Dead Reckoning Port of Call from AEG

The Captain's Chest is Amazing and We Want You To Get One!
3 days ago – Mon, Nov 18, 2024 at 01:48:39 PM

Legendary Captains!

We are broadcasting this message as widely as we can - via KS Update, direct Email, posts to the Comments on all three Dead Reckoning crowdfunding projects, to the BoardGameGeek Dead Reckoning message boards and a broadsheet erected in the middle of the Port where all captains and crew can see!

Greetings and thanks from the AEG Dead Reckoning Team. You have made Dead Reckoning a spectacular success. Without your support this game would have remained just a huge box of great ideas sitting in our development pipeline. Because of you it is out in the world bringing swashbuckling excitement to many gaming tables.

The purpose of this message is to discuss the Captain’s Chest that we revealed in the most recent crowdfunding campaign, Port of Call. The Captain’s Chest is our ultradeluxe storage system for Dead Reckoning. We went beyond anything we’ve ever made before to create this incredible wooden artifact that is designed to fill a Kallax-style shelf cube and hold all the game components that we’ve made for the game with additional space for future content. The Chest is also provided with study canvas straps to allow you to carry the Chest safely from storage to table or from home to game site and back. Our production team is in China right now working with our factories to make it as awesome as we can. You can see the progress of this effort in Update #8.                    

We love this Chest. We can’t wait to see them on people’s shelves (and ours!) We think everyone who has one will treasure it and it will be a showpiece of their game collection.

And it has become clear that we’re only going to be able to make them once.

The cost of producing the Chest is going to be very high at the numbers we’re planning on producing. Making a small future production run will be cost-impractical. Because they are so expensive, and because they have an uncertain warehouse storage lifetime, we cannot make a large extra quantity to hold for future sales. 

We want to make as many of these as we can, so that everyone who wants one can get one. So we’re holding the production order to create space for more people to buy them now.

We will be able to increase that production order to satisfy every order we have as of Friday, November 29th. 

If you backed Dead Reckoning Port of Call on Kickstarter with a Reward that includes the Captain’s Chest, we will ensure we have units sufficient to cover those orders even if you have not completed the checkout process by that date (but it would be extremely helpful to us if you would!). If you have created a Late Order and added the Chest to it, but have not completed the checkout by Friday November 29th, that Chest will be removed from the order and you won’t be able to add it back. So please complete the checkout of any Late Order that you may have created that has the Chest on it before next Friday.

If you are not a backer of the Port of Call Kickstarter, you can make a Late Order on Backer Kit to buy the Chest (and any other Dead Reckoning content you might want to add!)

To do so, visit the Dead Reckoning Preorder Store, and make an order with the Captain’s Chest on it. If you are paying via PayPal you’ll be charged immediately at checkout. If you are paying via credit card you’ll be charged when we close & lock the pledge manager which is typically two months before fulfillment, which means that we currently plan to close it in the first quarter of 2025. (Emails and KS Updates will be sent 30 days before the pledge manager closes so you’ll receive lots of notification).

Thank you again for all your support and for your amazing enthusiasm for John D Clair’s game of Swashbuckling Adventure! May you always enjoy fair winds and following seas!

– the AEG Dead Reckoning Team

Captain's Chest - Production Update!
16 days ago – Mon, Nov 04, 2024 at 02:08:40 PM

Ahoy Buccaneers!

We received our first production prototypes of the Captain's Chest at the end of September, and it was quite informative on what we needed to adjust!

Our biggest notes on this first round:

1. The art on the front had white in it, and we didn't want that, so I fixed the file to be just black.
2. The super fancy latch was all form with barely any function. It was flimsy and awkward to re-latch, so we've found a more sturdy and functional one.
3. The doors were not inset as requested, and they didn't use the big cool Hinges we wanted.
4. The Faux-Leather straps are... well, they look, feel and stretch like faux-leather. They just looked cheap and not great. John had a good point that even real leather isn't great for ocean bound items, because it doesn't react well to getting wet, much less getting wet with salt water, and a set sturdy canvas straps would make more sense.

