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Mierce Miniatures Darklands Ongoing News and Rumors Thread! Darklands Rulebook ships on April 18!  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
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Made in gb
Stone Bonkers Fabricator General




We'll find out soon enough eh.

AdamBridger wrote:
I'll almost certainly be backing the new kickstarter but I'm a little surprised its so soon after the last one - some of the sculpts from savage hordes 2 haven't even been assigned yet let alone work started on most the miniatures. Its starting to appear that Mierce needs the kickstarter income to continue to fund existing work.

I don't know how well they're doing in non kickstarter sales either. Element Games stock a number of their models on their website but have just put them into their clearance section. With Mierce's pending rulebook release and a relatively large range of metal models in varying stages of production I hope they release something such as a 2 player starter set (with either the full rulebook or basic rules booklet) and faction starter sets (in metal rather than resin as its much more accessible and affordable to the casual gamer) which would help grow the setting and fan base beyond kickstarter and in gaming shops all over the country/world.


The problem for me is the achingly slow release rate for us non-KS plebs. First I didn't start the game because the warband I liked the sound of had no models, then I didn't start the game because they had models but I couldn't buy them, now I don't want to start the game because I'd rather get the cheaper metals...but there's still a lot of stuff for the factions I'm intrigued by that isn't even shipping to KS backers in resin yet, so if they keep up with the current pace of regular retail releases I'll be in my 50's before I can just go to their website and order a warband.

And I understand the obstacles, I do, but it's still immensely frustrating.

I need to acquire plastic Skavenslaves, can you help?
I have a blog now, evidently. Featuring the Alternative Mordheim Model Megalist.

"Your society's broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No, lets blame the people with no power and no money and those immigrants who don't even have the vote. Yea, it must be their fething fault." - Iain M Banks
-----
"The language of modern British politics is meant to sound benign. But words do not mean what they seem to mean. 'Reform' actually means 'cut' or 'end'. 'Flexibility' really means 'exploit'. 'Prudence' really means 'don't invest'. And 'efficient'? That means whatever you want it to mean, usually 'cut'. All really mean 'keep wages low for the masses, taxes low for the rich, profits high for the corporations, and accept the decline in public services and amenities this will cause'." - Robin McAlpine from Common Weal 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
-






-

I agree with you on that point - Savage Hordes 2 ended on Feb. 27, so I didn't expect the next Kickstarter to begin until sometime around the end of May.

Unless Mierce goes off the 'start' date and not the 'finish' date when calculating the 'one every 3 months' thing?

A good month of promoting and selling the full rulebook before launching the next campaign might have been helpful.

Maybe this is one of the 'smaller' campaigns though, like "Monstrous Mounts" was?

I have no idea!

   
Made in us
Neophyte undergoing Ritual of Detestation




Saint Paul, MN

 Alpharius wrote:


A good month of promoting and selling the full rulebook before launching the next campaign might have been helpful.


A good month of packing/shipping the long delayed rulebook rather then managing another might also have helped.
   
Made in nl
Zealous Knight







Didn't they indicate shipping the rulebooks wouldn't take all that long? AFAIK they just need to stuff them in boxes and send those off, not really something that will take 'a good month' by any stretch. I'm fairly sure Rob said it would take just a couple of days once they had the books in hand.
   
Made in us
[DCM]
-






-

 Bolognesus wrote:
Didn't they indicate shipping the rulebooks wouldn't take all that long? AFAIK they just need to stuff them in boxes and send those off, not really something that will take 'a good month' by any stretch. I'm fairly sure Rob said it would take just a couple of days once they had the books in hand.


Pretty much, as the books are going separately, not with anything else.

It really will be a matter of wrapping them, placing them in the appropriate padded envelop/shipper and...shipping them.

I'd think that they'd be done with that within a week's timeframe.

   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut



Scotland

Really wish we saw some out of kickstarter starter sets at this point.
   
Made in nl
Zealous Knight







They've ***just*** got a decent bunch of metals in to ship to backers (and even that batch won't suffice as far as Jutes and Gabrax are concerned) - I'm fairly sure those dearly-needed affordable starters will be another few months off (as a general release item, anyway).

