Fulfilment update - the current state of play.
over 5 years ago – Wed, Jul 03, 2019 at 01:36:37 AM

Hi all,

Shep here from Nightfall Games. I'm stepping in briefly for an update as Mark has had some unexpected family requirements to attend to this week.

Unlike Mark's usual updates, I can't quote you too many figures about how many orders are on the way, fulfilled etc - the picking and shipping happens at his end, over in Leamington Spa and I don't have access to the backend of the fulfilment software, however, I can be transparent on exactly what has caused any delay's over the last few week etc.

So, here is the current state of play...

Shipping over the last 10 days or so has been delayed due to us running out of bases for miniatures. These were re-ordered but did not come through in the timescale that we were quoted, which put a big halt on things for us. This also came at a time when Mark and the team were due to attend the Glasgow Games Gathering which took them away from the fulfilment as well. I can confirm the bases have now arrived, Mark should be back on things in the coming days and thus shipping can once again commence. Mark and his team will be pushing forward with the next wave picking and shipping over the coming weekend. This is good!

Mark's team are still handling this 'out of hours' for us. That is to say that to get this campaign fulfilled without bankrupting ourselves we've had to talk Mark and the team into giving up their weekends and after-hours time to get the additional casting, packing and shipping done. Please understand that this means packages are only leaving the door on a certain days of the week and the guys are only able to get to customer service emails regarding shipments at irregular intervals, rather than this being a full-on daily event. There is a lot of work for the Word Forge team to do around their own Word Forge work so please bear with them and us.

Note that every responses of 'hit me' to the previous updates has been logged and are in the picking queue for the coming week. Those with swap-outs are also being prepared but may take slightly longer to leave the door (see below). 

There has been some confusion over the 'fulfilled' and 'unfulfilled' status in Backerkit. So much so that I was confused as well. Having spoken with the team, here is a little clarity on the subject:

As we're not using a fulfilment company and instead have tasked Mark and the crew at Word Forge Games with processing all the deliveries, Backerkit doesn't quite have the functionality that we need from an internal processing perspective. This is to say that it is not possible an mark an order as having been printed/picked/awaiting parts etc, simply fulfilled or unfulfilled.

To enable to the team to work through orders they are batch printed on days when picking is happening and marked as 'fulfilled' to show that it is going into the picking pile for that day. This is to avoid a reprint of the same order by other members of the team later that day etc. The aim here of course is that the order goes out that day anyway so no issues. However, in some instances there have been issues, such as that the order contains something we've run out of or some other unforeseen issue. When this occurs Mark will email the backer via the email address provided on Backerkit to obtain info as needed.

In the last 2 weeks however, this has affected the vast majority of orders as, after printing orders for picking, it was found that bases had run out and so these orders could not be fulfilled. If your order is marked as 'fulfilled' from the last couple of weeks but you have not seen it, please don't worry - it will simple be a case that we were waiting on bases and you can expect the order to be on its way over the coming week now we have stock again. If your order has been marked as fulfilled for a much longer period of time and you have not received it, please check your spam messages to make sure you do not have a message from Mark needing a reply.

We are aware that many of you have commented on previous updates regarding the fulfilled status having been showing for some time and hopefully this helps explain the process a little better. If you have an order marked as fulfilled and it has been that way for an extended period of time (3 week for longer), please comment below and one of the team will investigate over the next week. If you have already commented on the previous update about this, there is no need to do so again, that comment will get picked up.

Mark has stated that once he is back, he will go through those comments relating to orders that have been marked as fulfilled for sometime to double check that there are no unseen issues/post office returns etc. Please give Mark the rest of the week to complete this process.

Swap-0uts have been a nightmare. There is no nicer way to put it. When we inherited the campaign from Daruma with the aim of turning it around (I like to think we've done a decent job of that for the most part!), it was clear that there simply wasn't the money to do some of the stuff they had promised. This is all well detailed in previous updates and you should all be aware by now of what the score is in regards to what changed, got removed and got added. As a part of this process we gave you all the option to replace our default replacement items with other stuff of your choosing. This is obviously good for those of you who really want specific items, but (and it's a big but), it has added significant delay's to shipping in general, not just to those orders with swap-outs, but with all orders in general.

