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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: Big Simon on June 14, 2010, 04:49:36 PM
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From the DFRPG website (http://www.dresdenfilesrpg.com/2010/06/14/a-new-kind-of-schedule-slip/)
Last week we announced that the books would start shipping on the 30th of June. We’ve been looking that date over for the last week, talking with our distributors and our warehouse and so on to make sure everything is in place for that date to happen. And that’s when we realized something.
We’ve got it all together well enough that we can ship earlier than the 30th! (That’s right; for once, we’ve got a date on the schedule that’s moving in the other direction.)
Accordingly we’re moving our ship date to June 23rd. That should put books in folks’ hands a week earlier — for some people. during the same days that Origins is happening, where the books will be making first contact with the fans. And that feels about right.
Thank you, Evil Hat! You're not half as evil as your name suggests!
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This pleases me. By the time the book is out, I might actually have enough income to afford it.
(:
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Yay! :D
... I'm happy for you guys in the US. I know it's probably the wrong place to ask but: any word on when the books are supposed to make it across the Atlantic Ocean?!
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Yay! :D
... I'm happy for you guys in the US. I know it's probably the wrong place to ask but: any word on when the books are supposed to make it across the Atlantic Ocean?!
Where across the ocean, Papa Gruff? Maybe we could work something out...
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Where across the ocean, Papa Gruff? Maybe we could work something out...
Germany. I have ordered YW through a preorder partner though ... just curious on a time frame for us folk here over the pond.
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Nice!
Stickey?
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Whoa.
It's going out early?
That's as startlingly shocking as is amazing.
Wicked!
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Good news! I'm one of those old farts who has trouble absorbing new material from a computer screen. I mean, I can obviously read web pages, and I've read the odd novel in ebook form, but I need a physical book when I'm studying.
Once I've learned the game, the PDFs will be useful to me as a reference.
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Yay! :D
... I'm happy for you guys in the US. I know it's probably the wrong place to ask but: any word on when the books are supposed to make it across the Atlantic Ocean?!
The Atlantic? What about the Pacific!? (Australia to be specific)
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The Atlantic? What about the Pacific!? (Australia to be specific)
Ah ... who cares ... haha ... just kidding ;)
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Wahoooooo!
I feel like a pixie that just had his pizza ration increased! ;D
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Christmas...in June?!?!?!?!?!
SQUEEEEEE!
-EF
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YES!!!!
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"Numfar! Do the Dance of Joy!"
(bonus points to whoever catches the reference)
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"Numfar! Do the Dance of Joy!"
(bonus points to whoever catches the reference)
It's a Buffy reference, just don't remember where in that timeline.
And as long as no one broke the Sixth Law to deliver them early, I think we're okay. ^_^
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"Numfar! Do the Dance of Joy!"
(bonus points to whoever catches the reference)
It's a Buffy reference, just don't remember where in that timeline.
And as long as no one broke the Sixth Law to deliver them early, I think we're okay. ^_^
Actually, it's an Angel reference. When they visit Lorne's home dimension, his Father makes Numfar do the dance of joy... without music, because there is no music in that dimension.
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Awesome!
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Yeah, the dance in Buffy was the Snoopy Dance!
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Actually, it's an Angel reference. When they visit Lorne's home dimension, his Father makes Numfar do the dance of joy... without music, because there is no music in that dimension.
Ah-ha. . .figured I was off somewhere. Thanks for the clarification.
Now if only the RPG had the recipe for Harry's coffee potions ^^;
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Actually, it's an Angel reference. When they visit Lorne's home dimension, his Father makes Numfar do the dance of joy... without music, because there is no music in that dimension.
That's actually his mother who tells Numfar to do the dance of joy.
Trivia: Numfar is played by Joss.
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And Mouse gets it FTW.
Take a Geek Trivia point from me.
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Ah ... who cares ... haha ... just kidding ;)
Judging from past RPG book releases, you are probably right. They don't care much about their market here across the Pacific.
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Wow, this is impressive.
Way to go, Fred and his Evil Hatans... Hatians??? Hatoid??? Hatlians??? :-\
Well, anyway, this is the first time that I can recall that any gaming company has been able to do this. ;D
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... Hatians??
Careful with that one... :P
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Wow, this is impressive.
Way to go, Fred and his Evil Hatans... Hatians??? Hatoid??? Hatlians??? :-\
Well, anyway, this is the first time that I can recall that any gaming company has been able to do this. ;D
Evil Hatters?
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I vote "Evil Hatroids".
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I vote "Evil Hatroids".
+1!
(http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/3447/194881-metroid_2_large.jpg)
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"Numfar! Do the Dance of Joy!"
(bonus points to whoever catches the reference)
Angel season two or three...can't recall exactly...when they went to the one Demon Dimension and found Fred...
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Judging from past RPG book releases, you are probably right. They don't care much about their market here across the Pacific.
I doubt it's a matter of not caring - it's simply a matter of logistics.
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Angel season two or three...can't recall exactly...when they went to the one Demon Dimension and found Fred...
Season 2, last few episodes. It was called Pylea.
Yep, another Joss nerd. ;)
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Eh, crappy quality, but the best I could find...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHquHN8jZqg
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I vote "Evil Hatroids".
I like it! ;D
I knew there was something wrong with Hatoids, but I just couldn't pin it down.
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So, we going to have it in our hands by the 23rd or are you guys shipping it out then? My brick and mortar store will have it tomorrow for me, for my second set so curious to how the pre-order is going down?
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I think that what was stated was that it would be shipped tomorrow. Could be wrong though.
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Someone on Rpg.net forums in England got a copy from a store. They are showing up at Endgame in Oakland, CA today http://yfrog.com/joztunj
I'm personally hoping for tomorrow or the next day (to Atlanta) so I can take it with me on vacation.
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After the day I had today, I was bummed out to find out that my FLGS that I got my pre-order through didn't get DFRPG in their shipment today. :'( Here's to hoping another shipment will come in before NEXT Tuesday.
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And the mail carrier stalking has begun! As long as it shows up before Monday, I'm going to need some hospital waiting room reading, I'll be a happy camper.
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I still keep my fingers crossed for a speedy delivery to the German stores ;D
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Here's a question for those of "in the know" (i.e., Fred probably): will the books be shipped from EHG or will the FLGS have to wait on their usual distributors? I'm hoping for the former...
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Should be shipping today, I assume it would be gauche to ask if I can't just pick it up.
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The Tomes Of Power are MINE!
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Gimme Gimme gimme.
I need.
I need!
12#$!@# slow postman.
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Should be shipping today, I assume it would be gauche to ask if I can't just pick it up.
Actually went out yesterday...some places (like California) got there shipments yesterday. Down here in sunny FLA, my store didn't get their shipment of DFRPG stuff yesterday.
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And so the great strife began...
... Constant checking of the front door and side yard.
... Furious tracking number refresh.
:P
Edit: Each book came with a shortcut bookmark. Nifty.
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Hmmm... I just checked my account at Evil Hat... says "Preparing" under order status for my Print & PDF...
I'd love to get it before I go on holiday in mid-July, so I can actually sit down and read these books... in between reading chapters of Lee Child's latest...
Hmm, Jack Reacher as a character...
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Greetings
My son's and my copy arrived yesterday from Leisure Games in the UK. Really good stuff.
Regards
Edward
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ugh
Order Status: Preparing
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Should have read the preorder notice more carefully and ordered locally. I'll be waiting on the international shipping.
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I'm looking forward to the books arriving, and don't mind much that they're showing up thousands of miles away and across an ocean (no, I promise, I'm not bitter!) before they reach people within a one- or two-day drive from their point of origin. At least not as long as they make it here before my next game day, and that's well over a week away. As long as they're here before next Saturday (July 3rd), I'm good. And I hope all you U.K. folks getting your books before those of us in the U.S. feel good about yourselves, flashing those shiny new books in our virtual faces while we hold back our tears of frustration, chewing on curses and imprecations as you enjoy the full-color goodness of this year's most awesome RPG product.
