Updates

Hi, everyone!

It's been a little less than a month, but things are moving along quite nicely. 

1) Most excitingly, the print run has since commenced and been finished. Boxes have been assembled and prepped for shipping (pictures attached). Note my company name on the shipping boxes, this'll also appear on the back of the game boxes!

2) Shipping is planned for later this week. The ETA for the boxes is mid-to-late March, as shipping from China takes somewhere between 6 weeks and 2 months, per the printer's estimate. The good news is that they beat the Spring Festival goal, so there won't be a delay due to that. This all means that we should be able to meet the May/June target for delivery of the games to backers.

3) There will be some time needed in between to assemble the games, as some of the printing is being done locally. That is still next on the list, now that some other things have been dealt with, such as receiving the boxes of playing cards (for the basic and deluxe game), and ordering the medieval coins (for the incentives and deluxe version). 

4) My goal is to have the surveys out sometime in February, as I realized there is an approval process and some other steps to go through. So be on the lookout for those!

Thanks again!

Joe

Hey, everyone!

We have more updates!

1) Some very exciting news to share. We have a printing sample! Just received them last night, and it means we're one step closer to the print run. Pictures are attached of the box, the board, and the coins. Feel free to let me know what you think. The next step is to check them for errors, which I'm planning to do this weekend. Once I'm okay with the sample, we're on to the print run :) The printer says we have a good shot at having the print run done before they close down for a few weeks for the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year).

2) The deluxe edition miniatures are virtually done. I've attached a picture of those as well, forgive me if it's giving you Westworld flashbacks lol. I have some QC left to do on them, but wanted to give you an idea what they looked like. For those of you who didn't get the deluxe edition, they'll be available to add through the pledge manager. 

3) Next on the list is setting up the local printing for all of the other printed materials. 

Hope your new year is going well so far. TTYS!

Joe

Hi, everyone!

Wanted to first say a heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped make Medieval Merchant a reality. Your support has not only helped bring a game to life and to a larger audience, but it helps me think about actually working on game design in a more significant way. 

I also wanted to apologize for taking nearly a month to send an update; I had a health issue to deal with right around the time of closing, then Thanksgiving, my day job, then life :) Rest assured I'll be sending more regular updates as significant developments warrant. At least one per month, even if not much is happening :) 

With that in mind, we commence with our first update.

1. I've picked a printer! I communicated with a number of printers (at least six off the top of my head), but I've selected Nice Funny Games (NFG), based in China (my dad would've gotten a kick out of the company name). I'll be using them to print the box, the board, the cardboard coin punch-out sheet, as well as to provide the pawns and the dice. I'll be using a local printer for everything else, as they were able to provide good-quality prints for my demo copies, but aren't able to print what NFG can. This approach allowed to keep costs down while providing flexibility in assembly.

2. I've also been busy communicating back and forth with NFG on finalizing details for the layout, and the next step is layout approval , which means as soon as I hear back from them, I get to approve the layout. The next step after that is the proofs, and the proofs is the last step before I okay the printing. 

3. We're still on target for a May/June fulfillment. This will depend largely on whether they can get to the print run before they break for the Spring Festival, which is when China celebrates the Lunar New Year. This can be up to three weeks. Either way, we should be fulfilling in either May or June. 

4. The next thing I'll be working on are the surveys. This is where you get details on what you're receiving for your pledge, method of fulfillment, and whether you want to add anything to your pledge. I'll be including instructions with those, so never fear!

Thanks for your patience and for reading. 
TTYS and Happy Gregorian New Year!

Joe


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Hi, everyone!

To celebrate making the funding goal (and because it took me until now to consider it), we've got a new add-on....Medieval Merchant dice!

The dice feature the Medieval Merchant logo instead of the '1', and come in singles or pairs. Feel free to add them to your game!

If you pledged for the Basic or Deluxe game (including the levels above that), these would come in addition to the die that comes with the game. 

Hey, everyone-

I'm happy to report that we've made our funding goal!!!!!
So this means that the game will actually be printed and come into reality :) 
You'll be hearing from Backerkit and me about what happens next with pledges, shipping, etc. 

I'd just like to take a second here to thank EVERYONE who's supported the game and my vision, be it financially, emotionally, through playtesting, troubleshooting, in some other way, or all of the above. Your help means the world to me and is really encouraging. It's also a great tribute to my father, who incidentally passed away two years ago this week. His philosophy on games was that they were a great tool for connecting people and bringing them together. And in a sense, that's what's happened here. And hopefully, as you/we play this game or other board games with each other, we get to connect even more. 
Okay, so that was more than a second, but just know that you have my sincerest thanks. 

Also...there's still nearly 2 weeks left to go with the launch, and there's a stretch goal. If we hit $3,000 in funding, I'll be sending a free King's Collector miniature to everyone! It's for use with one of the optional rules. You can see more details in the Achievements section. 

Thanks!
Joe