Pledge manager locks down and Forgotten Circles cards available soon
almost 4 years ago – Sat, Jul 04, 2020 at 01:44:56 AM

Hello! There are just a couple small things I want to cover in this week's update.

First of all, the wave 1/1.5 pledge manager is now fully in the books. We've locked everything down and have attempted to charge cards one final time. For the next couple of weeks, you won't have access to the pledge manager while we reboot it for wave 2, but don't worry. It will be back for you to finalize wave 2 items, and we won't be charging cards again until somewhere around November.

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Second, because of a significant demand for decks of new Diviner cards from the second printing of Forgotten Circles, we are currently working with Drive Thru Cards to get a low-cost solution for all those interested. It will still take a few more weeks to get up and running, but soon you will be able to order a set of Diviner cards from DriveThruCards.com for $2.99 USD (plus shipping). I will let you know when they become available.

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And that's pretty much it for the week. I've been doing a lot of internal play testing on characters to refine their ability cards and create higher-level ability cards, and I'm getting really excited about how all of them play.

We're down to the last couple sculpts for the character miniatures that need to be finished, and they all look amazing. We really wanted to prioritize this so the molding process doesn't delay everything else, and so we're knocking that out.

Alexandr has been working on more artwork for the summons and the 17th class, so as a final tidbit, I'll share the Necromancer's other level 1 summon, the Raging Corpse:

See you next week!

Let's talk about map tiles and scenario books
almost 4 years ago – Sat, Jun 27, 2020 at 10:59:11 PM

Hello! It has been a busy week for Cephalofair Games with the closing of the wave 1 pledge manager and the subsequent launching of Jaws of the Lion. I want to talk about both those things, for reasons that will become apparent, so let's start with the pledge manager.

I really just wanted to remind people that participated in wave 1/1.5 (which includes the game play all-in pledges) that if you were expecting to pay something, and your card has not been charged, something probably went wrong, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to check on your pledge (frosthaven.backerkit.com) to help the payment go through. If you have already been charged, then there is no need to do anything.

The bottom line is that we will spend another week attempting to charge cards, and at the end of that week, if we are still unable to receive valid payment, your order will still get rolled over to wave 2, just like everyone else's, but anything you ordered from wave 1/1.5 will not be sent (you also won't be charged for it, of course).

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All right, so now let's talk about Jaws of the Lion. I normally wouldn't bring this up again, since it is not part of this campaign, but since its release, I have been fielding a lot of requests to make the scenario-book-as-play-surface format in that game available for Frosthaven (and Gloomhaven). For reference, this is what I am talking about:

There are various pros and cons to this format, so let's go through them.

Pros:

• Significantly decreases setup time
• Significantly decreases the number of components
• More immersive artwork tailor-made to the scenario

Cons:

• Limitations on space, even with a supplemental book (this can be alleviated somewhat by making the book bigger)
• Significantly increases development time to make artwork tailor-made to the scenario
• Limits versatility of section breaks and hiding information
• Can cause some confusing interactions with destruction or movement of obstacles or other printed-on features.
• A little awkward with page transitions
• Limits after-market scenario creation (community-driven campaigns, promo scenarios, fan-made content, etc.) with lack of versatility
• Random dungeons are also not feasible
• I've already promised you tiles

Basically, it is great for reducing setup time, but lacks the versatility of tiles, which is something that is very important to me when designing Frosthaven. And that last point - that I've already sold you a product with promises of what is in the box - that is a big limitation as well. Even if the majority of you agreed to do away with map tiles in favor of books, that wouldn't be fair to those of you who wanted the map tiles that were offered to you.

Plus, I think the Gloomhaven community's creativity is one of its greatest assets, and I would hate to limit that in Frosthaven by not giving you the tools to create your own content.

So here's what we are going to do. We are going to move forward with designing and producing Frosthaven with map tiles, but we will also begin development on play surface scenario books for both Frosthaven and Gloomhaven that can be purchased separately by those who would prefer them. The books would certainly be bigger than 8.5"x11" to accommodate the larger scenarios, but they would still fit in the Gloomhaven/Frosthaven boxes at maximum.

