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tablescapes.backerkit.com

Found it, thanks!

Updates have been coming in hard and fast lately. This is good.

Update #105

Feb 27 2014
Deadzone ™ - PAINT IN PROGRESS
Comment
1 like

I only have a small window in which I can do airbrushing every day, and so I've been knocking out the initial paint work on these tiles as quickly as I can. I still need to come back and finish them all, of course, but I don't want to leave you waiting while I wrap things up. And so... Deadzone.



Deadzone only has the one tile design, and it is repeated here four times. Rotating the tiles, and adding a bit of color variation, makes it work beautifully. Once it's weathered up it'll be a fantastic gaming surface for Deadzone, and a great expansion for Urban Streets.

Of course this is a Display Board, and so it comes with the border. The modular, extensible border. BOOYAH! The factory sent me enough pieces to frame a 4x6' table and I have every intention of doing so. Stay tuned....

Is there any idea of when these will be made available to non-backers?

Not a clue really.

I'd say out before the end of the year. Hopefully.

Summer IIRC, with preorders going up after Adepticon.

MOAR delays are not cool

The new delay is unfortunate alright and he won't have a revised date back until next week. I wonder if WGF have been giving priority to another KS that needs to get a move on with shipping?

The Deadzone stuff at least has shipped so anyone just getting them will get them soon.

Anyway here's the other of todays updates the Urban set looks great painted.

I'm still not quite finished with these, and I haven't had time to work on the walls yet, but...



The factory got on Skype and showed me the NEW foundation tiles, because they had the height issue corrected within 24 hours on ALL of the molds! These are, of course, the old, too short foundation tiles. Have I mentioned how much I love the border system? I have enough to frame a 4x6' table and I'm going to do it as soon as I get the tiles painted.



Someone asked about putting water into the craters... and, yes, it's awesome.



So very, very awesome.



I still need to get the wall set properly painted, but they do look good together, if I say so myself!



No, really, look at all of the awesome contained in this 2x2' section!

AND NOW... THE SURPRISE!

Actually, this is not the surprise. This is the security barrier special tile for clean Urban Streets. But....



THEY MADE IT MOVE! I wasn't expecting this, and I hadn't asked for it. We had talked, in passing, about the possibility of having tiles with workable components. This is their proof of concept.



Brandon, the super awesome Secret Weapon Production Manager, just brought me the first resin casts of the Rolling Fields walls -- so I'll get to work cleaning those up and get photos posted as quickly as I can.

We're behind schedule... but also undeniably awesome.

i cant help but wonder if all the delays coming out of WGF is going to impact future companies sending them business, its not shocking they are having delays with the boat load of business they have picked up lately though

I must have missed the delay announcement. What is the cause of the new delay and what all is the delay affecting from the list of tiles to be released?

And those painted urban streets look phenomenal. Gah! I want my tiles already.

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:
I must have missed the delay announcement. What is the cause of the new delay and what all is the delay affecting from the list of tiles to be released?

And those painted urban streets look phenomenal. Gah! I want my tiles already.

was a new backer only update that just went out not long ago, no reason given for the delay other then a generic warehouse missed its deadline. Sounds like Justin is looking into shipping what is done (deadzone and scrap yard) instead of waiting for everything to be ready and shipping all at once.

It's update #106 also released today it's backer only if someone else wants to post it so be it but I'll give the edited version - the factory missed the deadline Mr.Justin hasn't got much more information right now but he believes that the tiles have proved far more complex and time consuming to mill and produce Ruined temple is only just into milling. I personally think WGF is swamped with this and other projects and well this got bumped as a result - you don't upset your biggest customer who is also late.

Deadzone is done and shipped. Scrap yard is done and produced but not shipped. Urban and rolling fields are ready to produce/in production as far as I can tell, Ruined Temple is still milling.

Upshot is they won't make April and Mr.Justin is waiting on a new date and may have to revert to staggered shipping.

Thanks, ironicsilence and DaveC. I haven't logged into KS in a while so I missed that update.

Rather disappointing news on this one. Guess my hopes for a springtime urban battle will get moved to the summer.