Darn you. Darn you all to heck.
*sniffle*
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Picked up my 2nd set from the local FLGS, nothing on preorder front.
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My problem with ordering locally is... my FLGS (That's Entertainment, Worcester MA) wasn't participating... in fact, they've dropped about 80% of their RPG stock and carry just D&D 4e stuff as new. Not a big help there.
The other gaming store that I go to occasionally (only because it's ~450 miles away in my home-away-from-home -- Game Parlour, Chantilly VA) may have participated, but I only get there once or twice a year.
Regular ordering was my only method available...
And it still says "Preparing," yet under Shipping Method it simply says "Shipping," so who knows what stage it's in.
Maybe I'll be surprised and it'll be on my doorstep by week's end?
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Picked up my 2nd set from the local FLGS, nothing on preorder front.
How do you say "I hate you for this" and not come off as seeming bitter? ;D
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I'm looking forward to the books arriving, and don't mind much that they're showing up thousands of miles away and across an ocean (no, I promise, I'm not bitter!) before they reach people within a one- or two-day drive from their point of origin. At least not as long as they make it here before my next game day, and that's well over a week away. As long as they're here before next Saturday (July 3rd), I'm good. And I hope all you U.K. folks getting your books before those of us in the U.S. feel good about yourselves, flashing those shiny new books in our virtual faces while we hold back our tears of frustration, chewing on curses and imprecations as you enjoy the full-color goodness of this year's most awesome RPG product.
Darn you. Darn you all to heck.
*sniffle*
!!!
This.
I was hoping to run something this weekend. I still can off my laptop, but I want my books darnit! There is something to be said for being able to flip through a book than scanning through a digital document.
<crosses fingers for a delivery before sat night, but is old enough no to hold his breath.... I think> :P
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How do you say "I hate you for this" and not come off as seeming bitter? ;D
Thankfully my FLGS is owned by a wonderful woman who I've known since I was 8, who acts like a second mom. So she takes chances on stuff I'm interested in. And I get 10% off.
Make you feel better? ;D
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The books...they are now mine!!!
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To those of you who have received your books: has the order status on the Evil Hat online store changed beyond "preparing." at all? Has anyone received any tracking numbers or anything?
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I have received mine and the status is still "preparing."
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I have received mine and the status is still "preparing."
Thank you sir, you are both a scholar and a saint.
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Well, mine's status is still "preparing" as of an hour ago, but so many other people have received theirs I can only trust I'll receive mine shortly.
*crosses fingers*
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Well, mine's status is still "preparing" as of an hour ago, but so many other people have received theirs I can only trust I'll receive mine shortly.
*crosses fingers*
I shall cross my fingers with you. Does that count as thaumaturgy?
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bought mine from a brick and morter store so I dont know anything about the online store delivery times.
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True Faith.
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The Evil Hat webstore has to be manually updated by Fred. Fred is currently at the DFRPG release at Origins, so many people will get the books before the store is updated.
Fred's twitter, 21 hours ago:
"Update from the warehouse is they have a few hundred shipped out, but this is out of a total of 1600; going as fast as they can."
So I don't know, let's say they're shipping ~400 orders a day. Gestimate that, then add in UPS shipping time from a factory in Navada to your house. Maybe give 24 hours for Murphy's Law and general unluckiness. It all ads up to one thing- TOO LONG.
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To those who HAVE gotten their books in - how did they arrive? UPS? USPS? DHL?
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I swear Fred has mentioned UPS, but I really don't know...
For those who don't obsessively fallow Fred's twitter feed, little bit of bad news this morning
"So, Fedex delayed the refill shipment of packing material by 1 day. Bit of a hiccup for the warehouse, but they're back"
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True Faith.
You know, unfortunately, now I read your posts in James Marster's voice for Michael. I hope you are happy now.
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I shall cross my fingers with you. Does that count as thaumaturgy?
Yes. :)
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mine just arrived at my FLGS!
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Mine just arrived in the mail! ;D
They are shiny and neat, and make me happy inside.
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Mine just arrived in the mail! ;D
They are shiny and neat, and make me happy inside.
What shipping method was used?
Also, I'm super-jealous.
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UPS Ground (I had to check the box :D).
And believe me, I've been in your siuation often enough to be able to say I feel your pain.
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Anybody in northern CA get theirs yet?
I was strangely disappointed when I saw that UPS had made a delivery today (some history books I had ordered) but nothing from Evil Hat. :o
I know my preorder number is 415 - hopefully that means I'll see it Monday.
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Shoot... I just checked and I'm like #1800. :( I may never see those books. lol
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I was 320 or so if it helps.
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Mine just arrived in the mail! ;D
They are shiny and neat, and make me happy inside.
You are now my worst enemy. Until my books arrive, of course... ;)
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I'm 307 and I still haven't received mine...
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I'm 307 and I still haven't received mine...
Yeah, I'd bet that significantly more goes into it than what number you are. Shipping distances and difficulties, for example.
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I'm in Atlanta. Not exactly a hard place to find. ;) That said, everything coming from IPR (which I think uses the same warehouse) takes at least a week.
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I'm in Central Massachusetts, nearly the furthest away from the distribution site as you can get in the CONUS.
Hopefully sometime before the holiday weekend...
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I'm 391 but I live in Canada. I haven't received any notification or e-mail yet (so I can't track the package), but if it has been sent at all, it is probably at the border and just sitting there (such is the way things have been for sending US packages to Canadian locales for like, years).
Don't expect it for at least another week.
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I'm 391 but I live in Canada. I haven't received any notification or e-mail yet (so I can't track the package), but if it has been sent at all, it is probably at the border and just sitting there (such is the way things have been for sending US packages to Canadian locales for like, years).
Don't expect it for at least another week.
Just shipped a package using USPS from Indiana to Nova Scotia and it was just under 2 weeks which was making me think the package was lost. Freaks me out when I can ship to the UK, Germany, New Zealand and Spain in (usually) a week.
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Given that folks much further away than I am are received packages last week, I was really hoping for a UPS delivery today. Our local driver has about half an hour left on his route, and my books still aren't here, and since I'm usually on the morning half of the route, I'm guessing I won't be getting my books today.
Here's hoping for tomorrow.
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Just shipped a package using USPS from Indiana to Nova Scotia and it was just under 2 weeks which was making me think the package was lost. Freaks me out when I can ship to the UK, Germany, New Zealand and Spain in (usually) a week.
Nope, that is just Canada customs.
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Wait, what? Order 1922 out of 1600?
Does this mean I won't get a first edition?
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Wait, what? Order 1922 out of 1600?
Does this mean I won't get a first edition?
I can't tell if you're serious, but no, I think you'll be ok. I've heard some other people say that they thought that the order numbers were a few hundred off. One guy said he was sure he ordered within the first 20 minuets of preorder, and he had order number 300something. So assuming orders didn't start at #1, and 1600 is a rounded down number, you're probably at the tail end. Or you have to wait 4 more weeks for the next printing ;D
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I'm thinking I need a refund if it's not first edition on a pre-order.
I can wait till they show up on e-bay.
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I'm thinking I need a refund if it's not first edition on a pre-order.
I can wait till they show up on e-bay.
You don't have anything to worry about El Diablo. I think the order number we got (1700, in my case) represented an order from the Evil Hat store, not the specific item. In other words, when you placed your order, it was the 1922nd order the Evil Hat store processed this fiscal year, not the 1922nd Dresden Files order placed.
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Sweet - just want a first edition.
Thanx!
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Anybody in northern CA get theirs yet?
I was strangely disappointed when I saw that UPS had made a delivery today (some history books I had ordered) but nothing from Evil Hat. :o
I know my preorder number is 415 - hopefully that means I'll see it Monday.
I'm in Irvine, CA and haven't gotten mine yet, I feel your pain : /
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408 here. but being in the old world (europa) i fear it will take it's time.
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#338 and no evil hat love yet. I'm shooting for today or tomorrow since I won't be home.
