Lisa Stevens CEO |
Understand that this is just a guess on my part. But I suspect it has to do with no control over the actual time needed to print it, nor pack for shipment back to the US, nor any control over the weather in the Pacific that affects the time a ship takes to arrive, nor the time it takes for the shipment to clear customs and be shipped to Paizo's warehouse. Then it takes time to unpack, inventory, repack for us and ship out.
I could be way off track but that is what I suspect happens.
Just my 2 cp.
EDIT: I am not even going to mention what happens if the longshoremen happen to be on a work stoppage or strike.
Yep, exactly. We are given estimates from our printer, but once a book leaves our offices and hits the wilds of the printer, all bets are off. As we get better information, we update our estimates on the website, but many times, we get surprised when something shows up weeks earlier than expected or are bummed when something happens unexpectedly to delay arrival. It doesn't happen all the time, but often enough to make us cautious. And a book as complex as this one just ups the whole Murphy's Law quotient.
-Lisa
flash_cxxi RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32 |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Is there any word yet on the possibility that this might arrive in enough time to ship before the projected 21st of December date (ie. seperately to my Subscription shipment). It is my Birthday/Christmas present from my parents and since they are already annoyed that they won't have anything physical to give me on my actual Birthday (12th Dec) they are gonna be royally pi$$ed that they now don't have anything to physically give me on Christmas Day as well (and with the regular 2 week wait plus Christmas Delays it's now looking like I'm not going to get this until mid to late January).
I must say that asking for that kind of outlay literally a few days before Christmas, especially since the Shattered Star Minis are due out the next month is a massive ask. November was pushing it (it really should have been comissioned a few months earlier so that it hit us midway between the massive dollars of the Rise of the Runelords minis and Christmas) but December is going to be a killer for most people.
Now this doesn't really affect me as much (since my parents are paying for the book itself), but I still have to pay the $100 shipping for it. I would also forsee a number of people cancelling their pre-orders because of its timing and missing out on their .pdf (again this doesn't affect me since I already have the Anniversary .pdf from my order of the actual physical Anniversary hardcover), but I can sympathise with those who it does inconvenience.
My other worry with this estimated ship date is the closeness to Christmas. My orders have gradually been pushed back over the past 6 months so that I often have my stuff shipping on or after the projected "should ship by" date. As an example, November's shipment only just shipped yesterday for me, well into the week after it was projected to have shipped by. All over Facebook I see mesages of Subscribers in the USA already reading their physical copies while I still have yet to get my shipping notification (literally getting it sometimes up to a week after reading those messages). Considering that it takes at least 2 weeks for Subscription shipments to arrive here (I have known non-Subscription orders to take less, but they are few and far between and I've never known a Sub to take less than 2 weeks other than once in the whole time I've been a Subscriber) and the fact that my order might not even leave the warehouse before Christmas the way my orders have been going lately, I honestly have no idea when I might get that shipment (other than my very hopeful estimation of mid to late January). I have previously asked if it is possible for International shipments to be processed first so that everyone will be getting their copies around the same time but it seems that notion has fallen on deaf ears (or my continued asking has been the cause for my gradual bump to further down the line). I have had some issues with the pre-authorisations screwing with the account balance on my Debit Card and slowing the payment down until I can put more funds into the account, but these problems are not my problems (if it was the fact of me not having enough in the account then I can understand that, as I have done in the past) and shouldn't be affecting when my order ships because of something that is out of my control.
You can call me a whinger all you want, but it is really annoying to see so many people already reading their copies when I have to make do with the .pdfs for 2-3 weeks. It is really starting to take the shine off that monthly package arriving when I've already read what I wanted to and moved on, many times not even opening the books when they arrive and simply shelving them.
Just my 2cp, take it however you want... constructive criticism or cry baby whining. :/
Liz Courts Webstore Gninja Minion |
Steve Geddes |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I must say that asking for that kind of outlay literally a few days before Christmas, especially since the Shattered Star Minis are due out the next month is a massive ask. November was pushing it (it really should have been comissioned a few months earlier so that it hit us midway between the massive dollars of the Rise of the Runelords minis and Christmas) but December is going to be a killer for most people.
I cant really speak to the other issues. However, you can manage the cashflow (even if not the deliver times) as a customer - just buy gift certificates for yourself at the times which will best suit your credit card cycle. That way the delays which happen from time to time have no impact on when you are billed.
