Wicked Ones removed from DTRPG, released into CC0 (public domain), and an overview of what's going on.
6 months ago
– Sun, Jan 07, 2024 at 10:37:11 PM
Hi everyone.
I took Wicked Ones down from DTRPG with the end of 2023, no longer being able to process (the very few) sales from it for tax reasons. I was planning on setting it to free, but realized review bombing had started there. That's okay, I understand why, but I didn't see a reason to leave that up. It'll just get messier.
Instead, Wicked Ones has been set to CC0, meaning it's now in the public domain. It can be freely used, distributed, or even re-sold as you like. The updated wording should be on the updated Wicked Ones v1.4 and Toolkit deck files you can download from your DTRPG library.
The artwork and any associated files are also released into CC0. This does not include War for the Overworld (which is no longer available due to my not holding the copyright) or Undead Awakening and its artwork (which is owned by Cass Rea). Cass is free to distribute or sell Undead Awakening on their own (distributed with Wicked Ones, if they like) as it is his. It's also of note that they had nothing to do with things not going well—as things got rocky, I pushed people away and tried to get through it on my own. It didn't work so well. As of late 2022, I was handling this on my own. I say that to mean if they do decide to spread their work, I'd ask you not to punish them for mistakes I made. I saw negative reviews up on the UA DTRPG page and it's not fair for them to get dragged into this. The same goes for Ken Stine, who contributed to the Toolkit deck and artist Victor Costa, who did an outstanding job on the project.
Details on what happened.
- There were problems with the initial print run which I couldn't justify distributing, so I decided it needed to be reprinted.
- There were (and still are) problems with the distributor and contracts.
- The value of the yen got destroyed right as the project launched, making money raised worth less and prices paid later soar. (check Jan 2022 vs. Oct 2022 when I ordered the first print run.. .0088 JPY/USD down to .0069 JPY/USD). The yen had held steady for about 4 years prior to that. I was completely blindsided by it and it was the biggest cause of the next point.
- The fallout of my business closure from covid and shift to TTRPG dev, the fall of the JPY value, being unable to navigate the tax situation well, currency conversion costs, misprints, distribution issues and more... it all added up to a rather disastrous position financially for myself, which I'm still waiting on the settling of taxes and legal disputes to finish up.
- Shipping money is set aside and waiting to be used for that purpose. It needed collecting when it did as I thought I would have to pay the distributor up front, though that contract fell through.
- And not making excuses, but things in my personal and family life have went from bad to worse, giving me very little reason to hurry along or truly care about anything right now.
I take responsibility for how poorly this has gone. Incompetence and getting in way over my head. Too much money has now been spent (on printing charges, payment to contributors who have all been paid in full, donation, consumption tax, advertising fees, and so on) to make a refund possible so the only way forward is finishing it out.
Wicked Ones was one of the greatest things I've done in my life and now one of my biggest regrets for ever starting. You can consider this project on indefinite hiatus. I have no timeline for when things will be resolved, though I still intend to finish it.
Do not expect responses in this thread. It is unlikely that I'll have the fortitude to read it right away, to be quite honest. I'll circle back around to it after some time.
Sorry again for all the trouble I've caused.
The finished product and timeline delays
about 1 year ago
– Thu, Apr 27, 2023 at 09:24:29 PM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Shipping (and VAT for EU/UK) update
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Mar 07, 2023 at 07:22:36 PM
Hey everyone,
You have probably received word from Backerkit that you will be charged for shipping. I realize the costs are higher than the original quoted rough framework I was given, but I was just operating with the information I had at that time. I asked for the info, posted it, then checked with the shipping company to get the current shipping rates, and am charging them now. All of this is completely out of our hands and I'm sorry that it's more expensive than most expected.
Concerning VAT, while I assumed it was common practice that VAT is paid by all EU/UK citizens on orders like these, the fact that I didn't state that it would be charged has caused some confusion and dissatisfaction, and in the case of several private messages and e-mails, downright anger. I don't live in a country where I deal with VAT and even the shipping center says it's a complicated mess that's difficult to handle. Anyway, I've removed the VAT charge from the upcoming Backerkit shipping charges and will be paying the VAT myself. Looking at other KSer projects, they do seem to inform people with a note ("You'll be charged for VAT later.").
I now understand better why companies like Evil Hat only ship within the U.S. as well.
That's it for now.
- Ben
Printing and Shipping Update (w/ some pics)
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Feb 16, 2023 at 04:28:25 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Progress Report - Production Well Underway
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Dec 29, 2022 at 02:38:19 AM
Hey everyone,
Sorry again for the lack of updates - I have been working away in the background, but just haven't had things at the right point to sit down and write it out as an update. The last few months have been a bit unstable for me and there was a lot of start/stopping the production process of the books. It's a big project with lots of little details, so I needed to make sure I had a very clear mind when checking over everything to make sure nothing was getting overlooked.
I can't stress enough how actually complex getting all of the details lined up has been. All told, this Kickstarter is actually 7 different production projects, each with multiple details that needed fine-tuning. The reps at the printing company have been great at helping get everything set up and I'm happy to say that production has been underway for a little while now, though it took us quite some time to finalize the details on the dice production.
As I stated before, I expected a few months delay due to me travelling back and forth to the US several times over the last few months. I'm sorry to say that my mother did pass away a few weeks ago, though she was at home, peaceful, and surrounded by family, which was the most we could hope for.
That turbulent time in my life has also passed and I've finally settled back into my regular schedule, which is good news for my family life, my own peace of mind, and my work progress.
I wanted to thank everyone again for their understanding about the delays and to those who commented or reached out with support. Also, thank you for understanding about the delays and I do apologize that it's taking longer than anticipated. My best estimate at this point is that rewards will be arriving at doorsteps in March. With an optimistic timeline, that would be early March but further away places, pushing into April is not out of the question. Don't hold me to that timeline as there's still the matter of shipping all of the books via ship and the timelines on that can vary wildly.
The entire production process has been a grind and moves at a much slower pace than I anticipated, but such goes these things I imagine and I'll know how to budget the time better next time. Apologies again on the timeline issue. Even without my own personal life events, the timeline I set out early on was unrealistic - those estimates basically assume that everyone at every step of the process knows exactly what is required to move forward and there are no discussions involved. It's just not realistic... so I should own up to a bit of the delay myself just for my own lack of experience.
Regardless, stuff is getting made now and the machine is grinding away!
Happy holidays everyone. Thanks again for the support.
- Ben
