Twin Seas December Update 1
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Dec 06, 2022 at 07:32:55 AM
Hello!
So! A few folks have been asking where dispatch is at - and this is a reasonable question, given that we started last month!
As a general rule, the latest update will have the latest dispatch information.
From this point on, for anyone asking for info on where we’re at in the process, I’ll point them to the latest update. I hope this doesn't come across as rude, but it takes a lot of time to answer requests individually when the latest info is here in updates. But of course helps if I make it very clear that this is the case!
The latest update will always have the most up to date info on dispatch because as soon as there’s news on dispatch of the different tiers of rewards and locations, there will be an update.
So if you ever need to know where we’re at, just check the updates.
Current Position: Delayed
The position right now is this: we are still awaiting the BEOWULF Story Cards, and additionally, we’re unexpectedly waiting for some additional needed stock of BEOWULF Age of Heroes core setting books to leave Germany.
We’d paused dispatch (we believed briefly at the time) because we believed that both items were due any day, and we would be able to pack them into parcels and continue as planned rilling out dispatch as you'd expect.
However I’ve recently learned that the card printers have been snowed under, and there’s a short delay. We should get those decks in the next week or two, all being well.
We’ve also had an absolutely nightmare recovering the stock of BEOWULF Age of Heroes held in Germany, which we need back in the UK. This should have been a very simple process to achieve, but it has proved to be incredibly frustrating, difficult, expensive and time consuming, for no reason that I am really able to comprehend or relate. I am hoping that this week this hurdle will also be cleared. If nothing else so that I can sleep again.
I can only apologise for the delay and the confusion caused by these factors. Without all the rewards in the warehouse it makes the picking and packing that little bit more complex, and so we’re waiting on those cards and core books. Which should have been a short delay, but which has unexpectedly grown. I was ever hopeful the delay would be resolved across the last week, but it never happened.
This pause also meant our fulfilment partners have begun work on another campaign, and will come back to us next week, when we’ll decide what we’ll dispatch next - I suspect starting on “rest of world” and rewards that aren’t waiting on the story cards makes more sense at this point - but until now that’s not been clear, and switching horses mid race didn’t seem smart.
As a reminder on the Story Cards story: we were all prepped to print the Story Cards in the US when the UK government, in its infinite wisdom, decided to crash the pound, and suddenly we couldn’t print them in the US as planned - they simply became too expensive for us to buy in dollars. So we switched to a new UK printer to make sure it didn’t break the bank (and 100% transparency, the severe drop in the pound is seriously hampering our day to day operations, so I won’t lie - things are tough right now but we’ll make it through by just doing more work!)
I was hoping we’d clear all hurdles early this month, and this would be a more positive update. But sadly not. Rest assured we’re working hard to make sure everything gets done in the most sustainable and sensible way, but I also understand it’s frustrating when some rewards have already been dispatched. I’m frustrated too.
So, the short version is: Dispatch will restart next week. And you have my apologies for this unexpected delay. Its been a very frustraing week of non-stop work on things that should not have needed this much attention. UK addresses should get their rewards before Christmas, and I’m hopeful for EU backers too. Rest of world is always hard to predict, and our US backers are realistically looking at the New Year, given the distance books have to travel.
I’m sorry that I haven’t come with better tidings on this occasion.
But hey! Digital Pack 11 is coming ever closer, so there’s that to look forward to!
I'll update again as soon as more parcels have been dispatched!
Jon
Twin Seas November Update. dispatch begins - but go steady!
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Nov 11, 2022 at 08:15:41 AM
Hello! Just a short update today: the great Twin Seas send out has begun!
Those of you in the UK, who pledged for just the Twin Seas book? Your books are enroute right now.
We're still awaiting story cards and Twin Seas art books to come in from the printer, but I'm expecting those any day now, and we have plenty of parcels to pack and dispatch before that causes us any delay. And so we have begun!
A word of caution, from experience. We're working with a fulfilment partner who are very good, and whom we think are big enough to do the job right as professionals, while being small enough to care how it's done. A bit like us at Handiwork.
