credit)
Hong Kong (Hong Kong Warehouse): •Always Super Pledge $10 ($0 after credit)
•1 of Everything $15 ($5 after credit)
Australia (Local Warehouse to be finalized): •Always Super Pledge $15 ($5 after credit)
•1 of Everything $25 ($15 after credit)
Australia (Hong Kong Warehouse): •Always Super Pledge $60 ($50 after credit)
•1 of Everything $75 ($65 after credit)
That last one is a bit of a buzzkill isn’t it?
Our new fulfillment partner has plans to have their Australia local warehouse up and running this year. Once that occurs Australians will get the local pricing we have been quoted. If it doesn't look like it will be up and running in time, we will make sure we find a local option to make your options cheaper. Nonetheless, we wanted to make sure the Hong Kong Warehouse option was represented so that our Australian fans don’t have any surprises if it comes to the worst.
Good stuff from a well run KS.
This is the last shipping info from 1 or 2 updates ago - posted on previous page.
Heh, my wife ended up backing this one. They had her at rabid squirrels. I have to say, I'm kind of excited to give it a go when it comes around. She figures it can also work as her first foray in to mini-painting.
My bad influence is finally rubbing off after all these years.
Well, the deal just got too good to refuse. After years of considering Soda Pop stuff, I'm in for the pack. Think I've got enough Myth minis that I'll be able to use those replacement decks to proxy all sorts of baddies, since they're around the same size.
Yep, it's unlikely to burn you even if they're off with the estimates since you're getting it for a good discount, but it certainly isn't a steal like being in an adjacent postal zone.
I want this, but I don't know if I have the money for it (having just bought Netrunner) and I don't know whether the actual gameplay is any fun, having not played the original game.
Goliath wrote: I want this, but I don't know if I have the money for it (having just bought Netrunner) and I don't know whether the actual gameplay is any fun, having not played the original game.
Those models are so cute though
I've played alot of the SDE, I've played it since the models were all in resin and their weren't spawn points yet...
SDE is one of my favorite games and I've never had anyone that's played with me not enjoy the experiance. However the game is more about a group experiance and fun then it is about super tight rules and compotition. If you consistently play with power gamers who are always looking to break a system this might not be the game for you.
Goliath wrote: I want this, but I don't know if I have the money for it (having just bought Netrunner) and I don't know whether the actual gameplay is any fun, having not played the original game.
Those models are so cute though
I've played alot of the SDE, I've played it since the models were all in resin and their weren't spawn points yet...
SDE is one of my favorite games and I've never had anyone that's played with me not enjoy the experiance. However the game is more about a group experiance and fun then it is about super tight rules and compotition. If you consistently play with power gamers who are always looking to break a system this might not be the game for you.
I play with whoever I can play with, and I really really want those miniatures, so...
To the pledge- mobile!
(Also the I'm not going to eat properly for the next month or so-mobile)
Goliath wrote: I want this, but I don't know if I have the money for it (having just bought Netrunner) and I don't know whether the actual gameplay is any fun, having not played the original game.
Those models are so cute though
I've played alot of the SDE, I've played it since the models were all in resin and their weren't spawn points yet...
SDE is one of my favorite games and I've never had anyone that's played with me not enjoy the experiance. However the game is more about a group experiance and fun then it is about super tight rules and compotition. If you consistently play with power gamers who are always looking to break a system this might not be the game for you.
I play with whoever I can play with, and I really really want those miniatures, so...
To the pledge- mobile!
(Also the I'm not going to eat properly for the next month or so-mobile)
Their minatures have always been awsome. Don't expect GW levels of detail but for what they are they are fantastic. They also paint up very easily, their style lends very well to simply laying down your base colors, giving the model a wash then a hard edge highlight and they look awsome.
Yeah, I can see from the pictures that they're not GW style, which is probably good as it'll mean I'll actually get them painted eventually (five years later and space hulk still isn't painted)
This one has reached that wonderful KS place known as "Too Good To Resist" - and as such, has probably become worth the wait that will most likely stretch well into 2015.
The extra tiles are simply to have a different dungeon layout. The ones that come in the FK box are two-sided (forest ruins and we-don't-know) and the Blacksmith shop add-on ones are a different art set (traditional dungeon and we-don't-know). Nice for variety.
The upcoming Super Dungeon Explore Legends (campaign system) may well use more than the six included tiles, or you can have them around to run multiple Arena (PvP) games simultaneously (each game requires four tiles).
Genuine question - why is anybody pledging more than the base $100 at this point? It's confirmed that there will be a pledge manager later, nothing is pledge-time limited, and every single stretch goal has been reached.
Pledging in the future will help to split the cost, and there's a good chance that it will be on the basis of more information (updated shipping date, production samples, renders for the stuff we don't have yet etc.). Is it to take advantage of a weak Dollar? To make it easier to track the amount spent?
I added the Blacksmith stuff because SDE stuff is near impossible to get here, I'd have to order from a UK stockist and pretty much pay retail for it again shipping is added . It's probably at the same cost now as it will be from online discounters later but this way I'm gauranteed to get it and avail of combined shipping it will only add another $5 to my order cost. There has been no word if all of the Blacksmith stuff will go into normal distribution SPM might hold some of it for their own store only which would mean having to pay retail costs and added cost of shipping from the US and possible customs/VAT charge. Basically it's more convenient to get it all in one go than have to chase bits later.
The $100 is a great deal the rest not so much but it at least matches retail discounts. Why not wait for the PM well I have the money now and would rather pay it off now while I have it than wait a few weeks when I may not have it again, cash in hand is easily spent and forgotten about.
Bioptic wrote: Genuine question - why is anybody pledging more than the base $100 at this point? It's confirmed that there will be a pledge manager later, nothing is pledge-time limited, and every single stretch goal has been reached.
Pledging in the future will help to split the cost, and there's a good chance that it will be on the basis of more information (updated shipping date, production samples, renders for the stuff we don't have yet etc.). Is it to take advantage of a weak Dollar? To make it easier to track the amount spent?
Some people also want to support the project. After all, that is what Kickstarter is about. If everyone just pledged $1 and waited for the pledge manager then no projects would get funded at all. I agree that there is nothing much in it for you personally to pledge after the last goal, but that's also a slightly selfish attitude (albeit a typical one). I consider the pledge manger to be something of a courtesy. If you already know what you are going to buy then you should try and pledge as much as you can before the end. It helps SPM to see what they've got to work with, and adds to the success of the project.
Bioptic wrote: Genuine question - why is anybody pledging more than the base $100 at this point? It's confirmed that there will be a pledge manager later, nothing is pledge-time limited, and every single stretch goal has been reached.
Pledging in the future will help to split the cost, and there's a good chance that it will be on the basis of more information (updated shipping date, production samples, renders for the stuff we don't have yet etc.). Is it to take advantage of a weak Dollar? To make it easier to track the amount spent?
Some people also want to support the project. After all, that is what Kickstarter is about. If everyone just pledged $1 and waited for the pledge manager then no projects would get funded at all. I agree that there is nothing much in it for you personally to pledge after the last goal, but that's also a slightly selfish attitude (albeit a typical one). I consider the pledge manger to be something of a courtesy. If you already know what you are going to buy then you should try and pledge as much as you can before the end. It helps SPM to see what they've got to work with, and adds to the success of the project.
Selfish? Nonsense. You're spending MORE money. Perhaps folks can only front $100 this month and $100 more when the PM comes out. Or maybe they want to wait until they see some production models of some of the add ons. But selfish? Selfish? Really?
Bioptic wrote: Genuine question - why is anybody pledging more than the base $100 at this point? It's confirmed that there will be a pledge manager later, nothing is pledge-time limited, and every single stretch goal has been reached.
Pledging in the future will help to split the cost, and there's a good chance that it will be on the basis of more information (updated shipping date, production samples, renders for the stuff we don't have yet etc.). Is it to take advantage of a weak Dollar? To make it easier to track the amount spent?
Some people also want to support the project. After all, that is what Kickstarter is about. If everyone just pledged $1 and waited for the pledge manager then no projects would get funded at all. I agree that there is nothing much in it for you personally to pledge after the last goal, but that's also a slightly selfish attitude (albeit a typical one). I consider the pledge manger to be something of a courtesy. If you already know what you are going to buy then you should try and pledge as much as you can before the end. It helps SPM to see what they've got to work with, and adds to the success of the project.
Selfish? Nonsense. You're spending MORE money. Perhaps folks can only front $100 this month and $100 more when the PM comes out. Or maybe they want to wait until they see some production models of some of the add ons. But selfish? Selfish? Really?
Yes it is selfish, as in, lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure.
The point is, we're all selfish to some degree...
Your first point he addressed already saying - if you already know what you want then you should pledge as much as you *can*. Obviously if you don't have the money till next month, then you have, in fact, pledged as much as you could.
He's addressing the trend (whether real or imaginary) of people who pledge either $1 or the bare minimum, and then wait until everything is revealed after the kickstarter and pledge for $100s of dollars of extra merch. As opposed to people who put all of that money up front in the hopes that collectively everyone will do the same and unlock even more cool things to buy.
One person is taking less risk and attempting to maximize their own gain. One person is taking on more risk in the hopes that everyone (including themselves) will have more gain in the end. From that perspective, one person is being more selfish while the other person is helping the "community". But even there there is an element of selfishness as their is the hop & expectation of more stretch goals and more freebies. It's like how gift giving isn't really selfishness as we usually expect a gift back later, or some other reward.
Soda Pop is a for-profit company. If you think paying for their product sight unseen with no guarantees, seven months in advance is a sign of selfishness because they didn't do it eight months in advance, you are insane.
Bioptic wrote: Genuine question - why is anybody pledging more than the base $100 at this point? It's confirmed that there will be a pledge manager later, nothing is pledge-time limited, and every single stretch goal has been reached.
Pledging in the future will help to split the cost, and there's a good chance that it will be on the basis of more information (updated shipping date, production samples, renders for the stuff we don't have yet etc.). Is it to take advantage of a weak Dollar? To make it easier to track the amount spent?
Some people also want to support the project. After all, that is what Kickstarter is about. If everyone just pledged $1 and waited for the pledge manager then no projects would get funded at all. I agree that there is nothing much in it for you personally to pledge after the last goal, but that's also a slightly selfish attitude (albeit a typical one). I consider the pledge manger to be something of a courtesy. If you already know what you are going to buy then you should try and pledge as much as you can before the end. It helps SPM to see what they've got to work with, and adds to the success of the project.
Selfish? Nonsense. You're spending MORE money. Perhaps folks can only front $100 this month and $100 more when the PM comes out. Or maybe they want to wait until they see some production models of some of the add ons. But selfish? Selfish? Really?
Yes it is selfish, as in, lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure.
The point is, we're all selfish to some degree...
Your first point he addressed already saying - if you already know what you want then you should pledge as much as you *can*. Obviously if you don't have the money till next month, then you have, in fact, pledged as much as you could.
He's addressing the trend (whether real or imaginary) of people who pledge either $1 or the bare minimum, and then wait until everything is revealed after the kickstarter and pledge for $100s of dollars of extra merch. As opposed to people who put all of that money up front in the hopes that collectively everyone will do the same and unlock even more cool things to buy.
One person is taking less risk and attempting to maximize their own gain. One person is taking on more risk in the hopes that everyone (including themselves) will have more gain in the end. From that perspective, one person is being more selfish while the other person is helping the "community". But even there there is an element of selfishness as their is the hop & expectation of more stretch goals and more freebies. It's like how gift giving isn't really selfishness as we usually expect a gift back later, or some other reward.
Afraid that I'm still not quite following this. Sodapop has (according to their own calculations) received enough money to develop every single item and component that they set out to - the Kickstarter is a complete success. The backers are collectively benefiting from the maximum number of unlocked stretch goals possible. Pledging more money at this point rather than on the pledge manager is just doing the following: 1) giving Sodapop the money sooner, 2) making more of it disappear in Amazon & KS fees, 3) making a larger lump sum of cash leave your bank account/CC credit at once.
