This might not be a paizo question anymore, but here goes.
I dont really read any of the PF-Online updates/subforums/blogs/etcetera. I backed to get all the physical goodies plus a few duplicates and figured I'd set everything up as needed so then stopped paying attention.
I just saw a comment about "Leatherette" Emerald Spire books going out of stock and I wondered if they are something other than what I'm going to get as being a backer? Was there some deluxe version or something that I've missed out on? (And if so - does any passing forumite have any for sale? :p)
Sorry for not paying attention or if this is the wrong place, but I'd appreciate any insight anyone could offer.
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I believe if you did not go to the online pledge manager within the last week or so and claim the physical books you will not get any physical copies of any of the products, Same boat a I am in, the physical books are no longer available even though I had them in my pledge when this all started, my pledge says i have a 100$ balance that I need to spend on stuff now that I will never use, like in game junk.
I'm wondering if I can get a refund of the 200$ I initially pledged and was charged and get out of this thing.
Does that still stand if you did the pledge manager when the first opened it up a year ago? Because when I go to the Emerald Spire and Flipmat pages on Paizo, it says I purchased them in May 2013... So I was under the impression I didn't have to do anything else, since I just supported as of the RPG add-on.
I believe if you did not go to the online pledge manager within the last week or so and claim the physical books you will not get any physical copies of any of the products, Same boat a I am in, the physical books are no longer available even though I had them in my pledge when this all started, my pledge says i have a 100$ balance that I need to spend on stuff now that I will never use, like in game junk.
I'm wondering if I can get a refund of the 200$ I initially pledged and was charged and get out of this thing.
I think my issue is slightly different - I went through the pledge manager process a while ago and it shows I have no credit left to "allocate". I'm just not sure whether the kickstarter books are different from the regular books available through paizo. I haven't seen any reference to leatherette books before this, but haven't really been paying attention.
In terms of collecting a pledge that's now out of print, I'd definitely get onto them quickly. I'd expect them to keep a few in reserve to cater for lost shipments, misprinted books and instances exactly like yours. It can't hurt to be at the front of the queue though.
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I don't know, I'm just confused with this whole thing. I never really ever read any of the emails that were sent out as i thought this whole process was going to take years and the only thing I was really after was the print material. So i never even knew about a pledge manager as i added the 100$ for the print option to pledge when this whole thing started. So if now I am unable to get the books in print it looks like I wasted 200$ for nothing i will ever use, it just really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
As for in the store where it says that you purchased the books i belive that is for the PDF's but here is to hoping I am wrong.
Yeah, I haven't been reading many of the updates either - I was also just in it for the physical stuff. I happened to hear about the pledge manager back when that was first rolled out.
I'd start a thread about it (or email CS) if I were you. I'm sure they'll have some spare sets around, but there might be limits. I can't imagine they'll keep your money and not give you your stuff though.
It will be interesting to see what CS does (or even can do) about this. As a somewhat experienced Kickstarter Backer, (a dozen products or so) I know that the pledge manager is a pretty critical part of the process of getting your rewards, and that the emails are the only way that they have to communicate with their backers.
I do note, however, that one of the paragraphs in the most recent email update says this:
If you included $100 for the Print Pack Add-On in your original pledge on Kickstarter, AND you did not already select the Print Pack Add-On in the Pledge Manager, please email customer.support@goblinworks.com, and in the subject please state "Print Pack Add-On Request". Only do this if you added the funds to your ORIGINAL Kickstarter Pledge during the Kickstarter. People who added funds and selected the Add-On in the Pledge Manager are not affected. We need to know how many people provided the funds for the Print Pack Add On but did not include it in a finalized Pledge. We will work directly with those affected on a suitable resolution of the problem.
I'd be very surprised if they didn't sort something out for anyone that gets in touch with them.
Not just because they're Paizo and are very cool about sorting things out, but because Pledge Manager or no, they're* still obligated to fulfill the rewards promised in a Kickstarter. As far as I'm aware, Pledge Managers are a third party thing and not an official part of the Kickstarter system, so they're more of a convenience than a requirement. They can certainly mandate that everyone uses a pledge manager to get their rewards, but if that system is no longer working they'll just have to sort it out manually for you (and Feegle's quote above pretty much says that's exactly what they're doing for anyone who gets in touch directly.) I honestly think that's all academic though, as like I said I don't imagine for one minute they'll refuse to help anyone affected, it just may take some time for them to figure out what buttons they need to press and where,or whether they need to tell you to get in touch directly with GoblinWorks about it.