At this point, I don't have enough information on how long the process will take to determine whether we will be able to offer them in the pledge manager to fulfill in wave 2 without significantly delaying that fulfillment. So don't expect to see these books when the pledge manager for wave 2 opens in a week, but know that we are working on them, and they will be available at some point in the future, possibly through our webstore. When we know more, I will relay that to you, as well.

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And finally, Price wanted me to relay to you an image giving you an approximate size of the "Envelope X" add-on. There have been some complaints about the extra shipping on this from people who think it is an envelope (though if you think it is an envelope, you probably shouldn't be ordering it in the first place). So here it is (obviously not final packaging), with a banana for scale. Also just a reminder that even though it is for Gloomhaven, it won't be shipping until wave 2.

Final reminder: wave 1/1.5 closed today
almost 4 years ago – Sat, Jun 20, 2020 at 11:43:30 PM

Hello! Since we already had an update on Wednesday, I will try to keep this brief.

I just wanted to remind everyone one final time that the wave 1/1.5 pledge manager is closing today, in approximately 3 hours from this post, at 3pm EDT. If you wanted to order something from that wave (Gloomhaven or Forgotten Circles related products), or you pledged for the all-in game play bundle, which includes those products, please complete your Backerkit survey as soon as you see this, if you haven't already. If you are not interested in ordering any of those things, then feel free to ignore this message and wait for wave 2 to open up.

When will wave 2 open, you ask? We were advised by Backerkit to make sure all payments from wave 1 are resolved before opening the system back up, and that could take up to 2 weeks because of failed payments. So we will plan on launching the wave 2 pledge manager on Friday, July 3. It will then stay open until around November.

Payments won't delay the release of the Gloomhaven Digital Steam keys, though. As soon as the pledge manager is locked in, we'll start working on sending the database of keys out. You should receive a key (if you purchased one) either later today or tomorrow. Gloomhaven Digital is also launching a new Guildmaster mode on June 25 that I've gotten a look at and is very cool, so this is a great time to jump into the game.

One last bit of business is that I have posted all the changes made for the second printing of Forgotten Circles on BGG, as well as a folder of all the PDFs of the changed cards and books.

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And finally, I also wanted to send out a small reminder that Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is coming to Target stores in the US this Sunday, the 21st! (If you are not in the US, it will be in normal hobby distribution at the start of August.) I am super-excited to finally get to share this with everyone. A lot of work from me and other talented people went into making the game as approachable as possible while also keeping the content and presentation as high-quality and entertaining as Gloomhaven, if not more so. I really think this is something you'll want to check out, whether you are new to the world or just looking for more content to play before Frosthaven comes out.

Here is a fun promotion video we made for it!

Info on shipping dates and retailer pledges
almost 4 years ago – Sat, Jun 20, 2020 at 05:53:19 PM

Hello! Just two things I want to go over with you before the wave 1 pledge manager ends on Friday. I told you I'd get back to you today with as much info we have about when various things are shipping out for wave 1 and 1.5, so lets get to that.

All dates listed below are for all wave 1/1. 5 products except Forgotten Circles, which will be covered at the end. So let's break it down by region:

US - As stated last week, we were able to get the boat out of China on time, and it is currently docking on the west coast. We will be getting wave 1 products to D6 Fulfillment on schedule and will fulfill in July. Unfortunately, that shipment doesn't have enough product to fulfill wave 1.5, so that will be coming later in August with a second shipment.

For the rest of the regions, we are still being impeded by the ports being super-packed due to COVID, and are still working on getting them shipped out. The good news for this is that we will be able to combine wave 1 and 1.5, getting wave 1.5 shipped out earlier than expected in some cases.

Canada - Wave 1 and wave 1.5 will ship out from China soon. They'll be on the water about a month and then go to D6 Fulfillment. We should be able to get both waves out together in early August.

EU and "Rest of the World" - Similar story to Canada. We are still waiting on the wave 1 and 1.5 combined shipment to leave China. It will be on the water for a month and a half before arriving at Fulfillment Europe. Both waves will get shipped out in August.