I'm sure that Sodapop would possibly like to have more money sooner, even if it means Kickstarter taking a larger percentage. But that is literally the only part of the equation where someone is 'missing out' - people even tend to spend more on pledge manager than they would through the Kickstarter! I'd actually say that it's better for the community collectively if money is only handed over when e.g. final sculpts are shown, otherwise you end up with year-long delays and models like this:
Bioptic wrote: Genuine question - why is anybody pledging more than the base $100 at this point? It's confirmed that there will be a pledge manager later, nothing is pledge-time limited, and every single stretch goal has been reached.
Pledging in the future will help to split the cost, and there's a good chance that it will be on the basis of more information (updated shipping date, production samples, renders for the stuff we don't have yet etc.). Is it to take advantage of a weak Dollar? To make it easier to track the amount spent?
Some people also want to support the project. After all, that is what Kickstarter is about. If everyone just pledged $1 and waited for the pledge manager then no projects would get funded at all. I agree that there is nothing much in it for you personally to pledge after the last goal, but that's also a slightly selfish attitude (albeit a typical one). I consider the pledge manger to be something of a courtesy. If you already know what you are going to buy then you should try and pledge as much as you can before the end. It helps SPM to see what they've got to work with, and adds to the success of the project.
Selfish? Nonsense. You're spending MORE money. Perhaps folks can only front $100 this month and $100 more when the PM comes out. Or maybe they want to wait until they see some production models of some of the add ons. But selfish? Selfish? Really?
Yes it is selfish, as in, lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure.
The point is, we're all selfish to some degree...
Your first point he addressed already saying - if you already know what you want then you should pledge as much as you *can*. Obviously if you don't have the money till next month, then you have, in fact, pledged as much as you could.
He's addressing the trend (whether real or imaginary) of people who pledge either $1 or the bare minimum, and then wait until everything is revealed after the kickstarter and pledge for $100s of dollars of extra merch. As opposed to people who put all of that money up front in the hopes that collectively everyone will do the same and unlock even more cool things to buy.
One person is taking less risk and attempting to maximize their own gain. One person is taking on more risk in the hopes that everyone (including themselves) will have more gain in the end. From that perspective, one person is being more selfish while the other person is helping the "community". But even there there is an element of selfishness as their is the hop & expectation of more stretch goals and more freebies. It's like how gift giving isn't really selfishness as we usually expect a gift back later, or some other reward.
Afraid that I'm still not quite following this. Sodapop has (according to their own calculations) received enough money to develop every single item and component that they set out to - the Kickstarter is a complete success. The backers are collectively benefiting from the maximum number of unlocked stretch goals possible. Pledging more money at this point rather than on the pledge manager is just doing the following: 1) giving Sodapop the money sooner, 2) making more of it disappear in Amazon & KS fees, 3) making a larger lump sum of cash leave your bank account/CC credit at once.
I'm sure that Sodapop would possibly like to have more money sooner, even if it means Kickstarter taking a larger percentage. But that is literally the only part of the equation where someone is 'missing out' - people even tend to spend more on pledge manager than they would through the Kickstarter! I'd actually say that it's better for the community collectively if money is only handed over when e.g. final sculpts are shown, otherwise you end up with year-long delays and models like this:
Afraid that I'm still not quite following this. Sodapop has (according to their own calculations) received enough money to develop every single item and component that they set out to - the Kickstarter is a complete success. The backers are collectively benefiting from the maximum number of unlocked stretch goals possible. Pledging more money at this point rather than on the pledge manager is just doing the following: 1) giving Sodapop the money sooner, 2) making more of it disappear in Amazon & KS fees, 3) making a larger lump sum of cash leave your bank account/CC credit at once.
I'm sure that Sodapop would possibly like to have more money sooner, even if it means Kickstarter taking a larger percentage. But that is literally the only part of the equation where someone is 'missing out' - people even tend to spend more on pledge manager than they would through the Kickstarter! I'd actually say that it's better for the community collectively if money is only handed over when e.g. final sculpts are shown, otherwise you end up with year-long delays and models like this:
In this specific case I agree with you. I apologize I started drifting off and talking about kickstarters as a whole, and how people engage with them. You're very right - this KS is a different case because it's one of the rare ones that had an "end-point" where there is essentially nothing left to unlock. Every new backer that signs on whether they pledge $1 or $200 won't have any impact on the project and the rest of the backers. But I think this kickstarter is atypical.
Yeah, $100 base pledge for me. Was out, then they pulled me back in since it's a decent deal. I'll add more later in the Pledge Manager later if I feel like it.
Between this and Arcadia Quest i will be drowning in chibi minis. Thinking i might be able to use the 'upgrade packs' from this and proxy in the arcadia quest monsters. Not a perfect fit stylistically but i'm sure it would work well enough.
Yes it is selfish, as in, lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure.
The point is, we're all selfish to some degree...
Your first point he addressed already saying - if you already know what you want then you should pledge as much as you *can*. Obviously if you don't have the money till next month, then you have, in fact, pledged as much as you could.
You're being "selfish" by giving that money to SPM (a for-profit business) and not to charity.
Well, certainly some people have gotten a bit crabby of late.
In the end I went in for a bit of everything (completionist + paying off my credit card soon so this was a good time to lump it into that). It was their restrained stretch goals that sold me on the idea that maybe, just maybe, they'd learned from some previous miscues.
Granted, I'm not expecting to see this until probably sometime next summer, but now I don't have to bother with it. Think I'm done with KS projects for the foreseeable future too, barring something that's just incredibly cool (along the lines of DFG or KD:M) coming down the pike.
Nah, I just have a thing against stupidity and false arguments. I'm pretty good, actually.
I'm even so optimistic that I decided to risk $100 on this thing. I'd like to see a round of PM come up after they confirm the Aussie shipping one way or another.
Now let's just hope it turns up before Christmas 2015!
Azazelx wrote: Nah, I just have a thing against stupidity and false arguments.
There was nothing stupid or false about what he said. However you calling people stupid is clearly just ad hominem. You reflecting that giving money to SPM instead of charity is also selfish, is a tu quoque (really just more ad hominem)... after you did equivocation on the word 'selfish': taking it out of the context of crowd funding and into a wider definition. And the premise that you either give everything to charity or you're selfish is something of a false dichotomy to boot. I'm not sure if you said anything that wasn't a fallacy.
Anyway Mr Bitey is case in point. We got a further stretch goal after "the last" stretch goal. I'm sure if we hit 1.5 million then SPM would have been compelled to add even more. Everyone benefits from bumping up the total. Purposefully holding money back while relying on others to bump up the total is more self orientated and ultimately short sighted in the context of crowd funding. In a wider context it is 'why we can't have nice things'.
I didn't call him stupid. I called his argument stupid. Pull your head out.
I'm sick of the selfish entitlement mentality that comes out of people like yourself and other poster when others have personal reasons why they don't wish to pledge early and for as much as they possibly might. People like Cryptek and yourself can chide others for their spending choices when you pay for them yourselves. Until then, you can stick your selfish entitled mentality elsewhere.
It's crowdfunding a for-profit company. While it does allow these things to be produced, it's also a glorified pre-order. It's not charity. There's no higher purpose. It's not especially noble or special. Calling people selfish in this context is nothing but stupid and insulting, and in fact far more selfish - since he (and apparently you, too) only want more toys for free. So get off your high horse.
Nothing else was going to be unlocked anyway, so adding more money later via a pre-order would actually be doing SPM a favour (KS already made $100k (10%) out of this project so are hardly hard done by here).
Azazelx wrote: I'm sick of the selfish entitlement mentality that comes out of people like yourself and other poster when others have personal reasons why they don't wish to pledge early and for as much as they possibly might.
On the contrary, I was not dictating to anyone how they should spend their money. Bioptic in fact asked the question: why anyone would want to pledge more than $100 given that there was no direct personal gain. I simply responded that some people want to support the project, which is actually the whole point of crowd funding, and why it works.
So please don't tell me to get off a high horse. I'm not the one wading in, calling other people's conversations 'stupid', and hypocritically calling other people 'false' whilst making nothing even resembling a point and/or sense.
Smacks wrote: So please don't tell me to get off a high horse. I'm not the one wading in, calling other people's conversations 'stupid', and hypocritically calling other people 'false' whilst making nothing even resembling a point and/or sense.
No, you're the one calling people selfish for not adding bonuses to their pledge right this second.
Some of us can't afford to add stuff to the pledge, and I'd appreciate not being called selfish for not knowing whether I'll be able to afford them at some point in the future.
Goliath wrote: Some of us can't afford to add stuff to the pledge, and I'd appreciate not being called selfish for not knowing whether I'll be able to afford them at some point in the future.
Cryptek of Awesome wrote: Your first point he addressed already saying - if you already know what you want then you should pledge as much as you *can*. Obviously if you don't have the money till next month, then you have, in fact, pledged as much as you could.
Smacks wrote: If you already know what you are going to buy
No one called anyone selfish for not pledging more than they can afford. I merely said that deliberately withholding money that you know you are going to spend anyway until the last possible minute is more selfish than pledging as much as you can and boosting the total for everyone. Which it is.
That is not the same as withholding your pledge because you don't have money, or because you're not sure what you want yet.
If you want to take offense at things that were never said, then please do it quietly.
Goliath wrote: Some of us can't afford to add stuff to the pledge, and I'd appreciate not being called selfish for not knowing whether I'll be able to afford them at some point in the future.
Cryptek of Awesome wrote: Your first point he addressed already saying - if you already know what you want then you should pledge as much as you *can*. Obviously if you don't have the money till next month, then you have, in fact, pledged as much as you could.
Smacks wrote: If you already know what you are going to buy
No one called anyone selfish for not pledging more than they can afford. I merely said that deliberately withholding money that you know you are going to spend anyway until the last possible minute is more selfish than pledging as much as you can and boosting the total for everyone. Which it is.
That is not the same as withholding your pledge because you don't have money, or because you're not sure what you want yet.
If you want to take offense at things that were never said, then please do it quietly.
BS... Not all people hold the same value to things... Just because you are 'all in' and want the total to scream tot he stratosphere, others are skeptical of the value and may not want everything that you want. That is the funny thing... What you see as 300$ for excellent value, someone else may see a rip-off. Since almost the entirety of the stretch goals are barley less than a 5-7% discount from retail, and will all be available at retail, it isn't a good value for my money, both in the terms of giving an interest free loan to a company and my money being 'tied up' in a KS and other KS which may have KS only exclusives which require money 'right now'.
Yeah... So this KS, if someone wants to pledge 300$ for a completionist, that's cool... But to imply that my 100$ pledge is being selfish because I am not blindly boosting the total or waiting until the end to up my add-ons is insane as I have no obligation to you or Sodapop to like your pockets with minis faster. I am actually one who dislikes seeing KS over achieve and have massive scope creep because it harms the campaign. I explicitly held my add-on pledging to make sure I felt comfortable that they would have the funds to do all these run away stretch goals and provide information which makes me comfortable that they can deliver on those 'paper napkin' sketches at the end. I have seen plenty of KS become a victim of their own success where they really didn't collect money for their SG funding and got kinda crazy with designs and such. It is a deterrent and if this had ended in the 700ks with all those goals, I probably would not have backed add-ons or dropped my add-ons because they might have been too tight on the margins to reliably deliver them. Once they got to the slow goals and were intentionally putting the breaks on, it was clear they had reached what they could do and every penny after was to stabilize the project, not blindly add more swag for entitled people. That is when I decided to do add-ons.
So pledging big, Pledging early so you can get your swagpile bigger is not my responsibility and it is up to the company to make people want to support them, not have shills and fanatics yelling at commenters about 'You are harming the company if you don't pledge, you have an obligation to pledge, stop saying valid concerns you might hurt the pledges!"
