Thu Oct 4 '18 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Thu, Oct 04, 2018 at 09:47:25 PM
Commanders! Welcome to October. It’s been a bit over two weeks since the last update, so I’m here to generally update where things are (and other various items).
The TL;DR of this post is: Your packages are coming. You will all get a shipping label via email if you haven’t already, and that’s how you’ll track it. If you don’t have it yet, we haven’t gotten to it due to sequencing (but we’re working toward it!).
No pictures for this update. I’m saving them for next time. :0
SHIPPING DETAILS & FULFILLMENT:
Current Shipping Status:
U.S. – I’m currently working through the Chariot tier – the second shipment of decks (which was due the hang-up from the manufacturer covered in Update 24/25, where they ran out of paper) is just arriving, so I’m doing what I can to prep. I’ve sent out about 50% of the U.S. bundles (yay!).
CAN – World/WoF are completed, and all single set recipients have been emailed on status and an optional shipping upgrade. I’m aware of the postal/strike situation, and will continue to monitor for updates. (Don’t worry: Everyone will get their sets! We’re working on it.)
EU (reminder: this is international distribution) – We finally got word on this. We were told it was untraceable until it got to customs, and it’s finally there!! So we’re processing that as of yesterday AM. While it’s still out of our hands, we will have it cleared shortly (it’s a fair bit of paperwork and negotiations for the entire thing because items like this have VAT/taxes/customs). We anticipate having it in a week and a half, and shipping will commence immediately after. (We’re annoyed that this has taken so long to clear, just as you guys are. The manufacturing delay really hurt international distribution.) I’ll give more updates on this in the next Indiegogo update.
Overall, thank you for the patience! I promise it’s worth it. :)
General notes on shipping:
Our original dates for fulfillment were beginning from August 30th, 2018, and we began shipping things out on August 26th, 2018. Indiegogo allows for three months from the listed date to ship all items (Nov. 30th, 2018). We have no intent to take the full window (yikes, no thanks), but I understand that there was some wayward thoughts that we’d wave wands at things on August 30th and we’d be done (the idea is wishful, to say the very least).
We have just under 3,000 packages between the NA & EU distribution points, and it’s done by hand since all packages are customized. It’s a process, but one we’re moving along. While the manufacturer delays covered in Updates 24/25 put us about a month and two weeks behind, we’re still rolling and we’re making very decent headway, both in preparing for shipments and working through them. Our 3-week built-in buffer helped a bit to mitigate some of it.
The box fort now looks like half of a fort!! (Gasp.)
That said, we will be addressing shipping as one of the biggest items in the next project(s) and I’ve already worked on plans for next summer to try decreasing the impact of surges. We’ll most likely have tiered send outs instead, with all add-ons available in BackerKit, opposed to lots of tiers and send outs via reward tier.
There are a few other elements I’ll be working at refining, but I did want you to know that, while the process has panned out decently, I am always willing to continue refining. I’ve really appreciated the patience overall, and we love that you enjoy these collaborations. :)
DIGITAL DOWNLOADS:
These will be going out via email on Oct. 31st. Both downloads have book-specific content, and we’re trying to keep the spoilering down to a minimum. In the email, you’ll find instructions on how to access the files.
OTHER ITEMS:
Thanks also to everyone who popped into the Sunday Class Stream we hosted on Guild Wars 2’s Twitch Channel this last Sunday. It was a fun 19 hours, and I hope you guys learned something/had a good time. Our hosts were a great bunch, and the art was top-notch. :D
The Wintersday Zine also starts its sale period on the 15th (we promise that this will be entirely concluded before we ship those!).
Inktober also has started this month, and Guild Wars 2 has posted an official prompt list (shown below). The Artist Collective also has an OC art challenge "OCtober" going on Discord, if that's your speed. It's open to everyone with some prizes for you, including gems, pins and more.
QUESTIONS?:
Please email them to [email protected] if they aren’t answered above!
Sat Sep 15 '18 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Sat, Sep 15, 2018 at 12:48:41 AM
Hello Commanders!
