Hey Guys,
We have been up to our eyeballs in shipping and logistics over the last...month or two, so we haven't had a whole lot of time for communication (between being in Germany for two weeks sending out
EU packages, working through the nights and weekends here to send out US and ROW packages, managing the logistics of getting the cargo containers full of games to us, while dealing with dock worker union slow-downs, walk-outs, and strikes up here in the port of Tacoma - which has made just getting the containers of games a very slow and painful process, being on the phone everyday with carriers and exporters, as well as trying to keep manufacturing/design/test going at least a little bit so we don't fall too far behind schedule of production of wave 2, not to mention normal business operations for the company...whew!).
Anyway, I thought it would be worthwhile to pop on just for a minute to say that we are working our butts off to get everyone their games as soon as humanly possible/making sure the game is as good as it possibly can be, as well as to answer any questions (as best I can) for a bit.
So, what do you want to talk about?
-Jason
@Teadrinker / Davros – “what is the situation with the continuance or
EU shipping” – The short answer is that we were in Germany for 2 weeks sending out packages. In that time we completed sending about 85% of them. The remaining ones that we didn’t have time to pack and ship before we had to get on a plane back to the US were to be packed and sent by our German distribution partner that was hosting us there and helping us out. There have been several issues with customs and tax declarations and many of the packages started bouncing back, in need of more info. They are working to resolve this issue now so that shipping can resume and we should have progress on that front any day (as I understand it). There is one other issue in that China did not send enough extra sets of red minis in the Germany container and so most of the packages that were not sent yet were Mine Carts. We had been talking about trying to freight out more sets of red minis to Germany to cover the difference, but at this point we are considering just sending out the rest of Wave 1 packages to Mine Cart backers without the red minis and including them in Wave 2 instead, so as not to add further delay to
EU Mine Cart backers getting their core sets.
@ Sean Payne – “How far away are you from finishing US shipping?” – We are getting very close on finishing US shipping and expect that virtually all of those packages will go out in the next week or so (assuming we can get the next container of games which has been sitting on a cargo ship in the port, waiting for the union dock workers to unload it for over a week already).
@ Adrian – “With the Gunslinger's Quickdraw ability if 2 enemy types appear on the one threat card, how many attacks would the gunslinger get, 1 or 2?” – Only 1
@ Adrian – “When can ROW backers expect an update on shipping?” – We should be putting up an update soon. As for the quick version, the previous plan we had in place for Australian shipping fell through and we are now working with our distributors in Australia to find a good/fast solution to get you guys taken care of ASAP. Right now, my top priorities are getting Australian shipping resolved and going, and getting Canadian shipping underway (I think we have finally resolved the hold ups for Canada as well. Yay!).
@ Darryl G – As for Canada, see above. With any luck, Canadian shipments should be going out next week. We are finishing off the 3rd container, and waiting for the 4th and 5th containers to arrive to us (dock worker slow-downs have created a mess).
@ Davros – “What do you think of bills journal can you sort out shipping for his game ad its his birthday Monday and Irishman is in need of some love from the frog 8)?” – I have had my head down trying to keep things going for so long, I think I’m out of the loop a bit on the comments here. No idea what you’re talking about. ;P As for Irishman, Happy Birthday from the Frog!
@ Finn K – “What percentage of shipping is US at?” – I would say around 80% have been sent out for US.
“RoW are wondering what status of shipping is, have bulk shippers been chosen for any countries? Which countries will ship direct? What do time lines look like?” – Covered most of this that I can above. As for time line (which is arguably the most important thing to people), all I can say is that I’m working really hard to make it happen as fast as possible. Unless there are any more hiccups, Canada should start going out early next week, and Australia/NZ should start going out in bulk immediately after that.
“The escape roll (from combat) says it is necessary if hero moves away, what if hero just moves around to get a better line of sight to throw dynamite?” – Still have to Escape. It’s any time you want to leave a space that is adjacent to an Enemy, regardless of the destination space.
“P.S. Anything you can do about snow storm in Colorado that has my delivery stuck due to severe weather?” – I will speak to the Weather Wizard. ;P
@ Les Fulbrook – “Firstly thanks for coming on. You guys are probably worked down to the bone,I'd like to say its very much appreciated. Glad to hear you are looking into ways to sort the
EU situation. So I guess thanks again. Will there be more updates now that all the conventions are over?” – Thanks. We are all exhausted, but cannot rest until the job is done! We are still working to keep up the once a month update. The most recent one has fallen behind a bit because we have been so slammed. Soon though.