This project was a bear because so many of the comments were even shillier and fanatical than mantic KSs, anyone who didn't blindly submit was attacked via the comments. Thank goodness Sodapop didn't listen to those people and actually answered the questions and helped address concerns opposed to letting fanatics put words in their mouths.
nkelsch wrote: I explicitly held my add-on pledging to make sure I felt comfortable.
Well that would fall squarely under "not sure what you're getting yet". If you're not sure and want to leave yourself room to back out, or think things over then that is obviously fine, and not what anyone was talking about.
So pledging big, Pledging early so you can get your swagpile bigger is not my responsibility.
No one was asking you to.
As I have said, I was merely responding to Bioptic who asked why anyone would pledge early (like it was a weird thing to do). And I pointed out that some people want to support the project (which is why someone might pledge early). If you come at it exclusively from the "what's in it for me?" perspective then I agree it might not make much sense, but that is not the only perspective, it is however one that we're all very used to, growing up in a capitalistic society.
I'm not suggesting that everyone should pledge early anymore than you are suggesting that everyone should pledge late. I'm just saying that people who want to pledge early are perfectly justified in doing so. And we all know that people who want to pledge late are also justified in doing so. So lets leave it at that shall we?
So it has ended with more than 1 million. Not too bad.
Looks like some doubts were eventually lifted so that people who were treating this kickstarter quite roughly finally pledged, even at the minimum. Good thing if they had answers to their questions and decided they could take the risk.
We'll see about the rules, The last preview about Mighty Monster Chart is a step in the right way, IMHO. Power-up when the Heroes get rid of the mini-boss mean they have to be careful - if they kill it too soon, it can become a real pain in the ass. But of course, a rampaging mini-boss left alone can do a lot of damage as well.
Besides, I'm very glad they get rid of that annoying rule from before; drawing a loot card was way too much random (it could be useless if you had no luck or horribly powerful if you drawed the right card).
Still waiting to see about how they will handle the Arcade Mode. But I guess we will be talking about it (or not?) in another sub-forum from now.
If I can find a few other Chibi-animals, I think I will add some Jackie-Chan Adventures Chinese Zodiac pets to our RPG games. All I really need is a sheep and an Ox as the rest are kinda covered.
I received my Warmachine Tactics pledge today - they also came with coins that I didn't care about. They're about the size of a half-dollar and very heavy.
If the SDE coin is the same quality - it's actually not a bad little memento. And will probably make a nice little counter for something in the game.
Guess I'll post the update in the fashion of the times...
Spoiler:
Hello everyone,
Lots of things already moving along and so it's time for our first production update.
First the big news is that a good portion of everyone's payments have cleared which has allowed us to begin tooling on several of the models! Let's go through a list and see where everything stands on week one.
Forgotten King Core Box
Forgotten King: Tooling
Trent: Tooling
Bashful Boris: Sculpt done. In queue at 3D Printer.
Classic Rules: Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Arcade Rules: Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Cards: Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Dungeon Tiles: Side "A" complete. Side "B" art in progress.
Upgrade Decks:
Dragonback Peaks: Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Caverns of Roxor: Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Von Drakk Manor: Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Mistmourn Coast Warband
Mistmourn Shaman: Sculpt - Tooling | Rules - Layout complete for public beta.
Tribal Stone Monsters: Sculpt - Tooling | Rules - Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Salt Crystal Monsters: Sculpt - Molds complete | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Salt: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Emerald Valley Warband
Silver Chevalier: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Glimmerwing: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Truffle Pig: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Okoshroom: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Kinoshroom: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Fungal Growth: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Claws of the Wyrm Warband
Dragon Blade: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Claw Shrine Monsters: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Stilt Town Zombie Warband
Zombie Survivor Marie-Claude: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Gruesome George: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Shamble Priest: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Pudge: Sculpt - Done | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Prowler: Sculpt - Done | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Swampie: Sculpt - Done | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Grabby House: Sculpt - Done | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Bag O'
Bag O' Squirrels: Sculpt - In tooling | Rules - Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Bag O' Slime: Sculpt - Done | Rules - Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Bag O' Bones: Sculpt - In tooling | Rules - Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Single Models
Brave-Mode Candy: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Never-Lost Cola: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Tabbybrook Mage: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Twilight Knight: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Deeproot Wolf Rider: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Wandering Minstrel: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Royal Warden: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Goro: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Giri: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Shadow-Mode Candy: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Kunoichi Candy: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Ninja Cola: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Everything Else
Potion Tokens: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer
Heart Tokens: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer
Crystalia Adventures Coloring Book: Line art in progress.
Metal Princess Coin: Design in progress.
Boo Booty Box: Design in progress.
Dungeons of Crystalia: Art in progress.
Unique Equipment Art: Art in progress.
Whew! That's quite the list. We will update this list every week and italicize any changes. Unfortunately, Kickstarter's formatting tools are pretty limited so we can't do some awesome Soda Pop pink for the changes.
So that this update isn't all "bidness" lets do a model walkthrough!
Model Walkthrough
Trent is a mighty corrupted Treant. Like other Kodama, Trent was once a mighty protector of the forest. Now, under the Dark Consul's power, he is a terror few can survive facing.
Trent starts out with a basic Speed 6 and 3 Action Points which is pretty standard in mini-boss land. His only combat attribute is STR where he has a respectable if not exemplary 2 red dice and 1 white "static" dice. However, this lower STR attribute (for a mini-boss) is compensate by two factors: he is a kodama so can benefit from the Sprout's Rampant Growth ability, and he has Virulent. If both of these abilities are active his STR moves to a punishing 2 blue dice, 2 red dice, and 1 white "static" dice.
Whatever Trent lacks in punch he more than makes up for in defensive staying power. His ARM is a very solid 2 red and 1 white. He also possesses 6 Hearts and the Tough ability which allows him to heal one wound at the beginning of every activation. Combined, this makes it so that Heroes need to make a truly concerted effort to bring the big treant down.
His Achilles Heel is Vulnerable: Fire making it so that any action which causes fire forces him to discard his highest dice when making a defense roll. Naturally Heroes who cause fire should be the Consul's first priority when Trent is in the dungeon.
In addition to his natural abilities Trent brings an impressive array of unique actions to the party.
Decay stands out as the ability that Heroes will fear the most. Even with the new increased loot draw it is difficult for Heroes to get that perfect mix of equipment that makes them indestructible. Careful use of Decay can keep Heroes power level in check. Targeting Heroes with only one or two pieces of equipment can be especially nasty making it so they have no true choice in what they lose.
Overgrowth pairs well with Trent's natural durability. Since Heroes are often forced to cluster around him when they want to make an honest effort of bringing him down. Overgrowth's Wave 3 allows him to hit every Hero within 3 squares of his base.
Trent's final action, Uproot, is a blue support action. It is also an Augment so it can only target friendly models. Its Compel 2 effect is perfect for making small adjustments of the Consul's minions to make sure they are exactly where they need to be. Consul players will also immediately notice Uproot's synergy with the King Sprout, making it so Hero's can never truly escape the big plant's grasp.
It is no surprise that Trent is every bit as durable as a mighty tree. His broad array of abilities and unique actions make him a remarkably versatile mini-boss. Better pack an axe!
That's a long update, but I have to say if they stick to that format of just posting an itemized list of what's coming and where it is in the process, that'd be awesome. I wish more campaigns would just do that rather than being cloak-and-dagger about progress with their backers; they're the people who gave you money upfront and often sight-unseen. A bit of trust in the other direction is always nice to see.
I missed pledging on this by hours. Had it starred on KS and just missed the window.
Any clue if they will open up paypal pledges or do like CMoN did with Arcadia Quest, and take late pledges?
I messaged them on KS but have't got a response.
Dungeon Tiles: Side "A" complete. Side "B" art in progress.
Upgrade Decks Dragonback Peaks: Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Caverns of Roxor: Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Von Drakk Manor: Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Mistmourn Coast Warband Mistmourn Shaman: Sculpt - Tooling | Rules - Layout complete for public beta.
Tribal Stone Monsters: Sculpt - Tooling | Rules - Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Salt Crystal Monsters: Sculpt - Molds complete | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Salt: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Emerald Valley Warband **Silver Chevalier: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Glimmerwing: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Truffle Pig: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Okoshroom: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Kinoshroom: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Fungal Growth: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Claws of the Wyrm Warband **Dragon Blade: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Claw Shrine Monsters: Sculpt - started and in progress | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Stilt Town Zombie Warband Zombie Survivor Marie-Claude: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Gruesome George: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Shamble Priest: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Pudge: Sculpt - Done | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Prowler: Sculpt - Done | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Swampie: Sculpt - Done | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Grabby House: Sculpt - Done | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Mr. Bitey: Concept art done | Sculpt - In queue | Rules - In internal playtesting
Bag O' Bag O' Squirrels: Sculpt - In tooling | Rules - Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Bag O' Slime: Sculpt - Done | Rules - Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Bag O' Bones: Sculpt - In tooling | Rules - Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Single Models **Brave-Mode Candy: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Never-Lost Cola: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Tabbybrook Mage: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Twilight Knight: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Deeproot Wolf Rider: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Wandering Minstrel: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Royal Warden: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Goro: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Giri: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Shadow-Mode Candy: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Kunoichi Candy: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Ninja Cola: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Everything Else Potion Tokens: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer Heart
Tokens: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer
Crystalia Adventures Coloring Book: Line art in progress. Metal Princess Coin: Design in progress.
Boo Booty Box: Design in progress.
Dungeons of Crystalia: Art in progress.
Unique Equipment Art: Art in progress.
Equipment Loot and Treasure are a big part of Super Dungeon Explore. As Heroes explore a dungeon and bash monsters they are sure to pick up piles and piles of equipment. We always knew that one of the things we wanted to do for Forgotten King was give our equipment images that helped immerse the players in the world of Crystalia. Once the stretch goal was unlocked, you opened up over 120 pieces of equipment art to cover both Forgotten King and past expansions.
Our artist has been hard at work building all of this great art and we're starting to see the first line art from his talented pen. Let's take a look!
Well, we've got a taste of the cool new equipment in progress, so how does it work?
The most basic equipment is Loot and is gained every time a Hero kills a minion or denizen that does not have theInsignificantability, up to a maximum of 3 cards per turn. (Vets take notice you also draw no loot from theBacklash ability.)
So you've drawn your loot now how do you equip it? First lets look at our trusty Hero card.
You'll note on the frame of the Fae Alchemist card there are four circular gems: Citrine (left), Ruby (top), Emerald (right), and Sapphire (bottom).
These are your equipment slots. You can loosely think of the them as: Citrine - Weapon, Ruby - Accessory, Emerald - Armor, and Sapphire - Accessory. We don't strictly hold to that formula but try to keep the equipment so it makes some sort of sense if it was all equipped on a single Hero.
Now lets look at the equipment cards:
You will see that all loot is tied to a specific gem and its card is oriented according to the side of the Hero card the equipment slot is on. Since these are loot cards they have a blue background and a silver frame.
Treasure cards are gained by defeating mini-bosses and opening treasure chests. Treasure cards are generally more powerful than loot cards so a Hero may only ever have one treasure equipped at a time. They also have a red background and gold frame. Otherwise they are aligned to a gem and laid out in the same way as loot.
Note that we are still finalizing treasure so the abilities are actually pulled from Loot.
Let's gear up! By this time you've probably figured out how this all works. Each card is designed to easily tuck the large gem underneath the Hero's card to represent that it has been equipped.
Here we have a fully equipped Fae Alchemist. Each piece of equipment is tucked under the Hero card in the appropriate slot, so that the equipments' bonuses can easily be seen. Bonuses from the equipment are treated exactly as though they were printed on the model's card. So in this case the Fae Alchemist now has STR 3 blue, ARM 3 blue, 1 red, and WILL of 1 blue, 3 red. Plus she's immune to the status effect Weak. Watch out monsters!
