Quick DriveThruRPG Tech Support Suggestion
over 5 years ago – Mon, May 31, 2021 at 01:57:26 AM

Several backers are noticing that when they click on their download link, the DriveThruRPG page is posting the error "Your order has no items!"

This happens because you aren't logged into your DriveThru account. Log in, and then paste the link URL into your browser. That'll do the trick!

If you need further help with your DriveThruRPG account, here's their support link: https://support.drivethrurpg.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

PS. Yes, every file works as they should. Many backers have reported no problems at all with PDFs or ZIPs or MP3. If you are encountering problems with your files, the files may not be the issue.

Download File Details, Missing Files, Errata, and Late Surveys
over 5 years ago – Mon, May 31, 2021 at 01:57:24 AM

Hey, everyone! The first day of digital reward delivery is done, and the response has been tremendous. Your excitement is infectious, and we are thrilled to see all the discussions happening on the Discord server and Anime 5E Facebook group!

Digital Rewards: What Has Been Sent

We thought it would be a good time to outline all the DriveThru files we sent yesterday, and who which pledge tiers. That way, you’ll know what you should have received by now to check if anything is missing.

Backers Pledging for the Previewer tier (and $13+)

• Anime 5E Pocket Edition
• Anime 5E Introductory Primer
• Anime 5E Fillable Character Sheet
• Anime 5E Adventure Scenario: Unrest in Syfia
• Anime 5E Mounts & Monsters (includes 5 mounts, 5 MM monsters, 5 original monsters)
• Anime 5E Pre-Gen Character Pack (includes 18 characters: 6 @ 4th, 6 @ 8th, 6 @ 12th)
• Anime 5E Adventuring Accessories (includes 5 magical artefacts, 5 fantasy mecha, 5 poisons, 5 traps, 5 vehicles, and 5 weapons)

Backers Pledging for the Player tier (and $25+)

• All the above PDFs
• Anime 5E Bonus Character Options (includes 2 races, 2 classes, 2 organisations)

Backers Pledging for the Explorer tier (and $25+)

• All the above, except you’ll receive the Anime 5E Core RPG instead of the Pocket Edition

Backers Pledging for the Gamer tier (and $50+)

• Everything included in the Explorer tier

Backers Pledging for the Collector tier (and $100+)

• Everything included in the Explorer tier
• Anime 5E Adventure Scenario: Aggro Hell Hounds
• Anime 5E Adventure Scenario: Shades of Grey
• Anime 5E Print & Play Paper Miniatures
• Anime RPG Soundtrack
• BESM Naked RPG

Backers Pledging for the Adventurer tier (and $100+)

• Everything included in the Collector tier
• Anime 5E Pocket Edition
• Anime 5E Game Screen and Adventure
• Anime 5E Character Folio
• Anime 5E Game Screen Adventure Pre-Gens

Backers Pledging for the Storyteller tier (and $300+)

• Everything included in the Adventurer tier

Additionally backers adding on the Anime 5E Game Screen separately will also receive the Game Screen Adventure Pre-Gens. If you added on other individual products, you’ll receive what’s available for that product (read the entry descriptions at https://anime5e.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders for specific details).

Help! I’m Missing Some Files!

We want to ensure you receive everything that comes with you pledge. If you think you’re missing something, please read Update #58 and Update #59 first. Do not skip this step! Those two updates provide explicit troubleshooting instructions that will save everyone time. Read the comments for those updates as well, because some backers have posted additional helpful advice. DriveThruRPG can be finicky, but with patience you can sort out most problems yourself.

If you do need to contact us, you must be explicit with your request for assistance. An email that says “I haven’t receive my files yet!” doesn’t help us help you. If you received download links that don’t seem to be working, forward that email onto us and we’ll take a look at it. The more detailed your help request, the better we are able to help you within a reasonable time frame (though it could still take a day or two to hear from us).