Staggered shipping seems like a good option. I don't want to have to wait for Ruined Temple to go through the production process (and its potential additional delays) if my Urban Streets are ready to go. I feel really bad for those backers who only pledged for Scrap Yard and are still waiting on the rest of the boards to finish production.

Not too bummed by the delays. What's another couple of weeks?

The little flip up barrier on the road tile is really cool. Was good of the guys at the factory to make that happen.

A couple of weeks? Surely you jest. When I made a comment in the comments:

Me on Kickstarter wrote:
Expect June/July or September, given the way these things always pan out.

Justin's reply was thus:

Justin on Kickstarter wrote:
@ Azazel -- I certainly hope it's not that late. They only have a few tiles left to mill, so... here's hoping.

So with that reply in mind, I'm revising my own personal estimate to December 2014-Jan 2015. Hopefully before Christmas, but with a good chance of arriving too late to do anything with them at the end of my Annual leave in January. (And Dreamforge to finish up 6 months later.) I wish I was joking or being snarky. Hope for the best, plan for the worst and all that, but WGF is developing a bit of a consistent pattern with these projects now to go with their reputation of quality.

I think we must be getting these in the summer, right? Hope your new guess is not right, Azazelx!

I think there should be some sort of KS mandated discount that gets progressively higher starting at the 6 month delay mark.

I am very disappointed with this. Especially knowing that another company was able to dictate a release date and it was met. Us poor schlobs with no recourse just get to sit around hoping.

 SlaveToDorkness wrote:
I am very disappointed with this. Especially knowing that another company was able to dictate a release date and it was met. Us poor schlobs with no recourse just get to sit around hoping.

If you're refering to the 'High Profile' project that was wink wink nudge nudged about earlier as a reason for delaying tablescapes, it hasn't hit its release date yet either, and is several months late as well.

I am referring to the Deadzone tiles getting fast tracked due to Mantic dictating a firm release date, while we sit and wait in line.

The joys of licensing agreements I'm sure the consequences would be far worse if he'd missed the delivery deadline on that. Deadzone only consist of 1 tile design rather than 8 or 16 so it would have required far less resources to get done and get that obligation sorted and keep up good relations with Mantic who will be acting as the distribution partner for Europe so there's a good bit at stake.

 SlaveToDorkness wrote:
I am referring to the Deadzone tiles getting fast tracked due to Mantic dictating a firm release date, while we sit and wait in line.

Its also one tile, with by far the simplest design. It was dead simple to tool the mold. Any delay by having it shipped first is insignificant, if at all. Its the other tiles that were the problem.

Bossk_Hogg wrote:

 SlaveToDorkness wrote:
I am referring to the Deadzone tiles getting fast tracked due to Mantic dictating a firm release date, while we sit and wait in line.

Its also one tile, with by far the simplest design. It was dead simple to tool the mold. Any delay by having it shipped first is insignificant, if at all. Its the other tiles that were the problem.

Pretty much this. A single tile is much faster to get from concept to store shelves than a full set of 16 unique tiles.

Honestly, for how long the average owner will have their tables, I doubt any of us are just dying from not having them this exact second. I'd be more sympathetic if the designs were crazy simple and there was only 1 set to keep track of. But the KS got what, 4 sets unlocked that needed to go from concept art to production? We haven't even hit the 1 year mark for the project going live. Considering how small SWM is, and how ambitious this project was, tied with the updates we've gotten, things are at least moving forward.

Would I like to have my tiles before June when I move? Sure. Will I rage if I don't? Not at all.

I'd be fine with all of it had we been told "wait at least a year" instead of "by December".

Plus the Deadzone tile was created well into the process. It was my understanding that the different versions would be produced in the order they were funded.

 Aerethan wrote:

Honestly, for how long the average owner will have their tables, I doubt any of us are just dying from not having them this exact second. I'd be more sympathetic if the designs were crazy simple and there was only 1 set to keep track of. But the KS got what, 4 sets unlocked that needed to go from concept art to production? We haven't even hit the 1 year mark for the project going live. Considering how small SWM is, and how ambitious this project was, tied with the updates we've gotten, things are at least moving forward.