UK - Again a similar story. Waves 1 and 1.5 are going to Spiral Galaxy and should be shipped together in August.

Australia and New Zealand - We are also waiting to get these shipped out of China, but the time on the ocean is shorter. Wave 1 and 1.5 are going together to Aetherworks and should get shipped out in July.

China and Southeast Asia - VFI Asia is handling this fulfillment, and we don't need to go through a port for this. They should be picking up wave 1 and 1.5 soon to get them out in July.

Just a reminder, wave 1/1.5 products are:

• Gloomhaven
• Removable Stickers for Gloomhaven and Forgotten Circles
• Gloomhaven Collectors Pins
• Gloomhaven Solo Scenarios
• Metal Coin Upgrades (if you are buying other wave 1/1.5 products)

For Forgotten Circles, what I can tell you at this point is that all copies (wave 1 and 1.5) will be manufactured and ready to ship from the factory by 7/11. Depending on the freight shipping times (one week for China and Southeast Asia, a few weeks for Australia and New Zealand, one month for US and Canada, a month and a half for UK, EU, and the rest of the world), we'll try to get them to the fulfillment centers and out to you all as soon as we can.

And another reminder - even though Forgotten Circles may ship at a different time than your other wave 1/1.5 products, we aren't increasing the shipping price from what was advertised during the Kickstarter campaign.

Retailer Pledges

And now, a message from Price regarding retailer pledges. If you are not a retailer, no need to read further:

We're so excited to be working directly with so many diverse stores across the globe!

We will be launching the Retailer Pledge Manager beginning early next week and are currently proofing your in-store marketing packets with our manufacturer, with plans to get those out ASAP this summer.

Just a reminder, if you haven't yet submitted your "Retailer Registration Survey" (Google Form) please make sure to do so ASAP as we still have a number of stores we haven't heard from or received business documentation from yet.

If you've already submitted the form and documents and are awaiting a response, we have a number of retailers that are still in the verification process, but you should be receiving a reply from our retail sales team within the next several days.

If you need the "Retailer Registration Survey" resent to you for any reason - please email us at [email protected] and we'll get you taken care of!

And of course, access to the Retailer Pledge Manager will be open through the majority of the year without need for payment, so there is no urgency to lock your final orders in now.

Final week of wave 1
almost 4 years ago – Sat, Jun 13, 2020 at 01:15:33 AM

Hello! I am here with you update for the last week in the world of Frosthaven!

We are starting to narrow in on the specific timing of when the wave 1 and 1.5 products will be landing at the fulfillment centers, but there are a few outstanding variables. I am committed to getting you more specific information before we close down the wave 1 pledge manager, but we aren't going to have all the specifics until next week, so I will be posting a special update on Wednesday with all of that timing information.

Until then, I can tell you that the US shipment of Gloomhaven and other wave 1 products (except Forgotten Circles) is on schedule and on the water on the way to the fulfillment center.

Unfortunately, the shipments to the other fulfillment centers are being delayed at the Shanghai ports due to some COVID-related back-ups. It is nothing major - we'll have schedules by next week - but it does mean that we likely won't hit the July target for fulfillment in Canada, the UK, Europe, and the "rest of the world" countries. These issue are out of our control, but I apologize for the week or two delay.

Forgotten Circles is currently still in production, and it looks like the best solution is to have all copies of that go out with wave 1.5. I'll have more information on the timing of wave 1.5 next week. Also there were some requests to have the list of changes made to Forgotten Circles post on BGG before the wave 1 pledge manager closes, so I will try to get that up early next week as well.

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Remember that this is the last week that the wave 1 pledge manager will be open, so if you were planning on ordering something from wave 1 or pledged at the game play all-in level, which includes wave 1 products, then I would strongly encourage you to lock in your pledge manager soon!

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Other than that, things have been moving along on the design side. I've made a first draft of the level 1 cards for the 17th character, and made some progress on other characters as well. Not much to report other than that.

I'll leave you there then, and we'll have another update for you Wednesday!