Once picked, the team have to cross-reference the Backerkit info carefully with emails, Facebook messages and with comments on Kickstarter from people asking for swap-outs. Often the name in backer kit does not match the username on Kickstarter and so more investigation needs to be done or messages sent etc. Processing an order that requires swap-outs takes at least 10 times the amount of time as other orders. We can no longer make up default boxes of stuff that relate to a pledge tier as they are all different. This is both confusing and time consuming.

Now, importantly this isn't a gripe. We want you to be happy with the items you receive. We want happy backers that will come back and support Nightfall Games in the future. We also want you to play CS1 with the models you actually want in your Patrol (but personally I'd prefer everyone played DarkNight, because they rock!) But we do have to ask everyone to please bear with us during the remainder of the fulfilment process as it takes time and we have to be extra careful that we're sending the right stuff, as in many cases the goods listed on Backerkit are no longer the right items. We're getting there, but we just ask for some patience while we double and triple check every single order that goes out - we know this campaign has dragged on, but rest assured, it's nearly there for the vast majority of you now.

As previously stated, if you have problems with your order, such as breakages, or if the postman has been mean to you and played football with your book, you can email [email protected], with the subject title 'SLA ISSUES', including a photo of the issue/problem/damage, along with your full name etc. and we will do what we can to resolve it. Please note that these requests have to take a back seat until we can get the rest of the orders out of the door. We absolutely WILL seek to resolve any problems with your pledges, but please bear with us while we dig ourselves out from under the current back-log.

This is probably the most important part of this update. I (no, we) want to say THANK YOU to everyone here. I know we've said it before and we all know the road has been a difficult one. Going from "this has gone to s**t", to "here's your stuff" is no easy feat. We've worked our arses off to get here, no doubt. But, so have you guys. You stuck with us, motivated us and gave us a kick up the backside when we needed it. Many of you were angry (I know, some of you still are) but then it started to work out. Loads of you reached out here, and on Facebook, to express your thanks to Nightfall Games for taking the project back and that made us feel awesome... it made it all worth while. Then, at the UK Games Expo me and Jared lost our voices talking to you guys, the backers, people coming up to us and commending the team on the book and thanking us for the models. We were blown away. We still are. Nightfall Games is committed to its fans and the future of the SLA Industries brand.

Thank you all for being here, for supporting us and for generally being awesome. We promise that if you have not received your book or minis yet, you will do very very soon and it'll be worth the wait.

Cheers,

DN Commandant Chris 'Shep' Shepperson (and the rest of the Nightfall team)

Status Update.
over 5 years ago – Thu, Jun 20, 2019 at 11:24:31 PM

Hi to everyone form Nightfall Games.

Status

We now have 120 Pledges remaining, meaning that 380 are fulfilled are on their way to the backers.

Of the 120 Backers:

• 6 are Late Pledges and we will be contacting them by email
• 1 is a £5 pledger (PDF only) that ordered more on the Pledge Manager. We have contacted them for postage.
• 8 are £25 or £30 pledgers, who we have contacted multiple times to determine swap outs, but we have not had a response.
• The rest are £100 Pledgers who have not responded to any of the previous updates.

Of the 380 parcels sent out 7 have returned to us. We will contact the people once we have fulfilled all pledges.

What to do if you haven't received your pledge reward yet:

Check your Backerkit to see whether it says 'Fulfilled' or 'Unfulfilled'. Here is the Link. 

• If it says Fulfilled then it is likely that we have tried to contact you but not had a response, the parcel is on its way, is lost or has been returned. Comment below and Mark will contact you to confirm.
• If it says Unfulfilled and you are a £25 or £30 level pledger email [email protected] with the title: £25/£30 Pledge Query
• If it says Unfulfilled and you are a £100 pledger, read the next section:

How to get your Contract Circuit Level (£100) Pledge Reward

There has been a lot of history to everything that has happened to this Kickstarter. Given that you have missed the last few updates, it is likely that you may have missed that. Suffice to say. 'Daruma Productions'. the company that ran this KS no longer exists, with them went ALL the money that was raised in this KS. In its place Nightfall Games (the IP owners of SLA Industries) has partnered with Word Forge Games (the casters of the miniatures) and between them they have funded the completion of the KS, including all models, postage, books. This has cost approximately £35k and 1000s of hours of unpaid work. As such some compromises needed to be made to fulfil this KS, this includes the fact that the Tshirt and 4 free models didn't happen, in their place we are supplying 5 other models.