How many more delays will be acceptable to you? Just curious. If this project is still pending in May or June can people be annoyed? What about in August or September, or god help us, December or January (I agree with Azazelx's assessment)? Can we be upset then or should we still consider how long we will have these boards *when* they eventually ship and be satisfied that the 12-18 months of delay are a drop in the bucket compared to the lifespan of our plastic game boards? (Which is a rather odd argument to justify the delay.)


This project is late. Period. I don't care how big or small an operation is, if deadlines are continually missed and more delays crop up, you are going to lose the goodwill of your customers. SWM is starting to lose my goodwill, as are every other Kickstarter campaigns that have gone over deadline. This is becoming laughably common to the point where I look at new Kickstarter project deadlines and try to do the "Kickstarter math" of how many months to add on to the creator's estimate. Its ridiculous, especially when the cause of so many of these delays are the stretch goals and add-ons which result in more money for the creator and more delays for the backer.

It is what it is. Quality trumps punctuality for me and I don't really pay attention to delivery dates anymore IF communication is good, and communication from SW has been very good.

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:

 Aerethan wrote:

Honestly, for how long the average owner will have their tables, I doubt any of us are just dying from not having them this exact second. I'd be more sympathetic if the designs were crazy simple and there was only 1 set to keep track of. But the KS got what, 4 sets unlocked that needed to go from concept art to production? We haven't even hit the 1 year mark for the project going live. Considering how small SWM is, and how ambitious this project was, tied with the updates we've gotten, things are at least moving forward.

How many more delays will be acceptable to you? Just curious. If this project is still pending in May or June can people be annoyed? What about in August or September, or god help us, December or January (I agree with Azazelx's assessment)? Can we be upset then or should we still consider how long we will have these boards *when* they eventually ship and be satisfied that the 12-18 months of delay are a drop in the bucket compared to the lifespan of our plastic game boards? (Which is a rather odd argument to justify the delay.)


This project is late. Period. I don't care how big or small an operation is, if deadlines are continually missed and more delays crop up, you are going to lose the goodwill of your customers. SWM is starting to lose my goodwill, as are every other Kickstarter campaigns that have gone over deadline. This is becoming laughably common to the point where I look at new Kickstarter project deadlines and try to do the "Kickstarter math" of how many months to add on to the creator's estimate. Its ridiculous, especially when the cause of so many of these delays are the stretch goals and add-ons which result in more money for the creator and more delays for the backer.

I'd be a lot less understanding of the delays if SWM was doing all of the labor themselves. But they aren't. They outsourced it which we knew about from day one, and it's not like Justin can just fly over to China and make them go faster.

Another thing to consider is that the time frames originally stated were estimates made by someone with zero experience in the field of injection molding on this scale. Perhaps those estimates were pretty optimistic, but it's not like he's some seasoned veteran of plastic injection who knew damn well things couldn't be done that fast. Give him some credit at least.

Justin has been quite straightforward in regards to the status of tiles and where things are at.

I'm with Aerethan. Justin has been completely open and honest about the delays and communication has been excellent throughout.

I'm as disappointed by the delays as the next guy though. (I want my fields dammit! )

My point is, we have no recourse. We HAVE to sit and wait patiently. Which makes it easier for some people to do apparently. There's no real incentive for them to push the manufacturer. If it's their fault they should have some sort of incentive to get a move on. In business if you're 6 months behind on a project people don't just get to just make excuses.

 SlaveToDorkness wrote:
My point is, we have no recourse. We HAVE to sit and wait patiently. Which makes it easier for some people to do apparently. There's no real incentive for them to push the manufacturer. If it's their fault they should have some sort of incentive to get a move on. In business if you're 6 months behind on a project people don't just get to just make excuses.

Exactly.