Anime 5E Errata

We asked you for help spotting typos and clarity issues, and you’ve been delivering! From hilarious word replacements (“Cattle Technique”), to missing or extra letters/words, to terminology concerns (“Bonus Action” is something we need to review) – your comments have been very helpful. One of the goals of rolling out the product PDFs in this way is to ensure the printed books will be as flawless as possible when they are sent to press near the end of June.

We won’t be updating the PDFs with every single error correction, but we will do so once we’ve had a chance to compile a host of changes. You’ll be able to re-download the most up-to-date file at any time. If there are significant changes, we’ll highlight them in a Kickstarter update as well. An official “errata compilation” won’t start until the books are in print, since we can make digital changes until then.

A reminder: Please report all feedback/errors to us through email directly ([email protected]). Do not post a comment, or contact us through Kickstarter messenger, or through social media – email us directly, please. The conversations on Discord and the Facebook group are helpful for context (so we try to read everything we can), but they difficult to track for simple typo corrections. We have pinned a single thread on the Anime 5E Facebook group to help make this easier to track, though, if you want to post your thoughts there instead. The corrections can be in a single email compilation (preferred, if possible) or through multiple emails as you find errors. Every suggestion will be reviewed and considered, though we may not implement all of them if we are satisfied with the current presentation.

Late Surveys: When Will Rewards Be Sent

Navigating the BackerKit reporting system is challenging and we are still experimenting with the best way to send PDF download links to later backers and to those who fill out the BackerKit survey after the initial Friday, May 28th cutoff.

We won’t be sending out download links every hour, or even every day. But we will send them out irregularly every few days. Please don’t complete your survey or pre-order and then ask, “When will I receive my files?” They will be coming within a few days; if a week goes by and you receive nothing after you completed your survey/payment, drop us a detailed email at [email protected] and we will investigate.

Finally, this is a reminder that a number of backers are still having credit card charging issues that need to be resolved before your BackerKit survey is complete. Until this is done, you will not receive your digital rewards. Details about troubleshooting credit cards, and our irregular charging schedule, can be found in Update #55. Please read this update in detail before reaching out to us for assistance. If you do contact us, please do so through email ([email protected]) and be explicit with your backer details.

That’s all for today! We hope you are enjoying the exclusive early digital access. Be sure to spread the word, too. 🥳

Saturday, Not Friday, for Digital Rewards
over 5 years ago – Sat, May 29, 2021 at 02:49:39 AM

We'll be brief. Although we had hoped to get the digital rewards out to all backers today (Friday), that's simply not going to be possible. Sorting through 8,000+ rewards is taking longer than expected (the data isn't super friendly!), and we don't want to rush anything and miss any backers. Only those who completed their BackerKit survey (including any outstanding payments) prior to this message (or 5:15pm EDT) will receive their rewards in this first batch on Saturday, May 29th.

Sorry we couldn't get it out today. Thanks for your extra day of patience!

Progress Report Before Digital Rewards AND a Pledge Question
over 5 years ago – Fri, May 28, 2021 at 03:33:09 AM

Hey, backers! We have a short progress report for you, which builds upon all the information in the previous recent updates.

BackerKit Surveys and Card Charges

You have made tremendous progress with BackerKit surveys. Nearly 90% of everyone has completed their pledges through the system and will receive their digital rewards early – an outstanding number! The majority of backers with card charge errors have been able to solve their problems by using a different card or contacting their bank/issuer to remove security holds. For others, we have resolved the payment issue by moving to PayPal instead. Thank you for staying on top of your pledge!

If it isn’t the right time to complete your pledge, no problem. You can always retrieve another copy of your BackerKit survey link by entering your email at https://anime5e.backerkit.com when you’re ready. If you have already entered a credit card into your survey that just won’t seem to work, though, you may want to delete the card info since repeated authorisations will continue, as will the failed authorisations.