I'm here with a few reminders about the project, along with overall reminders for a continued reference as I know many of you are eager to get your packages. Trust me in that there's no one more eager than I am – having all of these safely with all of you is something I'm working hard at doing and look forward to continue seeing (I adore photos!).
TL;DR: I am a bit under 20% done with shipments (500 down). (Now to do it just over 4 more times.)
First, time-related items:
>> Our charity auction to have your Guild Wars 2 character painted in our next project closes tonight (Saturday, 8PM EDT). 100% of the amount goes straight to Save the Children, which is the Wintersday Zine 2018's chosen charity. You can click here to take a look. The commissioning artist is Wojtek Depczyński.
>> Our Patreon is still live with polls/various perks if you want to support the people who do this.
>> As of today, the Wintersday Zine will be open for pre-order on Oct. 15 which is exactly a month away. (Don't worry – Tyrian Tarot will be fully concluded and shipped by the time this preorder period ends!) It will be a very limited sale compared to TT; there will be a hardcap to sales so we can get them out in time (the notification list is here).
Shipping Order:
First of all, I need to emphasize that it is easier for you to reference this list over emailing me. It's the same person (me) who handles email correspondences, packing, TT organization, the artists, arrangements with ArenaNet and all social media channels and promotion, along with the next projects. There's a lot that goes into it, but that's not why I pose this reminder. Like any ticketing system, the more times I'm emailed with questions I've usually answered in updates, the longer it takes packages to get to you because I'm having to answer emails over sending things out. The sad reality is that you're just adding time to getting your own package.
I'm always happy to answer requests and questions when I can, especially if they are technical items, adjustments, address queries and so on (especially if you have a specific case). But, if you're just emailing about a shipping notification or a general "where is it", the notification is generated when a label has been generated and no sooner. If your friend already got their package, it's likely because they had a higher tier than you did; it's not because we're holding yours hostage.
That said, the order as we've indicated before:
>> Wheel of Fortune (independent of the schedule due to pick up from PAX: NA is done, CAN/EU being shipped now)
> Contributors (US complete; CAN packaged and waiting for pick ups)
> Commissions (US mostly complete - 1 or 2 exceptions; CAN pending)
> The World (US mostly complete minus a few; CAN pending)
> The Sun (^)
> The Moon (^)
> The Star (^)
> The Fool: Early Bird (^)
> Chariot (On hold, waiting to finish all CAN above)
> Hanged Man/Temperance (On hold)
> Lovers (On hold)
> The Fool (On hold)
> Preorders (On hold)
For CAN orders for all packages: I'm starting to work through those, but I have to hand wrap them so that containers don't get damaged. It takes about 5x the time, so the process has been slow going (but it shaves off a large amount in shipping price).
For EU packages: We are currently still waiting (just as impatiently) for the train to arrive. We've placed inquiries, but not heard yet. We have no way of having this go faster. We're just as displeased with this as you are since it's incredibly late. It's messed up our fulfillment schedule to a very large degree in that department, and we're not happy about it. Please be patient with us here - there's nothing we can do.
I got my package! Have an error in your order? Something is damaged due to shipping?
Please email us if that's the case. I will do my best to fix it at my earliest convenience!
Hurricane Florence:
We have suspended orders into the NC region until Oct. 1st. I spoke with some post officials and they said any packages in potentially impacted regions would just sit in a distribution center outside of the area. We'll just be holding them generally to not be part of the problem, and will resume promptly at the start of next month.
That said, please stay safe out there. Groups like IFAW (which we're supporting with TT) are actively helping out in impacted areas. Thank you for helping us help them.
Wed Sep 5 '18 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Wed, Sep 05, 2018 at 05:41:47 PM
Hey everyone! We're back from PAX and getting settled in again. Despite taking a red eye flight (who likes those?), I did manage to get another 72 packages in the mail this afternoon before transitioning to Wintersday Zine work. (Basically I have to go one day packing and one day mailing/doing labels, but it'll probably get faster as I get back into the rhythm.)
