The March
about 2 years ago – Sun, May 08, 2022 at 08:06:57 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Mid-April Update: Final Covers, Preorders + Some Plugs
about 2 years ago – Sun, May 08, 2022 at 08:06:22 AM

Hey Everyone! 

Quick update for this month. Things are swimming along with the printing. We've been going back and forth with all sorts of emails about freight, finishes, possible contingencies, PDFs, and everything in between.  

Final Covers

With that said, Felix and I just finalized the final covers this morning and wanted to share them with you! 

Here's the Standard Edition Cover:

We have a new back blurb, courtesy of Felix! A lot of fun putting this together with some back and forth screen-sharing and nudging of the assets along with some creative writing. 

Here's what the Collector's Edition looks like: 

The lines in red are for easy visibility of the Gold Foil finish. The dark blue branches will have another finish. We decided not to put a ISBN on the Collector's Edition, leaving it as much space as we could for the illustration. We're super excited to see what the final product looks like! 

Preorders

Also, we want to give a heads up: we will be charging for preorders tomorrow, 04/15/2022 at 8:00 AM PST. So if you are a preorder backer and need to update your payment info, now is the time to do it. 

This doesn't effect shipping, which will be charged at a later time. Again, the plan for shipping is to charge closer to the shipping date. That said, we're charging for preorders right now in order to finalize counts and so we can pay the difference for some of our manufacturing partners like the dice folk at Might Dog Games. 

If you haven't ordered The Wildsea yet you'll still be able to preorder the book as we've built in decent inventory margins - that may change if we all of a sudden have say 200 orders - but we should be good to go otherwise.

***

To wrap up the update, check out this awesome game / RPG campaigns: 

Parselings Nominal City

Parselings is Wildsea layout artist extraordinaire Leo Cheung's original RPG that takes place in a world like our own with one major difference: the presence of an inky magical parasite known as a Parsecyte. This iteration of Parselings is  a modern Deck Building RPG with a really cool resolution system based on card suites. Leo is truly a powerhouse designer/artist/creator - the beautiful art and layout is worth the price of admission alone. Check it out here! 

Between Clouds - A Roleplaying Game of Flying Beasts

This is one that that caught Felix's eye. Between Clouds is a colorful, biopunk, tabletop RPG about a family of misfits navigating the open skies atop their beloved flying beast. The art is amazing and the world is fresh, fun, and combines + breaks tropes in all sorts of awesome ways. I mean, c'mon - you get to travel the skies on board a big ole fluffy creature! If it sounds like you cup of tea, check it out!

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Alright, that's it from us for now. We'll update next when we have the Firefly Folio finalized and ready to go. 

Until then! 

- Ray 

The Wildsea: Digital Edition is Here!
about 2 years ago – Thu, Apr 28, 2022 at 10:04:20 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

The Good and the Bad
over 2 years ago – Mon, Apr 18, 2022 at 03:23:10 AM

Hey Everyone,

Lots of news to kick off this month. Some good, some not so great, but here we go ~~ 

Production

So our book is now officially in production with our printer, Printlore. We have submitted our print ready files and are awaiting the final PDF proof along with templates to upload the covers. Next week we anticipate choosing all of the various finishes - cloths, paper stock, etc. - that go into the book. We've ordered 5,000 Standard Edition Books, 1,000 Collector's Editions, and 1,000 Firefly Folios. 

Sam, our print rep, has told us we can expect around a 5 week production process, meaning it'll take about 5 weeks before all of the books are printed. From there, it's typically a 6 week turnaround from boat to port, but given the state of ocean freight these days that can be highly variable. 

Timeline

In the best cast scenario, that puts us with the books in hand at our warehouses in the middle of June. With all the delays in shipping though, we're estimating that fulfillment will begin in July with our internal hard deadline of August 4th, 2022 to have the books in hand, which is Gen Con. We're doing everything we can to make sure we have books for that show, and if we can, to fulfill before or right around that time to all of you. 

How it Started vs. How It's Going 

Initially when we launched this campaign in November of 2020 the world was in a very different place. Although we were in the throes of a pandemic, it was still early days and we had not quite seen the full global economic effects of what would prevail over the ensuing years. 

