IDOLS of TORMENT

January 2024 - Fulfillment, New Online Store, and Future Plans
3 months ago – Mon, Jan 15, 2024 at 07:24:20 AM

Happy New Year, Backers!

FULFILLMENT

By now, everyone should have received their rewards, excluding the LP Soundtrack. We apologize to those in Australia and New Zealand forced to wait for things to move around in that part of the distribution network. We hope it was worth the wait – we hope you are happy with your rewards.

A few of you have reached out regarding damaged and unreceived goods. Most of those cases have been resolved – all unresolved cases will continue to receive our full attention until they have been completed. We are having some communication difficulties with our fulfillment centre in Europe, but we are trying our best to reach out for updates and ensure all unresolved cases are actioned.

We will continue to provide updates on the timeline for the LP Soundtrack. We can assure you it has not been shelved. The delay was initially triggered by the time we dedicated to developing and fulfilling the game, but with those portions of the project under control, we have been able to circle back to the music over the past few months. We had hoped to be much further along at this point, but portions of the completed work were scrapped/restarted as we strive to curate the sound to the established aesthetic. Such is the curse of the Artist… We do greatly apologize for this delay and promise your patience will be rewarded with a soundscape that supports the game.

ONLINE STORE

Today marks the official launch of our new online store at www.idolsoftorment.com. We finally received the second printing of our core three products (Hardcover Rulebook, Game Pieces Set, and Echo Deck) and are excited to offer them up for sale to eagerly waiting Eternals. We have a very limited number of Game Mats on hand that we have included in the Complete Game Package w/ Game Mat – they are not available for individual purchase. The other products are available either individually or as part of the Complete Game Package.

At this point, the individual Hardcover Rulebook is available in two editions: the Kickstarter edition with sequential gold foil numbering and NO gold page edges, and the reprint with gold page edges and NO sequential gold foil numbering. There are a limited number of the Kickstarter editions available, so we decided to include them in the Complete Game Package w/ Game Mat, or you can get them as an individual purchase until they sell out. All Complete Game Packages(without a Game Mat)include the reprint version with gold edges.

We are approaching our supply model and online sales based on growth in the community and growth in demand. If this second printing sells quickly, we will consider pivoting from our indie approach and look at moving into the retail market. Let’s only hope!

FUTURE PLANS

First, we really want to hear from you. Please share your gaming experiences – this information is great to observe and helps us improve the game. Email us at [email protected] or join our active Discord community.

Over the next few months, we are going to be attending some events and creating some gameplay videos to help establish Idols of Torment. We really want to engage people, demo gameplay, and generally make more resources available to interested players. We’ve spent too much time in the design studio; it’s time to get out there and play with more people!

Black Magic Craft viewers and our Discord community may have caught a few glimpses into the future of this IP. While these items are still very much in the early stages, we have started sketching out some details, and we have made a plan for the next few years. This plan is obviously dependent on the growth of the game and our ability to generate capital (we’re looking at YOU, plastic sprue production), but we will pursue as many of these items as we possibly can. To summarize the comments made to date:

• An Idols of Torment expansion – including rules for playing multiplayer, more Eternal Powers, more Scenarios, and more fiction
• Turning Idols of Torment into a boxed game – including two Orders in plastic and a reprint of the Rulebook with the expansion material
• More Orders in plastic
• Developing a new game based on a continuation of the timeline – set on Earth following the dissolution of the Echo.

We will definitely look towards Kickstarter again (or equivalent crowdfunding platform) for some of these future plans. In the meantime, we are excited about our new online store and hope to bring joy to some make some people that missed our first Kickstarter.

Once again, thank you for your support on this massive undertaking. We hope you are enjoying the game, and we hope you continue to join us on this incredible journey.

 Cheers,

Jeremy and JP

November Update - Fulfillment Underway
6 months ago – Fri, Nov 03, 2023 at 06:22:21 AM

Hi Backers,

This is going to be a brief update, but it's a good one. Fulfillment is now officially underway.

USA - Fulfillment began on Monday and all parcels have now officially left the building. Some of you have already received your package! 

Canada - Stock has arrived at the fulfillment centre. Parcels will start shipping on Monday.