This does mean the roll out won't happen overnight. The process will take a few weeks, and we need to get stock across the Atlantic for our US friends. And so I must ask you for continued patience as we work. Thank you - we all appreciate it very much! But know that it's all happening!
I'll make updates as different sections of our Backer Band have their rewards dispatched, so you'll know when to expect a parcel.
Retail Backers
I've emailed all of you to ask what you'd like to spend your credit on, and if you'd like anything else. As soon as I hear from you I'll invoice you for any shipping and funs for additional stock that needs to be paid. Yay! Invoices!
Discord
Don't forget that we have a nice friendly community and it’s not too fast moving, so it’s easy to join in. If you’d like to join up, point your browser at www.discord.me/handiworkgamers Give me a shout out when you land if that you're a backer and we'll give you the keys to the super secret awesome backer channel. And even if you're not a backer you're still very welcome!
If you'd like to follow us on social media:
Twitter: @gameshandiwork
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/handiworkgames
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/handiworkgames/
Thanks as ever for your support!
Jon and the Handiwork team
Twin Seas October Update.
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Nov 01, 2022 at 09:57:43 AM
Hello!
Twin Seas Art Book PDF is away!
Bit of a later update this month since I was holding it until a couple of things were confirmed.
So first up: I just sent out the BEOWULF Twin Seas Art Book in PDF to everyone who pledged for it! Thanks for your patience waiting for that one.
Dispatch begins!
We're finally ready to begin dispatch! As you're aware, we're a small team, working with another small team to coordinate dispatch, and we needed to cross a couple of hurdles to be in a position to being dispatch. We've had the printed books on hand for a while, but some other rewards were a little bit slower through the pipeline, especially the story cards. We've had a couple of technical challenges arising which have caused delays, but we're there now! Changes in pricing at suppliers and exchange rates meant we had to move production, which has taken a little bit of time to sort out.
Initially the roll out will start with folks who have pledged just for the book - we can get the most backers done the fastest by beginning here.
We're waiting on the story cards and Twin Sea art books to arrive, but both of these are underway and printing in the UK, so hopefully everything will come together nicely in the next week or so.
Get well soon, Jacob!
If you're on our discord you'll be aware that our friend and colleague and BEOWULF co-creator Jacob had a serious medical emergency and spent spell in intensive care recently. He's thankfully on the mend now, but we've had a bit of a scare. I'm sure you'll want to join with me in wishing him a speedy recovery. Jacob is an absolutely irreplaceable part of the BEOWULF team, and I can't imagine producing the Twin Seas book (or to be honest, anything else we've done) without him.
US copies
The consignment of books for the US is about to set sail. I'll keep you in the loop on progress there.
Retailers
I will be in touch to take your orders very soon! Thanks for your patience. I try to cooridinate asking for your orders as close to dispatch as possible.
Digital Pack Eleven
Digital Pack 11 is almost complete and will be with you soon!
Discord
Don't forget that we have a nice friendly community and it’s not too fast moving, so it’s easy to join in. If you’d like to join up, point your browser at www.discord.me/handiworkgamers Give me a shout out when you land if that you're a backer and we'll give you the keys to the super secret awesome backer channel. And even if you're not a backer you're still very welcome!
If you'd like to follow us on social media:
Twitter: @gameshandiwork
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/handiworkgames
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/handiworkgames/
Thanks as ever for your support!
Jon
Twin Seas: Reminder: cards charging Monday 3rd October
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Oct 04, 2022 at 11:27:24 PM
Hello!
Just a reminder that we will be locking orders and charging cards on Monday, UK time. I opted to push this date back a little so that folks who are paid at the end of the month got a chance to refresh their financial world.
If you haven't filled out your survey and paid your shipping, please consider taking the time over the weekend, if you could: it really helps us out. Thank you!
f you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://beowulf-the-trials-of-the-twin-seas-for-5e.backerkit.com.
Once orders are locked, we will have to make any address changes manually - which we can do, but it's a bit less reliable than using the Backerkit tools.
