Jeez, I had no idea that it's been nine months since the last update.
tl;dr - I'm still making the game, but if you want a refund, reach out and I'll make it happen.
Long story: So I had grand plans in January to crank through the illustrations and finish up this game. Then shortly after I posted the last update, I got word from DesignerCon (my dayjob) that we were adding a second convention to the roster in June. So instead of having months of downtime (read: personal project time) before things ramp up for our November show, we immediately jumped into crunch mode to put on a show we hadn't planned for in a few months.
So while I had planned to be pretty monetarily broke but time-rich for the first half of the year, I ended up being extremely time-broke and monetarily solvent.
Pretty much all of my intended projects for the year have stalled trying to do some pretty cool work-related things, but alas, that's my problem, and it shouldn't be yours.
So yes, I know how crowdfunding projects go...I'm a backer of many as well, yadda yadda yadda - regardless, you gave me your trust and I've botched it. While I know everyone just wants the game about a year ago, I'm coming to terms with my personal failing of being terrible at sustaining long-term projects. I'm a momentum guy, and while I still have all the plans to finish this game up, I have to be honest that my momentum is elsewhere and I'm lagging behind terribly.
Curse of the fine artist - chase what's currently pulling your interest, not what you should be working on.
So given all of that, while I have every intention of finishing this game, I also want to be offer some of y'all an exit strategy and a gesture of goodwill for those who are fine with the game taking FOREVER (I know, I know). How will I make time while I'm also working on DesignerCon in November and I failed to do so in the first part of the year? It will continue to go slowly. Hopefully not AS slowly as prior, but I'm not going to try and lie to either of us and say that I'm just going to make it happen. It's going to be slow, hopefully steady progress, but it will be progress.
1) If you want a refund, I totally get it. Let me know and I'll make it happen. 2) If you're down to be super patient, I'm going to give everyone free domestic shipping (and will subtract the price of domestic shipping from any international backers).
Anyway, apologies again, and thank you for your support and understanding.
The TL;DR is that this is an long-overdue update, and you're still getting your game!
The longer update is that I'm really sorry for the radio silence. To be honest, there isn't a great reason behind no updates for the past four months besides of a combination of work getting insanely busy and then burning out right before the holidays and then the constant shame spiral of not really making as much progress as I would have liked on the game.
So with Chinese New Year/ Golden Week around the corner, I'm racing to try and get everything finished to place an order before then. That said, it's looking like the timelines is currently sitting at early June. So only a year late -_-
That said, a majority of the cards are illustrated, meaning that I'm now in hustle mode to get all the cultist cards illustrated and finalized for print by the end of January.
Major apologies for the delay - I've learned to only try to do one new thing at a time. Doing a massive number of custom portraits, dealing with international shipping at this level (boxes of cards are large and heavy!), and building a tabletop game apparently sent me much farther off course than I had expected.
Anyway, I will show you a smattering of card art now to try and make up for the lack of updates.
PS - If you see yourself and you hate it, email me and let's talk about what you don't like. [email protected].
PPS- So when the tariffs hit and I was considering refunding everyone, instead of working on Cult Crafter like I should have, I started building a new tabletop RPG system like the deviant little ADHD artist I am. If you see me start marketing that and you're extremely offended that I'm crowdfunding again before I finish producing Cult Crafter, I totally understand your feelings AND the hustle is real. So if I haven't totally lost your interest and trust, and you're at all interested in playing the opposition to the Order of the Dark Wheel, the Sisters of the Dawn, then hop over here to check out the teaser page for some fireball-slinging, rules-lite, patriarchy-disrupting witchy fun.
As I steadily traverse the cultist illustrations, I wanted to share a few with you so far!
I also wanted to remind Custom Cultist backers that today's the deadline for you to at least respond to my email that you've gotten before I'll have to move forward assuming you're not going to redeem your custom portrait. If you didn't get the email, please check spam/promotions, and then reach out ASAP!
Also, the cultist lore zines and the Void Queen stickers have landed, so if you happen to be in Southern California and are planning on attending either Seaside Oddities in Ventura, CA, or Son of Monsterpalooza in Burbank, CA (or DesignerCon in Las Vegas, NV) AND you want to pick either of these things up, let me know!
Anyway, hope you all have a great weekend and back to painting portraits for me!
I just wanted to pop in real quick with an update!
So the cultist illustrations are well on their way, but I'm still waiting to hear back from some folk!
PLEASE - IF YOU BACKED AS A CUSTOM CULTIST, check your email! Maybe it's in spam, maybe it's not, but look for something from "Rick Kitagawa Cult Crafter" and search trash, promotions, etc.
Every backer who has pledged at this level has received at least 2 emails - so please make sure that you respond. I totally understand having a bajillion project updates plus real life (ugh) stuff to deal with, but IF I DON'T HEAR FROM YOU BY SEPTEMBER 19TH I'LL HAVE TO ILLUSTRATE A RANDOM CHARACTER FOR YOUR CARD.
PS - Folks who filled out the form but didn't send a photo yet..please send a photo.
If you backed at this level and need some help, don't hesitate to email me or reply in a comment and I'll reach out.
Anyway, as we slide into spooky season, stay safe out there!
Also, here's a spread from the lore zine to keep things interested.
The surveys have slithered out from the local shunned building and should be sitting in your inbox, waiting for your diligent response.
If you did not get a survey, let me know and I can track it down for you.
I'll be locking down orders with notices as they come in..meaning that you'll get a notice that you'll have 48 hours to make any final changes. I'm doing this since a) you can update your shipping address until we're getting closer to ship, and b) you can't get your digital download of the lore zine until I lock your order.
Again, you won't be charged shipping until we get closer to actually shipping this out, so just a friendly reminder about that.
That's it for now, but more to come soon!
Thank you!
PS - If you're interested in some other monster art, I'll be running a sale/fundraiser to raise money to support abandoned cats. More details to come, but it'll start this Saturday the 26th and run until the end of the month.
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