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/04/19 15:22:02


 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut



Scotland

Im not even fussed sbout affordable, just someyhing I can show my friends and be like "Look, there's a point of entry, it's not all kickstarter"
   
Made in us
Jojo_Monkey_Boy




Moscow

I think, I should also mention, that as a retailer I still can't sell Darklands as a GAME, only as separate miniatures. Though most of the time I can justify their cost in resin. Some of the initial kindreds are still undeveloped in retail, not mentioning the new ones. I think they should concentrate on solidifying the base, before riding further. Rounding up kindreds for retail, creating affordable starters and then developing further. I see the interest in the eyes of the buyers and gamers, but I have almost nothing to offer them as a finished product.
   
Made in gb
Stubborn Dark Angels Veteran Sergeant





Teesside

Metal starters at retail would be a big draw for me.

My painting & modelling blog: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/699224.page

Serpent King Games: Dragon Warriors Reborn!
http://serpentking.com/

 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut




Rule Books will start shipping today and it should take until early next week to get all of them out of the door.

Metal Starter Sets will appear in retail very soon, although they'll be slightly different to those from Metal Age; but I do need them to be painted and photographed before that occurs, which necessarily delays them. The Ax-Drunes and Bow-Drunes will be the first ones available for that reason.

Even so, those that aren't painted and photographed will appear on our website, they just won't be available to retail until they are sorted graphically.

There'll also be a double starter set with two kindreds and a rule book at some point soon.


Lastly, a plea.

Rome wasn't built in a day - we are a tiny, tiny company and we do not have the resources larger companies do.

You really do need to cut us some slack on timescales - for the resources we have, we've produced more miniatures in one year than any other similar company out there.

As for Kickstarter, I gave up on retailers a long time ago - they make up around 5% of our sales, if that. Time will tell as to whether that improves, especially now the game is out, but we are a Kickstarter company, first and foremost, because that's where the majority of our customers are; and it's not like I haven't said this before - it's not new. You must also bear in mind that most projects contain very little profit for us - they basically fund the miniatures and that's it, after costs and taxes are factored in.

Look, we're doing our very best to bring you cool miniatures and a cool game. I'm sorry if that's not good enough for you, but we only have so many pairs of hands and there's only so many hours in a day.

Cheers
Rob
   
Made in gb
Stone Bonkers Fabricator General




We'll find out soon enough eh.

OK, you're a Kickstarter company, so solve the issue with a Kickstarter - run a "traditional" campaign to fund an increased rate of metal models with some in-house production.

Also, you really don't grasp the whole "customer relations" aspect of business, do you. People are telling you, politely and while specifically pointing out that they understand the obstacles you face, that they want to buy your product but some thing or another is stopping them, and your response is American Highschool Teen-style passive aggressive comments?

Maybe run a Kickstart to fund someone to handle your PR while you're at it...

I need to acquire plastic Skavenslaves, can you help?
I have a blog now, evidently. Featuring the Alternative Mordheim Model Megalist.

"Your society's broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No, lets blame the people with no power and no money and those immigrants who don't even have the vote. Yea, it must be their fething fault." - Iain M Banks
-----
"The language of modern British politics is meant to sound benign. But words do not mean what they seem to mean. 'Reform' actually means 'cut' or 'end'. 'Flexibility' really means 'exploit'. 'Prudence' really means 'don't invest'. And 'efficient'? That means whatever you want it to mean, usually 'cut'. All really mean 'keep wages low for the masses, taxes low for the rich, profits high for the corporations, and accept the decline in public services and amenities this will cause'." - Robin McAlpine from Common Weal 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut




I'm not quite sure where you think I've been passive aggressive - if anything you come across as that!

I believe I am entitled to put our side across, yes? All I see is moaning about this and moaning about that - I just thought you all needed to understand where *we're* coming from. I thought that might have been instructive for you all.

I'm sorry if I've offended you, that certainly wasn't my intention.

Cheers
Rob
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Dankhold Troggoth






Shadeglass Maze

I absolutely love your models, Mierce, and I've even come around a bit on your business model - but I would say that calling feedback "moaning about this and moaning about that" probably isn't the most helpful thing to post on a forum (honestly, even if it's true!).

