Update on Missing Items
over 3 years ago – Sat, Aug 08, 2020 at 08:08:51 PM

Hello, Global Gladiators!

We are back again to update you on the status of delivery for those of you with missing items from your pledge, or missing pledges. Those of you who have received everything from your pledge may ignore this update.

Missing Aftershock Stretch Goals

By far, backers who are missing JUST the Aftershock Stretch Goals make up the majority of those affected by missing items from their pledge. This is why we are having Quartermaster Logistics (QML) handle the fulfillment of these items to those backers who are missing just this item.

As mentioned in Update 78, these stretch goals have been shipped out to QML hubs and we have an update on the status of the delivery to those various regions.

AUS/NZ: The Aftershock Stretch Goals have arrived in this region, and they are currently awaiting trucking to the appropriate warehouse to begin processing and shipping this month.

US/CAN/ROW: We were told the Aftershock Stretch Goals should arrive at the hub by the 20th of this month, followed by a 3 day wait for trucking to the warehouse for processing. Shipping should start before the end of the month.

EU/UK: We were told the Aftershock Stretch Goals should arrive at the hub by the 13th of this month, then trucked to the warehouse for processing by the 18th. Shipping should start before the end of the month.

Missing Upgrade Packs (Outside of Asia)

A much smaller number of backers were missing ONLY the Upgrade Pack. We were told that Ad Magic should be shipping these out as early as this week.

Missing Other Items (Outside of Asia)

We also have a number of backers who are missing a combination of the two items above, other items, or their entire pledge. While we are aware that AdMagic has been very busy with restructuring due to their recent acquisition of BlackBox, the movement on the Upgrade Packs mentioned above has us cautiously optimistic we'll soon be seeing movement on these other missing items as well.

VFI Asia

VFI fulfillment for the Asian region is still ongoing. Ad Magic will be working directly with VFI to make sure they have all the product they need in order to complete fulfillment for Asia.

If you are a backer in that region with missing items, please note that the rest of your pledge may be coming in a separate package. We will post an update when VFI has completed fulfillment. If you are a backer in the Asia region still missing items from your pledge when that happens, we will let you know what the next step is at that point.

Defective/Missing Components Inside a Product

As a reminder, if you open a product box and have any defective/missing components in that box, please email [email protected] to open a QA ticket.

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That's all for this update. We hope to get everyone their missing items as quickly as possible!

Another Step Forward
almost 4 years ago – Wed, Jul 08, 2020 at 11:11:40 PM

Happy Monday, Global Gladiators!

Adam here back with another update regarding our progress towards wrapping up all remaining fulfillment. Here's where we are this week:

Missing Item List

After last week's update, we had another small surge of emails from backers who were missing products from their pledge. With our initial list of affected backers compiled, we will be preparing the list for our fulfillment partners to process on their end to prepare for shipment.

As a reminder, this list is only for backers who are missing entire products from their pledge. Backers with missing or damaged components (cards, minis, etc) should see the "QA Tickets" section below.

Post-Deadline Missing Items

As mentioned in our update last week, we asked for all backers who were missing entire products from their pledge to reach out to us to be put on our new list. We set a deadline for Friday July 3rd, and I used this weekend as a grace period for anyone who missed the deadline by a couple days.

Going forward, if you have missed this deadline to report any missing products from your pledge, we will be using a Google form to compile your information going forward. Here is a link to the form: https://forms.gle/QF4gEqF4MqMi5FCXA

IMPORTANT: This form is only for backers who are missing entire products from their pledge and who have not already emailed us as instructed in Update 75 by the deadline listed above. If you have already emailed us and received a response about your missing items, you are all set; please do not use the Google form linked above.

While missing the deadline may put you at the back of the line for this process, it does not mean you will not get your product. We simply had to set some type of deadline in order to start this process with our new fulfillment partners to get things in motion as quickly as possible. We will ensure that every backer gets what they pledged for. That said, you might experience a slight delay when compared to those who met the deadline, but not by much.

QA Tickets

Any backers with missing or damaged components should still contact [email protected] in order to be logged into our QA list. As mentioned previously, our ability to send out replacements depends entirely on the stock we have on hand to fulfill those missing or damaged items. After fulfillment is complete, we will have access to the remaining QA inventory and we will then be able to send out any missing or damaged components that we did not have access to previously. We appreciate your patience and understanding while we focus on the completion of the fulfillment process as a top priority for Street Masters.