If you have any questions about your pledge, or need help resolving any issue, read Update #55 first. If you still need help, please contact Dyskami Publishing at [email protected]. This is better than posting in the Kickstarter comments section or Kickstarter message button – email us directly, please.

Stretch Goal Progress

We set a goal for September to complete the digital stretch goals, and honestly – we’re killing it here! 🤘😖🤘

We are ahead of schedule on nearly everything! When you receive your digital Anime 5E rewards in the next few days (or whenever you complete your BackerKit survey), here’s all the stretch goals that will be ready to download as well (for backers that have qualifying pledges):

• Adventure: Conversion for Unrest in Syfia
• Adventure: Short introductory scenario for 1st Level characters
• Adventure: Short scenario for 4th Level characters
• Pre-gen character pack for the Game Screen adventure
• Pre-gen character pack for 4th-Level characters
• Pre-gen character pack for 8th-Level characters
• Pre-gen character pack for 12th-Level characters
• Five converted creatures from the Monster Manual
• Five original monsters
• Five original magical artefacts
• Five original traps
• Five original fantasy mecha
• Five original mounts
• Five original fantasy vehicles
• Five original arcane weapons
• Five original poisons
• Two original character races
• Two original character classes
• Two original fantasy organisations
• Custom Anime 5E soundtrack score
• Printable paper minis pack
• Anime 5E Primer
• Free PDF of BESM Naked RPG

We’ll look at tackling the remaining non-product stretch goals throughout this year, including: advancement on a Roll20 sheet, streaming gaming session, adapting a fantasy series license to Anime 5E, and creation of an Anime 5E SRD. Stay tuned!

PS: you may have noticed that we made small changes to two announced stretch goals. Rather than statting out 16th-Level characters, we made 4th-Level characters since we though they would be more useful for most groups. Also, rather than five Monster Manual variants, we created five original monsters instead to provide more variety in your games.

And Now, a Pledge Question

If you can spare another moment for us, we’d love to hear from you: why did you decide to pledge your support for Anime 5E? The level of support blew away any expectations we had, and we’re dying to know what was the driving force behind your pledge decision! Please post your brief story in the comments, or drop us an email at [email protected] if you’d prefer to let us know privately. Thank you kindly for taking a few moments to share your thoughts!

We’ll check back in on Friday or Saturday when we will announce the digital release plans. It’s … so … close ….

IMPORTANT: BackerKit Survey Payments
over 5 years ago – Wed, May 26, 2021 at 09:10:25 AM

Hey, everyone! Today is an important update regarding payments made through BackerKit. It may not apply to you if your payment was already processed through BackerKit, but it’s VITAL information if you have not yet completed the survey or if you received a notice from us via BackerKit about a failed credit card charge. Note that we will not be replying individually to emails sent to us in the past 24 hours about card processing issues because this update covers the matter comprehensively.

Cards Have Been Charged For Completed Surveys

Yesterday, we locked down all orders from submitted surveys and processed credit card payments for outstanding charges (shipping fees, add-ons, etc.), and this includes late backer pre-order pledges. You will have received one of two emails from BackerKit:

“We successfully charged $X to the credit card you provided.” – This means everything processed normally, and you’re good to go. There’s nothing more you need to do right now except wait until we send the digital PDF rewards later this week. The rest of this update does not apply to you.

“Our system tried to charge $X to the credit card, but the charge failed.” – This means your pledge payment is not yet complete because your credit card could not be processed for one of several reasons. Please continue reading this update.

Credit Card Processing, BackerKit, Stripe, and Dyskami

The BackerKit pledge management system uses Stripe to process credit card payments on behalf of Dyskami’s Anime 5E Kickstarter. We (Dyskami) do not have any input in or control over the charging process, and thus do not have specific answers regarding why your credit card was not successfully charged. It could be a simple glitch that is resolved when a recharge is attempted, or an incorrect number or expiration date entered, or mismatched address in your survey vs. credit card file, or incompatibility with your credit/debit/prepayment card (HINT: credit cards seem to give fewer issues than debit cards or prepaid cards), or international banking issues, or your bank/card issuer denying the charge due to security concerns, or the phase of the moon.

