New Playtest Available + General Updates!
almost 5 years ago
– Tue, Jul 23, 2019 at 03:03:52 AM
Hello, Traps backers!
This is Megan again, starting off with the biggest news of the update: our newest Treacherous Traps playtest!
This playtest contains 20 pre-made traps for parties of level 1-4. There are four sample traps of five different severities: setback, moderate, dangerous, life threatening, and deadly. These traps vary in style, trigger, effect, and countermeasures to disarm them.
The reason we’ve begun our playtest releases with level 1-4 traps is in effort to help those whose new campaigns were stunted by the Treacherous Traps delay. We want to make sure we get as much usable content to you as fast as possible, so we’ve begun our playtest with the lowest CR range. We hope this can be of some help, and we assure you more content is on its way!
To Download the Level 1-4 Playtest:
Go to this link, add the document to your cart, and checkout.
Upon completion of your order (it will be $0.00), you will see a big blue button that you can click to download the document.
You can also find the download link in your email receipt, which you can use to redownload the playtest at any time.
Future Playtesting
As you’ve likely already noticed, today’s playtest was released very late in the day (our apologies for that — our main writer is very sick, and our Marketing Manager [me] has been in and out of the hospital, yikes!)
However, we’re very happy to announce our future Traps playtest release schedule, all of which will be coming to you at a much more normal time of day:
Monday, August 5th: 20 pre-made traps, levels 5-8
Monday, August 19th: 20 pre-made traps, levels 9-12
Tuesday, September 3rd: 20 pre-made traps, levels 13-16
Monday, September 16th: 20 pre-made traps, levels 17-20
Although this schedule allots for playtesting up to September 16th, we will be making every effort to release these playtests for you all even sooner. At the very least, you can be certain that each new batch of traps will arrive by the above dates.
Providing Playtest Feedback
If you would like to provide feedback for this or any upcoming playtests, leave a comment below and we’ll be sure to take a look at it.
If you’re able, we also strongly recommend joining our Discord server. Not only do our staff and community members hang out regularly in the Nord Lounge, but we’ve set up a channel specifically for Treacherous Traps backers.
Join us in the Traps Discord channel to give us any feedback throughout playtesting, or to just hang out! We’d love to chat with you and introduce you to the rest of our community.
A “Thank You” from Nord Games
After our previous update, our entire staff was humbled at the responses we received.
Some comments showed us outpourings of love and understanding, and for those who wrote them: thank you for your generosity during such a turbulent time. You eased our hearts and made us so grateful to count you as supporters. As time goes on, we hope to only make you prouder to be a part of this community.
Some comments expressed disappointment, anger, and frustration at the Traps delay, and for those who wrote them: thank you for taking the time to so thoroughly express your grievances, and for sharing your honest (and justified) opinions with us. We value your thoughts greatly and have not taken your feelings lightly. We are working our hardest to rectify our mistakes, prevent their reoccurrence, and improve as a company. We hope that our efforts in these coming weeks will demonstrate that commitment to you.
Moving Forward
In our endeavor to handle this situation and continue improving communication, we held a company-wide meeting on Monday, July 15th. Every member of Nord’s staff across the continents met for 2.5 hours to discuss Nord’s Kickstarter situation.
Each member was present to read through the comments on the previous Traps update. Since your opinions and feelings addressed all of us as a whole, they deserved to be heard by everyone.
We also discussed future goals, pushed back future Kickstarter timelines, and agreed to adopt new project management software that will enable us to stay more in-tune with each other’s progress.
In the coming weeks, we will continue to let you know how we’re improving. There are some aspects of company policy that prevent us from sharing specifics, but we will be as transparent as possible and will keep you notified every step of the way.
***
Thank you all for reading, and I look forward to bring you the next Treacherous Traps update (and the next Level 5-8 playtest!) on Monday, August 5th!
Happy Gaming,
Megan
An Update on the Delivery Date of Treacherous Traps
almost 5 years ago
– Sat, Jul 13, 2019 at 01:23:49 AM
Hello, Traps backers!