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Order #797, purchased 7 April, being sent to Worcester MA.
Hoping to get it before the holiday weekend, though I won't really be able to read it until mid-July while on vacation (and that my wife is making me finish Breaking Dawn before vacation...).
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Yeah, I'd bet that significantly more goes into it than what number you are. Shipping distances and difficulties, for example.
Well they ship from Nevada and I live in NM, I am not that far from them. I did send an e-mail asking about my shipment, it no longer says processing. I sent an email and I got a response from Fred Hicks.
Data entry on 1600 preorders is slow, made slower by me being off at Origins all week. I'll start working on the prodigious load this
week.
Seems to me Origins might be slowing this down a little.
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I think the books are a myth! PHD didn't deliver them to my FLGS again this week, so it's at least ANOTHER week to wait...grrr.... >:( >:( >:( >:(
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http://www.dresdenfilesrpg.com/2010/06/29/the-problem-with-being-a-small-company/
http://forum.rpg.net/showpost.php?p=12407402&postcount=76
http://forum.rpg.net/showpost.php?p=12408622&postcount=81
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As much as I find it fun to complain, I'm not worried about it. :) I have the PDFs, and while I'm greatly anticipating the books, Evil Hat's gone out of its way to cater to the customers already. Not having the physical books just means something to look forwards to when I leave work!
Keep up the good work, Fred & Co.
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Oh, any complaints here are not a matter of complaints to Fred and the gang, just, more to fact, the entire process of waiting for something in the mail.
1) You find out that something you really want is coming some day really soon.
2) each day, you know there is a chance that your package will arrive
3) each day that passes, you know the chance of your package being there will be even higher!
4) the expectation and excitement grow in proportion to the imagined chance of the package being there.
5) The disappointment of arriving home and not having one's package waiting for you there is directly in proportion to the imagined chance that it should be there.
It's the same whenever anything great is in the mail. It's only a little harder when that uncertainty is all the greater.
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Check your evil hat account. Fred it putting up UPS tracking codes. Honestly though, it doesn't help at all. I've digressed from waking up in the morning idly wondering if the books will come, to refreshing the tracking page every 10 minutes just in cast they magically teleported to my doorstep. ::)
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Okay... so now I have a tracking number... and it says delivery date rescheduled to 7 July... cutting it very close to my vacation departure date.
And it's a good thing it's UPS rather than USPS, as I usually put a hold on the mail two days before leaving...
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Better than nothin...
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UPS is one of the worst delivery companies on the planet. :-[
I will be lucky to get the books on time and no headaches. Wait. I already am having one. UPS is delivering this. They cannot find my place even though it is clearly marked.
They are suppose to drop this off at the local Post Office, because we are a Rural Location and UPS, FEDEX and all the other companies have been doing this for 30 years. I live in a Ranch community on the Navajo Reservation in NM and we do not have mail boxes we are so spread out we have Post Office Boxes instead.
My local Post Master for the past few years has been having to remind UPS to drop the packages off at the Post Office, which they say they do not do but they do. This is as he says their new manager is an idiot and gets upset with this drivers when they do that even though they are contracted to do so.
Sadly when I lived in Kingman, AZ they could not find my house which was across the street from Kingman Middle School, where they went everyday to drop off or pick up packages.
When I lived in Aurora they could not find my house ever. Clearly marked and easy to find all my locations. UPS just sucks.
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Yup. Mine updated, saying it was due to be delivered on next Tuesday. Knowing is better than nothing I suppose. At least my hopes won't be up when I get home this way.
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Hey, sometimes you never know. The one thing that throws a shoe in the works is the Holiday weekend... some folks will have Monday off as the holiday falls on a Sunday.
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UPS is one of the worst delivery companies on the planet. :-[
I would say FedEx is.
I had a replacement mobile phone sent to my parents' house, as I live in a 3-decker in a semi-urban area. The street my parents live on runs into another street nearly directly at a crossroads, so the street changes names and numbering.
FedEx sent it to the right house number, but on that wrong street... and wouldn't make any effort to go and get it back unless three days passed or something like that. I had to go and retrieve it from the doorstep myself, risking having the cops called on me. (Fortunately, no one cared.)
UPS I can deal with, because they will hold a package for me to go and retrieve in the evenings if need be. Very few problems with them.
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You are a rarity, I only mentioned 3 issues. I have plenty of them. They are horrid. Horrid Horrid POS company.
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I've had vastly different experiences with the different shipping companies depending on weather i'm living in an apartment, or a house.
In an apartment, FexEx and and UPS were hit-or-miss. They never seemed to deliver at any predictable point in the day, and they always managed to deliver when I wasn't home. If you needed it that day, you were screwed because they'd deliver it back to the distribution center in Dallas (almost an hour away from Denton texas) even though we HAVE a distribution center in Denton. USPS though always delivered to the lock-boxes in the bank of mailboxes. Very convenient.
However, Here in my home, FedEx/UPS just drop whatever off on my doorstep, and USPS refuses to leave anything that won't fit in the mailbox by the door. I always have to go pick it up.
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Check your evil hat account. Fred it putting up UPS tracking codes. Honestly though, it doesn't help at all. I've digressed from waking up in the morning idly wondering if the books will come, to refreshing the tracking page every 10 minutes just in cast they magically teleported to my doorstep. ::)
The problem there for me is that I pre-ordered through my FLGS, and they have not gotten it from their distributor yet, and the distributor uses UPS.
So, I have no tracking number and no way of knowing if it has been sent to the distributor to be sent to the FLGS. And even if the distributor does get it today, tomorrow, Friday or Saturday, the FLGS gets their shipments in on Tuesdays, so I have to wait until at LEAST next Tuesday to find out.
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No tracking number on mine yet - it's still officially "preparing".
*gnaws fingernails worriedly*
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In Santa Cruz, Ca. And got my Evil Hat Love this morning.
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No tracking number on mine yet - it's still officially "preparing".
*gnaws fingernails worriedly*
Mine was still officially preparing several hours after it actually arrived. :)
Really guys, this stuff isn't that reliable. Chill out and the books will come. There are even free bookmarks!
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What ? The books are marked up? Damage? Oh the angst!
UPS delivers between 2 and 6 to my house. C
//crossing paws
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pretty cool. i just flipped one over and discovered the bookmarks have a lil cheat sheets on em. like lil, mini-GM-Screens.
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There are even free bookmarks!
Way to go with the spoilers. ;D
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Way to go with the spoilers. ;D
Fred spoiled that one a while back, besides, I thought a morale boosy was needed. :)
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Heh, my book just arrived ;D
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USPS though always delivered to the lock-boxes in the bank of mailboxes. Very convenient.
Not to mention incredibly cheap, you can ship 4 pounds of books from mid florida to california for about $3.50 as "Media Mail".
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No books for me today.... What grinds me is ten miles from here, there's a D&D shop that has em already. And it's nice, sunny cool, and perfect riding weather.
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According to UPS, mine will be here Friday. I live in an apartment so I'm not sure what will happen. They are supposed to drop packages off at the leasing office The tracking number makes me feel a little better, even if it makes me want to through a fit. Sometimes I wish I could act like a three year-old. :)
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Both volumes arrived this afternoon in Elk Grove, CA (a Sacramento suburb) and they look great. ;D
Now I have to fit them into my work bag - luckily I have a little more room since I got the case for my Nook a couple of weeks ago! :D
Got my notification this morning, and when I checked with UPS, it showed as being due today. Sometime this afternoon, before I left work, it arrived (I checked with UPS around 4PM and it showed delivered as the status.)
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Can anyone post pictures of these bookmarks? I'm curious now!
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Hey, thanks for the bookmark spoiler! Definitely needed the morale boost! :)
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I hate you all >:(, but in a non-personal, non-hateful way. ;D
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I hate you all >:(, but in a non-personal, non-hateful way. ;D
seconded ;D
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Hey, thanks for the bookmark spoiler! Definitely needed the morale boost! :)
It's a morale boosy, not a morale boost. Go back and check his post.