We have no clue why the charge failed – all we know is that it did fail. Short of us hitting the “recharge” button, there’s nothing we can directly do to change this situation because we do not handle this directly (that’s between Stripe and your card issuing company).

But that’s not to say there are no resolution options.

Recharging Cards Today

Before we sent this update, we attempt to recharge all refused credit card charges. Some of them went through and were resolved, but most of the refusals continue to be refused. We will continue daily attempts until Friday, May 28th to ensure the most number of backers possible receive their digital PDF rewards when we send them out at the end of this week.

How You Can Resolve The Charging Issue

We know that this situation is frustrating 🤬 – especially in situations when you can’t see any reason why Stripe can’t charge your credit card, because everything seems fine to you.

There are several ways that you may be able to resolve the declined credit card issues. Not all of these ideas may work, but you are encouraged to work through as many of them as possible, as soon as possible, to ensure your pledge is processed promptly.

1. Update Your Payment Information

Perhaps there was an initial error with your credit card and it can be resolved by checking on the information, updating it, and reprocessing your card. Dozens of backers have fixed their issue in just a few minutes doing this, so give it a try if you haven’t already.

2. Try a Different Credit Card

If the entered card is giving you problems, perhaps you can enter a different credit card and have the charges process through that other card instead. Again, dozens of backers have switched to a different card and resolved the decline issue. Still, this may not work for you, and you’ll need to move to option 3.

3. Call Your Bank or Card Issuer

There is a phone number on the back of every credit card that you can call to inquire about a declined payment. Most often when this happens, the card issuer (Bank X, or Store Y) has an automatic security system that flags suspicious activity and declines the charge. If you tell the card issuer that you authorise Stripe to process the payment that we declined, the charge should be accepted next time we try recharging the cards. Most bank and card issuers can be very helpful with this.

If All That Fails, There's A Backup

There is another option that we can use if you simply have no other way to process your credit card through BackerKit. We can send you a payment request through Paypal to cover your outstanding funds. This isn’t an efficient or desirable way to accomplish this, but it’s a workaround option we have available if everything else fails.

If you have tried every other option first, the first thing you need to do is remove the credit card information that you entered into the BackerKit system (click on the link they sent to you earlier). That way, you won’t accidentally be double-charged if you pay through PayPal and Stripe successfully charges your card at a future date. Remove the payment information first.

Next, please email [email protected] directly (do not message us through Kickstarter, please!) and give us the following information: your name, your Kickstarter identity if different from your name, the dollar amount outstanding that you wish to pay, and the email address to which we should send the PayPal payment request. We will then manually send a payment request to you for payment.

Charging Cards Moving Forward

As mentioned, we will retry to charge cards daily until Friday, May 28th. After this time – and for new surveys that come in over the following weeks and months – we will make 1-2 attempts each week to charge outstanding credit cards.

Some of you have indicated that your credit card won’t work until a specific date, and you’d like us to charge your cards at that time. No problem! With regular recharge attempts, we’ll be sure to capture your payment when it’s ready to go.

Digital Reward Delivery

If your BackerKit survey and credit card payment is completed in full no later than Thursday, May 27th, you’ll receive your DriveThruRPG download links on Friday/Saturday, May 28th/29th.

Every weekly period moving forward from the end of May, we will compile all the late surveys received and process the digital pledge rewards at that time. We will only send out download PDF codes to late backers in these weekly waves, not daily as they come in. Credit cards will continue to be processed bi-weekly during this time.

If you have any questions about your pledge, please contact Dyskami Publishing at [email protected]. This is better than posting in the Kickstarter comments section or Kickstarter message button – email us directly, please.

Thanks for taking the time to read this long message. We’re looking forward to getting the Anime 5E rewards to you as soo as we can!