Octopus Overlords

hepcat wrote: Fri Mar 25, 2022 8:52 pm

Zarathud wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 2:55 pm During assembly, words were said. Curses uttered. My children were not used to daddy saying such things.

For anyone who also got Dead Reckoning, this video on assembling the ship made it super easy for me.

That ship sucked. And I have two of them, since I got the "ghost ship" which is the same as the normal one, just with different art.

They created a two-page, pre-scored papercraft that takes a 30-minute video to explain?

This is board gaming. I’m surprised they didn’t make a 90 minute follow up video on how to insert the cards into the sleeves.

But the ship has resulted in some frustration from folks. The video helped me by pointing out a little deviation from the instructions that made things infinitely easier.

My Nemo's War - Journey's End expansion came in. A few cards, a sheet of tokens, a couple of minis - layered in styrofoam inside a cardboard box, which was then placed inside a much larger box filled with styrofoam peanuts.

AuZtralia Big Box? Ehhh, just toss it in a box with no padding, I'm sure it will be just fine.

baelthazar wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 6:50 pm You got me.

I got my shipping notice too. That said, it was just label creation so the both of us may be waiting a bit.

So this updated to Wednesday delivery! I will persevere until I get Perseverance!

Ditto

Blackhawk wrote: Tue Mar 22, 2022 2:02 pm Conan: The Conqueror (by end of March)
Nemo's War (March 2022)
Sword and Sorcery: Ancient Chronicles (Wave 2 Q1 2022)
Savage Pathfinder (May 2022)

That's it. That's all I'm still waiting for. It's kind of nice, though. It gives me something new to look forward to when I can't afford to spend.

The last two are still stuck at sea/port. The first two are... somewhere. In that limbo between the warehouse and actually getting the email, and it is going absurdly slowly. I wonder what's...

Oh. Funagain. Nevermind - I'll plan on May.

RMC wrote: Fri Mar 25, 2022 9:06 pm

hepcat wrote: Fri Mar 25, 2022 8:52 pm

Zarathud wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 2:55 pm During assembly, words were said. Curses uttered. My children were not used to daddy saying such things.

For anyone who also got Dead Reckoning, this video on assembling the ship made it super easy for me.

That ship sucked. And I have two of them, since I got the "ghost ship" which is the same as the normal one, just with different art.

I cursed myself. When trying to affix one of the cardboard side rails to the ship combat tray, I ripped the bastard in half. I glued it, but I suspect future assemblies will suck. Since you break it down to put it in the box, that means future frustration.

In other news, I played a solo game yesterday and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It creates the feel of a 4x game with just cards and some tiles in a way that is more than I expected.

My Perseverance delivery got moved up to today. So - with any luck - I'll have some unboxing pics to show later.

I just got notification that my Wyrmwood gaming table is finally ready to ship. 13 packages. No idea on delivery date, I assume it will be at least a week since it's ground shipping.

hentzau wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:57 pm I just got notification that my Wyrmwood gaming table is finally ready to ship. 13 packages. No idea on delivery date, I assume it will be at least a week since it's ground shipping.

Have you updated your address for shipping lately? I can do that for you if you'd like...

Blackhawk wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:58 pm

hentzau wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:57 pm I just got notification that my Wyrmwood gaming table is finally ready to ship. 13 packages. No idea on delivery date, I assume it will be at least a week since it's ground shipping.

Have you updated your address for shipping lately? I can do that for you if you'd like...

Ha. And where would you put it? Hmm?

TheMix wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 5:54 pm

Blackhawk wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:58 pm

hentzau wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:57 pm I just got notification that my Wyrmwood gaming table is finally ready to ship. 13 packages. No idea on delivery date, I assume it will be at least a week since it's ground shipping.

Have you updated your address for shipping lately? I can do that for you if you'd like...

Ha. And where would you put it? Hmm?

The kids are 18 now. They can share the kitchen floor.

One KS company just posted an update about a delay. According to them, part of the problem is that a large number of retailers had orders in for products for Christmas that arrived late. Rather than paying to transport and warehouse now useless stock, they've just left the containers in the yards, which is now clogging the ports even more.

baelthazar wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:15 pm My Perseverance delivery got moved up to today. So - with any luck - I'll have some unboxing pics to show later.

Just got mine. I went with both games in the collector box. Looks like they just used the same model for collector box for Anachrony, which is fine by me. It was a solid design.

hepcat wrote:

baelthazar wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:15 pm My Perseverance delivery got moved up to today. So - with any luck - I'll have some unboxing pics to show later.

Just got mine. I went with both games in the collector box. Looks like they just used the same model for collector box for Anachrony, which is fine by me. It was a solid design.