This is Megan, Marketing and Community Manager here at Nord Games. This is my first update on behalf of Nord on Kickstarter (and boy is it a big one), so thank you in advance for your time.
As you know, our latest update for this project was on May 19th, during which we projected that Treacherous Traps would be ready for its slated August release.
Today, I am here to inform you that the release date for Treacherous Traps will unfortunately be delayed, and I would like to offer my sincerest apology for this news on behalf of the entire staff here at Nord Games.
As of right now, we are wary of giving you a new projected release date because there is still so much in the air, and the last thing we want to do is send you a second delay email in the future. However, we are aiming for a new release date of the first quarter of 2020, with the hope to deliver as early as possible.
We apologize for this turn of events, and we are deeply sorry for the inconvenience this delay may cause. It is unacceptable to have waited this long to let you all know about the difficulties we’ve been facing with this project, and we accept full responsibility for that.
We at Nord Games pride ourselves on putting our customers first, and it is against our mission as a company to have kept you in the dark. We assure you that our silence does not equal ignorance or uncaring — especially when you’ve so graciously invested your trust and funds into us.
Although we don’t aim to make excuses for our actions, we want to be as upfront as possible about why this delay is occurring.
- Rapid Company Growth
Nord Games has expanded at a rate none of us could have predicted. What was a company with just 3 employees at the end of 2017 has now grown to a company of 9 full-time employees 1.5 years later.
This exponential growth has been wonderful and humbling, but it has also been a trial by fire. Our staff is working tirelessly to meet demands with our Kickstarters, website sales, retail store orders, conventions, and the constant design/writing/editing/testing/production of upcoming products. In the past 6 months, we have also relocated our office and warehouse, completed loads of necessary construction within that warehouse, and secured very-appreciated healthcare benefits for all US employees.
Many of us pull very, very late hours each week in effort to keep up with this demand. Still, in many cases, it feels as if we’re swimming upstream. That is in large part due to an overestimation of our capability during this period of rapid growth, and has in turn affected you all by delaying this project. We sincerely regret this error, and we will not make this mistake in the future.
- Fulfillment of Prior Kickstarters
As many of you are aware, we are also working on other already-funded Kickstarters: Spectacular Settlements (which is currently in playtesting), Objects of Intrigue card decks (which are in their final stages of proofing) and Dreaded Accursed (which is in it’s final stages of writing). For all of Nord’s prior 14 Kickstarters, this tight fulfillment schedule has never been an issue, and that is something we take pride in.
However, we have now fallen behind on three of our current four Kickstarters. Between the revamping of artwork pieces, extensive proofs, layout fixes, and snags with overseas printing, our to-do lists have been overflowing. We currently have all hands on deck to get Objects of Intrigue and Spectacular Settlements finished, which has in turn now led to Treacherous Traps being delayed.
In an effort to be as fair as possible, we are putting all of our resources into getting those first two projects finished ASAP, and then we will tackle Treacherous Traps with full force to ensure that it meets Nord’s exceptional standard of quality before printing.
While this delay is far from ideal, we would much rather ensure that our products are of the highest quality as opposed to hastily sending out something we aren’t proud of. In spite of the disappointment, we hope this is a sentiment you can agree with.
In order to rectify our current situation, here is our game plan moving forward:
- We are putting all future Kickstarter plans on hold. We refuse to begin another Kickstarter until a) we have sent each and every current project through successful production, and b) our next project is at least 80% complete prior to starting our next Kickstarter. We do not take these delays lightly, and we want to ensure that all future projects are tackled with our new hard-earned knowledge of the industry and our own capabilities.
- We will be posting updates on this project biweekly, starting with today’s update. Along with these general updates (including sneak peeks and/or small promotions), any larger updates to this project will be sent along as soon as we have them. We hope these updates will show you our dedication to improved, consistent communication, and that their contents will help provide some insight and joy in the interim of this delay.