1. The Drawers - We learned a LOT on this first set of drawers. Having seven of them inthe space meant that they were too skinny, and just not going to work. I don't even want to show you pics of them, because while it's OK to see a bit of how the sausage is made, these were just a mess! Dan worked on re-engineering a system with FOUR solid and sturdy drawers and we're already MUCH happier with how strong they are and how everything packs. It's just quicker set up and tear down with 4 drawers as well!
2. The biggest drawer already worked very well so it stayed the same. It's the drawer with everything to set up the main game components. It includes 4 new Advancement deck boxes that hold all the new new advancements from current and future expansions and is made of the same ticker material as the single Player deck box you have with your current base game:

Moving on to this week, our Production Captain, Dave Lepore, is on site with the manufacturer in China checking out the latest version and working out a few more kinks.

1. The doors are now inset, and we have some awesome looking hinges! 
2. This was the first test handle-strap they are trying out, Dave is working with them to get the right size, color, length, and best way to attach them. The canvas already is miles better than the faux-leather in looks and function!
3. He's also having them look for different screws to use. Maybe brass or just black, but also with smaller heads that will inset a little better into the hinge-holes.
4. The front latch is sturdier, less fiddly and miles more functional than the first decorative one we picked out.

1. The drawers are much better with 4 sturdy ones, but there was a miscommunication, as we wanted the biggest one on the bottom. That will be probably updated in the next round. That said, we are working out the kinks on the drawer dividers that keep all the components nice and organized now :) 

1. Here's a sneak peak at one of them, the player setup drawer, showing off the 4 new Player Deck boxes that come with the chest. These will hold both the Base game and Port of Call sailor decks for each player. There is extra space in them to hold saga items between campaign games, and there are no current plans for another Sailor crew, but I put room in for a 3rd set just in case.

1. The player coin chests you already have from the base game go in the compartments just to the left of each player's deck box, and there's room for solo stuff, player ship boards and rulebooks in this drawer as well.

Coming up next for Dave are some wood stain examples we requested. I sent 4 different colors to try out, and we're going to see how each one looks with the printing on the front doors.

All of the Port of Call and Sea Dog files were completed before the campaign, and we've done rounds of checking the eProofs (electronic PDF proofs) and cProofs (actual color-printed proofs shipped to us) already, and all those files are good to go as soon as we finish up the Captain's Chest exactly how we want it.

Thanks again to all you backers, you make all this possible!

-First Mate Kirk

Pledge Manager is Open!
3 months ago – Fri, Sep 06, 2024 at 08:53:57 AM

Legendary Captains!

Thank you for backing the Port of Call campaign on Kickstarter!

We have received the funds from Kickstarter and all orders have been imported into the pledge manager for this campaign: BackerKit. It is now time to close your order. Every year we have a small number of backers who ignore these BackerKit messages and end up not getting their Rewards due to not completing their orders. If you do not log into BackerKit and complete your order before fulfillment begins, your order will be cancelled.

BackerKit will send you an invitation to complete your order, which they refer to as a "Survey". That link will be sent directly from BackerKit and not From Kickstarter.

On BackerKit you will be able to change your Reward level, and you will be able to add items to your order. You will also provide your delivery address and you will arrange payment for any balance due on the order.

If you pay via PayPal any balance due will be collected at the time you complete the order checkout process. If you pay via credit card your card will be charged after we close the pledge manager next year. We will notify all backers before credit cards are charged.

We will transmit Updates related to the schedule for closing the pledge manager and ending Late Orders. Generally speaking we close it 8 weeks before we begin fulfillment. The current plan for Port of Call is to fulfill in August of 2025 so we plan to close the pledge manager in June of 2025. If those dates change we will provide lots of notice to the community to ensure everyone is aware.

You can see the current milestones and status of all our Crowdfunding campaigns here:

https://alderac.com/kickstarter

If you have never used BackerKit before or if you are not receiving email from BackerKit about your order and need to gain access to it we've prepared a page on our website that explains how to use it.

The Free Booty, Sea Dogs III has been added to the orders of all Kickstarter Backers who were subscribers to our Newsletter list as of the end of the campaign on Kickstarter. If you log in to BackerKit, and review your order and you do not see the Sea Dogs III Add-on on your order, and you believe you were eligible to receive it for free, please contact [email protected]. If you were not a Newsletter subscriber or you made a Late Order you can purchase the Add-on for $10.

For various reasons we can't enable a language selection for the Free Booty so we have added Sea Dogs III in English to all qualifying orders. If you would like to change your Sea Dogs III to French or German, please email [email protected] and our team can manually change your order.

We have sold out of German Deckhand base game units and do not plan to make more. If you pledged for this campaign intending to order the base game in German, and you do not want the game in English (or French) please immediately request a 100% refund by emailing [email protected].