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It's a morale boosy, not a morale boost. Go back and check his post.
So is that like getting a bit of Dutch Courage by having a wee dram o' the good stuff? uisge beatha?
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It's a morale boosy, not a morale boost. Go back and check his post.
Hey! I don't make fun of your spelling! >:(
I don't know how I typed in s for z... ;)
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Hey! I don't make fun of your spelling! >:(
I don't know how I typed in s for z... ;)
I wasn't making fun of your spelling! I was supporting your mixing of good Scotch and RPGs!
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Books arrived at Games Plus in the Chicago area last week.
Anxiously waiting to see when they get to my place (Tolono, Illinois).
My worry is that I use a P.O. Box. I hope that doesn't mess up anything.
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*sighs* I wish I was making this up. They lost my package. I wish I was joking. According to UPS the package was suppose to be here on June 25th. As soon as I had a tracking number they found it. They had it sitting in one of their centers in CA for 8 days.
No appology just they will get it to me as soon as possible which they are still using ground even though they said it was suppose to be here on June 25th.
Idiots. I know why they call themselves the brown it matches what their job performance is sh..
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I knew I should've read the local retailer info more carefully. The pull of the instant PDF was just too tempting. Ordered on the international option rather at the local game store who, of course, now have the books in. The guy who runs the store was keen to rub it in when I went in the other day for a copy of Starblazer Adventures. Hopefully the books should arrive around the 7th July. The estimate was 6 to 10 days from release. Must be patient :(
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Will someone please post if they have a higher order number than 1000, and have received their books. I am tired of hoping for mine to arrive soon.
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Anxiously waiting for my books to show up so I can pour through them like so many others here. The pdf's are nice to have but something special about sitting back in a chair reading the dead tree version.
Just want to say thanks to Fred and the others for getting these out faster than expected. Does anyone know if Evil Hat will have a booth at GenCon (Indy) this year?
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Just checked... mine are somewhere in the great state of IL... not Chicago, not Shermer... so they're about halfway here, I think... someone can get it here in a 24 hour drive. Proven when my then-gf drove from Chambana to Worcester MA in just under 24 hours.
So get haulin', UPS!
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I was reading over the UPS list of mine...
They went from Sparks NV to Palo Alto CA. They are getting shipped to Denton Texas. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Nevada CLOSER to Texas than California?
So they ship my books FURTHER away from me to get them quicker. See... THAT, my friends, is logic.
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Sparks, NV is closer to Palo Alto. CA. It is 3 hours away. Las Vegas which is their closest Nevada shipping area is 7 hours away.
I am with you. Why not go to Vegas it is closer. I am in NM. This is UPS see my rants of the smelly brown.
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Will someone please post if they have a higher order number than 1000, and have received their books. I am tired of hoping for mine to arrive soon.
NM! I got a tracking # now! (Squee). Now I know when its gonna get here....
well ....
At least more so than I did before.
Thanks Evil HAT!
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I still don't have any tracking information. Anyone in IL who preordered through the webstore received their copies yet?
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Got mine today! They were shipped on the 30 th
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Status:
In Transit - Rescheduled
Rescheduled Delivery Date:
07/09/2010
Shipped To:
PARK FOREST, IL, US
Shipped/Billed On:
07/01/2010
Type:
Package
Service:
GROUND
Weight:
3.00 Lbs
Really?
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For people who are having questions about UPS shipping and relative distances from the target, don't try to think about it too much.
They have an extremely esoteric way of sending things to different drop points before getting the parcel on the truck to take it to it's final desination. I learned this the hard way working for a UPS drop-off point.
What makes sense to us looking at a map doesn't mean anything to the logicistics people at UPS.
Paitence is key. "How many beads now, apprentice?"
By the by, I'm order #352, and am still "Preparing" status. I would be nervous, but I'm too worn out. :(
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I'm so frustrated about this entire situation. I should have known better and just bought it straight from my FLGS. I know they are a small company and had a lot of shipments to deal with, but they were able to get the books to Alliance early enough that my FLGS had it before any pre-orders. Why couldn't they have started shipping them to customers at the same time? I think its funny that I buy it straight from the company and pay full price, which means they get the entire $90. If I had bought it from my FLGS, I would have supported where I played, gotten it sooner, and Evil Hat would have gotten less out of it. It doesn't make since.
So not only am I confused and frustrated by that, but then UPS messes it up more. Watching the tracking it sat in the middle of nowhere for 24 hours. Then it only takes about 3 days to get to St. Louis, decent try. But apparently I'm at the end of the UPS route and they come by after 6 when I can't be home and after my apartments leasing office closes. Because of the holiday weekend I can't get my packages until the middle of next week now.
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At least you have some idea when you might get your books. I live in central, Illinois (Tolono) and my order number is #910 and I still have no idea when I might get my books. The Evil hat website still says "Pending". The PDFs are nice but it's easier for me to read books.
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I feel your pain lankyogre... kinda wishin' I had bought locally too, but they'll come soon enough. I think. Mine says it shipped on the 23rd, but is still only in "Billing Information Received". :( sadness. I'm not even sure how that could be... that means they should have went out nearly two weeks ago, but that status tends to mean they haven't been picked up yet. Very odd.
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The UPS website says it doesn't recognize my tracking number. Hopefully it is just a holiday thing...
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The UPS website says it doesn't recognize my tracking number. Hopefully it is just a holiday thing...
it's doin the same thing with mine. I with you hoping its just a holiday thing.
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UPS still recognizes mine and says that it's due to arrive at my place on tomorrowtime. it's actually IN my city... but they don't deliver today. <frustration>
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it's doin the same thing with mine. I with you hoping its just a holiday thing.
Same here, according to the Evil Hat site, my package was picked up on Sunday. ;)
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I got a delivery attempt notice from Canada Post today (yeah, I'm up North...). Kinda cheated and ordered from a partnered, Canadian retailer (The Sentry Box in Calgary, they are AWESOME!!), and did get a link to the PDFs as well after asking the fine folks at Evil Hat!
can't wait to check the hardcover copies out!!!!
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Mine says "Preparing" and I just ordered it yesterday (July 4). This means these guys are working even on holidays.
Yipeee!!! ;D
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Got my email a couple of days ago. Tracking shows it should arrive on the 9th. Looking forward to it!! ;D
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I know they are a small company and had a lot of shipments to deal with, but they were able to get the books to Alliance early enough that my FLGS had it before any pre-orders. Why couldn't they have started shipping them to customers at the same time?
Sometimes companies have to make deals with distributors that they won't ship product to customers before it arrives at the distributor.
In other cases it is the shear volume of work involved.
Here is an example for you. Let us suppose for a second that the minute the books arrived at the publisher's warehouse they started processing orders. Since distributors often order by the box the easiest orders to process & ship and dealt with first (either whole boxes first or by order size) and those are set out for FED UP* to ship. Then they work on the next and next until as many orders are shipped as possible that day. Odds are there may be either 2+ people dealing with orders (a paperwork processor and 1+ distribution people) or one person is doing the whole show.
So, the first day they unload the truck and them maybe process a few orders. The second day they process all the large orders and start on the smaller orders. Depending on the number of orders they may still be processing orders 3+ days later and by this time the books have likely hit the distributor and in some cases the books are starting to hit the stores. Well, once that happens the orders coming in increase and if it is but one person he may be answering the phone taking orders, processing orders that came in via the web, talking to distributors about books damaged in shipping, and trying to fill tons of oordinary customer orders at the same time. Well, eventually, over the course of a number of days, he has taken case of the distributors, has taken care of the preorders, and is still working on all the new orders off and on fairly regularly for the next month or so.
