IIRC it was for Advanced Players Guide that they did that.
We got one new May product, but no update on April items.
Oof. So whatever came in wasn't the April stuff?
If I were making the call, I'd just roll April's spawn date into May's at this point, once April's stuff shows up. That way it can all go out with whatever comes in the next week or two for May. I'm sure it'll be frustrating for some folks that wanted it for table play, but I think the savings on shipping will benefit a broader range of people.
As for sending out PDFs before anything ships, I think that is hard to say without knowing the data. Will a month's worth of switching things up lead to a significant bump in cancellations? Maybe? I think they did it last summer when there was some Covid-based warehouse delays and one of the items was the Advanced Player's Guide, arguably the most anticipated release since the Core Rulebook. If the data says there was a big drop-off, then don't do it and just let customers wait it out.
Another way to do it is for Paizo to just take what they have now for April and roll it into whatever they have for May (by whatever date you set for May spawning). If the Pathfinder and Starfinder AP's or anything else shows up past that date, just make them part of June's release. The only issue I see with this idea is perhaps they need the Adventure Paths for both systems in order to apply the % discount in the system?
I guess one question I have is how does all this effect the May 5th public release date? I know Paizo hasn't received certain products into their warehouse, but it is conceivable some retailers have received them, right? Can those retailers still release them on Wednesday, or will the official street date be pushed back again?
Or maybe none of these products have arrived anywhere else, so this is a moot question.
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Judging by CS's posts, none of the products have arrived anywhere, as they first have to go to Paizo.
Also, I'm guessing that May's shipment will be delayed. And June's. And likely July's. I have no insight in Paizo's shipments, but tracking ship schedules is my day job.
Ocean logistics is a fun industry to be in right now, let me tell you. Especially on the US West Coast, which was already seeing weeks of delays even before Suez.
At least I'm not on the railroad anymore, or I would be one the people trying to fix this mess.
Interesting -- They don't seem to have updated the PDF dates for the April products. Maybe they are planning to grant PDFs early? It really wouldn't be cool to have PDFs available for sale when they haven't even run the auths for the subscribers.
My local PFS group has caught up with everything out there. With the regulars we are out of stuff to play (we have more non-regulars due to COVID). So we wanted to do another AP which should have been out this week (fingers still crossed). We will figure something else out I suppose.
On the PDF rule, I wonder if one could make a $17.99 deposit on their subscription, get the PDF, then pay the difference when the hard copy becomes available. I am sure it creates more work for someone but maybe-hopefully-not an insane amount.
In any case: thanks & kudos to the folks on the front line in this, I appreciate your work and the stress it must be causing. Thank you :)
So.. I am assuming all the product issues is why I have not seen Issue 166 of pathfinder adventures, ruby fist part one release yet?
I guess one question I have is how does all this effect the May 5th public release date? I know Paizo hasn't received certain products into their warehouse, but it is conceivable some retailers have received them, right? Can those retailers still release them on Wednesday, or will the official street date be pushed back again?
Or maybe none of these products have arrived anywhere else, so this is a moot question.
I think that really depends on how their logistics work (which idon;t know) do the material ship directly to independent distributors abd then b&m, or do they pass through paizos warehouse and then to distributors. It sounds like the issue is customs releasing the containers at the port of entry.
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However it works out, I'm cool with it.
I feel for the Paizo employees, there's nothing worse then having to wait when you're ready to roll.
Interesting -- They don't seem to have updated the PDF dates for the April products. Maybe they are planning to grant PDFs early? It really wouldn't be cool to have PDFs available for sale when they haven't even run the auths for the subscribers.
It looks like they may have found a way to put the PDFs on indefinite hold. Last night, between midnight and 3 a.m. on the east coast of the U.S., the PDFs of the items scheduled for April shipment were designated as "available today", which suggested to me that they would be available for sale after 3 a.m. (which would be midnight on the west coast). Now they all say "available tomorrow". I am guessing that they won't actually be available for a while, as they have no real reason to release the PDFs to most of us at this point. We will all need to be patient, I would guess.
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Judging by CS's posts, none of the products have arrived anywhere, as they first have to go to Paizo.
Iirc, Paizo only receives the products they're personally going to sell though paizo.com; retailers get their products directly from the distributor, who gets them directly from overseas. So, theoretically, retailers could have their copies on shelves on time while Paizo's still waiting on product. It depends on whether the distributor's shipments were also late.
EDIT: Corrected by Sara Marie below. Clearly, I did not recall correctly.
Customer Service & Community Manager
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Moving the April and May products together will prevent the PDFs from going up for sale tomorrow and shifts the release date to May's release date (May 26th).
Items produced overseas all come to the Paizo warehouse (via shipping containers through our local port), they arrive at our warehouse where our staff checks them in. Shortly before we ship out subscriber copies, our warehouse is busy shipping orders for our distributors. Those distributors then receive products and ship them out to the stores that purchase from them.