*Or rather, someone is. I don't know in this case whether it's Paizo or GoblinWorks, but as the last I heard they're across a corridor from one another I'm sure they'll sort it out.
they're* still obligated to fulfill the rewards promised in a Kickstarter.
For the record, and I'm not saying that this is going to happen, but no, they're not.
Kickstarter is not and has never been a store. It's a site for companies to raise capital through micro-funding. They often offer rewards to entice people to pledge, which is what happened in this case. While it's true that they have an obligation to fulfill rewards or return the pledge, I call your attention to the following point from the Kickstarter's Terms of Use:
For some rewards, the Project Creator needs further information from Backers, such as a mailing address or t-shirt size, to enable the Project Creator to deliver the rewards. The Project Creator shall request the information directly from Backers at some point after the fundraising campaign is successful. To receive the reward, Backers agree to provide the requested information to the Project Creator within a reasonable amount of time.
If you don't check your emails from the Kickstarter, and as a result you don't provide the information they ask for, and as a result you don't get the printed versions of the stuff, the Project Creator has a legal leg to stand on with this by saying, "Sorry, nope."
To reiterate - I don't think that this is going to happen, because there's Goblinworks with Paizo standing behind it - but if you're going to make using Kickstarter a habit, then be aware of what you're getting into.
I stand corrected, I was unaware of that "reasonable amount of time" clause :) However, I still stand by my comment about not necessarily having to do so via a backer manager (such as if you provided all the requested info via the Kickstarter survey at the end) - if you could prove you'd done that, it'd certainly mean a delay and quite possibly an annoyed project owner, but they'd probably still be under the same obligation (as far as any Kickstarter is obligated, that is, which I'm not even getting into here due to the ambiguity within their own site content and T&Cs) to provide the backer reward you'd originally clicked on. In this particular case, though, yeah if people had just not read the emails and not made any response, there's a case for that reasonable amount of time running out (although again, Paizo being Paizo, I'd be very surprised if they didn't work out something for anyone affected, even if it's giving them their reward as gift vouchers or something similar)
I'm also with you 100% on it not being a preorder system. Unfortunately I'm not so sure how much longer that will apply, seeing as it's rapidly becoming a de facto one and court cases are already appearing. It'll be interesting to see how those things work out (and I while I hope it'll continue to be seen as a funding platform, I'm unsure whether my hope will be enough.)
Are any of the more knowledgeable here able to confirm whether I've missed out on some 'deluxe version'?
I'm not concerned that I'm not going to get what I backed for, I'm concerned that some 'leatherette' version was released after the fact and that I may have missed it. Or is that just a distinction between the kickstarter version and the version available through paizo.com?
Okay, looking at the actual post in question:
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2r3zg?Pledge-Manager-Print-Pack-AddOn-being-dis abled
It appears the leatherette version was being used for those that selected the Print Pack Addon in the Pledge Manager.
They have run out of these (apart from a few for emergency replacements) and have temporarily disabled the option to choose the print pack. This will be re-enabled once they've found an appropriate substitute, which may involve the regular print version in place of the leatherette.
So yes, it does look like you're too late to grab the leatherette version, which you'd have been able to grab if you'd contacted them a couple of weeks ago :(
Anyone affected ought to be contacting Goblinworks if the new solution, whatever it turns out to be, doesn't meet what was originally promised inside Kickstarter (I have no idea what that was, if it was just the regular print version then I'd say there's no issues and it's just a matter of waiting for them to turn the pledge manager back on), as it appears they'll be more than willing to work some kind of alternative out.
Thanks, Steve. A nice surprise (except now I need to get the regular version too, just cos...).
D'oh, I missed the part about you having gone through the Pledge Manager before - sorry Steve, yeah you should be fine :)
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Thanks, Sara. Looks like I didn't miss anything after all, despite my best efforts.