Pledge Manager Lecturing
over 2 years ago – Fri, Dec 29, 2023 at 01:23:23 PM

I will spare you a cat today. Instead, I offer a different pet, still superior to a dog. My pet kingsnake, Snickers, who sadly died this year. I know this tugs at the heartstrings of most of you. 

I chose a snake today because I am here to scare the 399 people who have NOT filled out their pledge manager. You've seen Snakes on a Plane? You get the idea.

For those of you waiting to finish a group pledge, you're good. I am trying to find MIA backers.

Pledge Manager (PM) Tedious Process Review

•  KICKSTARTER: When the Kickstarter ended, money was collected for whatever you backed. Shipping was not included.
•  DATA: The records were handed over to me, and I selected a Pledge Manager (BackerKit) to manage the information.
•  PLEDGE MANAGER: The PM is designed to collect an address and payment for shipping (as a reminder, I am paying VAT). Backers can also add on items, if desired. Even though you enter a credit card when filling out the PM, no money is collected for shipping (or add-ons) until I close the PM, which is now looking like the end of January.
•  WHO NEEDS TO ACCESS THE PM? The PM is used only to collect information from those who pledged during the Kickstarter campaign. Anyone who did a Late Pledge (also called a Pre-Order), which began on November 1st, can ignore the rest of this post; you are done (as your address and CC was collected when you late pledged). 
•  MASS EMAILING: There is no link to click here. BackerKit has sent an email to your InBox with a personalised link to your PM. It will use the email that is part of your Kickstarter account. The email from BackerKit uses the address [email protected]. If you have used BackerKit for other projects, you can go to https://www.backerkit.com/c/users/active_projects and see if your Characters pledge says "We received your order!." If it doesn't say that, then you have homework to do (thanks to Backer Mike for this bit of advice). BackerKit resends emails periodically if a pledge is not completed.
•  EMAIL NOT RECEIVED? If you haven't received your pledge email, trust me that it has been sent multiple times. So this means: 1) You used a masked email (like with AppleID), 2) The emails are getting filtered out (spam/junk), 3) You use a different, infrequently-used email for your Kickstarter account than your regular email (which likely means, like Kickstarter inception, this plea is headed into the same black hole as the PM email - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).
•  WHAT NEXT? I can send you a direct link to bypass the need for an email. Please don't post in the comments; you must email me at [email protected] as I will not post a link to your account in the comments.
•  WHAT DO I DO WHEN I GET THERE? Please check out this Update for detailed instructions.
•  WHAT HAPPENS IF I NEVER FILL OUT MY PLEDGE? Dan gets the money. Which I do not want without giving you a great expansion and coins that weigh more than a neutron star. RIGHT NOW YOU ARE GIVING ME $16,000. Don't do that.

Happy New Year!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

Solo Cards and Happy Holidays!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Dec 19, 2023 at 02:02:10 PM

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone has an extraordinary holiday...including a nice game haul, of course. ;) I will be traveling and somewhat unavailable Dec 20 - Dec 26. I will catch up on my return. 

In the meantime...

Solo Cards

I feel a special obligation to Obsession solo players, as they have been some of my most ardent supporters. Over the past month, I have been spending extra time developing, testing, and fine-tuning the 14 solo opponents that will be in the Characters expansion. Thirteen of the 14 solo opponents take into account the slightly elevated scores that result from playing with the Characters sideboard (better average Objective Card scores and higher Guest Deck scores due to increased prestige guests and dismissals via the constable). One of the 14 cards is without Characters, as it was rightly pointed out that I have only one impossible Extended Play opponent for the Upstairs, Downstairs expert level.

I leaned on local knowledge provided in the Obsession Facebook group and received Welsh, Scottish, Irish, and old Saxon recommendations for opponent names, which I married (quite arbitrarily) to interesting heraldic elements. It is entirely possible that I have committed an egregious faux pas with some name and/or some combination of name and heraldic design. Please let me know if I have!

I have redesigned the solo card a bit, because with the different permutations (standard or extended, with UD or without, with Characters or without, expert or intermediate) my old labeling was clumsy. So now I list the solo opponents' stats at the top.

Also, the beauty of these new Character solo cards is that you can play against all of them without using the sideboard. They typical bump in scoring when using the Characters sideboard is about 10-15%. If you do not use Characters, you just have an opponent that is 10-15% harder.

Furthermore, I am not creating beginner opponents in this batch because I feel that beginner is a stepping stone to more serious solo play. With limited cards available, I am starting at intermediate.