Tooling and the things. We had a lot of people ask what tooling is, so lets close with a little explanation of process. For Super Dungeon Explore we make models in two ways: traditional sculpts and 3D sculpts. Many of you a probably familiar with traditional sculpts where an artist uses one of a variety of mediums to physically sculpt a model. 3D or computer generated sculpts on the other hand are digitally done by an artist on the computer. Once the they have finished the sculpt we are given the file to print. While 3D printers are becoming very popular and much cheaper, ones that can capture the tiny detail of a 28-32mm model are still very expensive. Because of this we outsource our 3D printing to a 3rd party who has the expertise and the awesome machines that take the digital file and print it into an actual physical product.
From there the newly printed model is mailed to us for approval (and to take some pictures to share with you next week). After we've seen the model in hand we check it to make sure it meets our quality requirements. If it isn't we then go back to the sculptor to make an necessary changes and then start the process all over again. Once the print is approved it then is sent off to China.
In China, it enters the manufacturing process. This starts with pre-production where their engineers figure out how to make the mold for the model. This often requires a model to be cut in strategic places and have keyed pegs and holes created for easy assembly.
Once this pre-production is done tooling begins. Tooling is where they actually create the molds that will be used to cast the final production models. As tooling progresses test runs are made for quality control and the mold is refined until it is suitable for production. Since molds are very expensive this is a time consuming process to make sure the molds are laid out properly and built in such a manner as to minimize flashing.
It's also important to note that this process is not done on an individual basis, but instead is done based on SKU. For instance: the Silver Chevalier is printed and ready to be sent to China. However, since she is part of the Emerald Valley Warband tooling will not begin on her until all of the Emerald Valley models are ready for tooling. This is because they must all be part of the same mold to keep production efficient, and to ensure that the mold is laid out appropriately. This means that one delayed model can slow up the process for the entire SKU. Sad face. :(
After tooling we have a whole new batch of manufacturing to do, but this update is already huge so we'll address that in another update.
In the meantime have a great weekend and may you always rolls stars!
#Sparkleburst!
Automatically Appended Next Post: well soda pop continue to impress with their updates now they've gone solo
(whether this represents CMON being a road block in the past, or just soda pop learning from previous mistakes it's hard to say, but whatever it's a positive step)
It's too early for me to give a gak here, really - fulfilment is way too far away for me to pay any attention to their updates, though I do appreciate the fact that they seem to have comms operating well.
Dang nobody posted yesterdays update so I guess I should
Whoa, is it Friday already!? The week has flown by as we're working on finding a new warehouse and getting more sculpts and art done. We're also finalizing our GenCon events and will have those announced next week!
To keep the list a bit smaller today we're just going to list the new stuff.
Bashful Boris: In the mail to China to await tooling.
Forgotten King Dungeon Tiles: All art complete. Grid Layout in progress.
Silver Chevalier: In the mail to China to await tooling.
Kinoshroom: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer
Fungal Growth: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer
Dragon Blade: In the mail to China to await tooling.
Black Claw Assassin: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer
Claw Trainer: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer
Shamble Priest: Sculpt - In progress
Brave-Mode Candy: In the mail to China to await tooling.
Never-Lost Cola: In the mail to China to await tooling.
Tabbybrook Mage: In the mail to China to await tooling.
Deeproot Wolf Rider: In the mail to China to await tooling.
Wandering Minstrel: In the mail to China to await tooling.
Royal Warden: In the mail to China to await tooling.
Shadow-Mode Candy: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer. (You'll note this is a step backwards from last week's update. I accidentally listed her incorrectly.)
Dungeons of Crystalia: All art complete. Grid layout in progress.
3D Print Pictures
We'll do another rules preview early next week. This week though we thought you'd like to see what the digital sculpts look like after they've been 3D printed. These prints are what China will use to tool the molds for the final plastic production models that you will receive.
We couldn't assemble the models because that will interfere with the tooling but you can still get a good sense of the models.
Bashful Boris *Paladin for scale. Brave-Mode Candy & Never Lost Cola Silver Chevalier Tabbybrook Mage That's not a broken staff, you can't see it from this angle but it is keyed for assembly in the factory during production. Wandering Minstrel The minstrel's pose is so awesome, but is really hard to photograph with that sword in the way. Royal Warden Dragon Blade
Oh goodness! He's so beefy and terrifying. Dragons beware!
Deeproot Wolf Rider *Paladin for scale.
Look how big that wolf is! We knew we wanted it big but were so excited to see it in real life next to a model.
Pledge Manager
We've had several PMs and e-mails about when the pledge manager will be up. We are still working on implementing a few features for it and it should be ready sometime this month. We'll make sure to have a nice update that details it when it is ready to go.
Have a great weekend, and may you always roll stars!
Hello Friday! Looking forward to the weekend? Lets get into the update and end the week right!
Once again we’re not going to post the massive list. This was one of those weeks where lots of incremental progress was made, but there were no big turning points that fundamentally changed our Production List of Awesome. Going forward we'll post it periodically to check in on all the stuff, but not every update to keep it from gobbling up real estate.
The Claws of the Wyrm models are the current pieces that are being sculpted. They are looking great and we should have some pictures of them to show you soon. We also finished Mr. Bitey who is looking to bite the hand that feeds him.
Rules-wise we’re currently tweaking the stats of several existing Heroes and monsters that will be in the upgrade decks and working on getting them ready.
One of the more exciting things we’ve received this week is some of the internal illustrations that will be decorating the new rulebook. We’re going to keep most of them a surprise for when you get the book but we wanted to show one off.
Work on the pledge manager continues and we’ll let you know as soon as it is ready to go.
Lets close out with a few more pictures of some of the items that we had finished up last week and are ready for show!
First off we have the Stilt Town zombies: Prowler, Pudge, and Swampie. The Prowler is the leaping vicious looking one, the swampie is your classic shambler zombie, and the pudge is the portly gentleman with the underbite.
These sculpts were traditionally sculpted as opposed to the digitally sculpted and 3D printed models we showed you last week.
Next we have the finished art for the reverse side of the dungeon tiles. Where the tiles you’ve seen were more representative of the ruined and overgrown castle of the Forgotten King’s keep in the Lordship Ruins, these are more representative of the Fae Wood. We’ll be putting the grid on and icon on these and then they’ll be ready to go!
SUPER DUNGEON EXPLORE
Learn to play either Classic or Arcade modes of this addictive chibi-style board game. Sign-up with your friends, or join as a lone Hero and play with all new friends! No experience is necessary. All gameplay materials are provided.
Thursday – Friday – Saturday
12:00pm-2:00pm - 2:00pm-4:00pm - 4:00pm-6:00pm
SUPER DUNGEON EXPLORE: PVP ARENA
Bring your Super Dungeon ExploreVP Arena Warband to play in this Super Dungeon Tournament. Bring your own models and compete for Warband prizes, or if you are new to PVP Arena a warband will be provided for you.
SUPER DUNGEON EXPLORE
Learn to play either Classic or Arcade modes of this addictive chibi-style board game. Sign-up with your friends, or join as a lone Hero and play with all new friends! No experience is necessary. All gameplay materials are provided.
Thursday – Friday – Saturday
12:00pm-2:00pm - 2:00pm-4:00pm - 4:00pm-6:00pm
SUPER DUNGEON EXPLORE: PVP ARENA
Bring your Super Dungeon ExploreVP Arena Warband to play in this Super Dungeon Tournament. Bring your own models and compete for Warband prizes, or if you are new to PVP Arena a warband will be provided for you.
Thursday – Friday – Saturday – Sunday
12:00pm-6:00pm
They ran the Arena event at Templecon this year, it was alot of fun.
Well not a lot to tell us this time, but very good they're carrying on posting weekly updates
Update #38 May 23 2014
The Princesses
One of the things we've always wanted to do is give our players a larger glimpse into the world of Crystalia. It is a rich and beautiful world and Forgotten King is our chance to immerse you into this wonderful landscape. Central to Crystalia are the princesses, and we felt it was time to introduce you to them.
The Princesses
A sweeping kingdom of immeasurable beauty and magic, Crystalia is ruled by wise King Jasper the Third. Known as “The Blessed,” King Jasper III nonetheless sits upon a troubled throne. For generations his forebears have fought against the shadow of the Dark Consul, and with each generation the Consul’s strength grows. One by one the brave warriors of Crystal fall or are driven back. Great white eyebrows bunch under Jasper’s furrowed brow as he reviews news of the encroaching darkness, and the inexorable march of the Grim Heralds who mark the ever-growing expanse of land corrupted by the Consul.
Long have the sages of Crystalia told of a time when darkness will battle for the very soul of Crystalia, and only the five female children of the rightful King will be able to drive it forever from their lands.
It is under the auspice of prophecy that King Jasper III is considered blessed, for the Goddess has seen fit to grant him five lovely daughters, each worthy of being a future queen of Crystalia.
First-born was Sapphire. Dark of hair with piercing blue eyes and noble bearing, Sapphire is born to rule. Unrelenting and stubborn, she is as implacable as a glacier, and in an argument with her sisters—never wrong.
Second-born was Emerald. Bold and adventurous, Emerald cares little for the niceties of court. The wilderness courses through her veins, and only under the open sky is she truly at home.
Third-born was Citrine. Boisterous, bawdy, and commanding in presence, Citrine is a natural warrior. Joining the King on many campaigns, her mere presence is a rallying cry to the soldiers of Crystalia and her might has turned many a battle in the King’s favor.
Fourth-born was Ruby. Passionate and gifted with a sparkling intellect, Ruby has always embraced the joy of being a princess. She has studied under the great sages of Crystalia and feels great empathy for those under her rule, and great wrath at those who would do them harm.
Fifth-born was Amethyst. Heralded as a blessing, Amethyst is the promised child of prophecy. Bright and curious, she is seen as lucky and a symbol of hope to all of Crystalia.
Each Princess is characteristic and strong in her own way. Each one a powerful warrior and user of magic. And each one frustrating their dear father to no end with their endless drive for adventure, to join Heroes on their mighty quests. Most of all, they seek to prove themselves worthy of the the sages’ prophecy and rid Crystalia of the Dark Consul, once and for all!
KS Survey goes out tonight - they will use the details to create PM accounts (if you have an SPM store account it will use that)
Some post KS changes
- The Royal Warden is becoming a part of the main boxed game.
- The Bag O' Slimes is getting rolled into the Dungeons of Crystalia Tile Pack. The price of this new single item will be $25
- The Bag O' Bones is getting rolled into the all new Von Drakk: Ghost House Tile Pack - 6 double-sided tiles featuring unique art and layouts themed to Von Drakk Manor and the Glauerdoom Moor region. This new single item will also be $25.
Spoiler:
Project Update #39: Kickstarter Surveys—Von Drakk: Ghost House
Posted by Soda Pop Miniatures ♥ Like
Hello! Hello! We have a ton of fun stuff to go through today.
First thing on the agenda is we are making a couple changes to the Boxed Game and the Blacksmith Items. Don't panic they're improvements!
The Royal Warden is becoming a part of the main boxed game. You were already getting him for free with the Always Super pledge so the ultimate impact is that this is an upgrade for the final retail release.
The Bag O' Slimes is getting rolled into the Dungeons of Crystalia Tile Pack. The price of this new single item will be $25, which is a $10 savings over getting them both individually.
The Bag O' Bones is getting rolled into the all new Von Drakk: Ghost House Tile Pack! This highly requested tile pack will feature 6 double-sided tiles featuring unique art and layouts themed to Von Drakk Manor and the Glauerdoom Moor region. This new single item will also be $25.
Princess Coin
Now we need a cool picture to break up the text. How about your awesome commemorative Princess Coin!
This is just a prototype. We are going to go with a less brass, more gold color for the metal. We think it looks fantastic and can't wait to have it!
Kickstarter Survey
The next big news is the Kickstarter Survey. The survey will be going out tonight. You will receive a separate e-mail from Kickstarter for it. Once everyone has completed their surveys we will use the information provided to create your pledge manager account.