Lastly, a happier update on recent Traps progress: we are very pleased to announce that all of our books going forward will be made with thicker, sustainably-sourced paper. As you may have seen from our last updated, we've already confirmed a paper upgrade with our printing company from our typical 95gsm paper to a 128gsm gloss paper that should feel nicer and stronger to the touch. However, we have now also ensured that all future paper will be sustainably sourced and carry an on-book seal verifying the ethical production and printing of our books.
We will also be releasing our second round of Treacherous Traps playtesting on Monday, July 22nd. We hope this taste of the book will further excite you as it has us, and we look forward to hearing what you think about it.
Thank you all for giving us your time during this long update. As a long-time Kickstarter supporter myself, I know how disappointing it can be to open your email to find a Kickstarter delay notification, and assure you we are committed to making sure this never happens again.
If you’d like to leave any feedback, please do so below. I will be personally reading and responding to each comment, and will be happy to help however I can.
Thank you again for your support, and we look forward to bringing you more regular updates in the near future!
Happy Gaming,
Megan
Playtest Material, Production, and Paper Upgrade
almost 5 years ago
– Thu, May 23, 2019 at 03:19:48 AM
Hi All,
Playtesting. It's been a very exciting to get settled into our new office and get everything in order. We're looking at taking the books to production after a thorough playtest process. We hope you enjoyed the first round of playtest material we included in the update from January while the campaign was still running. We're putting the finishing touches on the second wave. From there it goes into layout, and then it will be made available for download.
Production. With Spectacular Settlements currently getting a graphic design enhancement we have Treacherous Traps next in line. After the content has been tested and our team is happy with the artwork and layout the book will be ready for production. We're still looking at a fulfillment date of around August as long as there are no unexpected delays. We and many other publishers have run into issues with delays in receiving product from overseas, so we are sourcing a US based production facility just in case things get really bad and delays start lasting months instead of weeks. We will keep you informed of any progress there. We're looking for quality above all else, and our current printer (Regent Publishing) is hard to beat when it comes to the quality of the cover, bindings, and overall clarity and colors of the book's content.
Paper Upgrade. We are upgrading the paper we use in our books across the board. We have been using a 95gsm gloss paper which looks beautiful and feels good to flip through, but we've been wanting an something thicker. The paper we've chosen is a 128gsm gloss paper which feels significantly more robust than the 95gsm while still keeping the same brilliance in color and clarity. This was not a small change when it comes to cost, but we feel the difference in profit margin is worth it to get a superior product for our fans.
Thank you for continuing to support our company through your pledges on Kickstarter and purchases on our website. We greatly appreciate the feedback and the wisdom we glean from your input.
Happy gaming!
-Chris
Backerkit Surveys On The Way!
about 5 years ago
– Sat, Feb 23, 2019 at 12:31:29 AM
Hi All,
Just a quick heads up to keep an eye on your inbox for your Backerkit Survey invite. We are sending a small "Smoke Test" to begin with to make sure things are working correctly, then we will be sending all of the surveys later today or tomorrow.
Switching Your Pledge. On the first page of the survey below the big green button that reads "Get Started" you'll see a link that reads "switch your pledge level >>". this is how you'll change from one pledge level to another. For example if you pledged for 3 decks during the campaign but decided you want everything, you can use this link to switch to the All In! pledge. Please leave a comment on this update or direct message us if you have any further questions.
Locking Down Orders. Due to many requests, we will be locking down orders and charging cards on a regular basis, perhaps weekly. This way you aren't charged for shipping and add ons just before your order is fulfilled and then wonder what the charge is for. Basically the purchase was fresh in your mind so you know to expect the charge. You can refrain from completing your survey for as long as you want before fulfillment if you don't want to be charged immediately, that's no problem. Additionally, if you do fill out your survey but end up changing addresses or wanting to modify your order, just let us know and we can unlock your order or make the changes manually for you.
Please let us know if you have any questions about the survey process. We look forward to posting more updates with artwork and other cool content from the creation process.
Happy Gaming!
-Chris