The car perfectly fits 72 boxes, as it is.
I'll be giving a more well-rounded update on shipping soon and on PAX (and future copies for the large number of people who have asked) -- but thank you to everyone who has posted pictures. It's fabulous to see them as they're arriving (the unboxing videos are definitely awesome). :D
IN OTHER NEWS:
>> We will be posting our next votes on Patreon tomorrow! Thanks to those who voted in our first sticker sheet and pin decisions... tomorrow is going to be another individual vinyl sticker. :D
>> We have a charity auction live! Want to have your character painted in the next Wintersday Fanzine with 100% of the proceeds going to charity? The lowest bid is $25 USD and you can get a fine art print of the illustration. The illustration is painted by Wojtek Depczyński (think Joko from Tyrian Tarot!).
If you aren't interested, we'd still appreciate RTs and reblogs if possible! Everything about the process goes to Save the Children. The auction is LIVE NOW and goes until Sept. 15th at 8PM EDT.
Tumblr: https://gw2collective.tumblr.com/post/177782835803/wintersday-fanzine-charity-auction-click
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GW2Collective/status/1037490988367966208
LIVE LINK: https://www.ebay.com/itm/192648538057
Thank you to everyone, and so excited for the next month and so of festivities! Your excitement is awesome. <3
Fri Aug 31 '18 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Fri, Aug 31, 2018 at 12:10:10 PM
Hello all! This is a short update to remind everyone that we're out at PAX for the next few days! I'd planned for a bigger update prior to leaving, but unfortunately got caught up with preparations (we had to play the biggest game of luggage tetris to get all 40 sets over to PAX.... woo?).
Our welcome to Seattle included a trip to the ArenaNet office!
If you see us at PAX, feel free to chat with us (for an Eternity pin). :D
That said, before leaving, I processed 160 of the contributor, commission and world bundles. It took about 26 hours, and I'll return to sending them out on Wednesday! You would have gotten a shipping notification if yours was sent. There will be more on shipping information in a few days (when we return).
In other news, we have a pin vote up on Patreon which will be up for the next fourish days.
If you're at the Meet and Greet on Sunday, feel free to say hello!
Happy belated anniversary!
- Mel/Sara
Fri Aug 24 '18 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Fri, Aug 24, 2018 at 06:55:41 AM
First and foremost, some notes:
>> We are unfortunately still waiting for the full first shipment of decks to come in. Hopefully this is soon! We're eager to get them out too, and the books are chilling and waiting for their companions. :D
>> As I mentioned in the last update, I put up a Patreon to help with expenses for myself and Qesque (Sara Danger) since we do this unpaid. We have perks for pitching in! We'll be putting up a lot of design votes and sneak peaks in the coming month for merch for the Wintersday Zine before we pass it to ArenaNet for final approval. We just posted one up for a vote on the sticker sheet: click here to support us!
>> We'll be attending PAX West! We may have a few goodies with us (such as slightly defective pins (scratched, usually) that we won't be selling, prints and stickers if we can). If you see us, please say hello! (We'll post on social what to look for... most likely a lot of shiny pins.) :)
>> As announced previously, we will be auctioning off a commission that will be in the 2018 Wintersday Zine, painted by Wojtek Depczyński. (If you remember Joko from Tyrian Tarot, he did that!) We'll be doing it through eBay for Charity, which sends 100% of the auction to the charity, and it counts as a tax-deductible donation. So, want your character painted for a good cause that's printed in a thousand or so books AND get to write it off? Stay tuned for that in early September.
So other items: Lots of Photos!
(This is mostly a fluff update other than the above items.)
These photos are inside under a bit of a warm light, so apologies! It is more saturated than they actually are.
Despite our previous qualms and issues with the gilding and being forced to change paper stocks, the gilding itself turned out really nicely.
I might be biased, but the book is my baby. There was a LOT of work that went into the book. All of the extras in it really show off what we can do, in my opinion. :D