VFI Asia

VFI is still working to finish up fulfillment of the Asia region. We have seen some backers claim that VFI is holding their shipment while they wait for the missing items to arrive to their warehouse so that they can ship the order all at once. We are looking into this because we were told previously that they would ship everything they had on hand with missing items sent later in a separate shipment. As always, we will keep you updated of their progress.

Aftershock Stretch Goals Reprint

As stated in our previous update, QML will be handling the fulfillment of our newly reprinted Aftershock Stretch Goals. They have arranged for pickup of these products at the factory for this week. The products going to the USA and Canada have been picked up at the factory, along with products going to the Australia region. Barring any unforeseen delays, the EU products will be picked up July 10th.

Aftershock Stretch Goals heading out to US and CAN from the factory.

Aftershock Stretch Goals heading out to AUS from the factory.

That's all for now everyone, but we'll be back as soon as we have new information to share. Until then, take care!

A New Path Forward
almost 4 years ago – Tue, Jun 30, 2020 at 12:52:37 AM

Hello, Global Gladiators!

Adam here, bringing you an update about our plans to wrap up this fulfillment!

Missing Pledge Items + Deadline

First off, we want to thank you all so much for diligently emailing us the information we requested of you in Update 75 last week. I spent the week personally responding to emails and compiling information for all affected backers. This is where we are currently (please note, these counts don't include retailers who might be missing items):

282 backers missing only the Aftershock Stretch Goals
35 backers missing only the Upgrade Pack
28 backers missing all (or most) of their pledge
126 backers missing other items or a combination of items

Before we can move on to the next step, we need to ensure that all backers who are missing items contact us as instructed in Update 75 by no later than Friday July 3rd 11:59 pm EDT.

IMPORTANT: Any backer who is missing items, and does not email us by the deadline, will be at risk of further delays in getting their missing items due to necessary inventory transfers (see below).

After this deadline, we will be finalizing our list to coordinate with our partners where our remaining inventory needs to be allocated to complete fulfillment. Speaking of our inventory...

Inventory Found

After we announced that our previous partner had finished their initial fulfillment, my boss spent this weekend cross-referencing our newly compiled list with our partner's various lists. This research uncovered a large portion of our inventory that our former partner had previously told us was missing. It seems it was actually mistakenly shipped to Asia months ago instead of the necessary regional hubs, without any labels or mention of it. While this is indeed frustrating to discover, it is also relieving to know that it wasn't actually lost!

Because of this, we are shipping these items back to the correct hubs from Asia in order to complete fulfillment of these missing items in those regions. We just spoke with them this weekend and we will let you know once the inventory is picked up and when the hubs will be expecting them. Currently we are working with Ad Magic to arrange for them to receive the inventory before we can schedule a pickup. After the hubs receive this inventory from Asia, we will be working with Ad Magic to complete the rest of the fulfillment to the remaining backers on the list we are compiling.

Aftershock Stretch Goal Reprint

The Aftershock Stretch Goals have been successfully reprinted and palletized. We're happy to announce that QML, the fulfillment partner we are using for future projects, will now also be handling the fulfillment for JUST the missing Aftershock Stretch Goals, and they are currently arranging for them to be picked up and delivered to all their regional hubs. With the current number of backers needing ONLY the Aftershock Stretch Goals, we are confident that QML will handle this part smoothly.

Here are some photos from the factory showing this latest reprint/packing process:

Asia Fulfillment

VFI is still working to finish fulfillment for the Asia region. The items that they are missing to complete certain pledges are still inbound from the US. The moment VFI gets them, they can process them and send them out to those owed, to finish the rest of fulfillment for Asia.

Now, you might be asking yourselves why VFI doesn't use the newly discovered stock in Asia (see above). Firstly, most of the products found are not those they require. Secondly, even if there were a few usable items, the logistics involved in extracting those would not only delay the shipment out to the international hubs, but would throw numbers off balance with regards to the incoming shipment from the US, which is already prepped in the VFI system. The last thing we want is a partner with confused inventory numbers again.

We know that being unable to use recently discovered items in Asia is frustrating, but the inbound shipment from the US should arrive very soon. We’ll be sure to let you know once they receive it so you’ll have an idea when they can knock the rest of the pledge items out.

A Word on Replacements/QA

Over the past months, we've tried servicing QA tickets to the best of our ability using what little QA stock we had on hand. However, the reality is that many tickets logged so far require components that we have not yet received QA stock for. This means we must wait for more QA stock to arrive, and this is generally from the inventory that remains after a project fulfills. Therefore, we are prioritizing fulfillment of missing pledges and items first (everything mentioned earlier in this update) and once those are complete, we will have access to the remainder of our stock for QA purposes. So for now, if you have a QA ticket, we thank you for your patience as we wait to be able to service it.

