Traveller Customizable Card Game

Westward, Ho!
over 6 years ago – Wed, Jan 10, 2018 at 07:58:21 PM

tl:dr Shipping to the North and South American regions has begun.  Test orders went out yesterday and are likely to continue today.  Hope to complete shipping to NA and SA by end of January.

Mix up means all EU, Asia and Australia orders (and any of the very few US) shipped without extra 60 or 90 card supplemental decks (though this only applies to EXTRA supplemental decks.  All Starter and CE boxes have theirs).  Solutions listed below, so don't rely on tl;dr if it applies to you.

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We have completed shipping to all regions other than North and South America.  However, some problems are almost inevitable, which means there are a few backers who have not yet had their shipments sent.  We will, of course, be working to resolve those issues as we begin shipping to NA and SA, so if you find yourself in this situation, do stay in contact with us, but please sit tight as the process unfolds.

Due to the high cost of direct shipping to NA and SA from the factory, our original plan was to load the remaining inventory and send it over via ocean freight, then distribute to individual backers.  But as we were looking at the schedule, we realized that would mean NA and SA would be facing at least 4, and possibly as much as 8 weeks of waiting (or longer if customs got involved).  That wasn't acceptable to us unless it was the only option.

I'm glad to say we've reached a preliminary agreement with SF Express to ship direct to SA and NA.  A limited number of test shipments were sent yesterday, and that experimental process is expected to continue today, to provide the workflow structure for mass fulfillment.  This solution is considerably more expensive, and while we're confident it'll work, it's fair to say that our financial margin for error is pretty tight.  

As things stand, our goal is to get all pledges shipped by the end of January.  Any shipping operation of this size is bound to include damaged or lost packages, mispacked shipments, etc.  Also, we ask anyone who has had to update their address over the last week or so to prepare for the additional risk of mishaps or delays.  If you encounter difficulties with your pledge, we will work to resolve them.  But we ask for your continuing patience in such circumstances.

On that count, we have discovered a systemic error with the extra 60 and 90 card Supplemental Decks.  Due to a communication mishap, our production factory did not understand that Supplemental Decks were available as a separate product, and neither did our fulfillment center.  

Consequently, if you're a backer in the EU, Asia or Australia (or one of the very few NA/SA test shipments already sent) regions and you ordered extra Supplemental Decks, they will not be included in your shipment.  We understand this is frustrating, and we have a number of possible solutions detailed below.

The realities of production scales means we do have slightly more Supplemental Decks than were strictly necessary for the number of Starter and Collector's Edition sets.  Sadly, not sufficient to fulfill all orders for extras, but we believe enough to fulfill all remaining NA/SA orders.  Accordingly, if your pledge has not already been sent, we should be able to fulfill extra Supplemental Decks orders.  However, it is possible that those decks will not be sent along with your actual pledge, but by USPS afterwards.

Essentially, the bottom line is that backers who ordered extra Supplemental Decks should expect that their pledge will not initially include them.  Backers in North America who ordered them are very likely to ultimately receive them, whereas backers in other regions are not.

For those backers affected, we ask for your understanding in resolving this.  We need to finish standard fulfillment, then we can take stock of what exactly the situation is with the Supplemental Decks.  Who got them, who didn't.

For those backers who end up not receiving their extra Supplemental Decks, we do expect to have a few options available.  These may change, but for now, we're expecting backers to be able to select either:

1.  Straight refund of the cost of the decks.

2.  A slightly (probably around 10%) higher amount of store credit.

3.  For backers located in the U.S. and Canada (basically anywhere the cheapest USPS rates apply), if we have any extra Supplemental Decks at the conclusion of everything, we will ship them to you.  This point primarily applies to the very few US pledges we have already sent.  To any NA/SA backers whose pledges haven't been sent, we expect to be able to accommodate your extra Supplemental Deck requests, whether with your initial pledge or during a follow-up period.

Additionally, we will be making the three cards unique to the Supplemental Decks (Buffbot-300, Grav Assisted CargoBot and Grav-Hauler) available in .pdf form on our website, in a format proper for printing.  Backers will then be able to download the files and print the cards themselves, or solicit Print-on-Demand firms to make them.  Again, as these files will be freely available on our website, everyone will be able to access them.

To be clear, this situation applies only to orders of extra Supplemental Decks.  All Starter and Collector's Edition sets have the proper Supplemental Decks included.

If you encounter any difficulties with your pledge of any kind, do inform us, but again, please be patient with us as we're currently trying to get everything to as many backers as we can as quickly as we can, and error resolution is likely to get sidelined until initial fulfillment is complete.

365 - 2017
over 6 years ago – Sun, Dec 31, 2017 at 08:12:23 PM

tl;dr  Shipping has commenced (for reals this time).  We are approximately 1/6th complete, counting the total population of backers, though aside from a few test cases, only pledges going to Asia, Australia and Europe are currently being processed.

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So despite a few hiccups, the shipping process is underway.  To date, 135 of 800 backers have had their pledges shipped.  All backers in Asia and Australia should have already received confirmation emails with tracking information, so if you live in one of those regions and haven't yet heard from us, check your Spam folder.  In a few instances, we weren't able to email the backer (or the email bounced), so we may have sent a message over Kickstarter.  However, if you live in Asia or Australia and you can't find any notification anywhere, please get in contact with us.

Shipping to European backers is also underway, with around a quarter having been sent thus far.  Aside from three test cases we did to see if it were feasible to ship direct (it doesn't seem to be), no North or South American pledges are currently underway.

We're going to lose the next few days to the New Year, there's no getting around that.  But we expect to make major progress in completing European shipping next week.  

