Credit Charges Processed
almost 4 years ago – Thu, May 12, 2022 at 03:47:27 AM

Hello all, 

Just a quick update. We started the processing of the credit cards this morning. Everyone who had their orders locked and ready for payments have had an attempt made to charge for their game/shipping/VAT/Tax. There were 61 payments that did not go through; if you got an email saying that the charge was not successful, please correct the card on BackerKit or reach out to us with any further questions. 

Additionally, there are 34 people that pledged $50+ who have still not completed their survey and therefore, have not been charged for their shipping/VAT/Tax. So, I encourage you to check to make sure your order has made it through the payment process. I may send one last email to everyone who hasn't completed this step. 

Let us know if you have any questions. 

Jon Usiak and Brian Moats

Usiak Games and Designs

Update: Credit Cards Charged Next Week and Timeline Updates
almost 4 years ago – Mon, May 09, 2022 at 12:42:09 AM

Hello Everyone,

We have some updates we wanted to pass along. 

For those who want the short version:

• Freight should be arriving at the docks over the next 2 weeks (May 16th US / May 14th UK).
• Update your address in BackerKit ASAP if you will not be at the address originally provided.
• Some backers will likely receive their game by mid-June.
• Credit cards will be charged next week (probably around May 10th). This is for the shipping, add-ons, and VAT/Taxes that were charged via BackerKit using a credit card. Those who paid with PayPal have already been charged.

That wraps up the short version.

For those who want a little more detail:

Freight Updates and Updated Timelines

We received updated freight progress over the last two weeks. We are finally getting to the final stretch of this campaign; this means we will be finalizing orders and charging credit cards next week (more on that below).

Here are the estimated dates of arrival as well as when we were provided the update by our freight forwarder:

• US Port Arrival Estimate – May 16th (update as of May 4th)
• UK Port Arrival Estimate – May 14th (update as of April 22nd)
• Games to start arriving at Backer’s homes – Second half of June

These dates are estimates provided by the freight forwarder. We are assuming it will take 2-4 weeks for the games to be offloaded at the docks and to arrive at the fulfillment centers, and the fulfillment centers will need 1-2 weeks to get everything boxed and shipped. This means we should start seeing some backers receiving their games in mid-June.

If you need to update your address, please do so As Soon As Possible. We understand some changes could happen between now and June. We can update addresses manually after next week if needed, but please update your information in BackerKit if you know in June you will not be at the address you provided us in BackerKit initially.

Charging Credit Cards

Credit cards will be charged early next week (likely on May 10th). If a card fails to charge, we will notify those backers. You will have a week or so to provide an updated payment method via BackerKit. If we are unable to charge for shipping, add-ons, and/or VAT/Taxes by the time we have to provide the final shipping information to the fulfillment centers (around May 17th), those backers will not receive a copy of the game. Please check your payment method and confirm it is still valid to avoid any issues.

Alternately, if you no longer want the game or cannot afford to pay the remaining balance, you may request a refund for your pledge (minus fees outlined on the Kickstarter page, see “REFUND POLICY” on the campaign tab).

Reach out to us if you run into any issues finalizing your payments; we will help out as much as we are able to. Unfortunately, the costs of everything have risen so much that even we are having to absorb a lot of the increased costs just shipping the games out. We estimated a 10% increase between years as recommended by our fulfillment companies, but it actually increased about 25% in 2022. We have absorbed that extra 15%. That said, we certainly understand that everyone has certainly been impacted as well and may need to make decisions about what is a priority for their tightening wallets.

Future Projects

As Jon said in his last update, we are already hard at work creating the first map expansion for the game. Jon sent me the graphics of the hand drawn map and some of the new cards; it is looking pretty good already. We plan to continue internal playtesting throughout the summer via a secret Tabletop Simulator mod that we will invite a small number playtester to join us once we feel it has passed our internal thresholds (sign up for the email newsletter if you want more details about future playtest opportunities: https://usiakgames.com). Obviously, we are excited to hear your feedback about the main game we expect you will all have in your hands in the next 2 months, but we did want to tease our next project.

I have also been working on a card game that is set in the SKEPTICS universe as well that I hope to share more information about this summer.

We hope you are enjoying your weekend so far,

Brian Moats and Jon Usiak

Usiak Games and Designs

SKEPTICS Update
almost 4 years ago – Sat, Apr 23, 2022 at 07:16:25 AM

Hello everyone!!!! How are you all doing?! I am excited to give another quick announcement!

SHIPPING and FREIGHT

So our games are now on two freights, one heading to the US and the other to UK. Just to reiterate, the US will include Canada and Mexico orders, and the UK will cover all the other countries. We were told Freight could take up to 4-5 weeks to make their destination to our fulfillment centers but once they arrive the next step is getting these games out to you! 

Addresses

For those who need to change or update their address please make sure to update that on your Pledge Manager page. If you do so, please let us know so we can reach out to the fulfillment team to update.

Credit Card Charges

For those who are paying by Credit Card, they will be charged approx. mid-May as the games reach their destination. If you have not paid shipping yet, or are unsure if you have, you can check your Pledge Manager. There are only a few left who need to put in their info so most of you should be all set. If your card does not go through we will have to hold the game. The shipping fees could be slightly higher too if you are making a payment post Campaign and after the closing of Credit Card charges. Please reach out to us if you need help with anything. 

