Shipping, Influencing, Live-streaming, Licensing, SRDing, and VTTing
over 2 years ago – Tue, May 10, 2022 at 06:57:33 PM

Hey backers! It’s time for another Anime 5E update covering several topics.

Shipping

Shipping of physical rewards is well underway! We believe it’s completed in Australia, nearing completing in the US, half-way done in Canada, and in progress for international destinations. We have been unable to extract any information from the EU fulfilment centre unfortunately, so we don’t know the status of EU or UK pledges. We are still inquiring.

Given the extreme volume of packages to get out the door to backers, shipping may still take several weeks throughout May. If you haven’t received your package yet or your tracking number yet (reports indicate that tracking number receipt is inconsistent at best) there’s no need to be concerned about missing out yet. You will receive your pledge, but we cannot state exactly when – but it will be soon.

For a mini-FAQ about shipping, please read Update #81 because much of that information still holds.

Influencing

With Anime 5E currently (or soon to be) in your hands and the PDFs available on DriveThruRPG, you could provide tremendous help to Anime 5E by ensuring a successful retail launch in the coming weeks.

Whether it’s posted on YouTube, personal blog, RPG social media page, or dedicated game/hobby website (such as RPGNet, EnWorld, and more), potential new Anime 5E fans want to read or watch reviews by players and GMs. Highlighting what you like about the game, and why you think other gamers may enjoy it as well is a fantastic way to help spread the word about Anime 5E’s retail release.

Will you help us spread the word about Anime 5E by reviewing it on your favourite platform? Your influence is greatly appreciated!

Live-Streaming

One of the stretch goals unlocked during the campaign is Anime 5E live-streaming. We are thrilled to announce that we have partnered with Casters and Castles and their Coriander Society for a multi-part mini-adventure called Yokai Blossom that will cover character creation and live play.

The first session is today (Monday, May 9th) at 3pm PDT (6pm EDT) and covers character creation. Check out their Twitch channel, Twitter page, and YouTube channel (they posted a Yokai Blossom trailer).

Licensing

Another campaign stretch goal involved us acquiring an anime license for Anime 5E. We had thought we were making good progress on two licenses, but the licensor recently decided to hold off on our game until a few more ducks lined up. Consequently, things have stalled on that front and it will be 2023 at the earliest before we have progress on a license. Fortunately, we’ll still have solid Anime 5E expansions even without the license. More details about the A5E line later this year.

SRDing

At $600K, backers unlocked the release of a convenient Anime 5E System Reference Document (SRD) under the Open Game License. We have a planned release date of June 1st after the Anime 5E line is released into retail distribution. Watch for a future announcement.

VTTing

VTT support on Roll20 and other platforms is another stretch goal that’s hit a snag. We had a developer working on the project and it was shaping up well, but unexpected life circumstances has interrupted the developer’s progress. We thus no longer have a firm (or even tentative) release date for Anime 5E VTT support. We are continuing to pursue this option, but since we can’t do the development ourselves the process is not fully in our control.

That’s it for this update, folks! Thanks for your wonderful support over the past year. 🥳

Further Shipping Update
over 2 years ago – Thu, Apr 28, 2022 at 12:32:00 AM

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a good weekend. We’re posting this short shipping update to clarify the process.

Shipping has started from the Australian, US, and Canadian warehouses. Perhaps the EU warehouse as well, though we don’t have up-to-date information about that. Freight from the EU warehouse is on its way to the UK warehouse.

Note that “started” is a very long way from “finished”, though.

Given the extreme volume of packages to get out the door to backers, shipping will take several weeks to complete as we have always indicated. We expect 2-4 weeks for most of the fulfilment centres, although those are estimates only. If you haven’t received your package yet or your tracking number yet, there’s no need to be concerned about missing out.

Here are the answers to a few FAQ we’ve received:

Has my pledge shipped yet?

If you haven’t received a tracking number, probably not. Some backers may receive their shipment without the tracking email, but we expect that’s the exception since packages should be sent along with a tracking email.

When will my package ship, specifically?

The individual warehouses all have their own systems for ordering package shipments, and so it’s not possible to predict when your specific pledge will be shipped. Sometime in the next 2-4 weeks is a reasonable estimate.

What if I haven’t receive my pledge?

Once May has ended and the warehouses have shipped all the packages, if you still haven’t received yours (or at least a tracking number), reach out to [email protected] and we’ll investigate for you. We thank you for your patience waiting until the end of May to contact us so we can ensure all packages have shipped.

I’m moving soon. How do I update my address?

This can get complex, because we can’t predict exactly when your package will ship. Send us your updated address immediately by emailing [email protected] (for expediency, please do not message us any other way). We’ll forward your address change to the warehouse so they can modify your details if your pledge has not shipped yet.

The global pandemic has played havoc with this entire (non-digital) Anime 5E fulfilment process, and we are thankfully nearing the end. We greatly appreciate your continued patience as you wait for your pledge to arrive in the coming weeks.

Have a wonderful day!

Unexpected Shipping Delays
over 2 years ago – Thu, Apr 14, 2022 at 03:22:49 AM

Have you ever experienced an April Fools’ joke that goes on for weeks? That what this status update on Anime 5E Kickstarter shipping seems to us.

Despite our three fulfilment warehouses (US, EU, AUS) having their Anime 5E stock for several weeks each, shipping to backers hasn’t started yet. This is shocking news to us, since we have been told “this week”, “real soon now”, “today”, “priority”, etc., etc. for a while now. Recently, we are hearing “delays”, “closures”, “super busy”, “staff shortages”, etc.