We created our budget based off of what we were quoted during that time, and planned the campaign accordingly. Unfortunately, things have changed rapidly in the year+ since then, and the printing industry has seen an enormous rise in costs during that time. With an ongoing pandemic, rising fuel costs caused by the war in Ukraine, global shipping has risen exponentially in pricing and raw supplies like paper have vastly fluctuated in both price and availability. Globally, inflation has skyrocketed by about 7% and doesn't seem to be going down anytime soon. 

All that said, we're in a very different economic reality now than when we started off the campaign. The price of the books were about 30% more expensive than what we initially budgeted. We've done our best to explore any and all options to mitigate that cost, but unfortunately the price of goods and shipping continue to rise without any sign of abating. 

Hard Pivots

With that said, we made some stretch goals during the campaign that, in full transparency, I don't think we have the capability to honor anymore. Chiefly, we're not able to subsidize shipping costs and print locally anymore because of financial constraints. Global forces around the world have raised shipping rates, and when we looked into printing locally, we were faced with massive differences in pricing because of the paper shortage. 

We're so sorry about all of this. I know it's not ideal news, and it's not something I enjoy writing. The truth is it's been a very difficult year navigating the challenges of what's happening in the world and what it means for a small business like us.  We had the best intentions in mind when we set those goals - wanting to pass on some of our success to you as the consumers - but even though these pandemic times have been hard on many people, we didn't quite foresee how it would impact us as an industry in the production as time went on. Every project we run we bake in a 10% contingency, but even that wasn't enough to offset the rise in costs from where we started. If our financial situation changes, we'll try and honor the stretch goals, but given the trajectory of the global economy and our current expenses, we don't want to give anyone false hope.

That said, we're super proud of the book that we've made, and I sincerely believe that The Wildsea has the potential to be a transformative game in the tabletop roleplaying space. We've always put the quality of the book above everything in production, even as it means eating into any potential profits that Felix and Mythopoeia would've seen.  

In terms of charging for shipping, we'll still be doing so closer to the fulfillment date, as that allows us the best opportunity to get things right in terms of how much we can charge. Internally, we're doing a lot of work to find an IOSS Intermediary for EU friendly VAT shipping and working as fast as we can to make sure we hit those new deadlines. 

It's not a great feeling writing this update. 2022 has been a really difficult time and those closest to me - Felix included - know that this is but the latest setback in a series that has made this year the most challenging I've ever faced professionally. Personally, too, this has been a year of great challenges - that's neither here nor there - but it hasn't been easy on any front. It's been stressful, but I'm hopeful all of the challenges are worth it and that there's light at the end of the tunnel. Every time I open up the Wildsea RPG (which has been a lot recently) it brings a smile on my face, though. I can't wait to see the finished product in my hands and I know that when I do it'll all be worth it.  

Felix's Bit: Airships, Submersibles and Feelings

Felix here. Skip the italics if you just want the project news, read them if you want some behind-the-scenes honesty. 

It's a strange feeling, being excited to update people on something and knowing at the same time that we have to let you down on something else. Ray's an old hand at project management, which is why he tackled the hard part (and thanks, Ray, for that - you put it into words better than I could have done), but this whole kickstarter venture is a first-time thing for me. I just write the words and make things look nice, or at least I suppose that's what I managed to convince myself for a while. 

So just like Ray is, I'm sorry too. Nobody gets into the TRPG game to make stacks of cash (well, almost nobody), but pumping everything we were given back into making a book I'm really proud of only to have to disappoint backers at the penultimate hurdle is more than a little heartbreaking. 

But as less-than-great as I've been feeling about it, I wanted to try to cushion the blow a little, at least. So I kept working on...

Airships and Submersibles

It's been an odd week over here in my little corner of England for a lot of reasons, but a productive one too. While Ray and the printers have been back-and-forthing over specs and prices, I've mostly kept my head down and my nose to the airships-and-submersible grindstone. And we have something to show for it, too - so here's a bit of good news...

One: Airships and Submersibles is being bundled together for ease of reference, and because there's enough content to turn it into it's own rather meaty thing rather than just a small expansion. 

What does that mean for backers? 