Lets preview the questions and run through a couple of the details.
Personal Information: This first section is all personal information. Please capitalize appropriately and double-check all of your spelling.
You'll note we're not asking for your mailing address. We will get this information when we are closer to shipping to ensure we have the most up-to-date address.
What is your first name?
What is last name?
What is your phone number? Please include country and area code.
Soda Pop Store: This is the super important part. The pledge manager will be run through the Soda Pop Store. If you have a Soda Pop Store account we will give that account access. If you do not have an account we will create one for you and e-mail you the login information.
Double-check your e-mail address! If we can't contact you we're going to have a hard time getting you your stuff!
If you have a Soda Pop Store account what e-mail is it registered under. If you do not have an account what e-mail would you like your account created with?
Please retype your e-mail address.
Estimates: The final section of questions is estimates on what rewards you will be getting. These are estimates only and do not need to be 100% accurate or match what you pledged exactly. They will be used primarily for us to begin getting a handle on the number of items we will need to manufacture so that we can prepare accordingly. You will use the pledge manager to provide us with your final reward selection.
[Estimate] How many Always Super pledges do you want? ($100)
[Estimate] How many extra Mistmourn Coast Warbands do you want? ($30)
[Estimate] How many extra Brave-Mode Candy & Never-Lost Colas do you want? ($10)
[Estimate] How many extra Super Dungeon Dice Packs do you want? ($15)
[Estimate] How many extra Bag O' Squirrels do you want? ($15)
[Estimate] How many extra Plastic Token Packs do you want? ($15)
[Estimate] How many extra Crystalia Adventures coloring books do you want? ($3)
[Estimate] How many extra Kunoichi Candy & Ninja Colas do you want? ($10)
[Estimate] How many extra Shadow-Mode Candys do you want? ($10)
[Estimate] How many Tabbybrook Mages do you want? ($10)
[Estimate] How many Twilight Knights do you want? ($10)
[Estimate] How many Deeproot Wolf Riders do you want? ($10) EDIT: typo it's $15
[Estimate] How many Wandering Minstrels do you want? ($10)
[Estimate] How many Goro & Giris do you want? ($30) EDIT: it's $20 not $30
[Estimate] How many Emerald Valley Warbands do you want? ($30)
[Estimate] How many Claws of the Wyrm Warbands do you want? ($30)
[Estimate] How many Stilt Town Zombie Warbands do you want? ($30)
[Estimate] How many Dungeons of Crystalia Tile Pack with included Bag O' Slimes do you want? ($25)
[Estimate] How many Von Drakk: Ghost House Tile Packs with included Bag O' Bones do you want? ($25)
Thats it! Once we have all the surveys we'll populate the pledge manager and send you all awesome links to it and you will be able to lock in all your excellent rewards.
Claws of the Wyrm
Our sculptors are hard at work on the Claws of the Wyrm Warband. They have three sculpts done now and we could not wait any longer to show them off.
Claw Trainer
Black Claw Assassin
Wyrm Claw Templar
Just go ahead and soak in that Wyrm Claw Templar. Don't worry, we'll wait.
.....ya.....
We love it too.
Model Walkthrough
It's been too long. Lets end this one with another Model Walkthrough. Last time we hit up Trent so it's only right and proper that we pay a visit to our main bear, Bashful Boris.
Boris is a big, burly fighter and while destruction is the name of the game he also has some surprising support actions that when used well can mean the downfall of any adventuring party.
First, Boris has a very stout 2 white and 1 red ARM. This means that while he doesn't have a large variance in the results of his defense rolls they are nonetheless reliably high. When brought out early this can make Boris very difficult for Heroes who have not gained sufficient loot to power up their combat attributes. His Immune: Knockdown ability keeps him on his feet and swinging.
Boris has a respectable STR of 2 blue and 2 red dice. This makes his melee attacks suitably brutal right at the start. While he has the standard mini-boss 3 action points, he does possess the Berserk ability which allows him to make an additional free Melee Attack basic action once per activation.
Pile-on lets him amp up his destructive potential by granting him +1 red dice to his STR if he is targeting a Hero suffering Knockdown. Even better his Sweeping Mace support action will automatically Knockdown every model within 2 squares of one edge of his base. Sweeping Mace doesn't deal any damage, but since it is a support action it doesn't require any rolls either—models just suffer the effect if they are in the area. Be careful though, the Dangerous ability means it affects both friendly and enemy models.
Sweeping Mace pairs up exceptionally well with the Drakes from the current Super Dungeon Explore game as they also have the Pile-on ability, granting them an additional red dice.
Boris's second support action, Introspection, can further impair an adventuring party by causing every enemy model within two squares to suffer the status effect Pacify. This potent status effect keeps models from using their powerful unique offensive actions.
A crafty Consul can use Boris to devastating effect. An opening turn where he uses all of his action points to Knockdown and Pacify multiple Heroes in a wide area can leave Heroes scrambling for Hearts to try to remove the effects. All the while Boris can use subsequent activations to merrily beat them to a pulp.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Another update the combined tiles and bag o offer was causing problems so its amended to:
Amended Update: Bag O'
Comment
We have a quick amendment on our last update.
We thought the combined packs with a reduced cost would be something you'd be excited about as it is more stuff for cheaper. Apparently that's not the case and it is messing with many of your planned accounting. We certainly didn't want that to happen.
The Bag O' Slimes and Bag O' Bones will continue to be offered as separate $15 dollar items.
The Dungeon Tile Packs will remain $20 so as not to interfere with your plans on that end, but will get a free upgrade to include a Slimes and Rattlebones dependant on set, since that will be the final retail packaging.
The bundles are great ideas. I wasn't about the tiles, but was about the creeps. So combining them for a lower price will mean they will sell way more.
It's a really, really good price - 12 models + 6 tiles for $20 = just over $1 per model/tile!
It also makes getting all of the 'major' expansions not an insane prospect - 3x$30 warbands + 2x$20 tile/creep packs. $130 isn't a terrible price for all of that - especially not for the UK, where the line has been...a touch pricey under CMON.
Well, it's Friday...I just want you to know that I had to suppress an overwhelming urge to lead off with Loverboy's Working For The Weekend. I resisted. You're welcome.
Forgotten King! That's what we're here for so lets get to it:
Pledge Manager
The pledge manager will be ready by the end of the month. We're working on uploading some "thank you" credits to our Relic Knights backers at the moment. Once those are all done we will begin creating the pledge manager accounts and providing you with information on how to use it.
That said, we still have a surprising number of surveys that are still outstanding. Please complete your survey! At the very least fill it out so we have your personal information so we can contact you for things like delivery. You do want your delightful toys right?
Princess Coin
We received a sample of a shiny gold version of the coin and decided the antique looking one we showed you last week was way cooler. So we'll be sticking with that one. Some of you were hoping we'd go that route so there you go.
Arcade Rules
We know many of you are very excited to see previews of the Arcade Rules. Arcade is a big mode and it is built off of the Classic rules. This makes it so many things in Classic need to be as set in stone as possible to prevent endless revisions to Arcade. We also want to make sure we get it right, because we're all really excited for it. As such, it has gone under a few revisions. (A few more than I was hoping it would, but such is the way of design.) Nonetheless, it is progressing and we should have some previews to show before long.
Words, words, words...it's time for a–
Mushroom Attack!
Fungal Growth Spawning Point
Okoshroom
Kinoshroom
Truffle Pig
These guys are insane and they want to eat you! Alongside the Kodama and Chimera you will truly have a living forest of Super Dungeon Explore. We can't wait!
Model Walkthrough
We have steadily made our way through all of the core box models and now it is time for the mighty dungeon boss himself: The Forgotten King.
*Note: We still haven't plugged the new icons into his card so the face will change slightly.
First it is important to note that as a Dungeon Boss, The Forgotten King does not spawn like a normal monster. Instead, he spawns for free after the last spawning point in the dungeon has been destroyed.
Like all Super monsters The Forgotten King may be activated for free in addition to the four skull points worth of monsters the Consul may activate during the turn. Obviously having a monster of such power activate every turn can be devastating for the Heroes, lets see just how devastating.
The Forgotten King has an average number of movement points at 6. That said his mobility can be increased by way of his Forestwalker support action which grants Teleport. A model that teleports may be placed in any square within 10 squares of their current position and in line of sight. While the 2 action points is costly it is a powerful ability that can both keep The Forgotten King in combat or get him out of it when he needs to retreat to nurse his wounds.
His Immune: Poison also lets him move to Bramble squares and not worry about their poison effect, using them as an effective shield against Heroes.
Speaking of being wounded, The Forgotten King has 8 of them which is a nice healthy chunk of damage. However, his ARM of 2 blue and 1 green dice is relatively low when facing a fully equipped party and a Consul that isn't careful can find themselves in a tight spot quickly. Fortunately this is made up by a combat potential that is arguably second-to-none.
The Forgotten King possesses a standard (for dungeon bosses) number of action points at 4. His STR of 2 red and 1 green dice is respectable and will break through most equipped Hero's armor.
That's good, but The Forgotten King is a vain king. After centuries of nursing old hatreds and growing more and more embittered by his perceived right to rule The Forgotten King is filled with hubris. When confronted by Heroes bedecked in gleaming treasures he is thrown into a rage, and the more he perceives a Hero to be a threat to his own petty pride the greater his rage.
The Hubris ability is triggered whenever The Forgotten King makes a Melee Attack basic action against a Hero that is equipped with one or more pieces of equipment, and grants him +1 blue dice to STR per piece of equipment on the Hero. This means when attacking a fully equipped Hero he can gain an incredible +4 blue dice, making his STR 4 blue, 2 red, and 1 green dice! Your Heroes are going to be needing those princess coins.
Backing up his incredible melee ability is the offensive action Stranglethorn. Costing only 1 action point Stranglethorn is a Magic attack and uses The Forgotten King's formidable WILL of 3 blue and 2 red. The Burst 1 ability means it hits not only the target but every model within 1 square of the target. While any model that suffers a wound also suffers the Slow status effect halving their movement.
Primal Roar ensures Heroes never want to cluster too close. This support action doesn't deal any wounds, but instead causes every model within 3 squares to suffer the status effect Knockdown.
.
.
.
But wait there's more!
ADVENTURE EFFECTS
All dungeon bosses come with an Adventure Effect that is unique to them. These provide thematic effects that slightly alter how a game is played. We still haven't laid out the new Adventure Effect cards but since they are all text, we can discuss them here nonetheless.
Lost Kingdom is The Forgotten King's Dungeon Effect. This ability allows the Consul, during setup, to place two spawning points in a single tile (instead of one per tile). This does not increase the number of spawning points the Consul gets, but does allow the creation of a little "fortress" tile perfect to represent the Forgotten King's keep.
Last Stand is The Forgotten King's Boss Fight Effect. Boss fight effects are triggered the moment a dungeon boss is spawned. Last Stand grants all minions and denizens +1 bonus star to their ARM and grants them immunity to all control effects (compel, push, and pull). No more bossing around the wee little monsters when The Forgotten King is around. This is a fight to the death!
Timeouts are triggered whenever a dungeon boss reaches half of their remaining hearts. During a timeout the dungeon boss removes all status effects they are suffering.
They then spawn a number of monsters listed under their Summon. These monsters are placed within 2 squares of the dungeon boss. In this case the Forgotten King summons 2 Frog Knights and 4 Billmen to his aid.
Next the dungeon boss may (if the Consul chooses) be moved up to 10 squares. Allowing him to escape from the Heroes or get in better position to attack.
Finally the dungeon boss resolves any timeout effects. Which for The Forgotten Kins is Royal Pardon. Royal Pardon immediately heals one wound on all Heroes. They then immediately suffer the status effect Ice, which prevents them from performing any unique actions. Then the Forgotten King really flips out and gains the ability Berserk which allows him to make one additional Melee Attack costing no action points every activation.
