Apologies for the radio silence over the last few weeks. I've been Quite Busy, and I've been prioritising sorting out your rewards over actually telling you as much, but that's still not ideal.
So, allow me to rectify that and update you on how everything is progressing.
Production
I've now received all of the bits and pieces that'll be going into your reward bundles!
This has all taken a couple of weeks longer than I was expecting – lead times for customised goods should be taken with a pinch of salt, I fear – but we got there in the end and I'm happy with the results.
A This Blighted Isle keyring, and both sides of the wooden bookmarks
The wooden bookmarks for Darkened Hill & Dale are printed on sustainably sourced FSC®-certified plywood, and I decided to add a little tassel, because who doesn't love a tasseled bookmark?
The die-struck metal keyrings required a bit of back-and-forth with the manufacturer's design team, as we had to tweak the artwork a little to make it work with the material and manufacturing process. I'm glad we put the time in, though, because I think they've come out particularly nicely.
I've also taken delivery of more Giclée art prints, acquired a looming tower of player handouts, folded dozens of handout folders, selected some particularly nice mosaic tiles for the pin badges, and had fun working with Alewood Games on Stage Fright – more on that last part below.
Oh, and Patchwork Fez Games has just moved into a dedicated office space!
Fulfilment - Physical Copies
This move is good news for fulfilment of your rewards!
My game-making endeavours have previously been run from my 'office' (i.e. the second bedroom) in my flat. Over the last couple of years, that space had steadily filled with boxes of books and piles of packaging and crates of craft materials until I was climbing over things to reach my desk – and then the cascade broke containment and spilt out into the rest of the flat, clogging the hallway and burying the dining table.
I tell you this because I pack and ship rewards myself, and it was going to be quite difficult to do that with such limited space. It was such a problem when I originally Kickstarted Darkened Hill & Dale that I waited until my dad went on holiday and then temporarily turned his house into a fulfilment centre.
However, the new office gives me plenty of room to store my materials and enough space to set up a couple of order assembly tables. I'm looking forward to having some elbow room!
The upshot of this is that I should be able to pack and post rewards pretty rapidly once you've completed your Backer Surveys and shipping addresses are locked and shipping fees charged.
I only moved in on Sunday, so things are somewhat chaotic in the new office, but it'll be sorted in no time!
Backer Survey
On that note, acquiring the bookmarks and keyrings finally allows me to complete the preparations for the Backer Survey, because I now know precisely how much everything will weigh, and can thus calculate the lowest possible shipping costs for you all.
I'm hoping to finish setting that up tomorrow, and will then send out the survey as soon as BackerKit confirms I haven't mangled it.
So – keep an eye out for your Backer Survey over the next few days!
The sooner you complete your survey, the sooner I'll be sending things out to you. If everything goes to plan and folks respond promptly, I'm hoping to start shipping before the end of next week.
Fulfilment – Digital Items
You'll need to complete the Backer Survey even if you're not expecting a physical copy of anything, because I'll need you to confirm the best email address for sharing the digital files with you!
I'm intending to distribute digital copies via DriveThruRPG, and will be doing that in regular batches as soon as your surveys are completed.
Stage Fright
Stage Fright is very nearly finished. The delay in completing the scenario has largely been on my side – I've been struggling to get my brain in gear due to spinning too many plates (plus my brain simply does not function properly during very hot weather, which we've had a lot of.
Nonetheless, it'll soon be done, and I'm hoping we'll be able to share that with those of you who back both this project and the ARKYVR project within the next couple of weeks!
International Shipping – A Note
For those of you in the EU, you may have spotted that I've suspended EU shipping on my web shop due to the new PPWR regulations (which are a nightmare for smaller businesses and creators). Don't worry, though, you'll still be receiving your rewards. I have a plan.
For those of you in the rest of the world (e.g. the USA), you may find that you're charged taxes/duties at the end of your Backer Survey. In these instances, I'll be sending your packages with the duties pre-paid, to avoid them being caught at customs and you having to pay an extra fee for their involvement.
This is all slightly more complicated than it should be, but if things goes awry at any point and you find you've been charged tax twice, get in touch and we'll sort it out.
Not every territory will have the option to pre-pay duties, so some of you may end up with your packages intercepted by local customs service, but fingers crossed nobody gets any extra fees!
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That's it for now. I'll post again as things progress but if you have any questions in the meantime, give me a shout!