Europe (other than UK) and South America - Stock is at the fulfillment centre and the lengthy import process has been completed. All applicable Backers should have received an email to confirm their contact information. Parcels will start shipping today.

UK - We were originally going to fulfill from within the UK, but this would require more stock transfers and delays. We have decided to have our EU fulfillment centre take care of UK shipping so fulfillment can begin ASAP - albeit at a higher cost, but reducing any further delays is important to us. It will still be customs-friendly so you won't have to pay a thing to receive your package. Applicable Backers should receive an email to confirm their contact information. Parcels will start shipping on Monday.

Asia - Stock is at the fulfillment centre. Parcels will start shipping early next week. The fulfillment centre uses a shipping network and moves product to hubs along with other games. Some locations will receive their parcels quickly and some might take a couple of weeks as parcels move between hubs.

Australia & New Zealand - Stock is on route from China to the fulfillment centre in Australia. We don't have an estimated shipping date just yet. We will touch base as we receive updates.

All fulfillment centres will have a few extra pieces on hand in case someone's package gets damaged or they receive product with factory defects. Please reach out to us as [email protected] if you have any issues with your packages.

See you in the next update.

-Jeremy and JP

October Update (Part 2) - Fulfillment Delays
6 months ago – Fri, Oct 20, 2023 at 07:44:43 AM

Hi Backers,

As promised, we want to keep you fully updated as fulfillment progresses. 

The last two weeks have been highlighted by frustrating delays with customs and other logistical issues. Containers were stuck at destination ports for much longer than they should have been. 

As of today, all stock has finally arrived at our primary fulfillment centres. We can now enter two critical stages:

• Fulfillment to backers in those primary regions (USA, South America, and EU). Our primary centres have a few other projects they are completing, but it sounds like they should be able to start preparing your parcels next week. We have not yet given up hope that a portion of American backers will receive Idols of Torment in time for Halloween. We are trying everything we can to make that happen...
• Stock can now start moving down the logistical chain towards our secondary regions (Canada, UK, Aus/NZ, Asia). Those shipments to our secondary centres should also leave our primary centres next week. That means fulfillment to backers in those regions is still a little ways out... And, until stock arrives at those secondary centres, we cannot provide a firm timeline to backers in those regions.

Given all this, there will be a Part 3 update on this topic before the month is over... We will provide some good timelines once we know all parcels are on the move. Thanks so much for your patience and understanding. If you have questions, don't hesitate to reach out.

We can confirm that you will receive an email with tracking number from the fulfillment centre in your region once your parcel is on the move.

Now, to finish off with something exciting - here are some pictures of pallets of Idols of Torment products at one of our primary fulfillment centres:

Regards, 

Jeremy & JP

October Update (Part 1) - Fulfillment and Product Availability
7 months ago – Tue, Oct 03, 2023 at 10:29:31 AM

Hey Backers,

We are very close to the finish line... 

Starting today - and continuing throughout the rest of the week - containers filled with Idols of Torment goods will be arriving into the hands of our primary fulfillment partners. This means we have to lock everyone's addresses in BackerKit to make sure all fulfillment information is solidified. You will receive a notification from BackerKit shortly after this email stating that addresses will be locked in 48 hours. This will give you one last chance to update your information if you have moved and need to update your address. After Thursday, October 5th, everything will be locked down in preparation to send your packages to you. If you need to change your address after it is locked down, you will need to reach out to us ([email protected]) and we will see if we can update the shipment before it leaves the fulfillment centre.

FULFILLMENT

We unfortunately cannot provide a solid delivery timeline, but we can sketch out a rough idea based on the scheduled arrivals at our primary fulfillment centres this week. Once our fulfillment partners have all the goods in their warehouses, they will provide some firm shipping dates. Given this, please look forward to another update (Part 2) in about a week or so. 

In terms of global logistics, our primary fulfillment partners are playing a role in minimizing shipping lanes from our manufacturing destinations while also making sure we can keep customs friendly shipping in place. Our primary fulfillment partners will be receiving the goods, fulfilling rewards to Backers in their regions, and transferring goods to secondary fulfillment partners for delivery to Backers in those regions. Therefore, Backers within the regions of the primary fulfillment centres will be receiving their rewards first. Hope this makes sense.