I did two. This thing is a beast. I sat down at 10:45 last night to transition everything to the containers and when I looked up at the end it was 1:10am. Anyway, here are some pics.

baelthazar wrote: Wed Mar 30, 2022 4:37 pm

hepcat wrote:

baelthazar wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:15 pm My Perseverance delivery got moved up to today. So - with any luck - I'll have some unboxing pics to show later.

Just got mine. I went with both games in the collector box.

Oooo, I am jealous, I don't even have a shipping notice yet.

It's pretty clear that Blacklist Games is circling the drain at this point. Another month and they still haven't paid QML for shipping on the Fantasy Series 1 miniatures - a project that's been sitting in QML warehouses since November (?) of last year. Same with Hour of Need - being held until BLG pays off the debt. Numerous other projects that are allegedly in "storage" or waiting for shipment from China...or still in development.

In reading through the KS comments some backers found information related to a lawsuit that was settled recently between BLG and the creators of Cards Against Humanity involving hundreds of thousands of dollars of fees owed by BLG. This is more and more looking like a scam where the owner(s) of BLG were somehow skimming KS monies on projects to do whatever and when the pandemic hit, they had no reserves or ability to recover.

I'm feeling less hopeful that I'll actually see anything at this point and for both the miniatures and HoN in storage, they've been sitting in limbo forever since manufacture. If anything is damaged or ruined, I doubt replacements will ever be offered. Other parts of the world received their miniatures in April of 2021. It's now 18 months late for US delivery.

And it's not just the delivery of things, with the designers in the process of leaving or having already left (Sadler brothers), I'm guessing their will be no post-release support, which is also awful. Makes everything feel (to me at least) like it'll all be DOA.

What a shame.

Ugggghhhh... I upped my initially low-tier pledge for Lasting Fantasy too. While, in the grand scheme of things, a few hundred dollars is not a huge amount to be scammed, it is still infuriating.

Wait, I thought they HAD paid QML and now they're just waiting for a spot in their (busy) queue?

Where are you reading that they haven't paid them?

I have about 400 dollars or more of their product on order through kickstarter and indiegogo. So this will be a significant loss for me if they fail to deliver.

The latest update - nothing to report. People are messaging QML and it's being politely implied that this KS isn't in their shipping schedule because they still haven't been paid. If they (QML) had been paid, they would be able to share a estimated date for fulfillment.

If you go back to the February update, it's been pointed out that they said they were getting help with payments. In other words, someone (a 3rd party investor) giving them money to assist with paying off debt to QML - not to clear it. So yeah, they still owe money.

They explicitly stated on Feb. 25th:

QML has confirmed that they have received the financial portion from us and we will need to provide them with a new backer data export to ensure they have the most up-to-date backer data possible (more on this below)

So if they didn't pay them, they're just outright lying at this point. I wonder if we have any legal recourse if that proves to be the case? I suspect not.

One of my gaming group buddies went all in on Jurassic Park: Isla Nublar so that I didn't have to.

Crap:

Reaper Bones 6

Smoove_B wrote: Thu Mar 31, 2022 12:46 pm The latest update - nothing to report. People are messaging QML and it's being politely implied that this KS isn't in their shipping schedule because they still haven't been paid. If they (QML) had been paid, they would be able to share a estimated date for fulfillment.

If you go back to the February update, it's been pointed out that they said they were getting help with payments. In other words, someone (a 3rd party investor) giving them money to assist with paying off debt to QML - not to clear it. So yeah, they still owe money.

Light at the end of the tunnel finally? This just came from Blacklist Games:

Heroes, we’re back with a new Hour of Need update!
We’ve got great news: while we originally thought fulfillment for this project would continue only after our Fantasy Series 1 project completed its fulfillment (as reported last time), we’ve been made aware that fulfillment for Hour of Need will be starting worldwide in the next couple of weeks. QML has the updated data from us and they have completed the preliminary steps to get it ready to start shipping. You should see posts about it soon on the QML social media channels.

Yeah, I just saw that. That's encouraging at least, but in terms of support once it arrives? I hope everything is in order. Still have little hope over the outstanding projects that are still overseas. And at some point I'd imagine QML is going to get tired of warehousing the minis for Fantasy series one. I'd also imagine they've damaged the relationship with QML to the point where they're going to need to find someone else for whatever else they claim is coming. With all the the messages QML has been fielding (graciously) regarding this project, I can't imagine they want to invite future headaches.

I saw this video today, and it reminded me (in a funny way) of some of you guys here in OO Kickstarter forum.

"The main thing they want is ... things. And in addition to that ... stuff."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbakt8dfV9w

The part I'm referring to is from 2:06 - 4:40.

