Octopus Overlords

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Thu Apr 07, 2022 9:00 pm And yeah, I don't think they're going to be around much longer. What they actually deliver before they implode is anyone's guess. Should have probably expected this after their last KS was cancelled after funding (but apparently not funding enough). I don't begrudge them for needing to get paid and moving on, but I am starting to wonder how much they knew. I'm not going to lie, I backed BLG KS projects because they were attached to them. To have them both gone before a majority of them have been delivered does not make me feel confident in what I'm going to ultimately get.

I read recently that more money has been tied up on Ponzi schemes in 2020-2022 than previously over the last decade. In a sense, Kickstarter can become a "legal" Ponzi scheme, and it looks like BLG got caught up doing so - opening a new Kickstarter to get money to pay for overages on the previous Kickstarter.

hepcat wrote: ↑Fri Apr 08, 2022 7:23 am Oh, I’m just musing out loud. I don’t know the details on either situation. I just found it curious that this will be the third time they’ve had issues (no matter the offending party) with a company.

RMC and I actually met them at Origins a few years back and I bought Brook City from them at the time. They were really nice guys. They were sharing a booth with another company at the time, so I suspect BLG didn’t have a lot of cash then.

…or now, if they’re not paying their shipping people.

Yeah, they were both nice guys, and I ended up buying Brook City after the fact. I like that game as well. I really enjoyed the little things that made it fun. Guy Fieri as a bad guy, using noticible familiar people in the art, but with different names. It was just fun, nothing nasty or bad.. well at least that I thought was anyway..

It’s a decent game. Street Masters kind of ruined it for me as that one is more action oriented and I was kind of expecting that. But it’s fun to ride around on the moped that heals you while you drive it because it’s so relaxing.

That's why I'm (still) excited to play Hour of Need - assuming the cardboard hasn't all rotted at this point. It has the abstracted idea of map movement in a smaller footprint - unlike Altar Quest and Brook City that require a table big enough for 6 people to set up. So yeah, moving around a map + MDS + die rolling, I'm hoping it's a winner. Assuming it's delivered.

Just got my delivery date on my table. Wednesday. Man, I still have a lot of cleaning to do between now and then.

I look forward to seeing pictures, or even admiring it in person one day.

Buried in the KS comments is a message from BLG suggesting they were told Hour of Need will be fulfilled "early to mid May", which is something (if true). Until I get the address confirmation email from QML, nothing is certain as far as I'm concerned.

Smoove_B wrote:Buried in the KS comments is a message from BLG suggesting they were told Hour of Need will be fulfilled "early to mid May", which is something (if true). Until I get the address confirmation email from QML, nothing is certain as far as I'm concerned.

QML replied on a FB post that Hour of Need was “coming soon”or something vague like that.

Soon…

I have my own Boardgametables.com table but still want to see how those accessories work out.

“Announcing your plans is a good way to hear God laugh.” - Al Swearengen, Deadwood

Been delayed for so long, but the Assault on Doomrock reprint is FINALLY live on Gamefound

No brainer for me. I love, love, love the original.

One thing that has really helped me cut down on Kickstarters: I browse, and my recommendations include tons of miniatures/terrain campaign. I see project after project that makes me pause and think, "Ooh, cool!" Great miniatures! Great sculpts! Beautiful terrain pieces! Then I look:

.stl files.

All of the best campaigns these days are for 3d models, not physical pieces.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 12:24 pm One thing that has really helped me cut down on Kickstarters: I don't browse

Adjusted. This speaking for me thing could have some issues.

I no longer go looking for projects to back like I used to, but I will sometimes scroll down a screen or two after checking an update on something just to see what's at the top of the list. Their algorithm does do a good job of finding things related to stuff I've backed before (like an upcoming Deadlands graphic novel that I wouldn't have seen if I hadn't scrolled.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 11:07 am Been delayed for so long, but the Assault on Doomrock reprint is FINALLY live on Gamefound

And funded in 60 minutes. Nice. I didn't back at the All In as the playmat and the poker chips drive the price up a bit more than I'm comfortable with, but I am getting the pledge with all the gameplay.

Doomrock - I can't afford to back, but out of masochistic curiosity, what makes it so good?

It's a unique and fun take on a dungeon crawler. It also has goofy humor that fits perfectly into the world it's trying to build.

In short, it's dice placement. If you don't like the ability to completely and directly control your actions, avoid this one like the plague. You will almost never be sure you'll get the dice faces you need to active your powers, so you have to mitigate those situations with back up plans.

