Quick note on US fulfillment and Funagain news
about 6 years ago – Thu, Mar 01, 2018 at 09:06:30 PM

I received word earlier today that Funagain, the outstanding fulfillment service I use for the United States, is closing their online store and shipping services to focus on brick-and-mortar operations. This means they will no longer be fulfilling products past June.

US folks, all this means is that you'll likely get your copy of Networks, Networks: Executives, and other related items from a different fulfillment center. I'm weighing several options right now, and I will announce my decision in a week or two, when it comes time to deliver the Networks base games. 

In the meantime, here's to Funagain, one of the best partners I've ever worked with. I wish them the best of luck with their new brick-and-mortar focus!

Hurry up and wait!
about 6 years ago – Tue, Feb 27, 2018 at 09:53:50 PM

Some Kickstarter updates are exciting... but this one isn't! I just wanted to check in with you and let you know where we are with everything. 

The base game has arrived in port in the US after some weather delays, and is awaiting a customs inspection. The UK/EU shipment of the base game should arrive by early next week. There will be about a week or so of transit time to the relevant fulfillment centers, so count on getting your copies of the base game by early April.

Heiko and I are doing some last-second finishing touches to Executives and On the Air. We're hoping to have stuff buttoned up in the next week or so. After that, we'll be putting together Telly Time, a UK-specific mini-expansion, for UKGE.

Speaking of Telly Time, a lot of you have been asking if you can add it to your pledge. I want to make that happen! There are two riddles I need to solve before that happens.

First, I need to settle on the price of the game. There's one quote I have that I'm happy with, but I'm waiting for one more quote (delayed by Lunar New Year) in order to make any decisions on price.

Second, I have to set up a way for everyone to order the game. Since anyone who ordered the base game has had their pledges locked, they won't be able to add it to their pledge in BackerKit. So I will set up an alternative pre-order system that will allow people with locked pledges to participate. I'll send over news of that once I have the pricing information all worked out.

That's all the news I have for now! It's quite a busy time for me, and it may not sound like there's a lot going on, even though there is. But I'm very excited that I can finally get this project to the printer soon.

Wooden bits poll results
about 6 years ago – Fri, Feb 02, 2018 at 08:32:59 PM

You have spoken loud and clear! Heiko and I are proceeding with Option A, the "old-school" TVs with the antenna stubs. And it wasn't even close.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the poll and gave excellent feedback!

Survey lock reminder for base game, Executives rulebook almost done, and wood bits poll!
about 6 years ago – Thu, Feb 01, 2018 at 12:01:22 AM

Hi Networks backer!

Just a reminder from the previous update that if you pledged for the base game or ordered it as an add-on, to please fill your survey out by tomorrow, February 1, at about noon EST! I will lock them then. Click here for more info.

Executives rulebook almost done!

Heiko and I are almost done with the rulebook! I wanted to share our current draft with you. We have a few changes still to make; for example, it still says "Page X" in a couple of places instead of referring to a proper page number, and the image on the front cover of the rulebook will change. 

But I'd like you to look through the rulebook and let me know if everything looks good. We don't have a lot of flexibility to add paragraphs of text or large diagrams, but we could add a word here and there to make things clearer. And of course, let me know if you see any typos or incorrect/misleading diagrams!

Click here to check out the latest rulebook draft. And let me know what you think via direct message, or in the comments below!

There's also a message towards the end of the rulebook about some future Networks projects we'll be working on. More details on that coming soon! :)

Wood bits poll

Heiko and I are now designing the wood bits that we unlocked in our stretch goals. We're set on the design of the remote control turn order markers and the TV tower for the season marker, but we can't decide on the scoring marker we prefer. Here's what we have.

You can see the remote (in red, but it'll be in the other colors too) and the TV tower in the bottom-left. But for the scoring markers, should we go with the "A" design of old-school, rounded TVs with little antenna stubs? Should we go with the "B" design of a more modern TV with sharp corners?

There's a third option - we could go with a "C" design of a flatpanel TV. These tokens would not be as thick as A or B. But perhaps you'd prefer a thinner scoring marker?

Which do you like? Let me know by voting here! I will close the poll on Friday, February 2 at about noon EST, so please be sure to vote before then.

Thanks as always for your help and feedback!

Base game pledges locking soon!
about 6 years ago – Wed, Jan 24, 2018 at 08:38:03 PM

Hi Networks backer!

The Networks base game has been reprinted and is currently on the boat (on a couple of boats, technically) to my fulfillment centers. They should be ready to ship by the end of February.

If you have the base game as part of your pledge (e.g. you backed at the $75 level or higher), or you ordered at least one copy of the base game as an add-on, your survey will lock on February 1. You'll get a warning about this 48 hours beforehand. I'll charge your credit card around that time as well.

Of course, if you do not have the base game as part of your pledge, your survey will not lock yet. That will happen in a few months, once those games are in transit.

So, for those of you who asked for the base game: please be sure to check BackerKit to make sure all your information there is okay! You'll have one more week to make sure everything is correct.

This is a good time to remind you: you do not need to order the replacement Network Cards as an add-on unless you need extra copies of them! If your pledge level comes with the base game, the replacement Network Cards are now part of the game. If your pledge level does not come with the base game, you'll automatically get a set of them in your shipment, one for each copy of Executives that's coming your way.

In other news, Heiko and I are finishing up the Executives rulebook. We'll post a version for you to check out soon; I'd love your feedback on it. 

February is Chinese New Year, and most manufacturing shuts down for a good chunk of the month. We're going to have our Executives graphic design done by the end of January, but unfortunately, the plant will only start working on it in March. 

Thankfully, I estimated that this delay would happen, so I baked it into the schedule and promised fulfillment in July. So right now, we are still on schedule for an on-time delivery.

Thanks everyone! It's because of you that all this exists. And we're getting ever so much closer...