Primary fulfillment locations: USA, South America, and EU (and other non-EU countries in Europe except the UK)

Folks in these regions should receive their rewards before the end of October. We have stressed this to our fulfillment partners because we want this horror-themed game to have an impact during this horror-themed time of year. One of the delays we might see in Europe is due to Essen Spiel - this event is happening at the same time as goods are arriving, so our fulfillment partner is unfortunately going to be spread a little thin.

Secondary fulfillment locations: Canada, UK, Australia/NZ, and Asia

We can hopefully provide a better idea in our next update (in about a week or so). Transfers from primary to secondary fulfillment centres should only take about 1 to 2 weeks, so the lag behind Backers in the primary regions should not be too long. However, it is disappointing that Backers in these secondary regions probably will not have their rewards before the end of October.

PRODUCT AVAILABILITY

We've received a lot of notes from Backers who pledged for digital-only goods who have since changed their minds and now want physical copies. And who can blame them - the physical copies look awesome. Well, we did go forward with a second order from our manufacturers, so we will have some more Rulebooks, Echo Decks, and Game Pieces Sets (Plastic) available for purchase before the end of the year. We have not decided exactly how we will distribute these, but we should have some information and opportunities to pre-order in the next few weeks.

Thanks for your support.

-Jeremy and JP

September Update - Fulfillment and New Content
8 months ago – Fri, Sep 01, 2023 at 07:41:44 AM

Fellow Eternals,

To begin, we want to apologize to all Late Pledge/Pre-Order Backers for the missing updates over the past few months. We began posting updates to "Backers only" in May 2023 with the assumption that everyone with an active pledge would receive them. As it happens, those who pledged directly through BackerKit were not being recognized as Backers by Kickstarter... A few of you inquired about the dead silence, thereby bringing the issue to our attention. We really appreciate you doing so because we would have otherwise continued this practice. Starting now, all updates will be posted as "Public" to ensure everyone gets the information. 

If any Late Pledge/Pre-Order Backers want to see the missing updates, shoot us an email at [email protected] and we will forward them to you.

Now for the big update: FULFILLMENT. Yes, physical goods have left factory floors and are on route to our various fulfillment partners across the globe. The logistics for this project are a bit of a spiderweb - the plastic sprues are shipping from Poland and the books/cards are shipping from China. But, we are working with some great logistics and fulfillment folks, so everything it looking pretty good. It is definitely a great feeling to know that goods are officially on the move. For most rewards tiers, we will wait until all products have arrived at each fulfillment center (except for the vinyl soundtrack) before mailing your rewards to you. Therefore, all your rewards (except the vinyl soundtrack) will arrive at your door in one package. 

The vinyl soundtrack is a going to be delayed until about the second or third quarter of 2024. As audiophiles, we want the best quality for the vinyl. The manufacturer we want to use has a pretty large backlog given their reputation, but we are prepared to suffer the long wait to get what we want. The goods news: we are back in the studio and finishing off the tracks, so it won't be too long before we get them onto streaming services for you to enjoy while you play.

We recently had the pleasure of approving some real production samples before products left the factories. We are extremely pleased with the quality of these products and we know you will be too. We are a little sad to note the factory made one error in production: they did not include the gold gilded edges we had ordered. While this is something we really, really wanted to have on our book, we didn't want to wait another 4 weeks for them to make a new batch. Therefore, these Kickstarter "first printings" will not have gold gilded edges. What they will have - which future printings will not - is sequential foil numbering marking each copy with a unique number. This will mark your copies as the original books - the copies backed on Kickstarter, bringing this game to life.

The next couple of months are geared to be an exciting time for Idols of Torment. As the physical copies start to arrive at your door, we will be releasing more content to support our community and help the game reach more players. This content includes gameplay videos, live streams, and new free scenario packs. 

Once again, a huge thanks to all those who share their terrain builds, painted minis, and gaming experiences. We absolutely love seeing that stuff.

Cheers, 

Jeremy and JP