You roll a handful of dice and then place them on your character's skills/weapons cards to activate the options matching the die/dice you place. You level up and buy more skills with more options, you buy/find loot/weapons with more options, etc.. In between, you explore a world via map cards that will eventually lead you to your final battle with the big bad.

Battles are done with poker chip sized tokens on a table that are either not touching (ranged) or touching (melee). That's the extent of maneuvering, basically. But maneuvering IS still vital to your victory. You have to decide when to disengage and when to engage.

That's really about it. I'm leaving out the goofy weapons and skills on purpose as part of the fun is discovering these things as you play.

Interesting. I've played lots of dice placement games, but rarely one where the dice applied to the player rather than the target (the only I can recall is Deep Space D6, and I only played that a little, so I could be wrong...)

The cards he shows at the beginning give you an idea of the dice placement mechanic.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu Mar 31, 2022 1:48 pm Crap:

Reaper Bones 6

Bones 6 is still a success - they still funded in minutes - but it has been the weakest performing of any of their projects, and by a fair margin. I'm personally not all that excited. It's got a few great pieces, and some nice items in a couple of the expansions, but they're retreading the same material. It's still mostly classic European fantasy wizards and warriors, orcs, wolves, zombies, skeletons... stuff I have piles of and don't need to spend more money on. Even the dragons - when they offer a dragon, I'm like the bartender in Trouble with Tribbles. Reaper: "A dragon?" Me, pulling dragons out of various places: "A dragon? A dragon. A dragon. A dragon. A dragon."

What holds me back even more is that they are not going to allow you to buy extras of the core set this time, save for one set of ants. That means that getting anything in the core set requires the full $125 core set buy-in, which is mostly variations of 'fantasy adventurer'. For the few of pieces I actually want out of there (the nightmare, one dwarf, maybe the shambler and gnomes), I'll just wait for retail.

They've got a fairy-woods themed expansion that I like. They have a full tavern terrain set that's tempting (bar, hearth, tables, patrons, etc) that's appealing, and and they have an unrevealed expansion called "Lost Tombs of Hakir" that promises an Egyptian theme, but other than that... there just isn't much there that they haven't done in the past.

hepcat wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 1:43 pm The cards he shows at the beginning give you an idea of the dice placement mechanic.

Cool, thanks. It actually seems like a really good game. I just had the brakes fail on my car, and we're still paying down the debt from two months at minus a paycheck (plus there are a couple of higher priority things I really want), so I doubt it'll happen, but I'm going to keep an eye on it nonetheless.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 2:40 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 1:43 pm The cards he shows at the beginning give you an idea of the dice placement mechanic.

Cool, thanks. It actually seems like a really good game. I just had the brakes fail on my car, and we're still paying down the debt from two months at minus a paycheck (plus there are a couple of higher priority things I really want), so I doubt it'll happen, but I'm going to keep an eye on it nonetheless.

If you decide you still think it's cool when it gets closer to this new versions release, let me know and I'll send you my copy of the previous edition. It's basically the same thing. Just send me a reminder.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 2:36 pm and they have an unrevealed expansion called "Lost Tombs of Hakir" that promises an Egyptian theme

Now partially revealed. It is something I don't already have, and it has Pulp Alley potential, which is a plus.

Has anybody checked out The Dark Quarter? It's an app-based coop narrative detective game set in 1980's New Orleans. It has supernatural elements and the game is rated for 16 and up due to mature content.

I already have Call of Cthulu and my friend already has Mansions of Madness with all the expansions - although I think he may have already played through most if not all of them. Plus it seems like Dark Quarter is more detective-like, so I'm hoping we have more agency into how to solve the case and less stumbling around trying to figure out what to do before the cults summon the Lovecraftian horror.

And I should mention I already have two kickstarter/gamefound games coming to me: Stars of Akarios and ISS Vanguard. In short, maybe someone can talk me out of backing this one

raydude wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 9:34 am Has anybody checked out The Dark Quarter? It's an app-based coop narrative detective game set in 1980's New Orleans. It has supernatural elements and the game is rated for 16 and up due to mature content.

If you are in the US I would wait for retail. VAT is baked into the price and despite what they are claiming, there is no way that US shipping is being discounted to make up for it.

raydude wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 9:34 am my friend already has Mansions of Madness with all the expansions - although I think he may have already played through most if not all of them.

Last weekend I installed Valkyrie on my desktop computer and then streamed it via Steam to my iPad. With that setup, I now have access to dozens and dozens of high quality, fan made scenarios. I was worried that with the announcement FFG was dropping MoM that it was effectively dead for me, as I’ve played through all but one scenario. But now it has a new lease on life.