@ Jeff Rodgers – “I realize shipping and customs can be a pain...I am assuming
uk customs sent everything back?” – Not all, but many came back from the
UK and France (which even our German distributor was surprised by, and they do this sort of thing… a lot).
@ Kevin A. – “We appreciate your communication. Has ROW, specifically Australian, shipping actually begun, when should we expect our first waves?” – We have been packing the boxes, but they have not shipped yet. Hopefully the bulk freight should be going out to Australia in the next couple of weeks.
@ Merijeek – “Hmmm...amazing what some people talking to Kickstarter can make happen” – Not sure what this is in reference to.
@ Adrian – “so if you drew multiple threat cards at the same time you would only get 1 attack with Quickdraw for the group of threat cards drawn? Would you then get another attack if another group appeared later in the combat?” – Correct.
@ Quirknessity – “If I somehow damage my pieces during the construction and wish to buy a single extra figure, will they be for sale in the (near) future?” – Not sure on this. If you send an email to
admin@flyingfrog.net, they should be able to help you out.
@ Davros – “On a game related question for when I get it 8) I know that in smaller player games you don't use the epic threat but it seems a shame to not face the big guys . Any tips on how to make the game all model inclusive without just killing every hero?” – It’s only a suggestion not to use Epics in a 1 or 2 hero game. You certainly can, it’s just more dangerous. You’re more likely to succeed if you are slightly higher level. I would suggest, either wait and add them in once you are second level or higher, or you could try adding a Revive token or 2 just for the final battle.
@ Rikki Oliver – “Also appreciate being updated - And glad to hear Aus is being worked on - is New Zealand included in the Aussie solution?” – That is the current plan, yes.
@ Davros – “I also remember quests about peril dice .should there be one in each core set.?” – Yes.
@ Javier – “I picked up my Outlaw pledge at GenCon but when i got home I upgraded to Minecart. I was going to anyway. Will I get my red variants in Wave 1?” – I’m not sure on that one. They may be going out in Wave 2 for Mine Cart Upgrades.
@ The Raggedyman – “will Mary Beth go out with me?” – Hah! Sorry mate, she’s married.
@ Graham – “Good stuff Jason thanks a lot am Mine Cart myself and can well live with out red minis so applaud your derision to stick on to 2.Sorry that should read decision.Typical of
Uk customs the old bounce back system.Is there anything on the outside of the packing e.g. your full mail address that would put the country of origin as USA that could be the cause maybe needs some black tape!!” – Shouldn’t be. It sounded like it was some weirdness about wanting more info on the value.
@ “Finn K. – “once wave 1 has shipped, prior to 1.5/2 will there be a possibility for re-opening the pledgemanager (or some type of similar ordering interface) for doing add-ons only? (i.e. no pledges). Say for instance I wanted to add another bear, or more corpse piles minis etc?” – There are no plans for this currently. The amount of variables for every order is already quite staggering, so we aren’t inclined to make things even more complicated at this point.
@ Adrian – “given that US shipments are almost complete and
EU should be finished shortly, with Canadian shipments heading out next week, it is disappointing to hear that the rest of the ROW shipments are still being worked on.
What can ROW backers expect for wave 1.5 and wave 2? Will their shipments be sent last again?” – To be fair, every region is ‘still being worked on’. The previous plan we had for Australia fell through, which created a set back. Once we have the final solution in place for wave 1, that should carry over to wave 1.5/wave 2, so there is no reason I can see to believe that Australia would have a similar set back then.
@ Davros – “Trying to remember questions raised that just wasn't where is it.one question is has there been a pattern you have used for shipping. that's for
The statistic guys and gals 8)?” – For US, it has mainly been by Pledge Level. For everyone else, it has been bulk by region.
@ Jedra7609 – Customs and shipping carriers always seem to find a way to charge more than they said they would and slow down shipments more than anyone would like.
@ Davros – “Thats a shame about bills journal as it's just about novella length now and tells the story of bill hunters adventures down the mines.it has been well received by all that have read it perhaps he could send it to you. You have been missing out on some good fan based stuff here it's not always doom and gloom.” – Believe me, I’ve missed out on a lot of things over the last year. Hopefully get a chance to enjoy more of the session reports and fan fiction when I get a chance to breathe again!
@ The other Jason – “any idea when the
uk ones will be sent again i for one am really looking forward to receiving the game
is it the red figures or the post that is holding it up at the moment?” – I think they are actively working on getting the rest of the
EU (
UK included) sent out right now. So it shouldn’t be too long I think.