Once Europe is completed, the remaining materials will be crated up and hauled on the ocean to the U.S., where distribution to North and South American backers will commence.  

That's how things stand as 2017 comes to a close.  We realize we're behind schedule, and we're sorry we aren't able to get you the game before the New Year.    You all have been a tremendously supportive community, and we appreciate your faith in having pledged and your understanding of the various delays that have occurred.

While I can't say we've always done everything perfectly, I can assure all of our backers that our decisions are intended to deliver the best product within the fastest time frame.

None of this would have been possible without our backers.  In the coming weeks, as pledges arrive, we hope you enjoy the game, and that you feel you've received something you can be proud of having supported.  

Thank you, everyone, for a great 2017.  Have a safe and happy New Year.

See y'all in 001 - 2018 (and beyond)!

Misjump
over 6 years ago – Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 06:05:54 PM

Short update, but disappointing all the same.  I had been hoping I wouldn't have to look like an idiot again in 2017, but I find ways.  

Our fulfillment service is partnered with a company called SF Express for shipping.  It had been the understanding that they could fulfill directly from the factory floor in Southern China, but unfortunately it turns out that isn't how things are.  The orders that have been fulfilled thus far were shipped using FedEx International, which charges a rate that is unsustainable for us.  

We have only now become aware of this fact.  Astute backers may notice in the last update the shipping bills were from FedEx, which we understood would be the case for the first few while the SF Express system got set up.  But it appears now that they were never going to be able to service our orders from our factory's location.

Accordingly, our product is being loaded up into trucks and freighted to Beijing, where SF Express will be able to handle distribution.  That process will be completed no sooner than Friday, and potentially into next week, due to the general complications of the holiday season.  Only once that resolves can fulfillment to individual backers resume.

Delays and additional expenses are obviously frustrating to all of us, myself included.  But I find most disturbing the need to issue a correction so soon after our last update.  

Please accept our apologies for these circumstances.

One of the reasons updates occasionally don't come quite on the schedule as may be optimal is our desire to report accurately.  This latest development really came straight out of left field to all of us here, and we're relaying it to you all in what is practically real time.

That's the latest, and we'll update the community as information comes in.

For Want of a Nail...
over 6 years ago – Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 05:17:47 PM

tl;dr  Production mishap torpedoed schedule, but shipping to backers has begun.  Non-US backers still have a fair shot at receiving their pledges in 2017.  North and South American backers are looking into the new year.

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When we post updates, we do so with the best information available at the time.  Obviously, we always try to find ways to present it in a positive light.  Where there's an issue, we feel bound to report it honestly, but we also want to be able to detail a solution.  Sometimes this necessitates a longer delay between updates than we would like, and this last month has been an example.

Our shipping schedule slipped because one of our suppliers failed to meet their obligations, and unfortunately did not resolve the situation until just recently.  They are an ancillary product maker, but due to our rewards structure, virtually every campaign backer was entitled to the item.  Since we couldn't afford to double ship, we had to wait for the producer, and hence the delay.

Ultimately, of course, this is entirely our responsibility.  By describing the cause, I am in no way attempting to shift blame, but it is rather simply in furtherance of our commitment to keep the community informed.

As a consequence of this delay, we've only just been able to begin fulfillment.  The first actual (as opposed to sample) shipments begun yesterday.

Backers residing outside North and South America will have their pledges fulfilled directly from our Chinese production site.  That process is currently ongoing, and expected to take all of the next week.

We explored shipping to North and South American backers in the same manner, but unfortunately the process just isn't the same.  So the materials needed for those backers has to be fulfilled by us here in the U.S.  This means North and South American backers will be waiting into 2018.  

That's how things stand now.      

Boxing Day
over 6 years ago – Mon, Nov 06, 2017 at 12:25:57 AM

tl;dr:  Production underway, shipping of finished product from factory should begin in late November.

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All components are either fully produced or slated to be finished by the end of next week.  

Although in the past I've often, for simplicity, referred to our producers in a singular sense, we actually have four different manufacturers.  One shop is making the playmats and card sleeves, another the tokens, a third for the cards, inserts and rulebooks, and finally a fourth working on the packaging.  

Even with having to temporarily store some of the finished components and then ship them to a central location, it's cheaper and faster to use these three shops than to consolidate everything under one producer.  Once each factory has completed their manufacturing, the materials are being shipped to a central packing location for assembly into orders.

We expect our components to be essentially completed by the 13th.  Packing into individual orders will take the following week, up to the 20th.  We believe we will be able to ship to certain regions directly from the assembly point, but most backers will have to wait for the finished product to reach our distribution centers.

Taking ocean freight times and customs into account, we expect fulfillment to be complete by Boxing Day, but if there are any issues on the water or with the feds, then it'll be the first weeks of 2018.  

Throughout this process, we've done what we can to expedite the process, but still we know we've fallen short of our original timeline, and we regret it.  Some of this is attributable to simple mistakes on our part, but at other times we were faced with accepting a delay or working through a process to ensure a better product.  I realize some people may have preferred to receive their game faster rather than wait, but on the whole we think it was the right decision to prioritize quality.

We appreciate all of your support, and we're working hard to make sure you're going to be proud of the finished product.  After all, you helped make it!

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By the way, I don't actually know what Boxing Day really is.  Wikipedia makes it seem sort of like a Commonwealth Black Friday.  I just had some packaging images, so there you go.

P.S.  If you need to change your shipping information, you can do so using this link.

We can still unlock backers on an individual basis to add or change their order, but we are closing that option on Friday, 11/10.