Soundtracks

Just a reminder that I will release the two one-hour soundtracks on Usiakgames.com/soundtrack once the first batch of copies reach our backers! As of now there are two 30 second samples up on the site.

Expansion Playtests

Another reminder that mid-Summer (once the Main game reaches everyone) we will reach out to our Master Pledgers, AND do a random selection on our Facebook and email subscribers, to play test the Next SKEPTICS expansion! The paper prototype is all ready to go and will soon be on TableTop Simulator! Brian and I will be testing it first before it goes semi-public :)

Well that is all for now and we hope you have a wonderful Weekend! If I missed something Brian might add on to this. Feel free to ask us any questions!

Jon Usiak and Brian Moats

Usiak Games and Designs

SKEPTICS Update
about 4 years ago – Sat, Apr 02, 2022 at 01:26:52 AM

Hello everyone! I just wanted to give you a very quick update of the SKEPTICS progress.

Shipping and Pickup

Our manufacturer got back to us and said the booking for our US Shipment is now confirmed for pickup at their factory. The estimated dates are to leave Shanghai near 4/09 and arrive to NY around 5/09. From there, the palettes will be moved down to the port in Jacksonville, then onto our fulfillment center in Florida. We were cautioned that these are only estimated dates and they would most likely be delayed due to...well, everything going on in our World today. At least there is some progress though!

For the UK (and all other countries; our fulfillment center for rest of the world is in UK), booking has not been confirmed just yet due to a COVID lockdown but they are confident that the lockdown will end next week, and freight forwarding agencies should be able to resume normal operation. Upon that time the manufacturer can move forward with the booking. 

We have been told that the factory itself though is not affected by the lockdown, so that is some good news.

Soundtrack

The second 30-second soundtrack Sample is now up on Usiakgames.com/soundtrack. Both tracks will be available a few days before our first backers receive their games!

That is all I have for now, but wanted to keep you updated. I am off work this week, and spending a little time on.....future things :)

Thank you!

Jon 

Quick SKEPTICS Update
about 4 years ago – Sat, Mar 19, 2022 at 01:47:05 AM

Hello everyone!

I wanted to reach out this week to keep  you updated on our recent news and schedule and where things are up to this point. This won't be as in depth as one of Brian's amazing updates, but it should be enough to give you an idea of where things are at.

Manufacturer/Mass Production Copy (MPC)

So there is some good news, and some news that caused a delay. Nothing bad or major, but there was a delay with the manufacturer because they misprinted the Expansion Storybook in the MPC. All the colors were printed in a sepia tone, which wasn't too bad, but was not the intended, original colors. We would've probably rolled with it, but on page 2 one sentence was overlapping another and it looked bad. Something was offset on the printer. We also noticed a (double word) typo on page 10, so I figured if they had to reprint anyway, why not update that as well. They said production would take 2-3 more weeks, but they got back to me quickly and finished the print run sooner.  There was also a misprint on the Core Rulebook page 6 with some color shifts (middle image),  but it wasn't bad enough to reprint the entire 20 page Rulebook, so we made the decision to let it go.  The sample copy was perfect, but they use different machines for the MPC, so some things could get slightly off, as in this case. Otherwise, everything else came out great!

The Insert Tray design is now upgraded. Sleeved cards fit perfectly on the left and right slots, they pushed down another millimeter of space for the Magnifying Glasses. They upgraded the Dark Blue Clue Dice to the desired light blue to match the Key Dice (which are also corrected).  The Ghost Cards sit perfectly inside their slots, with the investigator tokens slot right under. I was very pleased with this final design. 

So now we are expecting a Cargo pickup on March 28th from the factory to go to the fulfillment centers. But like all things go in the shipping world, this could change.  I am also waiting on some VAT information so we can have everything set to go for our UK fulfillment center, which will ship out to the rest of the world (USA, Canada, and Mexico will come from our US fulfillment). Once that comes through we can finalize the UK cargo.

Soundtracks

The first of the two soundtracks are finished, with the second track going through final edits. I decided to split the tracks to be designed by two different sound designers instead of just one, just to get some variety. The first track is more of a sound based Environment track set in an abandoned Asylum. Where as the second track is more music and atmospheric with some minor sound effect additions. The first 30 seconds of the first soundtrack can be heard at the following link: usiakgames.com/soundtrack

The second track sample will be uploaded within the next week or so once all edits are completed.  The full versions will be released when the first copies of the games reach our backers, which is still set for Summer.

Final Words

Other than that, things are still in motion and still should be within the schedule Brian wrote up during the last update.  We really have no control on the speed of shipping once the Cargo gets picked up but will keep everyone updated as news arrives.

On a side note, I have been working on the next expansion. Mostly reference gathering and planning the design and layout. My goal is to give a bit more board space on this next design, and already have templates for a Quad Fold board, which when reduced should be the same size as the board in the Original game. I do not want to reveal what the design is yet, but you will get a hint with your copy of the Core game :)

Thank you everyone. Have a great weekend! If you have any questions please reach out. We will try to get back to you when we can!

Jon Usiak