Now comes the wait for the customer. Books may arrive within 3 days of being shipped or they may not. They may take 6 days or they may take 1-2 weeks to reach destinations within the lower 48 states (and in some cases reach overseas customers sooner). Now then, having shipped 100+ packages (maybe well over 100 ... possibly WAY over 100) it is likely that at least some have "problems". Maybe the name is wrong, maybe the address was incorrect, maybe FED UP mangled the package, maybe it got lost, but for whatever reason a certain percentage will be delayed, destroyed, lost, or rerouted. In my experience it is up to 5% may end up "return to sender", often for a zip code that is one digit off or such.
So, things happen, which is why the old standard of "wait 6-8 weeks for delivery" is still a good adage in my book (and experience) and for anything faster I am grateful!
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So the lesson here is don't ever pre-order?
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Well I ordered the PDF/Book combo, so I've been busy reading the file. :) Though I have to admit, I can't wait until one of the E-readers does a smash up job with PDF's. When that happens, I'm getting one.
But, read the blog over on Dresden Files rpg.com. Its mostly one poor schmuck handling all this. So buck up, and learn to enjoy the anticipation. Its good for you.
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I kinda disagree with that.
What is the value of a pre-order, if people who don't get the book before you do?
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The pdfs, duh ;D
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Are available for Store pre-orders - correct?
Like the store ten miles from me.
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Dunno, all I know is I got the pdfs when I pre-ordered the books the day after they came out. In my opinion at least having the pdfs approximately one month early is worth it even if the books shipped a few days late.
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So we can agree to disagree then :)
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Arrival scan at my local distribution center this morning. Which means... it'll be on the truck for tomorrow. *sigh*
Was hoping for an earlier surprise.
Everything becomes nail-biting time as my vacation draws near... Finishing car repairs, getting my DFRPG books...
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That's not necessarily true. You forget the true value of the pre-order. making SURE you have your copy. If the local gaming store sold out, where would you be? Maybe sitting on the curb crying, maybe shaking your fists impotently at God. Who knows? it might be a month until that gaming store gets more books.
Pre-ordering a book is like getting your tickets for a movie online - yes it may be SLIGHTLY more inconvenient (service charge, a day or two later arrival date), but you KNOW you are going to be there with your purchase of choice.
Besides - think about where the money is going. If you buy from the gaming store, it's going to get it's cut. If you buy from Fred online, he's getting all the profit. Now, I love my local gaming store and everything, but getting more money in the author's hands will encourage said author to make more and more books.
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UPS who lost my package and then found it 8 days later when I called with my packaging number. Still missing the delivery date of June 25th still snail mailed it changing my delivery date to June 9th.
Lost my package again. Yippee UPS strikes a damn time again.
They are the brown because their service is shit.
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That's not necessarily true. You forget the true value of the pre-order. making SURE you have your copy. If the local gaming store sold out, where would you be? Maybe sitting on the curb crying, maybe shaking your fists impotently at God.
Not very likely, my local store still has the damn thing in stock. I drool over it whenever I'm in, before I go out and cry on the curb because it's been two entire weeks after release and my preorder hasn't even been handed to UPS yet. Frankly, the bit about being short staffed is nonsense too. I'll eat my books if a direct order from Evil Hat doesn't make them at least 10% more profit than going through a middle man gaming store. With at least $15k extra from their preorders they could have called a temp agency and gotten a couple or three people to ship them out within two days.
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folks? I kinda didn't respond to the last point because there's no reason dragging the forum down by debating it. We have our opinions, I think they have been fully fleshed out, let's just stop the "i'mzor pissed off" VS. "OH NOez! Stop" thing, and just celebrate when we get the books.
I'm certain this is a learning experience about supply and demand, and that it'll be good all around sometime soon.
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Progress... tracking lists as "Out for delivery."
Good thing the wife and kid are home today. :)
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Progress... tracking lists as "Out for delivery."
Good thing the wife and kid are home today. :)
Sounds like we are both in the same boat and have something to look forward to today.
*goes back to stalking UPS Tracking*
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Sigh... how disappointing.
SPARKS, NV, US 07/02/2010 10:36 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
07/02/2010 8:38 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
07/02/2010 4:38 P.M. PICKUP SCAN
US 06/23/2010 1:44 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED
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Yes, I am indeed learning something. I just noticed that my stuff has been shipped. I live in a small town and everyone uses P.O. Boxes so I always have stuff sent to me via USPS. I always seem to get my stuff in a timely manner. Living in an apartment I hate getting stuff via UPS cause it never comes when I am home and UPS won't leave stuff outside my door so I have to go to the nearest UPS station to pick it up, which is a bother.
Most of the time there's not much difference between UPS & USPS in the amount of time it takes something to get to my place, one or two days at the most. It looks because of the way the books are being sent via USPS that they might take weeks, not days, to get to my place. Maybe next time I order something I'm really jonezin for I'll have it sent via UPS to my office or a friends place. Live & learn.
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I got mine dropped on my front doorstep yesterday. They never knocked or anything, just dropped the books and ran.
They are gorgeous. I was shocked how heavy the damn things were! I don't think i've ever owned a RP book bigger than Your Story.
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Well... here's the latest entry:
SHREWSBURY, MA, US 07/07/2010 12:09 P.M. THE RECEIVER WAS UNAVAILABLE TO SIGN ON THE 1ST DELIVERY ATTEMPT. A 2ND DELIVERY ATTEMPT WILL BE MADE
One major flaw I see in this... my wife has been home the whole time. She checked both the front and back stairs of our three-decker. Nothing. Not even the notification. If he knocks on the front door, we won't know because we're on the second floor. Everyone else delivers packages to the rear doors.
So now I have to call and complain... and arrange to pick it up at the distro center either tonight, tomorrow afternoon or tomorrow evening.
Dammit.
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So now I have to call and complain... and arrange to pick it up at the distro center either tonight, tomorrow afternoon or tomorrow evening.
Dammit.
But but but... CELEBRATE! It has ARRIVED! (Almost.)
Mine got here an hour ago, and the UPS driver left it by my back door. Didn't knock. Didn't ring. Just left it.
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You're lucky...
Just got off the phone with UPS Customer Service. Complained that my wife sacrificed her morning to wait for the package... didn't even hear a truck pull up or anything... as if the driver just wrote off the delivery.
So now I'm waiting for the local center to ring me back to arrange an actual pickup. I'm not having it out on a truck again, I want it handed to me with an apology.
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According to UPS and my tracking number, they got my billing information two days ago but don't have the package. So apparently mine's still at the warehouse? I dunno.
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Mine arrived today! Woohoo!
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My books just arrived as well. Same situation as most: they just left them on the front porch and walked away. Not used to that, as my last few experiences with UPS led to having to sign my life away for that treatment.
Anyway, looking forward to tearing into this ^__^
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I wouldn't have minded them leaving the package, but the front porch of a three-decker is not the place to leave it, as typically no one answers a knock at the front door (leads into a hall/stairwell), and anyone here in New England should know that most folks in three-deckers use the rear entrance/stairs. But nope...
So now I either go tonight to get them, or I wait until tomorrow afternoon when I have the time off to pick up my car from getting mended and get my books.
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Sigh... how disappointing.
SPARKS, NV, US 07/02/2010 10:36 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
07/02/2010 8:38 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
07/02/2010 4:38 P.M. PICKUP SCAN
US 06/23/2010 1:44 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED
Might have been faster drive to the warehouse and get it yourself!
An update: http://www.deadlyfredly.com/2010/07/some-lessons-from-kinda-screwing-up/
I too want to thank Fred for being up front and transparent, it takes guts to do that. That being said, the consumer part of me that pre-ordered is still annoyed and impatient that it hasn't gotten here yet. Oh well...maybe next week.
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Might have been faster drive to the warehouse and get it yourself!
An update: http://www.deadlyfredly.com/2010/07/some-lessons-from-kinda-screwing-up/
I too want to thank Fred for being up front and transparent, it takes guts to do that. That being said, the consumer part of me that pre-ordered is still annoyed and impatient that it hasn't gotten here yet. Oh well...maybe next week.
I may be impatient and wanting my books, but I am still happy with the service provided by Evil Hat. I should still be getting my books when I originally thought I would.