Blackhawk wrote:Crap:

Reaper Bones 6

And I backed Bones 6 at the basic level without looking at it. I just have to figure out a way to store all the painted figures.

Lordnine wrote: Wed Mar 30, 2022 5:47 pm

baelthazar wrote: Wed Mar 30, 2022 4:37 pm

hepcat wrote:

baelthazar wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:15 pm My Perseverance delivery got moved up to today. So - with any luck - I'll have some unboxing pics to show later.

Just got mine. I went with both games in the collector box.

Oooo, I am jealous, I don't even have a shipping notice yet.

Started sorting my copy after work and realized I’m missing the episode 2 miniature for Adelita. I put in a replacement order, and it really isn’t preventing me from playing at all. But still, remember to check your orders.

Update: Mindclash Games got back to me right away. They're shipping out replacement parts starting next week. Excellent customer service!

Finally got Conan in.

"What's in all those boxes?"
"A board game."
"That's a lot of board games."
"No, A board game."

I've only got one more giant sized pledge outstanding, from three, maybe four years ago.

With Bones 6 delivering in 2 years minimum, I’m in for the long haul.

DM Lair is doing hardbacks of his D&D 5th edition content. I like his videos and enjoy supporting him this way.

I hadn't discovered Street Masters before the recent crowd funding expansion ended but I've been following it in the hopes there might be some surplus to pickup once it ships. I've gotten the impression it's in an even deeper hole than other BLG products.

Their March update (they skipped February) was practically the same as their January update, with the "completed" product still being moved around various warehouses in China.

Just today someone posted a comment that they reached out to QML for an update and were told that QML isn't handling the Street Masters project any more. Interesting news if it's true.

..especially when I have about 250 bucks of stuff I’m waiting for.

It's buried in the comments, but both Sadler brothers are gone now from Blacklist. I'm sure that bodes well for all existing and remaining products that they had a hand in developing.

Again, I think BLG is now functionally dead. I can only hope they deliver what's been paid for, but it won't surprise me if it all just disappears.

I think the Sadlers are contractually obligated to finish the expansion to Street Masters and the other games (Hour of Heroes, Dire Alliance, etc.), but after that I doubt we’ll see much from BLG. If they survive to the end of the year, I’ll be surprised.

P.S. Adam Sadler not only left BLG, he left tabletop game design.

I think all work on everything they were involved in is finished. There was some type of broadcast they did last year in the Fall (I think) on FB or Youtube that said as much - that nothing in the pipeline was being held up over design issues or was waiting for them to finish to get into production, be delivered, etc...

And yeah, I don't think they're going to be around much longer. What they actually deliver before they implode is anyone's guess. Should have probably expected this after their last KS was cancelled after funding (but apparently not funding enough). I don't begrudge them for needing to get paid and moving on, but I am starting to wonder how much they knew. I'm not going to lie, I backed BLG KS projects because they were attached to them. To have them both gone before a majority of them have been delivered does not make me feel confident in what I'm going to ultimately get.

The thing is, the Sadlers have somewhat of a history of this. They both had a successful game with the Warhammer card game with FFG that had people clamoring for expansions….and they left under what seemed an acrimonious cloud. They had a walking dead game that had people interested (apparently a precursor for their card games), and that also ended with them leaving in less than a happy state. So I have to wonder if they may share some of the blame here.

I'd always thought it was them and big name publishers for both of those games and a lack of desire on the publisher's part to invest additional money into games that weren't blockbusters. I also know the Sadler's said the quality of the materials (card stock, game boards, etc...) for the Walking Dead game was really cheap, which they didn't like. It felt like the BLG situation was ideal - that they had complete creative control and that they were making what they wanted. I'd imagine there's a lot of money in limbo right now with things undelivered and clearly nothing else is going to be launched while they (BLG) has so many projects in limbo. How much of this is the pandemic, how much is financial shenanigans...I just don't know.

But yeah, they have an...interesting track record.

I thought the Warhammer Quest Card Game was a casualty of the FFG-GW breakup rather than sales? It was well received at the time and packed a lot of game in a small, decently priced package.

The real tragedy was years later when FFG put out a slightly tweaked version set in their Terrinoth setting (Heroes of Terrinoth), and it just faded away. I think I read somewhere that the Sadlers were ready to put out more content when FFG gave them the green light.

Oh, I’m just musing out loud. I don’t know the details on either situation. I just found it curious that this will be the third time they’ve had issues (no matter the offending party) with a company.

RMC and I actually met them at Origins a few years back and I bought Brook City from them at the time. They were really nice guys. They were sharing a booth with another company at the time, so I suspect BLG didn’t have a lot of cash then.

…or now, if they’re not paying their shipping people.