@ Adrian /Irishman – Thanks! We are excited about getting it out into the world!
@ Ryan Johnson – “Hey guys, just got the game, stoked to play it! But it didn't come with the art book. The packing slip clearly does not have it checked, but my pledge of $150 says it comes with an art book. Thanks!” – The Art Book will be in Wave 2 with the rest of the stretch Goals.
@ Jef Rodger – “Now that you've got experience creating a campaign style game is there any plans for a "campaign kit" for my favourite game " a touch of evil"? That would be awesome” – Can’t speak to that right now, but we have lots of cool stuff planned for all of the games!
@ Fawks – “I was wondering if you guys will reveal anything about the Darkstone Hydra in whatever new update may come since I'm looking forward to that guy the most.” – The
DS Hydra has been in test for a while now. He’s really fun! Even though it’s an XL monster, it is not an Epic threat. Instead it scales based on the number of Heroes. It’s attacks ar based off the number of heads it has at any given time and it regenerates them when they are cut off, so you have to act fast to stop it!
@ the other jason - “i think that has been the main issue for a lot of us the game looks so awesome and we are passionate about it and want to play it that any delays become exacerbated and perhaps a little blown out of proportion.” – It’s true, though you would be shocked at some of the emails and hateful things people send us on a daily basis. I can’t imagine that anyone would even say a lot of that stuff to another human if face to face. This can be very demoralizing, because we are making games to have fun and tell cool stories. All I would ask is, before sending a hate-filled rant email or post, pause and ask yourself. Is this intended to really do anything other than hurt people. If so, is there a more civil way to handle it than spew hate and threats and name-calling. Just saying.
@ Jorune – “Thanks for an awesome game Jason. It's nice to see you guys come back in for a chat.” – We certainly aren’t intending to keep anyone in the dark, but there are only so many hours in the day, and you can only spread yourself so thin. Glad I could come on and answer some questions though.
@ Irishman – Not sure what the status of your guy’s individual stuff is at the moment. It could already be on its way.
@ Mark Bramlage – Thanks! Glad to hear you’re enjoying the game!
@ Davros – NP
@ Morgan Vening – “regarding the timelines, when can we expect the next proper update, and what are the "worst case" or "re-update" dates for the timelines you've given for
EU/RoW/Canada?” – Next proper Update should be soon. As for
EU/RoW/Canada, I think I already covered that below as best as I can right now (though while I was answering these questions, I did get a call back from a carrier saying that it looks like we have a green light on the newest pricing and import set up for Canada, so we should be able to start shipping Canada as early as Monday of next week. Yay!).
@ Bill – “I am the Story Writer and the Birthday Person on Monday.... Can I beg for a shipping notice? ” – By all accounts your stories are great! I’ll have to check them out when I get a chance! As for shipping, I can look into it, to see where you are at in the order.
@ Javier – “I opted for 1.5 Wave! Could the red variants come then?” – If you have 1.5, then the red minis should go out with that instead of wave 2.
@ blunder1983 – “Could you guys give us any teasers of newly sculpted minis? Seeing all those surprises in the pm was awesome.” – At this point most of the minis are sculpted, it’s just taking a long time to get going on the molds for them. The Lost Army are hands down my favorite! And the Black Fang Tribe look awesome!
@ the other Jason – You would be surprised. A lot of the most hate-filled emails come right after updates!
@ Jef – Nice!
@ Andrew Irwin – “to clarify the New Zealand shipping so I keep my hopes and expectation in reality.
A week or two to ship bulk to Australia.
However long to ship (air or sea?)
Time for customs and shipping partner.
A week or so to New Zealand.
So realistically January in my hands?”
I would love to have an answer for you, but there are just too many variables right now. You probably know transit times from AU to NZ best, but that sounds like a pretty appropriate guess, especially with the holidays slowing things down.
@ Fawks – “Oh shoot before I forget. This is for in game items. When I or another person gets an item, when we start a new campaign, should we shuffle those gear/artifacts back into the deck again so that they can be drawn again or should we take them out of the deck if someone owns it so that they have a sort of uniqueness to them?” – That is up to you. We usually throw all the gear and artifacts back in the decks at the end of a session and then grab them back out for our Heroes at the start of a new mission. That way they are unique for our posse, but it doesn’t prevent other posses from finding them along the way.
Ok guys,
Back to the grind! I'll try to pop back in again in the next few days.
Thanks,
Jason
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