For those of you doing math at home, you are correct, that means he can now make 5 malice-filled Hubris melee attacks which is enough to kill a Hero in a single activation. Ouch.
As you can see, The Forgotten King is a boss not to be taken lightly. More than any other boss he scales to the level of the adventuring party. While he can suffer wounds quickly he also deals damage quickly, meaning a fight with this primal, cursed fae is always fast and brutal.
We hope you have a fantastic weekend, play some fantastic board games with your dad, and may you always roll stars!
Our 3D printers are churning out some new prints. These prints still need a little clean-up to remove a bit of roughness in places before they head out to tooling.
Goro!
Giri
Drake Hound
Wyrm Claw Templar
New Sculpts
Sculpting on the Stilt Town Zombies is finishing up with our disgusting mini-boss Gruesome George, and the dark power behind it all the Shamble Priest.
Gruesome George
Shamble Priest
Gencon Special—Kobold Exemplar
Gencon is coming fast and we have an all new model that will be making a debut: The Kobold Exemplar.
The Kobold Exemplar will be be a special edition resin-cast hobby model. He will include cards to run as a Kobold Exemplar Dark Hero, or as the villainous Mini-Boss Ser Snapjaw and his magic item the Exemplar Shield.
The Gencon edition will be coming with current generation cards which we just so happen to have for preview.
But, "Wait!" You say. "I'm not going to Gencon, and the cards aren't the new Forgotten King ones so why are you showing me this?"
Well the answer is simple: As you know we like to make sure everyone has access to all our models. When the Pledge Manager goes live (which will be very soon) the Kobold Exemplar will be available to add to your pledge. In addition, the Dragonback Peaks upgrade deck will include his cards. Yay!
That Kobold Exemplar is a sweet model and he looks like a fun hero/mini-boss, definitely going to be adding. It's nice that there's the option to order him for those of us not going to Gencon. I'm loving the Drake Hound and the Wyrm Claw Templar models as well!
OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote: That would be good, but the fact the similar RK mat had to go in a separate tube probably means even if it is available the postage will be similar
but you never know
The SDE mat is a good deal smaller then the RK mat. The SDE mat is only 2' by 2'.
Happy Friday everyone! We know many of you are getting ready for some Independence Day fun (or maybe still nursing a Canada Day hangover) so we're keeping this week's update short and sweet so we can all get to the festivities.
Emerald Valley Prints
First up we have a few prints from the Emerald Valley warband. These prints are pre-cleanup so the light roughness you see around a couple features will all get smoothed out before they head off to mold making.
Fungal Growth
Okoshroom
Kinoshroom
The Pledge Manager Approaches!
Next week we will be opening the pledge manager to all of you lovely backers. We will also be making the Kickstarter pledges available to people who may have missed out on the actual Kickstarter. We will provide a full tutorial e-mail next week, but for now we wanted to give you a basic overview of what to expect.
The Pledge Manager is how you will finalize what rewards you want to receive. It is also where you will pay for shipping and provide us with your shipping address.
The Pledge Manager will be integrated with the Soda Pop Store. Next week, all backers will receive an e-mail with their log-in information. If you already have a Soda Pop Store account, and correctly informed us of the e-mail address it is associated with through the survey, you will simply log in with that existing account.
The e-mail with your pledge manager information will arrive from info@ninjadivision.com.
Please take the time now to make sure that address is cleared to go through your spam filters so that your e-mail is not lost!
Once you have logged into your account, you will have a number of Ninja Star Reward Points equal to the dollar value you pledged. You will then be able to spend those reward points on any Kickstarter items you want, including the cost of shipping.
If you want items beyond what you pledged for you may purchase them, paying the additional amount using PayPal or credit card during checkout.
While the pledge manager is open you may make multiple orders. Our system will combine your order on the backend.
Our current plan is for the pledge manager to be open for one month, until August 8th. At which point we will need to finalize all of our numbers so that manufacturing can begin. And yes, we will make sure Arcade Mode is previewed before that date.
Okay! That was a lot of crunch. Next week we will dig more into the nitty-gritty and give you some nice example photos so that you feel like pros. In the end it is a basic, spending your reward points in a webstore interface that you've likely done many times. Only difference is these are Ninja Stars rewards, which are far pointer and stabbier than other puny reward points. NINJA!
PVP Arena Mats
Before we go we'd also like to let you know that we have just released our first Super Dungeon: PVP Arena playmat, Privy's End.
The 24" x 24" playmat is made from 1/8" rubber with a custom-printed fabric top. While they are designed for games of PVP Arena they are also great as 4 tile dungeon maps for your games of Super Dungeon: Explore.
Due to the manufacturing time, weight, and shipping dimensions of these mighty mats they cannot be bundled with your Kickstarter pledges, and must ship out separately. Nonetheless, we figured many of you brave adventurers would want to make sure you got one. They are available now so if you want one you don't need to wait!
Okay, now lets go celebrate! (If you're not American go enjoy a delightful Friday and weekend!)
SPARKLEBURST!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Hmm I'm surprised they're printing in something that's going to require quite so much clean up rather than using a printer that gives a smoother result
I guess maybe for such 'chunky' sculpts the cleanup is ok and any stray stuff can be smoothed out post scanning
(and it's also interesting they seem to need to print and re-scan these rather than just cutting a mould direct from the 3D sculpt file)
Well the store won't log me in. Says my password is incorrect, it won't send a "forgot your password?" E-mail, and trying to re-register says an account with my E-mail address already exists.
H.B.M.C. wrote: Well the store won't log me in. Says my password is incorrect, it won't send a "forgot your password?" E-mail, and trying to re-register says an account with my E-mail address already exists.
I'd start by trying a different browser or source (pc rather than mobile)
or making sure caps lock is on/off (I think their password is case sensitive)
This model will be discontinued once the new plastic version of Brave-Mode Candy is produced for the Forgotten King Kickstarter. Brave-Mode Candy will include an alternate Hero card to field her as Soda Master Candy.
The Relic Knights SDE heroes are now available as well.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also if you close your pledge and checkout now but decide to add something later you will be charged separate shipping for the later items - they are not combined for shipping costs purposes
Creator Soda Pop Miniatures 1 minute ago
Multiple orders will incur additional shipping charges based on the weight and size of the items in each order.
Siygess wrote: So... $358.00 for the Dark Consul "One of everything" pledge, huh? Well, there goes my Zombicide Season 3 pledge! Sorry CMoN!
I wouldn't get that if I were you - or, more accurately I'd say, be aware that one of everything is one of EVERYTHING - including some things you might not want/need like: Extra dice set, extra squirrels (included in the base set), extra slimes (included in the expansion tiles) extra rattlebones (included with the Von Drakk tiles), etc.
My pledge of "one of everything, no repeats" - was $298.
Siygess wrote: So... $358.00 for the Dark Consul "One of everything" pledge, huh? Well, there goes my Zombicide Season 3 pledge! Sorry CMoN!
I wouldn't get that if I were you - or, more accurately I'd say, be aware that one of everything is one of EVERYTHING - including some things you might not want/need like: Extra dice set, extra squirrels (included in the base set), extra slimes (included in the expansion tiles) extra rattlebones (included with the Von Drakk tiles), etc.
My pledge of "one of everything, no repeats" - was $298.
What's that made up of, exactly?
I haven't been following on this in detail, and now being payday and up to the wire with this thing I just want to get it sorted out and over with - and are any of the Relic Knights heroes/villains worth getting?
I haven't been following on this in detail, and now being payday and up to the wire with this thing I just want to get it sorted out and over with - and are any of the Relic Knights heroes/villains worth getting?
If you go the SPM web store, they have made it pretty easy. Click on the category that says "Black Smith" and it will only show you stuff that isn't included with the 'always super' pledge. There are a few new things that weren't in the KS. Most people seem to have opted not to get extra slimes, squirrels, or rattle-bones because they are included with their respective tile packs.
I guess what you add is up to you. Though I have a feeling all the models will be available for some time to come, just make sure that you at least get the 'always super' bundle.
700 Backer Countdown, Production Update, & More Spooky Previews
Happy Update Friday everyone!
Today is a big update so strap yourself in.
700 Backer Countdown
We still have 700 Backers who have not finalized their pledges and paid shipping. Please go to the Soda Pop Store and tell us what you want. We need this countdown to hit zero fast.
Manufacturing is already going. We want to get you your models. My mom (yes, she was a backer) was able to do it, you can too!
It's super easy, here is the link.
Please note that you must log into your Soda Pop account to see the Forgotten King backer section.
If you are having difficulties with your login please email store@sodapopminiatures.com subject: King Sprout ate my login.
If your points magically disappeared due to your order timing out, computer crashing, etc, before you send an e-mail to customer service check your point total the following day. We fix dropped points issues every day automatically and often it is resolved before we even get to your e-mail.
Production
Based on our current production times we will be required to ship in two waves. Wave one is the Forgotten King core box, and then an additional wave that is all of the Loot and Blacksmith items.
Why, you ask?
Well, as we stated in the risks and challenges section, “Should any promotional items or rewards risk causing a delay in delivery for any reason, we will start to ship product in waves to get you your copy of the game and all finished rewards as soon as possible.”
Lets give you the skinny so you know everything that is going on.
First a quick recap of the process: •1. Models are sculpted. •2. 3D Prototypes are printed and sent to China •3. Molds are made. •4. Models are manufactured. •5. Models are assembled. •6. Assembled models are shipped to the printer. •7. Print files are sent to China. •8. Printer creates packaging and all printed materials, like cards. •9. Product gets packaged in its Kickstarter or retail packaging. •10. Everything gets palletized to ship to our warehouses. •11. Product makes a sea voyage to warehouses. •12. Product goes through customs. •13. Warehouses sort and ship to all you lovely backers.
This is simplified, but it gives you a decent overview of the process.
Number 1 is completely done and has been for some time.
Number 2. While we had all of the sculpts done very soon after the kickstarter pledge period it took us longer to get everything printed than we had planned. There are only a handful of companies who can do the job to our specifications. This mainly affected the Loot and Blacksmith items, but also affected the core box with the pets and Royal Warden. This causes the timeline to slip, and any delay in early steps ripples through to all later steps.
Numbers 3 - 6. Molds are done for all of the core box contents. It is also finished for the Mistmourn Coast, Stilt Town Zombies, and a good chunk of other models. When John was in China he needed to get a few adjustments made to some of the Loot and Blacksmith items, (like the Kobolds) and the molds for them are still in progress. As soon as they are done I will be sure to let you know.
As you saw from our pictures in Update 60, manufacturing on the plastics for the models with completed molds are moving along. As they are finished they are shipped to the printer (Number 5). However, we were informed this week that a couple of the Loot/Blacksmith items are taking longer than anticipated to finish.
Number 7. As I’ve mentioned in past updates, finalizing print is taking longer than I had anticipated, and right now we’re working on borrowed time. It is fair to say that I underestimated the time needed to bring every previous model not only into a new edition, but into a completely new game mode (Arcade) as well.
In fact, in many ways, Arcade turned into a completely new game, going from a planned 8-16 page supplement to a 36-40 page rulebook all on its own.
Our graphic designer and I are working some seriously late nights and weekends to get everything done. Our responsibility is not just to hit a deadline, but to not compromise any quality of the product we give to you. We want this edition of Super Dungeon Explore to be brilliant.
Here is the punch list of our print status so you know how it is going: •Classic Mode Rulebook - Laid out, in final editing. •Arcade Mode Rulebook - In layout •Explorer’s Handbook - Laid out in final editing. •Classic Cards - Laid out in final editing. •Arcade Cards - In layout •Packaging - In layout. •Dungeon Tiles - Core Box and Dungeons of Crystalia are done. Von Drakk is just starting layout. Misc. •Print (Quickstart Rules, Tile Effect Cards, etc) - In layout.
I will give you an update status on this print every week.
Let me explain…No, there is too much. Let me sum up.