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W00t! Got mine today in Central Texas!
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Got mine here in East TN and they're purty :)
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According to UPS and my tracking number, they got my billing information two days ago but don't have the package. So apparently mine's still at the warehouse? I dunno.
That is exactly the situation I'm currently in. The thing that adds to the annoyance? I preordered within the first hour or two that it was available....
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Sorry I've been away from this thread/forum folks. As you'd expect, usually too busy to peek in.
That is exactly the situation I'm currently in. The thing that adds to the annoyance? I preordered within the first hour or two that it was available....
Trust me, we share that annoyance, deeply, at Evil Hat. I don't think I've slept well at all in the last two weeks as the shipping problems have emerged (thankfully Origins exhausted me enough that two nights there I got some of the best sleep I've gotten in a long while), and the early speed-bumps that came up have had a hell of a downstream butterfly effect. Emergency medical issues for the folks in charge of the warehouse -- not good. Fedex not delivering the packing supplies on the day scheduled -- not good.
But even factoring those in, the performance hasn't been at the level I'd've hoped for. We'd had a discussion with the warehouse folks about shipping stuff out in order of their order numbers. Was that done? Nope. Some other plans apparently fell apart too when they came into contact with the actual data, and it's the sort of thing that leaves us questioning the ongoing relationship with that particular warehouse -- but it's not something we can act on while things remain unresolved. The dust ain't settled yet.
As I've offered elsewhere, if anyone feels particularly put out and deserving of a tangible apology of actual value, we're happy to give a free PDF of any one of our products to the party in question. Just use the "contact us" links on our websites and make sure to mention your order number.
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As a counter point? When you expand the dresdenverse, mayhaps a bonus for pre-orders that pre-ordered now would be a viable option as well? Signed copies? a few bucks off? A napkin jim used to wipe his brow at denny's?
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As a counter point? When you expand the dresdenverse, mayhaps a bonus for pre-orders that pre-ordered now would be a viable option as well? Signed copies? a few bucks off? A napkin jim used to wipe his brow at denny's?
I'd totally go for some signed bookmarks.
Although, I'm not at the correct level of annoyed customer to receive one yet.
;D
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A napkin jim used to wipe his brow at denny's?
This.
I want this.
I would frame it, and treasure it, and use it as gloat material to my fellow dresden fans whenever they come over.
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Creepy...
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Creepy...
Psh.... What did you expect?
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And once (if ever) I grow board of it, I will hock it on ebay for BIG bucks...
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Yeah, that's why I mentioned the possibility.
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And once (if ever) I grow board of it, I will hock it on ebay for BIG bucks...
Would never happen if placed properly behind your bar in your man cave (basement).
Damn.... I want one too now, my man cave Is almost finished....
Edit...
Wow Diablo you almost have more posts than Fred, impressive.
Edit....
Wow doable, you almost have more posts than Fred. Most impressive.
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Books arrived in New York City today. UPS guy handed them to me on the stairway up to my place at about 10:00 pm, which is actually kind of typical for us. It's kinda hot today in NYC, and the box had been sitting in the UPS truck all day, so un-wrapping the books felt like taking a batch of cookies out of the oven. :)
Dang but these things are pretty.
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If I sound ungracious, Fred, that's not what I intended. I just want to let you know that my wife has been running a game with the PDFs and I'm playing a werebear and loving every second of it. It is a fantastic product and you all have done a great job.
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If I sound ungracious, Fred, that's not what I intended. I just want to let you know that my wife has been running a game with the PDFs and I'm playing a werebear and loving every second of it. It is a fantastic product and you all have done a great job.
No worries. Folks have a right to be disappointed (and we're some of those folks). I just want to make sure we do right by people, y'know?
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No worries. Folks have a right to be disappointed (and we're some of those folks). I just want to make sure we do right by people, y'know?
Nice to see a company with exemplary customer service.
(kicks the edit function and auto spell check)
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No worries. Folks have a right to be disappointed (and we're some of those folks). I just want to make sure we do right by people, y'know?
Fred, by keeping us updated and being upfront about it, you are doing right by people. The person in me understands (especially since I teach special education, trial and error is all part of the learning process), but the consumer in me wants my books! Of course, the consumer in me will make do with the pdfs until my books get here, so as impatient as I am in this matter (thanks to the instant gratification society we live in!), I will make do with the awesomeness that is the DFRPG PDFs (for now :o)!
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Wow Diablo you almost have more posts than Fred, impressive.
oh crap - someone noticed!
//scurries for cover
//sets up toothpicks for north vietnam rambo defense
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This.
I want this.
I would frame it, and treasure it, and use it as gloat material to my fellow dresden fans whenever they come over.
At least you're not planning on using it in a spell against him. :P
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At least you're not planning on using it in a spell against him. :P
Meh.... I believe that the connection to him would evaporate after a day or two... or even sooner.
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No worries. Folks have a right to be disappointed (and we're some of those folks). I just want to make sure we do right by people, y'know?
As previous people said, I hope I wasn't sounding ungracious also. I bitch and whine as much as anybody, but it's an expression of my strong desire to get my mitts on these books (and jealousy over people who already have them!) and not meant as a complaint over you and yours.
There's a lot of stuff that goes into a process as complex as this, and I have an idea how much of it's outside your direct control. You've been up-front and open and helpful and gone out of your way to help the community and your customers. No further apology needed from my point of view. :)
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I have noticed that I have complained a lot, but mostly it is just the frustration at not having the books in my hot little hands. And I am also kicking myself in the butt for using USPS vs figuring out a way to use UPS. Like I said before, live & learn. I must agree with what everyone else has said, and thank you guys for being so open with us concerning the process. It does help calm me down.
It has made me go back to my painting table to work on some figures, which is always a very Zen like time, which has made me think of looking for some character type figures to paint.
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Hey guys, no worries, I know most of y'all are in our corner despite some frustration with the shipping process. Complaints (or whatever) are completely deserved here. With 20/20 hindsight there are ways we could've done it better, and hopefully next time, we will.
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Ahh.. I just noticed that I had a 'rescheduled' notation after all - didn't think that was there.
Just out of curiosity (I know it doesn't change anything, but particularly after seeing the mention that you were rethinking using this distributor in the future, I am wondering)... is this sort of experience due to them or due to UPS? In other words, if the distributor got the info in (i.e. "Billing information received") on the 23rd, but it didn't actually get picked up until July 6, that appears, at least to be UPSs fault, rather than the distributor's. ?? :)
Thanks again!
**********<sigh>**********
Status: In Transit
Rescheduled Delivery Date: 07/13/2010
Shipped To: FINKSBURG, MD, US
Shipped/Billed On: 06/23/2010
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Ahh.. I just noticed that I had a 'rescheduled' notation after all - didn't think that was there.
Just out of curiosity (I know it doesn't change anything, but particularly after seeing the mention that you were rethinking using this distributor in the future, I am wondering)... is this sort of experience due to them or due to UPS? In other words, if the distributor got the info in (i.e. "Billing information received") on the 23rd, but it didn't actually get picked up until July 6, that appears, at least to be UPSs fault, rather than the distributor's. ?? :)
It's a mix. Sometimes UPS doesn't pick up all of the packages (though they often do), sometimes the warehouse generates the label much more in advance of actually packing up the shipment than they should have. Right now I suspect it's more the latter than the former, but hard to say. Rescheduling can also happen AFTER pickup due to weather conditions or other issues that screw up the ability for UPS to work at peak efficiency.
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Wow, thanks for that response, it is appreciated. And I hadn't even thought about someone sitting at the computer prepping labels before the shipments were ready. Thank you again for your time!
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Ahhhh.... Mine is officially on the way... Delivery date is set for next Tuesday.
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It's a mix. Sometimes UPS doesn't pick up all of the packages (though they often do), sometimes the warehouse generates the label much more in advance of actually packing up the shipment than they should have. Right now I suspect it's more the latter than the former, but hard to say. Rescheduling can also happen AFTER pickup due to weather conditions or other issues that screw up the ability for UPS to work at peak efficiency.