Well, it means that I'll be releasing a playtest PDF sample of the A&S rules to backers in the near future, just like we did for the main book. You'll get a chance to give some feedback on new mechanics (which we've kept light), new options (which we've gone rather heavily into), and a couple of the new reaches (which get really, really weird). 

It also means that the PDF version of the A&S expansion will be free to all Wildsea backers, once it's complete. It may have more in it than intended, but as unweildy as this particular beast gets that's a promise I can't bear to break. Content comes first, always, and I want people to be able to take to the skies and delve down to the Eaves if that's what they want to do. 

TWO: A few of you might remember whispers of a mount update I was working on. Well... It's still being worked on. It wasn't one of the stretch goals, but I loved the idea so much I couldn't keep away from it. That'll be handled at a slightly later date, after the SRD release and the A&S supplement goes public. I'm really looking forward to that one, and it might even have a little something extra, rules-wise, that people aren't expecting. 

THREE: We have art and words weirdnesses to show off, so watch this space closely over the next couple of months for updates on The New Stuff. Or hop onto the DISCORD to see a little more of the work in progress as it works and progresses. 

Now I'll hand you back to Ray for a final sign-off. I'm not used to a sombre tinge with an update, so I hope a glimpse at new free content lifts some spirits a little, at least. 

Stay safe out there. Felix

In Conclusion

Thank you all for your continued patience and support. We're moving along here keeping the eye on the prize, even (especially) when the hurdles keep coming. Let us know if you have any questions or comments in the space below. 

- Ray 

The Dead of Winter
over 2 years ago – Tue, Feb 15, 2022 at 10:16:29 PM

Hey Everyone! 

Hope you're all doing well. Since our last update, the team was hoping to have the PDF released but alas... we are still a couple of days from release. That said, we didn't want to go too long without an update so here I go! 

Status Update: Felix & The Latest Wildsea RPG

Soon! Very, very soon.  Here's 's what's being worked on: 

• Covers
• Indexes
• Quick References 

༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ  FELIX TAKE MY ENERGY ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ 

In all seriousness, we have a date, no - I'm not going to say it here, lest I seem foolish again - and we will release on said-date. When it happens hopefully it'll be a pleasant surprise! 

BackerKit

So I pinged BackerKit again and good news! They have turned off automated messages for credit card reminders until we choose to turn them back on again. Meaning, we should hopefully be seeing the end of the rather unfortunate pings that have gone out sporadically over the last few months asking for credit card information despite us being far out from shipping! 

We're really sorry about any inconvenience this may cause. I know sometimes it seems like all this automation and data crunching can seem a bit soulless, but the truth is BackerKit has helped us immensely over the years. Without their tools it's really difficult to do things like manage shipping across multiple continents, budgeting goods, and coordinating logistics.  

We know it's a pain in the butt to receive an automated message every couple of weeks but please just ignore them for now. We haven't implemented shipping yet and until we do and charge those messages  

Shipping

So real talk, Shipping (with a capital S) is the reason why we're in this mess to begin with. For the world at large, it's just harder these days for things to move across trade routes, and harder means more expensive. In our small neck of the global economy, we've consistently seen shipping rates go up every three months since ... jeez, 2018? 

It's been a while, but think all of the crazy stuff that's happened over the last few years. Brexit, USPS defunding, COVID-19, the Trade War - I mean the freakin' Trade War! Never understood the concept in Star Wars but oh Lucas I do now. 

Shipping is expensive. For a project like Wildsea, we're talking tens of thousands of dollars. That's why we're trying to collect funds as close to shipping as possible. Again, rates are going up all the time, and they only go in the one direction.

That's why we need to be careful and charge for shipping as close to fulfillment as possible.

Cause if we get it wrong, it can actually sink us... 

Gen Con 2022

On a happier note, we've been accepted into Gen Con 2022! Woohoo! 

Mythopoeia will be exhibiting at Entrepreneur's Avenue!  No promises, but I talked to Felix and the team... everyone is very excited to be going :) More details

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Okay, that's it for us for now. Short update hopefully before a longer, much more exciting one. Thanks for listening everyone. The past few months haven't been without challenges for both Felix and me, but we're doing everything in our power to deliver an awesome game. 

We're almost there. I swear. 

- Ray