As stated, it we are anticipating doing a split shipment so that you get your game and models in as timely as a manner as possible, while also giving you the quality product you deserve.
We are pushing as hard as we can to hit December for the core game. If that changes we will tell you. That said, please do not count on it for a Christmas or holiday present. Sadly we are not Santa Claus, and even with a December delivery we can in no way guarantee it will be to you for Christmas. We would hate for you to have a bummer holiday, planning otherwise.
For the second wave, our aim is to have everything finished and on the water prior to the Chinese New Year.
Projects like this are always fluid due to all of the pieces and parts. I will continue bringing you weekly updates that show you preview cards, rules, and manufacturing updates. We will provide you with absolute dates as we are actually able to give them.
Our goal, as it always has been, is to keep you informed during the entire process and give you an awesome Super Dungeon Explore!
Explorer's Handbook Layout
The Explorer's Handbook is your essential primer for the world of Crystalia.
Seems like we should let you read the spookiest location of them all, the cursed Glauerdoom Moor.
Death Spectre
In the office we've decided Death Spectre is not only a deadly mini-boss but also the name of the biggest death metal band in Crystalia....because....awesome!
Death Spectre comes with the Von Drakk Manor level box. You will get his cards as part of the upgrade deck with your Always Super pledge.
First thing of note is his terrible number of movement points at 1. Fortunately, he has the Spectre Support action which allows him to Teleport 10 squares at the cost of 1 action point. This is enhanced by his Ghost ability which allows him to ignore walls and structures for purposes of line of sight and movement.
Death Spectre uses his ARM for defense and has a very respectable 2 red. This is all the better thanks to his Immune: Status Effects ability. (Exclamation point icon). Five hearts and 4 skull points come in at the mini-boss standard.
You'll note that there is no Melee icon next to Death Spectre's STR that is because all of his attacks are magical, using his formidable 2 stars and 1 green WILL. He can make three basic Magic Attacks with a range of 2 or he can use some of his excellent unique actions.
Lifesap is brutal. At a single action point this wave attack hits everything around him and he heals wounds for every wound it inflicts. Be careful though, it is a dangerous so will hurt friend and foe alike.
Soul Scythe is the kill switch. Instead of inflicting a single wound it instead inflicts one wound for every star Death Spectre wins the offense roll by. Ouch!
Arcade Card!
For Arcade the Death Spectre has a single set of stats. As a mini-boss he never gangs up with other monsters.
His 10 movement points take his Classic teleport ability into account, giving him the same mobility. Ghost remains allowing him to take the shortest path possible to get to the Hero he's targeting—a straight line.
He has a static armor of 2 stars which is nice and solid, requiring a stout hit from a Hero. His Range is 3 squares giving him just a touch more reach than he has in classic.
At STR 3 he hits Heroes with a firm, "whack." Soul Scythe is built into his attack and has the same ability. So if the Hero bombs their defense roll they can take as many as 3 wounds from a single hit.
Lifesap remains as his unique action, whenever a Unique command is issued. However, it increases its range and loses Dangerous. This is because in Arcade there is no control over how the monsters are stacking up and a dangerous wave can unintentionally wipe out a big chunk of the dungeon.
There we go! Another Friday of adventure.
Once again we would like to remind you to please, please, please finalize your pledge if you have not done so.
Was anyone really not expecting them to hit delays? Hm, if they're hoping for it to be on the water before CNY I guess that means we can hope to have it all in hand by March at best.
According to the update on the 10th, there were 700 people who hadn't. Maybe if you write to SPM and ask them if they could add one more 'one of everything' order they will oblige you. Otherwise all the stuff will be available later.
According to the update on the 10th, there were 700 people who hadn't. Maybe if you write to SPM and ask them if they could add one more 'one of everything' order they will oblige you. Otherwise all the stuff will be available later.
This hasn't been updated in a while but they now have a provisional date for completion of production then add 6 to 8 weeks again it's shipped to SPM and then reshipped to backers looks like April delivery then.
Production
.... We approved the Ghost House and Dungeons of Crystalia dungeon tiles, as well as a whole group of the boxes for the Blacksmith items. We also approved things such as the plastic trays that will be in the boxes holding your models—
We are going to have FINISHED core boxes on the 20th! They will be sending us samples to check when they are done. We will take gobs of pictures.
We also appear to be on track for ALL production to be complete and ready to ship to the fulfillment warehouses on/around February 10th. This is, of course, a day to day thing as they work through each product, but (fingers-crossed) things are looking good. So exciting!
The schedule seems to have slipped by about a week from the last estimate. Still hopeful stuff is out of port before CNY starts - if that happens, SPM might be able to start shipping (barely) before the end of March.
I'd expect it afterwards. If it's already slipped a week from Jan 3-10, then Feb 10th-19th is too close, and as we know in KS-land, anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
Super Dungeon Explore (SDE) is a dungeon crawler inspired by old Japanese console RPGs. The 52 included miniatures are done in a cute / chibi / super-deformed style, which means the head is roughly the same size as the rest of the body.
One to five players take the role of classic fantasy heroes like the human paladin, a dwarf fighter, or an elf ranger. One player is the "Dark Consul" who controls the monsters of the dungeon. Every hero/monster has a character card that details the stats for movement, attack, armor, willpower, dexterity, action points and hearts (= life points). Additional information may include special abilities / actions / attacks and potions.
The game is played on modular dungeon boards. During a round of play, the game passes back and forth between single heroes and the monsters, but the exact order may change from round to round. The characters use the stats from their character card, special dice (with hearts, potions and stars) are only used for combat and checks. If the heroes wound the opponent, they may draw loot cards to improve their stats. There is also the possibility to open treasure chests to find even more powerful things. The monsters have no possibility to "level up" apart from a single late game upgrade but the Dark Consul has an unlimited number of them.
To win the game, the Dark Consul must defeat all heroes in his dungeon. The heroes must spawn the dungeon boss by killing monsters or destroying all spawning points (= entry points for new monsters). The heroes must then kill the dungeon boss to be victorious.
I think the latest version doesn't require someone to be the "Dark Consul", maybe?
Super Dungeon Explore (SDE) is a dungeon crawler inspired by old Japanese console RPGs. The 52 included miniatures are done in a cute / chibi / super-deformed style, which means the head is roughly the same size as the rest of the body.
One to five players take the role of classic fantasy heroes like the human paladin, a dwarf fighter, or an elf ranger. One player is the "Dark Consul" who controls the monsters of the dungeon. Every hero/monster has a character card that details the stats for movement, attack, armor, willpower, dexterity, action points and hearts (= life points). Additional information may include special abilities / actions / attacks and potions.
The game is played on modular dungeon boards. During a round of play, the game passes back and forth between single heroes and the monsters, but the exact order may change from round to round. The characters use the stats from their character card, special dice (with hearts, potions and stars) are only used for combat and checks. If the heroes wound the opponent, they may draw loot cards to improve their stats. There is also the possibility to open treasure chests to find even more powerful things. The monsters have no possibility to "level up" apart from a single late game upgrade but the Dark Consul has an unlimited number of them.
To win the game, the Dark Consul must defeat all heroes in his dungeon. The heroes must spawn the dungeon boss by killing monsters or destroying all spawning points (= entry points for new monsters). The heroes must then kill the dungeon boss to be victorious.
I think the latest version doesn't require someone to be the "Dark Consul", maybe?
SDE is a vastly simplified PnP RPG, that you play as a 1-shot. It's akin to Descent or Mice & Mystics or the DnD miniatures games. Except, that the minis are chunky, Chibi-style Super Deformed style.
1E was a supremely-balanced tactical combat game between GM and players. Much of the replay came from taking different combinations of Heroes against different monster tactics.
Partway through, a pure PvP "Arena" variant was created, in which each player took a Hero with some monsters.
2E will add a Euro-ish co-op mode akin to Zombicide, wherein all of the players work to defeat the dungeon monsters, along with a vast increase in the types of monsters the players may encounter. Further, all of the models will be pre-assembled to speed playing.
Personally, I prefer SDE over a traditional PnP RPG, as you can just sit down and play it. It's a really good game.
JohnHwangDD wrote: SDE is a vastly simplified PnP RPG, that you play as a 1-shot. It's akin to Descent or Mice & Mystics or the DnD miniatures games. Except, that the minis are chunky, Chibi-style Super Deformed style.
1E was a supremely-balanced tactical combat game between GM and players. Much of the replay came from taking different combinations of Heroes against different monster tactics.
Partway through, a pure PvP "Arena" variant was created, in which each player took a Hero with some monsters.
2E will add a Euro-ish co-op mode akin to Zombicide, wherein all of the players work to defeat the dungeon monsters, along with a vast increase in the types of monsters the players may encounter. Further, all of the models will be pre-assembled to speed playing.
Personally, I prefer SDE over a traditional PnP RPG, as you can just sit down and play it. It's a really good game.
I think I'll buy some then. Sometimes my Pathfinder group doesn't have a lot of time.
Maple Story is a Korean take on anime/chibi-style so yes, SDE would remind you of it. I miss that game. It used to be all my little elementary students would ever talk about.
Official Update of Officialness: We are, 100%, going to be shipping in two Waves.
Fortunately, the first wave is the entire Always Super pledge, so you will be receiving the lion's share of the product straight off. The second wave is almost done but is just going to miss beating Chinese New Year. Boo!
On our end everything has been approved so, like you, we are in "waiting with bated breath" mode. Well us designersare anyway. Our logistics ninjas who oversee production and shipping are now working in frenzy mode making sure a worldwide backer distribution goes off as smoothly as possible. They accept donations of coffee and spirits.
Pretty Colors!
When we received our first production samples of the models we whisked them off to our wonderful painting studio, Minx. They have been diligently applying a beautiful coat of paint on them ever since. Now we're getting our first work-in-progress shots of the paint jobs. Take a look!
Also posted on facebook - nice simple addition of a few white lines to add character (painted by Miniature Mistress)
Speaking of students and Maple Story, totally off topic, but one of my students was mentioning something about an Attack on Titan x Maple Story crossover.
Odd.
On topic, in trying to comprehend what is the second wave, that's basically all the add ons that aren't in the base pledge, right? All the warbands, extra tiles, bosses, creeps, all that stuff, right?
At least we'll have the base game and all the accompanying goodies for a bit to keep us company.
highlord tamburlaine wrote: Speaking of students and Maple Story, totally off topic, but one of my students was mentioning something about an Attack on Titan x Maple Story crossover.
Odd.
On topic, in trying to comprehend what is the second wave, that's basically all the add ons that aren't in the base pledge, right? All the warbands, extra tiles, bosses, creeps, all that stuff, right?
At least we'll have the base game and all the accompanying goodies for a bit to keep us company.
Wave 1 is the Always Super pledge.
Stands to reason that wave 2 is everything else, therefore add-ons.
highlord tamburlaine wrote: On topic, in trying to comprehend what is the second wave, that's basically all the add ons that aren't in the base pledge, right? All the warbands, extra tiles, bosses, creeps, all that stuff, right?
Some of the warbands - Always Super includes the Mistmourn Warband, for example. Stilt Town Zombies would be Wave 2.
It's not clear if Always Super extras (e.g. extra v1 cards, extra coloring books) will be shipped in Wave 1 or Wave 2. Having Wave 1 consist entirely of AS boxes will be simpler than AS and AS-related content.
Let's just hope that the EU container ships before CNY as well. DEKE said in the comments that our stuff is worked on at the same time, but you never know, right.
I just went for the basic "Here's $100, give me a board game" pledge, so I'm assuming that my stuff will be part of the first shipment? Either way, I'm really excited about this. I'm looking forwards to being able to paint something a bit more cartoony.
Being someone who lives in dirty-foreigner-land, I'll expect the whole lot to be sent after CNY and just be pleasantly surprised if it's any different. Easier that way.
(although those from the EU except for the UK you won't be)
Rip the Bandaid Off Quick, With Fire!