Wow. CMON just published the Backerkit for Marvel Zombies and I'm guessing shipping sticker shock is about to hit quite a few people. For me to get split shipping (Marvel Zombies game in October of '22; everything else in June of '23) is $112. I only picked a single add-on box (Guardians). To just get everything in June of 2023 is $64. As much as I want to start playing in October, I'm not sure if I'm feeling that motivated - to pay $48 in shipping to get something that will likely be available through retail channels with cheaper options.

I need to go check my wild west zombicide for shipping costs now.

update: whew, looks like they charged shipping before the nastiness really got bad. I only had a 19 dollar charge for shipping.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Fri Apr 29, 2022 12:23 pm Wow. CMON just published the Backerkit for Marvel Zombies and I'm guessing shipping sticker shock is about to hit quite a few people. For me to get split shipping (Marvel Zombies game in October of '22; everything else in June of '23) is $112.

I haven't checked mine. I almost held off on backing the game, since CMON always goes to retail (and tends to be just as cheap there). I only backed the core game, I think, to get the stretch goals. But I'm not sure I want to pay $48 to get the core before the stretch goals.

So... I checked. I pledged the Undead pledge level - so only the Core and Promos. I am getting assessed a $56.65 bill for single wave shipping in June 2023 and $108.62 for the Two Wave pledge - for just the Core and Stretch Goals. On the Kickstarter, they estimated $35 for the Single Wave and $52 for Two Wave "for most states" (and I am in the lower 48).

Honestly, this is a bait and switch. I would not have backed if I thought the shipping would double - I can get the game at retail for far less. Sure, I miss out on a lot of content in the stretch goals, but I dislike that model anyway. I am very likely to see what refund options are available. Did they announce a chance in shipping costs in the updates?

Conversely - I paid $27 shipping for a near All-In pledge to Master of the Universe...

A bait and switch requires intent. I'm sure they had plenty of disclaimers that the shipping was subject to change.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Apr 29, 2022 8:23 pm A bait and switch requires intent. I'm sure they had plenty of disclaimers that the shipping was subject to change.

Yes, they have disclaimers, but there is also a business expectation of "good faith" when providing estimates to backers/investors. I think almost double the shipping estimate is pushing the limits of good faith. I don't know if this is intent or not, but given the recent issues with other Kickstarters, I wouldn't be surprised.

As much as I hate it, I do think almost everyone was caught completely by surprise by this current shipping crisis. It’s been crappy for a while now. I dread to think of what my middara add ons will cost in shipping once they reopen the pledge manager in a few weeks. It may be enough to prevent me from getting the follow up chapters.

Although to be fair, Marvel Zombies wasn't so long ago that they can claim they didn't know. It looks like it ended three months ago, and everything that I've seen suggests that shipping costs have dropped since then, not risen.

My willpower to resist Last Light failed. I have a weakness for space games, in addition to 4x.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sat Apr 30, 2022 10:07 am Although to be fair, Marvel Zombies wasn't so long ago that they can claim they didn't know. It looks like it ended three months ago, and everything that I've seen suggests that shipping costs have dropped since then, not risen.

Not sure where you’ve heard that. As far as I know, it’s still very much an issue.

hepcat wrote: ↑Sat Apr 30, 2022 10:45 am

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sat Apr 30, 2022 10:07 am Although to be fair, Marvel Zombies wasn't so long ago that they can claim they didn't know. It looks like it ended three months ago, and everything that I've seen suggests that shipping costs have dropped since then, not risen.

Not sure where you’ve heard that. As far as I know, it’s still very much an issue.

I didn't say it wasn't still an issue, just that they've begun to drop some. From what I understand, the high prices caused a drop in demand, and the rest is starting to correct - a little. It's still oh-my-god higher than normal, and it isn't universal.

But the point was that between the time when CMON made their estimates and now, shipping hasn't gone up as much as their estimates have vs their actual charges.

I don’t think any of us have any idea what their actual charge is, to be fair. Neither of us are in the shipping industry. They may be under charging even. I know that the current lockdown in Shanghai is causing massive issues as the Chinese government is forcing ships that don’t normally go through that port to now stop there when leaving the country. Something to do with their current heightened health protocols.

I do wonder if they have to lock those prices down now for items being shipped months to a year from now. You’d think they could revisit it later, unless it’s normal procedure to book shipping this far in advance due to scheduling or something.