 Aerethan wrote:

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:

 Aerethan wrote:

Honestly, for how long the average owner will have their tables, I doubt any of us are just dying from not having them this exact second. I'd be more sympathetic if the designs were crazy simple and there was only 1 set to keep track of. But the KS got what, 4 sets unlocked that needed to go from concept art to production? We haven't even hit the 1 year mark for the project going live. Considering how small SWM is, and how ambitious this project was, tied with the updates we've gotten, things are at least moving forward.

How many more delays will be acceptable to you? Just curious. If this project is still pending in May or June can people be annoyed? What about in August or September, or god help us, December or January (I agree with Azazelx's assessment)? Can we be upset then or should we still consider how long we will have these boards *when* they eventually ship and be satisfied that the 12-18 months of delay are a drop in the bucket compared to the lifespan of our plastic game boards? (Which is a rather odd argument to justify the delay.)


This project is late. Period. I don't care how big or small an operation is, if deadlines are continually missed and more delays crop up, you are going to lose the goodwill of your customers. SWM is starting to lose my goodwill, as are every other Kickstarter campaigns that have gone over deadline. This is becoming laughably common to the point where I look at new Kickstarter project deadlines and try to do the "Kickstarter math" of how many months to add on to the creator's estimate. Its ridiculous, especially when the cause of so many of these delays are the stretch goals and add-ons which result in more money for the creator and more delays for the backer.

I'd be a lot less understanding of the delays if SWM was doing all of the labor themselves. But they aren't. They outsourced it which we knew about from day one, and it's not like Justin can just fly over to China and make them go faster.

Another thing to consider is that the time frames originally stated were estimates made by someone with zero experience in the field of injection molding on this scale. Perhaps those estimates were pretty optimistic, but it's not like he's some seasoned veteran of plastic injection who knew damn well things couldn't be done that fast. Give him some credit at least.

Justin has been quite straightforward in regards to the status of tiles and where things are at.

Yes, Justin has been straightforward with updates and the delays. I don't envy his position in terms of the delays, but he has been given $300k to develop a product line that will continue to make him money well after this Kickstarter campaign is fulfilled. All those extra stretch goals are products he will profit from as well. So, while he gets to deal with some flak for missteps and delays right now, at the end of the day he has expanded his business nicely with other people's money. Good for him. But until his backers are satisfied he deserves some criticism. He is responsible for satisfying those people's pledges and if he wants more support in the future he is responsible for nurturing goodwill by making those people happy to have loaned him money in the first place. Those people want the products promised to them. Some have been waiting months for finished items that they cannot have. Others are left with vague ideas of when their items will be completed, all the while, other backers from another campaign are getting their items from this campaign due to a deal that Justin also profited from in some way. So, asking for patience from people who have been waiting patiently already, is rather aggravating, but this idea that the creator of a Kickstarter should be absolved of any blame when their project goes off schedule is ludicrous to me.

This project went off the rails. Not as badly as some, but it certainly hasn't done as well as other projects, so where does that blame fall? On the backers who "should expect these sorts of delays" or the creator who is the steward of the campaign? Who chose the manufacturer that is falling behind schedule? Who chose to open up stretch-goals which are delaying fulfillment of tiles already produced? Who determined the initial fulfillment dates when the campaign started? Hint: it wasn't the backers.

This is a recurring problem with companies big and small using Kickstarter. The excitement of a Kickstarter campaign generates a lot of buzz and money, and then a quagmire of logistical concerns follows in the wake of those heady days that results in months and months of frustration for everyone involved. Perhaps if backers stopped being so accommodating and passive, and actually made a fuss when campaigns dragged on longer than expected future campaigns will reign in their overly ambitious goals so that they can bring their original idea to market with the least amount of public shaming.

So what are you proposing, exactly?
These aren't bizarre delays that are evidence of incompetence, they are fairly straightforward production issues that we simply wouldn't see if that hadn't been crowd funded.
Should we take on the role of an hysterical board of directors, wailing and threatening every time there is a delay? Justin IS punished every time there is a delay. It means he's further from being able to sell his product at retail and his initial funding amount has to stretch further and further. Not being an idiot he's also aware that the goodwill of his backers only goes so far.
I'll ask again. What are you suggesting be done to make sure 'blame' is justly assigned?