You guys have been super responsive to any questions I've sent directly and I'm happy with your progress. I am a little concerned that the metal production seems to be lagging a bit, but I also think that those metal starter sets along with this rulebook are going to be really key to success! So, very exciting things afoot... just have to take the feedback as what it's meant as - not moaning, but people giving constructive criticism, most of whom have probably spent hundreds of dollars on beautiful Mierce minis on here

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/04/20 13:53:04


 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut




I also forgot to mention - you also have to understand that we must ship metal starter sets to backers first, then retail - although it's kind of moot if the painting and photography isn't done for those sets.

Cheers
Rob
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Dankhold Troggoth






Shadeglass Maze

Can you use painted resins for the metal starter set box art? I think companies do this pretty frequently, and I certainly think that would be fine - no sense in getting extremely similar minis painted twice!
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut




@RiTides - yes I can, and have already for those that are painted - but most of our range is not painted.

Cheers
Rob
   
Made in us
Prospector with Steamdrill




Indiana

Customers lamenting about unavailable products and delays isn't moaning - it's unsatisfied demand for your product! I'm a newbie to your range, but I'm definitely interested in a starter set or similar Kickstarter campaign.
   
Made in gb
Fresh-Faced New User




@ Mierce. My comments weren't intended as criticism. All I was saying that I was a bit surprised that a new kickstarter campaign was being launched so soon after the last one. With the number of sculpts to still be done from Savage Hordes 2, if the kickstarter was launched in 1 or 2 months time then I don't see it actually affecting fulfilment anyway.

My other comment was more a suggestion/hope that with the rulebook finished and metal figures getting close to being finished then a 2 player battle box and metal starter hosts are in the works. With those released it will hopefully grow Darklands with retailers and the gaming community at large or at the very least attract more fans to back you in kickstarter.

If the new kickstarter is to raise funds to help launch these sets in the next few months then great. Keep up and the good work and don't worry I will be backing the new kickstarter whenever it does launch.
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut



Scotland

I feel like I summon the bad moods of Mierce, whenever I comment it seems to coincide with a less than diplomatic response.

I've long since accepted that Mierce are a kickstarter company. It has led to stunning models and the snippets of background I can grasp are compelling. However I can never grasp why the webstore has never had starter bundles, with or without discount, even in resin. I'm not demanding new models or anyhing crazy. I'm just confused as to why they don't exist to ease people into the game.

If you think this is moaning... can't really change that. I think youre wrong. I can only point out that this attitude of "we can do no more, stop pestering us!" is wrong. Sometimes people do want answers. Sometimes they want to vent. And sometimes they're just wanting to throw thoughts or hear echoes from similarly minded fans. Your communication is open and brilliant, however you're human so like us all you'll make ill thought out responses. I just feel you flip so quickly from amiable to.... something else.
   
Made in us
Neophyte undergoing Ritual of Detestation




Saint Paul, MN

Mierce Miniatures wrote:
Rule Books will start shipping today and it should take until early next week to get all of them out of the door.


This is fantastic news and my preference is for you to fully ship the rule books before shifting your focus to another Kickstarter. Will a week or two delay after Salute and shipping the RBs really be a huge setback?

Mierce Miniatures wrote:
Rome wasn't built in a day - we are a tiny, tiny company and we do not have the resources larger companies do.

You really do need to cut us some slack on timescales - for the resources we have, we've produced more miniatures in one year than any other similar company out there.


You have produced some amazing minis in huge quantity. I dont think thats ever been in question.

One of the biggest asks has been to ship the rulebook. Wouldn't it be great not to have that question asked somewhere in the comments section of the latest KS? Granted its like the same 250 to 300 of us that will probably back it but it would be refreshing to not see it.

I have a ton of pending orders with you, I appreciate that you are a KS company, Id just like the check box of 'rules shipped' to not slip because of the focus necessary to run another successful KS campaign.
   
Made in us
[DCM]
-






-

There is a new Kickstarter coming soon - this week?

And, more importantly, the new hardcover rulebook has started shipping to backers!

It order to celebrate, here's the NEW "Mierce Miniatures Darklands Ongoing News and Rumors Thread":

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/688176.page#8600742

See you there!



See you there!

   
 
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