1. If you want your pledge as is and are happy with us substituting as stated comment 'HIT ME'.

2. You want your Pledge with all 5 proposed models (Shiver Medic (KS Exclusive), Gert, Dee, Grunt and Clarence (KS exclusive)) swapped out - comment below 'MINI SWAP' and state what you want in their place from the list below.

e.g. Bob wants his pledge as we propose: he comments below HIT ME

Verity wants her pledge with the 5 Models for the Shiver Patrol: she comments MINI SWAP - Shiver Patrol

Be Aware

• We have limited resources (Mark's Saturday and or evenings), so this will take time. 
• We are awaiting a restock of 30mm bases.
• We are at limited stock on the bag, it will be first come first get, if you want to swap it let us know below and we will send an equal value alternative.
• Dream Entities were not made, in their place we will supply a Scav patrol. If you already have a Scav patrol, we will instead send an alternative patrol from the list below.
• Metal D20: we never got this from Daruma. In it's place we will include 6 'The 9th' Dice

The SWAP OUT OPTIONS

After very careful consideration, we have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for us to pick over 120 orders independently so we will have to restrict the options to the below. In other words if you don't want the 5 miniatures we have proposed then you can swap for one of the following (while stocks last), (previous statements regarding swap outs should be disregarded). See the items here: 

Damaged Parcels

We have had a very few parcels damaged in transit. Please email [email protected] with photographic evidence. He will get back to you once we have fulfilled the KS or as soon as he can before that.

And Finally...

Bag Swap
over 5 years ago – Fri, Jun 07, 2019 at 02:31:44 AM

HI to all from Nightfall

We are now at the point where we can look to pick and pack for those people who want to swap out the 5 models AND OR the bag.

As with previous updates, if you want to do this we need you to comment below.

This will get complicated, so please be clear and concise.

Options:

DO NOT COMMENT IF YOUR PLEDGE IS WITH YOU ALREADY

DO NOT COMMENT IF YOU HAVE ALREADY REQUESTED YOUR PLEDGE REQUEST. IT HAS BEEN PICKED, OR WILL BE SHORTLY, AND IS EN ROUTE.

Here's what to do:

1. You don't want to swap anything we proposed, comment 'HIT ME'.

2. You want your Pledge with all 5 (Shiver Medic, Gert, Dee, Grunt and Clarence) swapped out - comment below 'MINI SWAP' and state what you want in their place from the list below.

3. You want your Pledge with the bag swapped out - comment below 'BAG SWAP' and state what you want in its place from the list below.

4. You want your Pledge with all 5 (Shiver Medic, Gert, Dee, Grunt and Clarence) model and the bag swapped out - comment below 'MINI&BAG SWAP' and state what you want in their place from the list below.

e.g. Bob wants his pledge as we propose: he comments below HIT ME

Verity wants her pledge with the bag swapped for the Shiver Patrol: she comments BAG SWAP - Shiver Patrol

Calvin wants their minis and bag swapped for a Shiver Patrol and a Hunter Sheets 2 with Dice: they comment MINI&BAG SWAP - Shiver Patrol & HS2+DICE

Be Aware

We have limited resources (Mark's Saturday and or evenings), so this may take time. He will complete them in order of request starting on Saturday 8th JUNE. 

NOTE: There are around 140 pledges left and approximately 70 Bags. There will be a shortage.

The SWAP OUT OPTIONS

After very careful consideration, we have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for us to pick over 140 orders independently so we will have to restrict the options to the below. In other words if you don't want the 5 miniatures we have proposed or the BAG then you can swap each for one of the following (while stocks last), previous statements regarding swap outs should be disregarded: 

Status

Contract Circuit Pledges: Swapping the 5.
over 5 years ago – Thu, May 30, 2019 at 01:29:52 AM

HI to all from Nightfall

We are now at the point where we can look to pick and pack for those people who want to swap out the 5 models we had proposed.

