Ballistic’s Report for the Week Ending March 26

This week was mostly about art and Backerkit. It was also complicated by my wife having to head off to Arizona for a site visit, so I was with the kids alone all week during their spring break. Even so: major awesome occurred

• I got ship approval for all four Character Collection books
• The Backerkit is edging up against my “irrationally exuberant” hopes, as we’ve now raised about 65% as much as the main campaign in Backerkit
• Behind-the-scenes work on several fronts related to Delvers to Grow continued

Gaming Ballistic Patreon

To help with ongoing funding of art and speed eventual time to delivery, Gaming Ballistic started a Patreon in January 2021. Here’s the weekly update on Patreon status.

• Membership status: 42 patrons and $270 per month
• Special Content: Nothing specific this week. That’s something that needs to change.

Currently Fulfilling/Shipping

Project where hardcopies and PDFs are going out, or scheduled to do so.

• No fulfillment updates this week

Crowdfunding

TFT Character Collection (Launched Friday Feb 19; Closed on Tuesday, March 9 at 9pm Central)

 

• Backerkit launched last weekend, and we are now 91% complete. The response has been phenomenal, and over $20,000 raised in add-ons and shipping.
• Speaking of shipping: Ugh. A two-part mistake in the shipping algorithms has led to some irksome over-charges. Mostly when a backer wants “one more thing” and already had physical items in their cart. I understand why it happened, am working manually to fix things behind the scenes, and backers have been pretty good about asking me to fix the issue rather than more vituperative responses.
• This was a heavy update week:
  • Update #27 announced the smoke test
  • Update #28 announced the Backerkit surveys going live for all backers
  • Update #29 let folks know to watch out for the shipping edge case mentioned above
  • Update #30 noted we hit 58% completion in a single day. Yay!
  • Update #31 showed the art-filled version of the counter box. I note that this self-same box is the primary source of all of the shipping cost woes. Not the ONLY source…but it’s the way to bet.
  • Update #32 was about progress for art on CC4
  • Update #33 was announcing all the art was in, inserted into the books, and ship approval had been sought and received from SJGames. That means as soon as orders are locked and cards charged (tomorrow), I’ll start distributing PDFs.

Product Announcements

• No Gaming Ballistic announcements this week.
• Realm Management, by SJGames and Gaming Ballistic author Christopher R. Rice, was released this week. I don’t usually announce SJGames releases here…but this one was a lot of hard work by CRR and deserves your attention. It’s a dense book, but a really fascinating one.

In Development

Writing and content creation for announced projects. Some of this may be cryptic.

• CC4 Wizards has been finalized. All four books are done and ready to distribute.
• I actually bought 125 copies of the box for counters, which should cover all eventualities. I’m going through the proofing stage now.
• I’m kinda-sorta soliciting ideas for support for Nordlond in an area of the realm called The Veiddarlond. It’s north and west of the Citadel at Nordvorn. I’m mostly reaching out to folks who I have worked with before, as adventure/game writing is really challenging. But The Hunted Lands have a cool story behind them and room for a lot of fun.

Friction

Bits of news and items that put a monkey in the wrench.

• I’m having a bit of trouble with the art on the counter box; it’s a resolution thing. I don’t think it’ll be a big deal in the end, but the interface that’s driving the system kinda stinks. So I’m having some trouble.
• The shipping thing is irksome. Requires a lot of attention and a lot of customer service. I’m trying to be proactive about it, always scanning SKUs that cause trouble, but that’s not how this is supposed to go.’
• There was a bit of a surprise on something something classified something behind the scenes, but that was a long-term thing anyway. No worries there, but it was a something.

Fair Winds

Information about things that move GB forward.

• A lot of little things that will hopefully end with “and the PDFs were delivered on March 27”
• The upcoming days after PDF distribution are all about errata, making cards (easy), and making the sheets for counters. It looks like there are some really nice synergies in how folks ordered cards and counters that should simplify fulfillment a bit.