The numbers on the card are not fabricated, but the product of real games, so the number targets remain coherent.

 The cards are not trimmed.

Feel free to print 'n play and report back!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

Second Chance Servants and Pledge Manager Update
over 2 years ago – Tue, Dec 12, 2023 at 07:15:30 AM

Second Chance Servants

A snowy Saturday morning twenty years ago... 

My kids and I are lounging around in huge piles of blankets on our sectional watching SpongeBob. I doze in and out. I wake up to the episode where SpongeBob says, "Shave me down, make me round!" and I am watching and laughing. I then look around and there are no children in the room, just me, a 41 year old man watching SpongeBob, by himself. 

I finish the episode.

What is the segue? LOL, I sent our disheveled valet to the barber with the instruction to shave him down and make him round. The original Second Chance valet had tufts of hair sticking out of his dome...

...and a number of people told me that, when viewed from above, it was hard to tell a SC valet from a regular one. The footman with his wild hair and missing bag and the lady's maid with her flipped skirt and long hair were easy to distinguish. So, I decided our SC valet needed barbering...

Problem solved! 

And no, I am not doing a poll on this one. :/

Pledge Manager

Progress, but not enough. For all of you who have completed your pledges, thank you! For those who are waiting for groups or other considerations (moving, deciding on extras, etc.), no worries. 

But for those who are neglecting their homework, angry!

Of course, I jest. But I do have concerns that that over 500 people are perhaps not getting the emails. Some reminders from a previous post: 

• If you late pledged (also called pre-ordered) because you missed the Kickstarter, you will NOT get an email as you already provided payment information and an address when you late pledged. There is nothing a late pledger needs to do.
• Only Kickstarter backers need to fill out the pledge manager.
• If you haven't received your pledge email, trust me that it has been sent multiple times. So this means: 1) You used a masked email (like with AppleID), 2) The emails are getting filtered out (spam/junk), 3) You use a different email in your Kickstarter account than your regular email. There is an easy way to solve this! I can send you a direct link to bypass the need for an email. But please don't post in the comments; you must email me at [email protected] as I will not post a link to your account in the comments.

Thanks! I will be quiet for the Christmas season as I travel to visit my kids (and watch SpongeBob). January will see a lot of content. Have a splendid holiday season!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

PM Update (if you late pledged, please read) and PAX Unplugged
over 2 years ago – Wed, Nov 29, 2023 at 07:17:17 AM

Pledge Manager Doing Well

Over 6500 done, < 1000 to go. I neglected to mention a very important point in the last update:

• If you late pledged (also called pre-ordered) because you missed the Kickstarter, you will NOT get an email as you already provided payment information and an address when you late pledged. 
• Only Kickstarter backers need to fill out the pledge manager.

PAX Unplugged

As previously mentioned, I will be at PAX Unplugged this weekend in Philadelphia, so I will not be diligent answering emails between tomorrow and Sunday. IF YOU NEED TO SPEAK WITH ME, send a message through this Kickstarter system, as my Outlook Email does not travel well (so I avoid it). Checking web-based messaging is easier.

For those in the area, my small booth (#4311) is located in the back slums of Diagon Alley along the wall. I will have coin samples that you can attempt to lift along with the Characters expansion set up (prototype). Games will be available. If you have any components that are in sad shape, I bring a full pack-out of replacement parts. 

Come say Hi!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

Pledge Manager Update
over 2 years ago – Sun, Nov 26, 2023 at 08:49:03 AM

Pledge Manager 82% Complete

Good start to the pledge manager. This is a short update, making just a few points:

• If you haven't received your pledge email, trust me that it has been sent multiple times. So this means: 1) You used a masked email (like with AppleID), 2) The emails are getting filtered out (spam/junk), 3) You use a different email in your Kickstarter account than your regular email. There is an easy way to solve this! I can send you a direct link to bypass the need for an email. But please don't post in the comments; you must email me at [email protected] as I will not post a link to your account in the comments.
• I am planning on closing the Pledge Manager in mid-January rather than right before the holidays (of course, when I close the PM is when your credit card is charged). I am a little concerned that there are over 1300 pledges still unanswered, but also I just want to get everyone clear of the end of the year chaos. 
• I took a family break this past week (US Thanksgiving), so I will be posting more content going forward (after the PAX Unplugged convention). If you are going, I have a booth (#4311); stop by and say Hi! I will have the Characters expansion set up and coin samples for you to attempt to lift.

Thanks!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games