As with previous updates, if you want to do this we need you to comment below.

This will get complicated, so please be clear and concise.

Options:

DO NOT COMMENT IF YOUR PLEDGE IS WITH YOU ALREADY

DO NOT COMMENT IF YOU HAVE ALREADY REQUESTED YOUR PLEDGE REQUEST. IT HAS BEEN PICKED, OR WILL BE SHORTLY, AND IS EN ROUTE.

Here's what to do - BUT ONLY IF YOU WANT TO SWAP OUT ALL: GERT, DEE, GRUNT and the KS EXCLUSIVES CANNIBAL BUTCHER & SHIVER MEDIC:

1. You want your Pledge with all 5 (Shiver Medic, Gert, Dee, Grunt and Clarence) swapped out - comment below 'MINI SWAP' and state what you want in their place from the list below.

2. You don't want to swap the 5 models we proposed comment 'HIT ME'.

Be Aware

We have limited resources (Mark's Saturday and or evenings), so this may take time. He will complete them in order of request starting on Saturday 8th JUNE. 

NOTE: There are around 170 pledges left and approximately 85 Bags. There will be a shortage.

The SWAP OUT OPTIONS

After very careful consideration, we have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for us to pick over 170 orders independently so we will have to restrict the options to the below. In other words if you don't want the 5 miniatures we have proposed then you can swap for one of the following (while stocks last), previous statements regarding swap outs should be disregarded: 

What to do if you want to keep 1 or both KS exclusives

You can still get these even if you swap out. Simply send £8 for 1 or £15 for both to our PayPal account: [email protected] (- yes that is right: .co). If you have done this let us know below, by adding 'PPMedic', 'PPButcher' or 'PPBoth' to your comment below, as appropriate.

What to do if you also want to swap out the bag

You will be able to do this once we have completed everyone who responds to this update or we run out of bags - whichever is first.

And don't forget...

If you are UK Games Expo, come and see us at Hall 1 Stand 361. 

Mark, Jared and Shep will all be on hand.

UK Games Expo Pick Up: STAND 1-361
over 5 years ago – Wed, May 22, 2019 at 02:12:55 AM

As promised we are now at the point where we can look to pick and pack for those people who want to have their pledge reward delivered at UK Games Expo.

As with previous updates, if you want to do this we need you to comment below.

We are now getting to the stage where this will start getting complicated, so please be clear and concise.

Options:

ONLY COMMENT IF YOU ARE WANTING UK Games Expo PICK UP. 

DO NOT COMMENT IF YOUR PLEDGE IS WITH YOU ALREADY

DO NOT COMMENT IF YOU HAVE ALREADY REQUESTED YOUR PLEDGE REQUEST. IT HAS BEEN PICKED, OR WILL BE SHORTLY, AND IS EN ROUTE.

Here's what to do - BUT ONLY IF YOU WANT UK GAMES EXPO PICKUP:

1. You want the Pledge as proposed (thank you it saves a lot of work) - comment below: 'EXPO NO CHANGES'

2. You want your Pledge with only the bag swapped out - comment below 'EXPO ONLY BAG' and state what you want from the appropriate table below

3. You want your Pledge with all 5 (Shiver Medic, Gert, Dee, Grunt and Clarence) swapped out - comment below 'EXPO MINI SWAP' and state what you want in their place from the list below

4. You want your Pledge with the Bag and all 5 (Shiver Medic, Gert, Dee, Grunt and Clarence) swapped out - comment below 'EXPO MINI & BAG' and state what you want in their place from the list below.

Be Aware

We have limited resources (Mark's Saturday and or evenings), so we may not be able to fulfil all of these pledge requests in time. He will complete as many as he can in a first comment first picked order. 

The SWAP OUT OPTIONS

After very careful consideration, we have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for us to pick over 170 orders independently so for the UK Games Expo pick up AND ALL OTHER SWAP OUT WANTS, we will have to restrict the options to the below. In other words if you don't want the 5 miniatures we have proposed then you can swap for one of the following (while stocks last), previous statements regarding swap outs should be disregarded: 

CS1 RPG Book PDF is now available to purchase on Drivethru