Also, a quick note regarding QA for future projects: as Scottie mentioned in his video, future projects (starting with Altar Quest) should have all QA tickets serviced via QML directly, who will have access to our inventory, some of which will be specially dedicated to QA purposes. What this means is that you'll be able to contact them for missing components directly and they'll help you out (without the need to contact us, as the current process requires).

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That is where we are currently in our efforts to finally complete this unexpectedly long fulfillment process. We thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to get everyone their missing items as quickly as possible. As always, we'll be back with another update as soon as we have more news to share! Until then, take care!

A Heart-to-Heart with Scottie
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Jun 26, 2020 at 11:55:05 PM

Hey Global Gladiators! Scottie here! Long time no see!

Sorry I haven't been around for the last little while; I've been taking care of other projects and duties for Blacklist Games and had let management take care of updating you guys here. But, I thought it was time to check back in myself.

So, here we are in June 2020 and we're still talking about Aftershock fulfillment. Brutal. :(

I know the team's been posting a bunch of updates to try and keep you guys updated on the latest developments in the soap opera known as "Where in the World Is My Darned Game," but I'm here today to offer up something different: a frank heart-to-heart. It's not an update with "news" but rather a sort of recap of this "saga," what's going on, and various honest thoughts from myself regarding this whole debacle.

Warning: this video is very long-winded because it's unrehearsed and off the cuff (and apparently I had a lot to say). If you're not in the mood to listen to a tired, socially-isolated Canadian ramble on, you probably want to skip this. Anyone else who's got 20 minutes to kill, grab a coffee and let me talk you ear off :)

View Video

BlackBox Fulfillment Complete; Next Steps for Missing Items
almost 4 years ago – Thu, Jun 25, 2020 at 10:07:20 PM

Hi Global Gladiators! Here's the latest on Aftershock fulfillment.

BlackBox - Fulfillment Complete

We have been informed that Blackbox has completed fulfillment of all outstanding pledges in their system. Please note that this does not apply to Asian backers, who are handled by VFI Asia (more on that below).

Now, we are aware some backers are still missing items or possibly a pledge. At this point in time, any tasks BlackBox had planned in order to take care of these backers are now being transferred to the company that acquired them, AdMagic, along with any remaining inventory of ours that was in BlackBox warehouses (as stated in previous updates). That said, if you try to contact Blackbox with requests, they will not have access to our inventory because of the transition. This is obviously not ideal and not something we wanted to see happen as it is lengthening the already lengthy and exhausting fulfillment process we've all been dealing with, but this is what must be done in order to ensure a smooth transition of our inventory and to ensure nothing gets confused in the process. So far, we are pleased by the professionalism AdMagic has demonstrated and are confident they will do their best to make this transfer process as quick as possible while taking care to do it properly.

We are still waiting for further details from AdMagic with regards to how long this transition will take, and when we'll be able to resume sending out missing items. We apologize that we cannot provide any sort of time frame on their behalf--yet--, but we are going to use this waiting period, and what is essentially a "clean slate" with regards to the Aftershock shipping process, to ensure everyone affected by an outstanding issue is properly identified and logged.

Some of you will recall that we had attempted to collect a list of backers who had missing items in the earlier days of fulfillment, but BlackBox could not make use of said list during ongoing fulfillment and at this point, because of the transition, they are no longer the party in need of the information, and due to the overlong fulfillment process that list is outdated.

Therefore, we will be compiling a new set of lists which we can use to provide the new fulfillment partner with proper, updated information regarding which backers are affected. To this end, we have created a new dedicated email address to ensure nothing gets lost in the shuffle and that everyone affected has a dedicated resource to contact: [email protected].

An additional silver lining to the transition from BlackBox to AdMagic is that we will able to update the shipping addresses of anyone still waiting for items. We know this has been a concern for many, as the long overdue delivery of some of their items has surpassed initial estimates and they are now moving.

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Now, if you are missing content, please read the appropriate paragraph below and follow its instructions carefully (retailers, please see the final paragraph dedicated to you). We apologize to those who have already contacted us in the past with this information, as stated above, but we must ask that you contact us again in order to ensure we have the most up-to-date and accurate information.

I have received nothing from my pledge!

If you have not received anything from your pledge, please email [email protected] with the following subject line (very important): "Pledge Not Received."