My RotRL copy was billed at the expected time and whenever it actually arrives the credit will be applied appropriately. I switched to that method early in the year when there were a few months of delays and the looming RotRL minis and I'd thoroughly recommend it.
The payments go out like clockwork, it doesnt delay your shipping and (to comment on another point you raised) there's no unexpected "preauthorisation delay" from some banking system glitchiness/timing issue.
I know what you mean about taking the shine off - I've taken to not usually reading the PDFs anymore, even though they sit there for a week or two. I want that experience of unwrapping my monthly Paizo gift. :)
flash_cxxi RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32 |
flash_cxxi wrote:I must say that asking for that kind of outlay literally a few days before Christmas, especially since the Shattered Star Minis are due out the next month is a massive ask. November was pushing it (it really should have been comissioned a few months earlier so that it hit us midway between the massive dollars of the Rise of the Runelords minis and Christmas) but December is going to be a killer for most people.I cant really speak to the other issues. However, you can manage the cashflow (even if not the deliver times) as a customer - just buy gift certificates for yourself at the times which will best suit your credit card cycle. That way the delays which happen from time to time have no impact on when you are billed.
My RotRL copy was billed at the expected time and whenever it actually arrives the credit will be applied appropriately. I switched to that method early in the year when there were a few months of delays and the looming RotRL minis and I'd thoroughly recommend it.
The payments go out like clockwork, it doesnt delay your shipping and (to comment on another point you raised) there's no unexpected "preauthorisation delay" from some banking system glitchiness/timing issue.
Yeah I was actually doing that for a while there. But my cash flow became so that I was less able to do that (larger than normal electricity bills, increased daycare outlay, etc...) so I was pretty much just waiting until the last minute and biting the bullet to put the money in (and I also had to contend with Some Kickstarter and additional Paizo purchases in there as well).
Ian have to start trying to put money away and do it again I guess...Liz Courts Webstore Gninja Minion |
JohnF |
Oh well - and the November subscription just shipped (arrived yesterday).
Still, with any luck the December shipment will make it here by Christmas.
I guess it's only fair that the non-subscription customers get a chance to get their hands on something first for a change ...
Jeff Alvarez Chief Operating Officer, Web Store Manager |
Vic Wertz Chief Technical Officer |
Oh well - and the November subscription just shipped (arrived yesterday).
Still, with any luck the December shipment will make it here by Christmas.I guess it's only fair that the non-subscription customers get a chance to get their hands on something first for a change ...
Unless you're a US customer who uses UPS for subs, odds are good that it will end up shipping in its own box, so holding it for your sub won't save you much in postage (if anything at all). You might want to switch it to ship sooner.
Steve Geddes |
Unless you're a US customer who uses UPS for subs, odds are good that it will end up shipping in its own box, so holding it for your sub won't save you much in postage (if anything at all). You might want to switch it to ship sooner.
Hi Vic. I'd wondered about getting CS to dump the contents of my sidecart in with this as well. Am I right in understanding there's probably no point to that?
Michael Deyette 82 |
Okay, before I make my final decision, I need to know EXACTLY what benefits I'm getting out of this deal compared to the regular anniversary edition. The problem is the standard anniversary edition is very vague in what it gives compared to this one. I need comparisons. Especially if I'm going to shell out an additional $110 dollars.
Regular anniversary edition is just a book as far as I'm aware. This is a metal boxed set with the maps and ingame handouts as page inserts. Also there's the art that comes with this one.
Material wise the non collectors edition has the whole adventure in top form, just not all the extra handouts and key maps. Also it's a more standard hardcover book whereas this version is rather more ornate.
edit: wow, I think I just replied to a page 1 post thinking it was new.. ah well. yey runelords! Starting my campaign the first week of January and pulling all the stops. No distracting electronics at the table, battle maps from the runelords set, gamemastery map tiles for random encounters or unmapped areas, runelords pawn set for NPCs plus the bestiary box for randoms and PC tokens.
It's going to be sick.
Vic Wertz Chief Technical Officer |
Vic Wertz wrote:Unless you're a US customer who uses UPS for subs, odds are good that it will end up shipping in its own box, so holding it for your sub won't save you much in postage (if anything at all). You might want to switch it to ship sooner.Hi Vic. I'd wondered about getting CS to dump the contents of my sidecart in with this as well. Am I right in understanding there's probably no point to that?