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Rip it off on 3. Ready? 1 – 2 – The boat to the EU is not going to make it out before Chinese New Year.
Suck.
Here are the details:
The boats to the European Union and Hong Kong will not be leaving before Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, this means a delay of 3 weeks for these backers. After Chinese New Year, we will reassess the schedule and determine if it is still beneficial to ship in 2 waves or return to 1 wave.
As a silver lining, we have noticed several EU backers worried about increased VAT fees with a split shipment. We have received assurances from our fulfillment center in Germany that backers in EU countries will have NO VAT fees. They are all covered by Soda Pop and is our reason for finding the fulfillment centers in the first place.
The boats with the containers for Australia, Canada, United States and United Kingdom are leaving on time, before Chinese New Year. Fulfillment of the Always Super Pledge (Core Game and Boo Booty Box) and Everything Box will begin as soon as they arrive to their respective warehouses.
It is important to note that right now the US west coast harbors are having labor disputes that have already caused one recent weekend strike and general “slow unloading” of container ships. Hopefully it is resolved by the time our ships arrive.
As we do every week, we will keep you posted on every phase. We no longer have any way of directly influencing these time tables, so we will all be hopping around in anticipation together.
Lets cleanse with fire —
The Ember Mage
The Ember Mage was available in the 1st Edition Super Dungeon Explore Box. All backers will receive her updated cards in their Always Super pledge.
For veterans of the game the Ember Mage will look very familiar since she changed very little from 1st to 2nd Edition.
The Ember Mage arrives in the dungeon with standard Hero: 6 movement points, 3 action points, and, more or less standard, ARM of 3 blue. She has a feeble STR of 2 blue, but that doesn't matter because it's WILL where the Ember Mage does all her heavy lifting.
With a WILL of 2 red, and a Magic range of 8 squares and the ability Fire, the Ember Mage can be an engine of destruction. Both of her unique actions feed off of this with Fire Wave hitting every model adjacent to the mage, and Magma Strike adding a whopping +3 blue WILL.
The Ember Mage can carry two potions. White Mage is an emergency potion that Heals every friendly model within 5 squares. Fire Water grants a Hero +1 blue STR and the ability Fire. Perfect for helping Melee Heroes wreak fiery destruction.
Rock Out With Roxor
One of the most fearsome bosses in 1st Edition, Roxor, got a bit of an overhaul in 2nd Edition. Roxor is available in the Caverns of Roxor Level Expansion. All pledges of Always Super will receive his upgrade cards.
Like Von Drakk, Roxor is a shapeshifting dungeon boss. During the Consul's upkeep Rockin' Roxor can Shapeshift into Ragin' Roxor. We'll look at Rockin' first then move to Ragin'.
While his STR of 2 red and 2 stars is solid, Rockin' Roxor is all about defense. A beefy ARM of 1 green, 2 red, and 2 stars repels most attacks. Paired with his Immune: Status Effects ability, Rockin' Roxor ensures Heroes have to fight for every single wound.
Roxor isn't a fast boss but his Burrow ability allows him to ignore walls, structures, difficult terrain, and enemy models when moving, making him surprisingly hard to escape.
Rockin' Roxor has two unique offensive actions. Minion Toss allow Roxor to throw one friendly model at another model up to 6 squares away. As soon as the thrown model makes contact with another model (friendly or enemy) the model stops and deals damage to all the models it hit. How much damage? 1 blue dice per square that the model moved, so up to 6 blue! Ouch.
Cave In is a melee offensive action that can target a model 6 squares away, hitting the target and every model within 2 squares. Since it is an offensive action, if it wounds them it also inflicts the status effect Knockdown.
Ragin' Roxor is all about offensive output. His STR moves up to 2 blue, 2 red, and 1 green which packs a hefty punch that is augmented by the ability Fire. However, his ARM takes a hit, becoming 2 blue and 2 red and his immunity is moved to only Immune: Fire.
Ragin' Roxor gets a new suite of offensive actions as well. Volcano is a Wave 3 offensive action hitting every model within 3 squares of Roxor—60 squares—wow!
Molten Steel is another melee offensive action with a range of 6 squares that increases Roxor's STR by another +1 red and inflicts the debilitating status effect Hex. Hex, you'll recall, forces Heroes to discard the highest result rolled on an offense roll, making it much harder for a Hero to hurt monsters. Mwhahahaha
For Boss Fight effects, Roxor causes Tremors on all Heroes when he arrives, inflicting Slow.
When reduced to half his starting number of wounds Earthquake causes all Heroes to suffer Knockdown.
Roxor changes very little in Arcade Mode. Starting as Rockin Roxor he will Shapeshift into Ragin' Roxor whenever a Spawn command is drawn.
A STR of 3 stars is a bit low for a dungeon boss, but that is made up for with his incredible ARM of 5 stars and 10 hearts! The loss of Throw is accounted for in an improved RNG (range) of 6 squares.
Cave In becomes a signature action that is used anytime a Fight command is drawn. It also gets a bump to Burst 3, hitting every enemy within 3 squares of Roxor's target.
When a Unique command is drawn Tremors is unleashed. As a support action Heroes get no defense roll instead they are immediately Slowed. Oh, yes, that is Wave 6 so every model on the tile is going to get hit!
Ragin' Roxor also performs almost identically in Arcade Mode. His STR and ARM get directly swapped from Rockin'.
Note that he gets a speed bump with 8 movement points. We found in Arcade, losing Burrow and not having a human controller caused Ragin' to get caught up sometimes, so the extra bump in movement ensures he gets where he needs to be. He also gets an extra action point which helps him really dish out the pain.
Volcano becomes the signature action, performing exactly like the Classic Mode version.
Molten Steel triggers only on a Unique command, but its effects largely remain the same.
While the Roxor of Forgotten King isn't the Backlash turtling king of 1st edition, he is now a much more dynamic boss. Using his Ragin' form to stick damage and status effects on Heroes then reverting to Rockin' form to shed his own ailments and reposition, make him a true terror of the dungeon!
New update, and SPM has dates for US and UK landfall!
We have our first arrival dates for ships:
UK - Will arrive at port March 30.
US - Will arrive at port March 22.
Australia is being handled by a different freight company
4 months late, high chance another KS will run and be ended funding before we get the last KS fulfilled which reeks of badness.
If there are no exclusives in their next KS, might have to wait until retail to send a message that begging for more money before finishing your prior KS is not acceptable.
Had a chance at Pax East to play the Arcade mode for about 3 hours today. Had to get home to the kids or I would have stayed sitting and played a bit more.
Overall excellent components. Minis are all pre-assembled and have some mold lines, but nothing unexpected. Good detail and due to the style, no thin, bendy pieces. Mold lines seemed easy enough to clean up. The one area of concern was the tiles. Nice and thick, but they did that Sedition Wars thing where when they were pulled out of the box, they were nice and flat and by the end of the session the corners were standing up a quarter inch or so. Hopefully the boat trip will give the cardboard time to acclimate.
Gameplay was a lot of fun. At a high level, it has quite a few similarities to Myth from board setup down to the way enemy AI works (you acquire wrath performing different actions and monsters go after the player with the highest wrath). A large part of the game strategy is managing wrath. My only concern from the mechanic that I saw is that 2 heroes activate, then the dungeon activates before going back to the heroes. The concern is that there is no rule preventing the same heroes from activating again. In a 5 player game, it looked like it's very easy to become an odd man out and get sidelined for long periods of time. I would tend to play the game either solo or just 2/3 players, so this wouldn't be a problem for me, but something to keep in mind for those with large gaming groups.
I'm one who thinks that Myth is an excellent game that was hampered by a poorly written 1e rulebook, so I appreciate the similarities. Obviously this is not Myth and is its own game, but it plays in a similar style. In my opinion how a person feels about Myth would be a good indication of whether they'd like arcade mode.
Yikes, that is not good news. Myths AI being pointlessly easy to exploit and predict makes the game unplayable once figured out.
If the comparison is to Myth, then it sounds like arcade mode was a gimmicky failure. I hope the core rules were tightened up so the regular mode plays better or else this will be model fodder for other games. :(
Maybe this is why they are running the next KS before all of us get our hands on the rules and the rules get scrutinized. That scares me that they will be wanting pre-funding for the next game without us being able to verify their rules writers can write good rules.
Actual US delivery will likely run around 5 months late for the average backer. It's late because SPM did 1 wave instead of 2, due to all of the SG unlocks. However, the key point is that SPM *is* delivering what they promised, with the appropriate quality. And the lateness is not really a surprise, given the excellent communications since KS close.
I have no qualms about backing another SPMKS given that SPM appears to be doing what they said they would, even though it has taken them longer, and they have been upfront about it this entire time.
As for Arcade, it's nice for those who don't want to play Classic mode against the Consul. I'm sure my group will try it out, but we're well satisfied with the Classic mode, and the 2E Classic Rules are a good cleanup. We also like SDE Arena.
Acting as if the SDE rules are going to be some kind of mystery is disingenuous, given that SPM has shared draft PDF of the rules.
When playing Arcade with children though, I don't mind an easily exploitable AI. After all, it's the grownups who will most likely be trying to exploit it.
Good thing my kids are alright with playing classic VS mode as well.
We're all getting excited to see this one arrive, seeing as how I got rid of my old copy of the base game(but still kept the expansions).
That's right ninjas, today "Production" has become "Fulfillment"!
Ships on the Water
- United States 1 - Tracking shows arrival 3-13-15 (THAT'S TODAY!!!)
- United States 2 - Tracking shows arrival 3-16-15 (MONDAY!!!)
- United Kingdom - Tracking shows arrival 3-25-15
- Canada - AT PORT!!!
- Australia - THROUGH CUSTOMS!!!
- Hong Kong - Should ship out next week. 4-5 days on the boat estimated.
- European Union - Left port March 7, and is currently estimated to arrive on April 5. We will continue to provide tracking updates just like with the others.
(Yes, there are multiple containers for the US that ended up on different ships.)
Things to Remember
- US 1&2 and CA -Time for dock workers and customs officials to do their dirty work? 3 days to 3 weeks. Who knows!?! (This is the biggest unknown in the process, and is completely out of our control. Rest assured that we will give you updates just as soon as we get them.)
- Australia - Our fulfillment center has the shipping data and the product, but they still have to box it up, get the data into their system, and then actually ship it out. The process will take time. We will keep you updated, but it could be 1 week, could be 3 weeks.
Good news is good, but remember: going through customs, getting everything packed, shipped, and then actually making it to you will take time. Sadly, we don't have Amazon's infrastructure or super swank battalion of drones.
Give us a good 6 weeks, at a minimum (depending on your location), before emailing or PMing us to ask, "where's my stuff!?!" And even then, make sure you are watching the weekly updates! There is a good chance we will have already established the timeline for your region here.
Wave 2
Current projected date for completed production of all Wave 2 materials is April 15. This may change, forward or back, as production does. It is always a fluid thing.
Soon.
I bet SPM merges Wave 1 & 2 if they overlap, which is fine and makes sense.
I have so much stuff inbound, and I couldn't be more pleased. I really think SPM has done a good job here.
Main reason I got rid of the original game was that it paid for Forgotten King. I was afraid we'd just go back to old habits of using the same figures too, rather than experimenting with the new stuff.
Plus with the updated cards for everyone, I can use just about any figure I feel like with the new game.
That means Arcadians will be showing up, Impact Chibis, SD Eren and Mikasa figures, Gon and Kilua, Pretty Cure girls... it'll be a free for all in our house.
Mine arrived today. Any other Aussies - if you get an AusPost eParcel tracking notice in the next couple of days out of nowhere, that's what it is. They're using Good Game out of Sydney for local distribution.
Not opened up yet. Maybe next week when I have some time off from work. Right now they're sitting in a stack atop Cthulhu Wars and that FFG Star Wars Descent game.
This one certainly seems like an opportunity to get that experience, tho I'm still not sure it's entirely desirable.
Kinoshroom
Kinoshroom