Or they really suck. Believe me, I have a list of their issues delivering this package and others from other companies. I order from Amazon, White Wolf, Wizard of the Coast, your company, because I have no gaming store in my area. UPS always screws it up. It is not just with you guys. The weather excuse is one of their biggest ones.
I know the business of sending out orders worked for a company that did that for years, UPS offered your company they best deal but they do not do the best job bringing the packages. You are hearing it now.
My father's business does not use UPS because they are late delivery, lose packages, refuse to deliver packages if a certain amount to be delivered in the area exceeds their unwritten quota even when the trucks are not even full.
I had to get a manager on the phone at UPS Corporate Headquarters and they tracked it down the other day. The distribution center here in my area took the package out of their truck refusing to deliver it for no reason. It was a three way call, the lady who was the manager of the distribution center could not explain why they took off my package out and refused to deliver it. The address was correct and everything. The HQ Manager could not get a straight answer out of the woman. He even commented to me afterwards he had no idea everything was fine. I explained to him this is not the first time this has happened to me.
It has not. I have had all this happen to me in Aurora, Colorado; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Kingman, Arizona; and now Thoreau, New Mexico. Same things happen all the time same company and only with UPS. USPS, DHL and Fed Ex treat me way better and deliver the packages no matter where I live with little or no problem and on time.
I would pay extra not to have UPS deliver a package if I had a choice. They are brown because their service stinks.
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I like UPS, never had an issue with them except during Katrina. So I cut them some slack for that.
Always delivers on time, easy to track, does not "pretend to try to deliver" for an afternoon off. Beeen using them for years with e-bay, newegg - etc etc. Better than Fed-ex, or the Replacement mail lady that skips delivering for an afternoon to get home early.
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UPS taketh with one hand as it giveth with the other. For our current warehouse, they're more reliable about picking up deliveries and their pricing structure is more favorable especially as you move into the "100 weight" class with a major ship-out like this one. But in some areas of the country they just don't perform as well -- in others they're excellent. This often has something to do with the local driver culture, whether or not UPS has to contract out to third parties rather than in-house crews, and so on. Some of their box-monkeys can be REALLY brutal in terms of beating up the packaging enroute, too -- which is part of why folks getting their books may note that things are pretty "bulletproof" in terms of how their packaged. All that packaging is to make sure that there's as little damage in transit as possible. And while I may be frustrated, even upset, with how the warehouse has handled this in terms of timetable, their packaging has been fantastic. I've only gotten one damaged book complaint so far -- most of the other "send a replacement" issues have been due to intrinsic product defect (binding on that copy being wonky) or a staffer's fatigued confusion during packing (putting two of one book into the package instead of one of each).
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I like UPS, never had an issue with them except during Katrina. So I cut them some slack for that.
Always delivers on time, easy to track, does not "pretend to try to deliver" for an afternoon off. Beeen using them for years with e-bay, newegg - etc etc. Better than Fed-ex, or the Replacement mail lady that skips delivering for an afternoon to get home early.
Huh... I dunno this time...
HODGKINS, IL, US 07/08/2010 11:41 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
SPARKS, NV, US 07/02/2010 10:36 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
07/02/2010 8:38 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
07/02/2010 4:38 P.M. PICKUP SCAN
US 06/23/2010 1:44 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED
Its gonna be close to get to my house in Michigan by tomorrow. It can happen, but I'm not holding my breath.
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Well mine are on a truck for delivery as of this morning. I live 8 blocks from the local UPS point so I'm hoping for sometime tonight (UPS usually does local drops last here for some reason, I suppose to catch folks at home). I was trying to get home to see if the package had gotten dropped off early (as we had some torrential rains today) only to slide into the back of someone elses' car...so much for my great day getting better.
At least no one got hurt and I didn't get home to wet books, lol. Now the pacing begins!
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Since it's in Hodgkins - I'll have it tomorrow.
Now all I need is to schedule a bomb defusal team to make sure it's safe to open, and I'll have my books.
Didn't expect that Iago - did you! Mwuh aha ahahahhahahahha!
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Since it's in Hodgkins - I'll have it tomorrow.
Now all I need is to schedule a bomb defusal team to make sure it's safe to open, and I'll have my books.
Didn't expect that Iago - did you! Mwuh aha ahahahhahahahha!
Since iago is the merlin i would recommend getting a magical check over for spell bombs or ward traps as well. ;)
Also on my funny note. So i bought these books the day they came out as an early birthday present and just yestarday figured out that they are set to arrive on july 14th, which is literally my birthday. I found some irony and, strangely enough, joy at that. ;D
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circle of salt was ready a month ago.
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Ooooooooooo....they're pretty. And they come with that "new book smell" at no extra charge!
Fred and the Evil Hat team have produced a thing of beauty.
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Ooooooooooo....they're pretty. And they come with that "new book smell" at no extra charge!
Fred and the Evil Hat team have produced a thing of beauty.
That's what *you* think. That new book smell? $10 surcharge on each book!
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Okay, so... went to the local UPS Distribution Center yesterday afternoon (after tearing arse down 495 from Chelmsford to Shrewsbury in my freshly-mended car), and managed to pick them up... after a few tense moments of WtF when they couldn't locate the package in the holding area. They managed to find it, signed for it, and brought it home after a couple of errands.
However, due to vacation preparations (read: packing), I didn't get to open the box until later that night. Man, they are beautiful. Have to say, much more impressive than the PDFs led me to believe.
This is going to be excellent vacation reading... along with the latest tome from Lee Child.
Jack Reacher... now he would make an interesting character build...
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So the last entry is still the departure scan from Sparks, NV a day and a half ago... But the status changed from "in transit" to "in transit - rescheduled" without another check-in or an original delivery date. Not sure what that's supposed to mean. :)
EDIT: It now has a "rescheduled delivery date" of 7/14. Wow. It's going to take 7 days to get from NV to my place in NY? Geez, UPS...
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So the last entry is still the departure scan from Sparks, NV a day and a half ago... But the status changed from "in transit" to "in transit - rescheduled" without another check-in or an original delivery date. Not sure what that's supposed to mean. :)
EDIT: It now has a "rescheduled delivery date" of 7/14. Wow. It's going to take 7 days to get from NV to my place in NY? Geez, UPS...
Right there with you Neko.
...Do you mysteriously live next to me or something...?
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Well my wife just called me and told me that she is reading my books....
Here I am working and she's reading my books!!!!
Grrrr....
Happy to have them though!
Thank you Evil Hat for putting my favorite series into a playable RPG. I have been wanting to play something like this for a while and WoD just did not cut it.
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Well my wife just called me and told me that she is reading my books....
Here I am working and she's reading my books!!!!
Grrrr....
That's grounds for divorce in some states!
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Right there with you Neko.
...Do you mysteriously live next to me or something...?
If you live in Upstate NY, I suppose it's possible. :-P
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Books are here, along with a nice autographed picture .
YAY!
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Heavy sigh...
Went on a trip to the Chicago area today and stopped at a couple of game/hobby stores...both of which had the Dresden Files RPG books. At least I got to thumb through real copies in anticipation of receiving mine! They are really cool looking.
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I got mine around the 4th or so...amazing looking books, and I'm a little shocked at how the full-color doesn't bother me. Most of the time, I think it looks gaudy for pages to be flashy, but it just feels right with them.
Did anyone else get something extra with their books? I ordered the two Dresden books plus Don't Rest Your Head, and when I opened the package I had those plus...Hero Sidekick (http://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=740)?
Had a little sticker saying it was a gift from what looks like "deilogistics.com", but the URL doesn't go anywhere.
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Had a little sticker saying it was a gift from what looks like "deilogistics.com", but the URL doesn't go anywhere.
DOJ, not DEI. They're the shippers.
