Order Lock and Shipping Charge notice
about 4 years ago – Mon, Apr 13, 2020 at 11:06:10 AM

Hello Everyone, 

I hope you are staying safe and healthy during this crazy time. 

This is just a very quick update to let you know that in 48 hours I'll be locking all of the orders and charging shipping from Backerkit. So if you want to add any last minute things to your order, now's the time to do it. I did delay things a few days due to the Easter Holiday and the strangeness that is happening around the world at the moment. I hope you all stay safe. 

I got all the cards signed! Can you find yours? 

Just a picture for you of one of the roses in our garden. 

Thank you for your support!

Rocky 

Important Dates!
about 4 years ago – Tue, Mar 31, 2020 at 10:51:46 AM

Hello Everyone.

I hope you are keeping safe and sane in this new world of ours. May you stay virus free and may your TP closet always be full. 

Key Dates

April 4th:   Order Lockdown. No changing orders after this. (at least not without my help)

April 12th:  Credit Card Charge date. This is when we will charge for shipping and additions from Backerkit. 

April 28th: Estimated ship from manufacturer to Quartermaster Logistics.

So far we are fairly confident of these dates. While COVID has not affected manufacturing much, I did hear from QML that they are at about 50% staff. So once the games go under QML's control, they may not ship as fast as normal. QML has several partners world wide that they will coordinate with and work through for fulfillment. So hopefully COVID won't slow down shipping. 

Manufacturing

I chatted with our manufacturing rep today as I do every day. She sent over a couple pics and a small video of Rare Roses coming off the printing line. Enjoy! 

Game board sheets coming off the printer.

Minor Component Adjustment

Now, a bit of a mistake on my part. I didn't match the number of coins and Rose Tiles to the patterns on the punch boards. So the sample one cam with several blank coins and blank hexes. I didn't want to waste to much space so I added a few more $1 and $5 coins to the game. However, that change did not make it into the rule book before they started printing. So, you'll get a few more coins than the book specifically calls out.  

I did not change the number of Rose Tiles though. After all the play testing we did, the balance of tiles is fairly exact right now. For example, there are fewer Black Roses than Osira's or Blue etc. It reflects the genuine rarity of the roses themselves, and their prices. So I couldn't really tinker with that balance. Silver lining, you'll have 6 or 8 white hexes to play with. Maybe use them as Wild Tiles or something. 

As always, thank you for your support of Rare Roses. At this point I'm starting on a couple other games I have in the pipeline while I we wait for manufacturing and shipping. What do you think I should work on first... 

• Epic Pirate game, 
• Lightweight Lovecraftian dice placement game, or 
• 1 v Many Legend of Sleep Hollow game. 

Let me know in the comments!  :-) 

Rocky

Manufacturing Update
about 4 years ago – Mon, Mar 23, 2020 at 02:41:12 AM

Hello Everyone,

I've talked with the manufacturer quite a bit last week. we wanted to get the color proofs sorted out and make sure we were ready to go. Last Friday, all of the art, colours, sizes etc were approved and they started mass production of Rare Roses! So we are now just waiting for that to finish so we can ship. 

Surveys

Now that manufacturing is in full swing, it's important that you complete the Backerkit survey so that we have your final order and shipping address. I will be locking the order count for Kickstarter / Backerkit in about 10 days. So please, the remaining 17% of you, fill out your survey. You backed the game, and there's at least one that desperately wants to arrive at your door, but it needs your help to do that. Complete the Backerkit Survey so we know your address is correct. If you lost one of the several emails you've gotten from Backerkit, you can retrieve your survey link here: https://rareroses.backerkit.com/

Shipping charges will be processed in 20 days. So please, now that most of us are home, and potentially bored, take a moment to complete that so we can be sure you get your games without any problems. 

Manufacturing

Well I got a package from the manufacturer today. The Kickstarter Exclusive Order Cards arrived. Now, I get to sign 1000 of these...

But I wanted to get your opinion on something first. Which color of Sharpie to use. I had grand visions of using my Silver sharpie, however you can't see it on the cards very well. So have a look at these pictures and let me know in the comments which one you prefer. (Black, Orange, Gold... not Silver). Or 

Here are some pics for you. 

Conventions...?

So far GenCon is still going ahead. Given that the COVID-19 situation may enforce lock-downs and cancellations for a minimum of 6 months. This obviously may affect GenCon. To be frank, it will affect the whole convention season. So if you were considering pick-up at a convention, you might need to reconsider and have Rare Roses delivered to your door. If so, please see the Survey update above. 

Marc and I will attend our respective conventions if they happen (and we stay COVID free). But let's not take a chance of delaying your game in this uncertain times. 

As always, you have my deepest gratitude for bringing Rare Roses to life! Stay safe, healthy and isolated. :-) 

Rocky

Pre-Production Sample Arrived!
about 4 years ago – Mon, Mar 16, 2020 at 02:42:16 AM

Hello Budding Florists. 

I wanted to share the update today as we could all use some good news. I received the pre-production sample today! Here are some pictures for you. 

So there you go. I want them to fix a few colour saturation issues, and the margins in the rule book, but the tiles, bag and board look great! We're getting there!

Thanks for your support!!

Rocky 

March Rare Roses update!
about 4 years ago – Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 02:13:56 AM

Hello Everyone,

Well, I hope you're staying safe from COVID-19. It has had a significant impact on our industry. I've been talking with our manufacturer throughout. While they did experience delays, we should still be able to hit our delivery time frame in May. I will keep you informed and let you know if something interferes with that. Right now we are ok, but COVID-19 issues are starting to affect more and more companies and creating delays in ways nobody anticipated. 

Surveys

Most of you  (77%) have filled out your Backerkit surveys. Thank you for that. This is an important step in fulfillment because this is how we know we have your addresses right. ;-) That means there are 48 of you who still need to fill that puppy out. If you lost your link you can go here https://rareroses.backerkit.com/ and fill in your email address and a new link will be sent to you. 

For those of you who filled our your survey, and order extra copies, thank you! For those of you that are about to fill out your surveys, and might want to order extra copies please do so soon. The pre-orders have been very well received and our retailer backers have ordered extras as well. Because of that, we can't guarantee we'll have stock left after GenCon. 

Manufacturing Update

I just got off Skype with the manufacturer. Our rep showed me the pre production sample and is sending it to me, along with the exclusive Kickstarter Order Cards tomorrow. So I'll have it in my hot little hands very soon. Once I get them I'll do a video for you showing you the pre-production sample and give you an idea of what you can expect to get! Once I see and approve the sample, they'll start mass production and of course after that, you'll be getting shipping notifications! 

As I mentioned above, we are on track for an on time delivery. However, I have to warn you all that if the COVID-19 situation worsens, it could delay things. I put plenty of padding into the schedule, but we've already used some of that up with the factory shutdowns. I'm sure you've been hearing this a lot from all of your creators though. It seems our little industry is particularly susceptible to these kinds of issues. This is even aside from the nature of board games being in-person and friendly. Hang in there! 

Special Treat

For those of you that like to see how these things come together, and especially for this game that features fantastic artwork, I have a little treat for you. Once you amazing people hit the stretch goal that unlocked the customer Order Card backs, Nene went to work on the art. She captured her process in a video for us. You can visit my YouTube channel where i posted the video here:  Nene Thomas, Order Card Art video. 

Let me know what you think! Thanks for supporting Rare Roses!

Rocky