Other important info:

• All of the inventory that we are going to sell in this campaign is from the production for the 2nd Kickstarter or from this campaign and will be error free. That includes the Deckhand base game in English (the French editions did not have any known defects).
• We have a limited supply of replacement Open Seas tiles for people who have the 1st printing of the Deckhand Base Game. When they're gone, they're gone. If you have a Deckhand base game from the 2nd Kickstarter or purchased from us in the past year you don't need them.
• All orders (Kickstarter Orders and Late Orders) will ship at the same time, next year, in one wave. We don't do split shipping.
• If you have questions about retailer orders, group buys, or other questions involving larger orders please see the FAQ. We have not yet added the Alpha Store items to the system and Alpha Stores should not place orders at this time. You will be notified via email when we're ready for Alpha Store orders to begin.

There are a couple of issues you may encounter while completing your order on BackerKit. The first relates to the weight of your order being too large to ship in one package. We set a maximum weight limit on orders. That means that if your order is too heavy you will need to make more than one order. You will know this has happened if the cost to fulfill your order becomes an irrational number ($1,000,000). 

If you need to split your order into more than one shipment we've prepared a page on our website that explains how to do that.

The second issue you may encounter is that we don't ship to your country or region. You may also see an irrational shipping cost ($1,000,000) if you attempt to select a country or region we don't service. 

We only ship to the following locations: the United States; Canada; the UK; the EU (plus Norway, Switzerland and Lichtenstein); Australia & New Zealand; and select countries in Asia (China (including Taiwan), Japan, South Korea, and Singapore). If you want to complete your order and you live in any place other than those listed you need to arrange for a freight forwarding service to accept delivery of your order in a country or region where we do deliver.

If you live in a country or region we do not service and you want to cancel your order, email [email protected] and we will cancel and refund your order.

If you decide after completing your order on BackerKit that the total price including tax and shipping is higher than you were led to expect and you believe the total amount is unreasonable you can email [email protected] and we will cancel your order and issue a full refund. 

The final issue we need to address is AppleID. Kickstarter allows you to use your AppleID and Apple allows you to configure any service using your AppleID as private. If you have done so the email we receive from Kickstarter associated with your order is useless to us (and BackerKit). The only people who can use it are Kickstarter themselves. If you have done this you must contact us at [email protected] and we can change the email address on your order to something that actually works. Every year we have a few customers who ignore these requests and have their orders cancelled as incomplete because they never received any notices or reminders about their order on BackerKit.

If you have any other questions or concerns about your order please email [email protected] and we'll be happy to help!

-- The AEG Dead Reckoning Team

Late Orders now Available!
3 months ago – Wed, Aug 21, 2024 at 11:58:53 AM

Everyone in the New Sea!

We have turned on Late Orders for this campaign.

If you backed the Kickstarter do not make a late order. This is the system for people who missed the campaign to create an order and join the armada.

The Pledge Manager for Kickstarter backers will open after we have received the funds from this campaign from Kickstarter. That typically takes 6 weeks or so from the end of the campaign. We will make another Update when we are ready to open the Pledge Manager. Until then, if you are a Kickstarter backer, take no action. Every campaign we discover some people who make both a Kickstarter order and a Late Order and are dismayed to realize they've paid twice and receive two non-refundable orders.

The link for making a Late Order is:
https://dead-reckoning-port-of-call-from-aeg.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

Important Information for Late Orders

We have a number of important pieces of information for people who are making Late Orders.