There is one backer for whom we need to resolve their pledge issues in Backerkit - I'm speaking to Backerkit today and we'll get that sorted.
Even once we have closed orders, we can still resolve issues for individuals, so please don't panic if you haven't checked out yet, and then things don't go right over the weekend. I will not be at my desk, but we'll do our best to help you next week.
Late pledge PDFs
Hey late pledgers! If you're a late pledger, I'll be sending out your PDFs as soon as the funds land with us.
if you're reading this and you'd like to make a late pledge you have until Monday: https://beowulf-the-trials-of-the-twin-seas-for-5e.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
Retailers
I'll be sending out order forms to our retailers very soon. I like to leave that as late as possible, so I'm not holding your money for too long. And that feels more important now than ever. I shall be in touch soon!
Other news:
All is well in production land! Nothing new to report!
Digital Pack Eleven will be with you soon, as will the BEOWULF Twin Seas Art book PDF. Something to look forward to there!
That's it for now!
Have a great weekend, and we're looking forward to sending out your books!
Jon
Important! Twin Seas: Cards will be charged on October 3rd
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Sep 21, 2022 at 08:40:29 PM
Hello!
I wanted to drop everyone a line and let you know that the pledge manager will be charging cards on the 3rd of October. I've extended this time a little bit to allow everyone who is paid monthly a bit of time post-pay day.
I'd like to take this opportunity to reiterate that this process of charging everyone on a single day is not my preference - I much prefer allowing you to pay when you decide to. Unfortunately that isn't an option to us on Backerkit, as it was on CrowdOx which we previously used. Backerkit merged with CrowdOx, our account passed over to them, so while we're dealing with the same lovely team, we are now under the Backerkit rules. Which means a single day on which cards get charged. I don't especially like it, I wish it didn't work that way, but I gather this is entirely routine. It's not my first preference for your experience with us.
There are a couple of folks with some on going technical issues with their pledges in Backerkit, or who asked to step outside of the routine processes for a variety of reasons - please do not worry about those as-yet unresolved things, we will resolve everything in plenty of time in the next couple of days.
And in general there's no need to worry if you need to drop me a line on any topic, you can always do so at [email protected]. There's not much we can't sort out in good faith and good humour.
Hello to late pledgers!
I learned something the other day - Backerkit forwards on all the campaign updates to late pledgers too! A couple of you were confused when I talked about sending out PDFs, when you hadn't received them - as late pledgers you are yet to be charged, so we'll send you all the digital material as soon as you have paid. But it's lovely to be able to speak to you in our updates, which is a definite plus-point in the Backerkit column!
Retailers
I'll be sending out order forms to our retailers very soon. I like to leave that as late as possible, so I'm not holding your money for too long. And that feels more important now than ever. I shall be in touch soon!
Project Progress
In general project progress, all is good! As you know the books are on hand with us now and looking great.
We have decided to print the BEOWULF story cards in the UK, which makes life a lot easier and faster, and that's all underway. I suspect you'll be getting them packaged in a nice rustic cotton bag, rather than the less-eco friendly plastic box, which never quite felt very thematic. That should be a net gain for everyone.
The BEOWULF Twin Seas Art Books are printing now. I'll send out PDFs for those very soon - I suspect at this point it makes sense to hold them until cards are charged etc, just to keep things as simple as possible.
We're expecting new inspiration mats any day now - we had some back and forth to get those exactly right, but we're there.
And so everything should come together nicely, in the same time frame to go out to you shortly after cards are charged for shipping and any extras you added on in the pledge manager.
Discord and Social Media
We have a nice friendly community and it’s not too fast moving, so it’s easy to join in. If you’d like to join up, point your browser at www.discord.me/handiworkgamers Give Jacob or me a shout out when you land that you're an a|state backer backer, and he'll give you the keys to the super secret awesome backer channel. And even if you're not a backer you're still very welcome!
If you'd like to follow us on social media:
Twitter: @gameshandiwork
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/handiworkgames
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/handiworkgames/
Thanks again for your support!
Jon
