I was going to title this update with something like "Good news, but bad news" however I figure I wouldn't bury the lead. The playmats have arrived and look really good! They are edge stitched so the quality is nice and the artwork looks vibrant. I'm very happy with them overall.

Unfortunately I also received word that the shipping is slightly delayed and now we are looking more at a December 2 arrival date. I'm waiting on more official tracking information. This still means I should be able to get it to most people before the holidays at the end of the month. Any further delays could jeopardize this goal though. Too bad we can't send in some influencers to get things moving quicker!

If you paid for shipping, your credit cards will be charged soon. Backerkit suggests that you do not charge any sooner than 30 days out. So I'll be looking at finalizing that next week as soon as I get concrete shipping tracking information.

If you did not buy a game mat, but would like to please reach out to me.

Thanks!
- Manda

Hi all,

I've received word that the games have shipped and are on their way from China. They are set to arrive in Long Beach on 11/05, so that's looking like a November 11 or 12th arrival at our fulfillment location. That means I can start arranging shipping to those who opted for it, or meeting you otherwise to get the game in your hands before Christmas.

It's a little later than I was hoping, since I won't have the games in time for Mepacon. However, I talked to the folks at Portal in Bethlehem and we're going to have a release day there. I'm also going to have a day at Adventurer's Guild in Harrisburg. I'll have dates out as soon as I can confirm them. If you don't think either of these options will work for you and want to arrange alternative pick up, please reach out to me at [email protected] . 

I'll keep you posted as I get more shipping information and have firms dates on the arrival.

Thank you again for your support through all this! 
- Manda

Hi all!
I sent out a smoke test of the surveys and went well. So I've sent the remainder of the survey's out today. I need to get an accurate count for how many playmats to order. I'll need as many orders in the next week as possible to get that count.

Important note- Please select "Local Pickup" as your country on the first screen if you anticipate coming to either the launch party or meeting up with me at a convention to get your game. Otherwise it will charge you for shipping. If you aren't sure whether we can meet up, please reach out to me and I'd be happy to answer any questions.

If you do not select local pickup on the first screen, you'll be able to change the Country field on the shipping address screen.

Also, if you do not pay for shipping through the survey and we are unable to meet up because of your location, you will need to pay the shipping cost before I can send the game out to you. 

Thanks! 

Hi guys,
We're still having some alignment issues with the XP cards, so they are working on another sample. In the meantime, I'm sending out the first set of surveys to make sure my setup is all correct (called the smoke test). If all is right there, I'll be sending out the rest of the surveys. I need to get a count of how many playmats I should order, so I can get those in.

So you should be seeing a survey shortly for the game. One more step closer to getting it in your hands.

Hello fellow cabal members,

It's been a while since my last update, but I finally have some news to share. I received a sample production copy of the game and it looks great! I'm very impressed with the quality and can't wait to share them with you. 

There was one slight problem with the transparency of the experience cards. The yellow was far too light and couldn't be seen when put up against the other card. They are working on fixing that, and they should be sending a new set in the next few days.

We also noticed that I miscounted the number of sleeves that we needed. Since we added the sixth faction as a stretch goal, I didn't update the sleeve count. I need to have seven more sleeves added into each copy of the game.

I should be able to get over those small hurdles in the next few days. Once I get the next sample of the experience cards, I'll be able to get an estimate on weight and how much shipping will cost. I can then get out the survey to collect everyone's shipping address.

We will have a local pick up option. Also, I am booking out my calendar for a bunch of conventions so I can also meet people at those to hand off your copy.

Just a few more weeks and The Establishment should be shipping to the US!