• You cannot order French or German items from previous Kickstarters at this time. Quantities of those items are extremely limited and we are going to allow Kickstarter backers the first option to buy them. After we have opened the Pledge Manager for Kickstarter backers and they have had some time to make orders we will turn on these items for Late Orders (if any supplies remain). That may not happen until November or even later.
  • You will be able to immediately order Port of Call and Sea Dogs III in French & German. We will print those to order and will make as many as needed to meet demand for this campaign.
• We have sold out of German Deckhand base game units and do not plan to make more. If you don't have one, you won't be able to order one regardless of being a Kickstarter backer or not. If you pledged for this campaign intending to order the base game in German, and you do not want the game in English (or French) please immediately request a refund by emailing [email protected]
• All of the inventory that we are going to sell in this campaign is from the production for the 2nd Kickstarter or from this campaign and will be error free. That includes the Deckhand base game in English (the French editions did not have any known defects).
• We have a limited supply of replacement Open Seas tiles. When they're gone, they're gone. If you have a Deckhand base game from the 2nd Kickstarter or purchased from us in the past year you don't need them.
• All orders (Kickstarter Orders and Late Orders) will ship at the same time, next year, in one wave. We don't do split shipping.
• If you have questions about retailer orders, group buys, or other questions involving larger orders please see the FAQ. We have not yet added the Alpha Store items to the system and Alpha Stores should not place orders at this time. You will be notified via email when we're ready for Alpha Store orders to begin.
• No Late Order will include Free Booty. Free Booty (Sea Dogs III) was a promotion limited to Kickstarter backers who were subscribers to our newsletter list as of the end of the campaign. Free Booty will be automatically added to all Kickstarter orders prior to opening the pledge manager. You can purchase Sea Dogs III if you are making a Late Order for $10.
• We only ship to the United States; Canada; the United Kingdom; the member states of the European Union (plus Norway, Lichtenstein and Switzerland); Australia & New Zealand; China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. If you want an order delivered to any other country or region please use a freight forwarder.
  • If you see an extremely high charge for shipping & handling it is because either you have selected a delivery address we don't ship to, or your order is too heavy to ship in one order.
    • You can read more about how to make multiple orders here: https://www.alderac.com/additional-backerkit-orders/
• If you did not back the Kickstarter you cannot Build Your Own Bundle. Please don't ask.
   

If you have questions or concerns please email [email protected]

-- the AEG Dead Reckoning Team

End of Campaign and what happens next
3 months ago – Fri, Aug 09, 2024 at 04:52:38 PM

Legendary Captains!

We have sailed safely into port, our cargo secure, our crew alive and our weary bones ready to rest. The third Dead Reckoning Kickstarter has ended!

This campaign exceeded our projections and for that we are extremely thankful. Your support allows us to continue to make new content for Dead Reckoning. Every pledge counts and we are very grateful you chose to back this project. We can't wait to fulfill your Rewards and fly high into the sky and delve deep into the lair!

In the following few days:

• Kickstarter will charge your credit card. If your card fails to process, Kickstarter will retry it several times in the following week
   
• Late Orders for those who missed the campaign will open as soon as we have completed setup with BackerKit. We expect Late Orders to go live next week but it may take a few days longer. We will post an Update when the Late Orders goes live. DO NOT MAKE A LATE ORDER IF YOU MADE A KICKSTARTER PLEDGE
   
• The Pledge Manager for Kickstarter backers on BackerKit will be opened three to six weeks from today, with the exact date depending on when Kickstarter transmits the funds from this campaign to us. You will receive an Update and an email from us and emailed notification from BackerKit when BackerKit is ready to being processing your Kickstarter orders. Until then, you do not need to take any action.
   
• We’ll Update you periodically over the next year when the campaign hits a major milestone. The next major milestone will be when we begin the production process by approving files; that will happen several months from now.
   
• Please visit alderac.com/kickstarter for the most up to date info on this and all our campaigns; that site is your best source for progress information and anything else you need to know about the campaign and we update it every time we have any new information to report.

When BackerKit is ready to allow you to complete your Kickstarter order, you will be sent an email from BackerKit with a link to access your order. Use that link to complete the checkout process. You can change your Reward, and include add-ons with your Reward. The system will calculate the amount due for shipping & tax and present you with a final total at checkout.

BackerKit does NOT charge credit cards at the checkout step. It does process PayPal payments immediately. For people paying by credit card, we will charge your card in the future; we’ll email you to let you know when we will be running those credit card charges before we do so.

APPLE ID USERS: Please note - if you use your Apple ID to access Kickstarter and you chose to have Apple hide your email, the email address we receive from Kickstarter is useless. Neither we, nor BackerKit can contact you via email about your order. Please email [email protected] for assistance if you have your account configured in this manner.

How To Get Your Free Booty

If you are a subscriber to our newsletter as of the day we open the Pledge Manager on BackerKit for Kickstarter orders we will add this content to your order for free. One Free Booty will be added for free per order. If you are not a subscriber to the newsletter, or if you want more than one, you'll be able to purchase them for $10 each.

If you don't know if you are a subscriber or if you want to subscribe, please visit this page:

alderac.com/newsletter

If you sign up and you're already a subscriber, there is no negative effect. It's safe to subscribe to be sure.

At any time if you have questions, concerns or comments please email [email protected]. We will monitor the Comments channel periodically but the best way to get a response from our team after the campaign ends is via email.

-- The AEG Dead Reckoning Quest Team