Unfortunately, because we don’t personally ship the products ourselves – and because we are a relatively small customer to many of these fulfilment centres – we are at the mercy of their shipping schedules. Communication has been … spotty … at best, and repeated questions have produced the answers we received today. We know it’s a difficult time for all businesses, and extending some grace regarding timelines is reasonable and right. If we only had better communication about their delays, though….

So when will pledges ship to backers? We frustratingly can’t provide you with an accurate answer because we don’t have accurate answers to give. Soon, perhaps? That’s about as good as we can manage right now. And once the shipping does start, it will still takes weeks to complete. (On the plus side, we received a new “shipping now, really” status today from the AUS warehouse.)

We are very sorry that we don’t have a better and more precise answer. You expect better from us, and rightly so. We expect better of our fulfilment parters as well – yet here we are. Dyskami is doing everything we can to expedite shipments.

Thank you for your continued patience as you wait for tracking numbers for your Anime 5E pledges to arrive.

PS. If you do happen to receive an emailed tracking number soon, please post in the comments section. I’m sure other backers would appreciate hearing that there’s been some movement on shipping.

Closing in on the End
over 2 years ago – Mon, Mar 28, 2022 at 09:41:28 PM

Happy Monday, everyone! We have more Anime 5E Kickstarter shipping updates to share.

United States

The second freight has finally arrived in the warehouse and shipping to backers will commence later this week! Since there are nearly five thousand US orders to fulfil, it will require several straight weeks to pack and ship them all from the warehouse to backers. We expect this to wrap up by mid-to-late April.

Canada

The bulk Canadian shipment will leave the US warehouse this week and travel north. We expect it will take roughly a week or two to arrive, and then shipping will begin. If everything goes well, everything should be wrapped up by mid April.

EU and Australia

We had expected shipping to start already, but have been recently informed that fulfilment should begin this week instead.

UK

A separate batch of product will be sectioned away and shipped from the EU warehouse to the UK warehouse (should take a week or two), where it will be fulfilled to UK backers from there.

International

Naturally, backers in these destinations will take longer to receive their pledges since they need be shipped overseas from one of our warehouses. Timing is unknown, but these packages will ship out in the coming weeks. Thanks for your patience.

Address Changes

TODAY is the final day to make address changes! Email [email protected] as soon as possible if you haven’t already. After today we’ll do the best we can to accommodate address changes, but there are no guarantees your pledge won’t already be shipped to the address you previously provided to us in BackerKit.

Reminder: Read Update #77 if you want to avoid double shipping fees due to incomplete deliveries for a variety of reason.

These pandemic-related global supply chain disruptions have been hard on the gaming industry, and we greatly appreciate your patience as you wait for your physical Anime 5E pledges to arrive. The end is near!

We’ll check back again when we have more updates to share. Have a safe week!

Another Shipping Update, Address Changes, and More
over 2 years ago – Wed, Mar 02, 2022 at 07:01:28 PM

Hey, everyone! With Anime 5E getting so much closer to fulfilment (FINALLY!), we wanted to provide another shipping update.

All the Anime 5E freight has arrived at the Australia warehouse and we expect fulfilment to begin shortly (once the warehouse sorts everything out). They’ll be the first pledges out the door to backers! 🥳

The second half of Anime 5E freight should arrived in our EU (Germany) warehouse this week, or possibly next week. EU customers will then be fulfilled from there. A separate batch of product will be sectioned away and shipped from the EU to the UK warehouse, where it will be fulfilled to UK backers from there. We expect this sub-shipment to add 2-3 weeks onto the delivery times for UK backers, depending on how quickly customs processes the shipment.

For the US, the final cargo ship is due into the Vancouver port on March 6th. It should then take a few weeks to clear customs and truck to our warehouse in Fort Wayne, IN. Once there, we will redirect several pallets to Canada for fulfilment in early April. Since there are nearly five thousand US orders to fulfil, it will require several straight weeks to pack and ship them all from the warehouse to backers. We expect this to wrap up by mid April.

International backers not falling into the above categories will be fulfilled by different warehouses in March and April, depending on the address location and products ordered.

Address Changes

All address modifications should have already been sent to us. If any backer missed the last call, though, and still requires address updates, we will accommodate you the best we can. There is a new process since we already sent all addresses to our fulfilment warehouses. Email us at [email protected] to let us know you need an address change and we’ll direct you to complete an online form. Your address change will not be processed until you complete this online form.

FINAL CALL For Superhero Kickstarter

It’s your last chance to back our current Kickstarter for the superhero RPG, Absolute Power – the second edition of 2002's acclaimed Silver Age Sentinels RPG. Funding just blew past the $100,000 funding threshold, which means that 15 sweet stretch goals are now unlocked — including premium book upgrades, additional PDF content, and bonus physical rewards — and there's still more than 24 hours remaining to unlock even more! Campaign closes Thursday, March 3rd at 9pm EST.

If you haven't visited the Absolute Power RPG Kickstarter campaign page yet, we’d love you to take a look. While it isn’t based on the Fifth Edition rules framework like Anime 5E, there are many thematic point-buy aspects that will now be familiar to you. Absolute Power might offer you the exact superhero adventuring experience you've been waiting for!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dyskami/absolute-power-superhero-role-playing-game-2-volume-set?ref=3ox4nz

Thanks for all your support and patience! We’ll check back in when we have more information to share.