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Well, I checked this morning and UPS's tracking screen still had nothing after the package left NV on the 7th, expect a predicted delivery date of the 14th. Having trouble believing that it took over 100 hours to leave NV and get to another warehouse, I eventually called today, and was told "Oh, we don't show every scan on the tracking tool. The package was scanned leaving a warehouse in Illinois yesterday, and is probably in New York now. I expect it'll get scanned again this evening."
Which left me wondering... If they arbitrarily leave updates out on the tracking tool, what's the point of having it? If I'd known it was in Illinois yesterday, I'd never have called - I'd at least have some idea what's going on and not simply a 5-day gap in the information.
*sigh* At least they're scheduled for Wednesday. My wait should soon be over.
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Sigh. Yeah, UPS's updates to its tracking information has definitely exacerbated the situation here.
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Books are here, along with a nice autographed picture .
YAY!
Ack!!! Not the poisoned Autographed photo!!!!!
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Sigh. Yeah, UPS's updates to its tracking information has definitely exacerbated the situation here.
Billing information for my order was generated on the 5th, 7 days later and UPS isn't showing that they
were even handed a package yet.
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As it seems to have been going Neko, I'm right there with you. No updates. Who did you call to find out what you did? I tried calling UPS and all I got was automated service.
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Still no books at the German retailer. :-[
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Well my wife just called me and told me that she is reading my books....
Really, that alone is pretty cool, though. :)
As for everyone else, yes, UPS is a pain right now. I'm surprised, because I've never had this much difficulty with them, and they have hundreds of millions invested in their tracking systems. They even have AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) systems in their vehicles, but no idea where the packages are sometimes. Hah.
Anyway, Fred mentioned before that someone at the warehouse may be entering shipping information well before the product is actually ready to go. If one person is generating shipping codes and labels while others are packaging, they could be getting ahead. That seems to have been my problem:
Which reminds me - today should be the day! Come on UPS, don't screw it up! :D
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UPS just posted a ton of updates on my package. It's currently sitting in Lachine (a suburb of Montreal). My shipment shows an exception; they hung onto it until they had assigned a customs broker.
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Just got mine this morning on my way into work. Yeah!
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As it seems to have been going Neko, I'm right there with you. No updates. Who did you call to find out what you did? I tried calling UPS and all I got was automated service.
Ignore the options it gives you and repeat "representative" until it gives you a live person.
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So 4 weeks out and still nothing at the FLGS...
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Just got mine about 2 hours ago! They are BEAUTIFUL! Love the bookmarks, too. ;) Alas, I didn't have much time to check them out before I had to come to work... stupid jobs...
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I Got Mine! (Aspect Tagged for effect; obtain books) They are beautiful works of art and rightfully should be hanging in a museum, but i have to say good luck to the museum guys because i will not part with mine while i breath. Awesome work evil hat all around. :)
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Also just got mine today! Woot. Yes, beautiful books. Love 'em! THANK YOU!
And thank you for the bookmarks! Sweet goodies!
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Got mine last Thursday, two days before leaving for vacation.
The only gifts I got were the bookmarks. Quite nice, and one for each books makes flipping around them easier.
And now, since I've gone and sprained my ankle while on vacation, I can't readily hit the beach, so I have plenty of time to peruse the books.
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Mine are now listed as "out for delivery" on UPS's tracker; and my roommate's home today. Hopefully, that'll mean they're waiting for me when I get home! O.O
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So 4 weeks out and still nothing at the FLGS...
Did your FLGS preorder any copies?
If not then they would have to order from their distributor(s) after the release.
Distributors often order only "so many" above and beyond preorders, often dependent on the history of the company and particularly within the last month or so (aka, how well their inventory moves). Distributors also often have some sort of agreement with the publisher that either they can not reorder for 60 days or that reorders may not be filled for 60 days or more if within the initial release period, which is arranged to encourage the distributor to preorder a higher figure. This is important for the publisher because they need to know how many to print and often preorders account for up to 90% of anticipated sales (for some it maybe 70% or less, but those tend to be established lines with a more "word of mouth" clientelle). Because of this distributors are often caught "flat-footed" by games that show a strong popularity surge AFTER immediate release.
I was reading the Dresden Files RPG official website and had my suspicions confirmed ... one guy wearing multiple hats is processing all the orders as well as multi-tasking a number of other things. That and he mentions 1600+ preorders (which may or may not include distributor preorders). Even if it does the initial distributor batches would tend to go out the 1st couple of days, then the rest would tend to take days if not weeks to process, particularly with Origins hitting at nearly the same time (taking 1-2 weeks to set up for, a week there, then half a week recovery time) which would tend to slow things down a LOT.
How do I know all this? I used to work in the industry, help with shipping, and worked the conventions. The shipping guy also tends to be one of the main convention organizers so I saw first hand what he went through twice a year and have heard the same thing repeated by others in the industry.
Hope that helps people understand the whys a bit. From what I have been hearing it is about typical and understand, they are almost certainly processing things as quickly as possible.
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Did your FLGS preorder any copies?
If not then they would have to order from their distributor(s) after the release.
Distributors often order only "so many" above and beyond preorders, often dependent on the history of the company and particularly within the last month or so (aka, how well their inventory moves). Distributors also often have some sort of agreement with the publisher that either they can not reorder for 60 days or that reorders may not be filled for 60 days or more if within the initial release period, which is arranged to encourage the distributor to preorder a higher figure. This is important for the publisher because they need to know how many to print and often preorders account for up to 90% of anticipated sales (for some it maybe 70% or less, but those tend to be established lines with a more "word of mouth" clientelle). Because of this distributors are often caught "flat-footed" by games that show a strong popularity surge AFTER immediate release.
I was reading the Dresden Files RPG official website and had my suspicions confirmed ... one guy wearing multiple hats is processing all the orders as well as multi-tasking a number of other things. That and he mentions 1600+ preorders (which may or may not include distributor preorders). Even if it does the initial distributor batches would tend to go out the 1st couple of days, then the rest would tend to take days if not weeks to process, particularly with Origins hitting at nearly the same time (taking 1-2 weeks to set up for, a week there, then half a week recovery time) which would tend to slow things down a LOT.
How do I know all this? I used to work in the industry, help with shipping, and worked the conventions. The shipping guy also tends to be one of the main convention organizers so I saw first hand what he went through twice a year and have heard the same thing repeated by others in the industry.
Hope that helps people understand the whys a bit. From what I have been hearing it is about typical and understand, they are almost certainly processing things as quickly as possible.
Yes, they did, at my urging in fact. I was the one who told them about the pdf/pre-order deal through Evil Hat. And I do have my pdfs from the store. In fact, at least 5 copies of both books were pre-orders, if not more (I'm positive on at least 5).
They have contacted the distributor (repeatedly when I call up and say "Is it in, or am I still disappointed this week?" )who says they did place the order w/ Evil Hat, and that they are looking into why they have not gotten their shipments yet. Other than that, all I have to go on is the hope method - keep hoping every week that the books show up.
And I can appreciate the fact that Fred is working hard, and that the warehouse can only do so much, I really can. But the fact still remains that I have paid my $$$ for the books, and other countries are getting their copies, and I still can't get mine? ARGH!
The drawbacks of living in the digital age and the instant gratification of today's society.
And honestly, if there are online stores (Leisure Games?) that will send me a copy, why in the world would I wait 60 days for it to get here, when I can order from them and get it in 1 - 2 weeks? In fact, if it were not for the fact that I am friends with the owners of the FLGS, I would probably do so.
And the only other situation I can compare this to is the 4E D&D "launch". I pre-ordered the 3 book box set and got it the day it was released, when other places couldn't. I understand that is not a fair comparison either, that WotC has a much bigger presence distribution wise than Evil Hat, but to the consumer, does that really matter?
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The only gifts I got were the bookmarks.
Aye, same here, and that is fine. I am nevertheless curious what prompted the warehouse to put 'extras' in with some orders and not others (given that mine, for instance, just got here, later than some of the other folks).
Well, and I am curious about what autographed photo an earlier poster was talking about! :D