Probably not. The weight and size of this means that, for non-US folks, it's going International Priority, and *not* in a Flat-Rate box, so it's probably going to be cheaper to ship a second package using standard shipping than to add items to the Priority package. (There are probably some edge cases that might go the other way by a small amount, but I think it would be a very narrow window of weight and size that could trigger that circumstance.)
WampaX |
Probably not. The weight and size of this means that, for non-US folks, it's going International Priority, and *not* in a Flat-Rate box, so it's probably going to be cheaper to ship a second package using standard shipping than to add items to the Priority package. (There are probably some edge cases that might go the other way by a small amount, but I think it would be a very narrow window of weight and size that could trigger that circumstance.)
This reminds me,
So the last couple of orders with large books to arrive here have had a crumpled corner. Its not too bad on the damage, with a crumpled bottom on a spine and a couple of smooshed corners (akin to dropping the book in the course of normal gaming wear) but that is not something I would want to happen to this beauty.Can you recommend a shipping method that would provide the best "handling" for its cargo (US address)?
Michael Deyette 82 |
Isn't it packaged in a metal case? That would probably take a fair bit of rough handling on its own.
That said, this is a one of a kind deal, do more expensive shipping options typically use better packaging? I thought the only variable was how fast it arrived but, I lack the experience to know more.
WampaX |
Isn't it packaged in a metal case? That would probably take a fair bit of rough handling on its own.
That said, this is a one of a kind deal, do more expensive shipping options typically use better packaging? I thought the only variable was how fast it arrived but, I lack the experience to know more.
That's why I emphasised the "handling" portion of my question. Paizo are the ones that pack the boxes and do an admirable job. The styrofoam corners helped mitigate the damage on the last two hardbacks . However, the handling of those packages has been less than admirable. So I'm looking for advice on a shipping option that would ensure some care taken with the package so the box of awesome doesn't arrive dented or with corners crumpled.
Chris Lambertz Digital Products Assistant |
carborundum RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32 |
Liz Courts Webstore Gninja Minion |
You only received the PDF for free if you preordered this book and were an active Adventure Path subscriber, per the product description:
...but Pathfinder Adventure Path subscribers who preorder this book will receive a free PDF edition of this book when the print edition ships. (Note that you will need to have an active AP subscription at the time the Deluxe Collector's Edition ships in order to receive the PDF for free.)
Cosmo Customer Service Happiness-Inducement Imp |
The PDF comes for free for Adventure Path subscribers who preorder for the Deluxe Edition.
We are now starting to ship the Deluxe Edition. However, we have extended the preorder deadline, so if you get your order in this week (and have an active Adventure Path subscription when it ships out) you will get the PDF for free.
Thanks,
cos
mach1.9pants |
The PDF comes for free for Adventure Path subscribers who preorder for the Deluxe Edition.
We are now starting to ship the Deluxe Edition. However, we have extended the preorder deadline, so if you get your order in this week (and have an active Adventure Path subscription when it ships out) you will get the PDF for free.
Thanks,
cos
That is a great touch :)
Michael Dean |
Thanks Cos and Liz.
Ordered. Now I just have to hope it gets up here via slow boat to Alaska rate before December 23rd. I suppose I'll still have my PO address when I am moved to Portland, OR and be able to check it randomly when on a busniess trip back up here.
Thanks.
Dude, you live in Alaska and take business trips to Portland? I want your life! What do you do for a living; fly a puddle jumper on extreme adventure expeditions and fly down to Portland to pick up clients? Wrestle Kodiak bears? Pan for gold? If you sell insurance, don't spoil my vision. :)
Edit: sorry, looks like I got it reversed on the Portland-Alaska thing, but still, way to live!
thenorthman |
Oh the trips to Alaska won't be a regular thing once moved to Portland. Except there is one planned end of January.
After that it be wife doing it mostly.
In fact we get moved to Portland then three days later she has to go to Dear Lodge, Montana.
With talk of me taking care of my little one. Not sure if I am totally up with that. Feel like I would have to at least do something part time. We will see.
Michael Deyette 82 |
Question: will it be cheaper to have this ship alone USPS now, or ship UPS with my next subscription order?
I believe this was asked earlier and while Paizo can't be 100% certain (it ends up being up to how USPS packages it) because of the size and weight of the runelords box it will likely be sent in its own box either way. Thus you could order it individually and not see much of a difference.
That is my understanding anyways.