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Sorry I was not clear, I merged them in our software, the threads we do in the customer service forum have to be edited manually to change the data. My newest employee Austin is working on learning the forums and how to edit the mark up code and is working on adding the May items to this list. I believe he is off for the evening at this point and will be resuming that in the morning. In the meantime, here's the current list of April & May products. This list may be updated depending on how we go forward:
PZO1043 Pathfinder Bestiary 3 Pawn Collection
PZO2224 Pathfinder Potions and Talismans Deck
PZO4090 Pathfinder Flip-Tiles: Urban Waterfront Expansion
PZO7239 Starfinder Adventure Path #39: The Gilded Cage (Fly Free or Die 6 of 6)
PZO7325 Starfinder Flip-Mat: Crashed Starship
PZO7423 Starfinder Pawns: Alien Archive 4 Pawn Collection
PZO7506 Starfinder Flip-Tiles: Alien Planet Moonscape Expansion
PZO9559 Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence
PZO30112 Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Malevolence
PZO30113 Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Shipwrecks
PZO90166 Pathfinder Adventure Path #166: Despair on Danger Island (Fists of the Ruby Phoenix 1 of 3)
PZO90167 Pathfinder Adventure Path #167: Ready? Fight! (Fists of the Ruby Phoenix 2 of 3)
(Plus non subscription Flip-Mat Classics Twisted Caverns)
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This is a new situation for me. I don't think I have ever had to clear out an entire release month's group for physical products in our software before. I am hoping nothing too wonky happens overnight with the changes I made.
I have text for an email written to subscribers as there are lots of folks who do not check the forums, however that is just a draft pending me hearing back from up top on what the plan is going to be. Unfortunately, with the release date being tomorrow, I had to go ahead and push April back so the PDFs wouldn't go on sale before we knew what we'd be doing.
~Sara Marie
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Thanks Sara. Sounds like paizocon will be a bumper month for us!
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Thanks for keeping us informed. What a terrible mess you folks are dealing with.
All my sympathies. You do not have an easy job, and I know keenly how frustrating this can be for everyone.
Thanks for all the updates Sara Marie. Those damn gremlins have taken over the docks! Corvus, do you get both SF and PF AP books? The good news about that is there's only one extra one next month, so hopefully that shouldn't make freight too much more. Hopefully. LOL
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Umm I'm still unsure of what I do here since I can't afford "ap books shipping at same time"
In an attempt to migitate costs, you could buy a Paizo.com Gift Certificate with the amount you'd pay for this months subscription.
You can then redeem that immediately to receive store credit, which you can use next month to reduce the cost then.(This works for me, I hope it does for you too.)
bad news, had to cancel the next few weekends for my group. Was hoping to at least grab the PDF version today so we can start this weekend
i hope Paizo finds a way to get the PDF out ahead of time. would really appreciate it
I feel like this would be particularly bad etiquette to their retail distributors who --can't-- sell the product yet so I personally would not count on it.
As far as cancelling, perhaps you could run something else in the interim? a short adventure perhaps rather than cancel altogether?
This is a new situation for me. I don't think I have ever had to clear out an entire release month's group for physical products in our software before. I am hoping nothing too wonky happens overnight with the changes I made.
I have text for an email written to subscribers as there are lots of folks who do not check the forums, however that is just a draft pending me hearing back from up top on what the plan is going to be. Unfortunately, with the release date being tomorrow, I had to go ahead and push April back so the PDFs wouldn't go on sale before we knew what we'd be doing.
~Sara Marie
Thanks for the update Sara. It's unfortunate but understandable. I wish you and the team(s) well in handling the fallout of this delay due to circumstances outside of paizo's control.
bad news, had to cancel the next few weekends for my group. Was hoping to at least grab the PDF version today so we can start this weekend
i hope Paizo finds a way to get the PDF out ahead of time. would really appreciate it
I feel like this would be particularly bad etiquette to their retail distributors who --can't-- sell the product yet so I personally would not count on it.
Exactly what I was thinking. I feel an antecipated PDF release is unlikely due to the retailers not getting their copies.
However, I don't think it would be terrible, especially if the delay is prolonged. I mean, while that is not the way Paizo operates, there are many instances in which a company releases a PDF before the physical copies reach the shelves. I think Modiphius tends to do that and Pinnacle as well, although the latter operates via KS, so there's that...
Crossing my fingers hoping that the delays are solved via the April/May double down and do not affect other future releases.
It's a bummer but that's fine. That just gives me a chance to wrap things up with what we're currently doing before starting the Ruby Phoenix AP.
I'm holding out hope that both book 1 and book 2 of the AP ship together as I would love to prep the first two books at the same time!
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All my sympathies. You do not have an easy job, and I know keenly how frustrating this can be for everyone.
When the whole business is planned on regular subscriber income for cashflow purposes, my sympathies go well beyond those of warehouse staff.
Delays of this magnitude are craptastic for Paizo. In a year full of nasty Covid impacts, nobody foresaw how a 10 minute strong desert wind squall in Egypt could disrupt the economies of all businesses, great and small, around the globe.
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I was listening to a radio podcast and they said that the mess in Egypt has totally thrown off Garden Gnome availablitity in the US.
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FYI, the delay is limited to the shipping container holding our April Products—there is a story there we may never know—but we have no reason to believe May will be delayed. (I have visions of goblins dancing and singing by firelight around a lonely shipping container at the Port of Seattle.)
I would certainly be thrilled to be wrong in my guess!
I guess my question now, is if the May shipment you guys just received has the May AP already in hand? If that's the case, if you guys have all the May sub stuff already hopefully? Does that mean if/when the April container DOES show up that shipping for both April and May will start fairly soon after?
Thanks!
Hire The Expendables to go to the docks and ask questions about that container. :-)
I guess my question now, is if the May shipment you guys just received has the May AP already in hand? If that's the case, if you guys have all the May sub stuff already hopefully? Does that mean if/when the April container DOES show up that shipping for both April and May will start fairly soon after?
Thanks!
He wasn't saying that the May products have been received, only that they don't have any reason to believe the May products will be delayed.
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We have received some May products, though I have been too focused on April to remember which ones have arrived. Generally, if some products are running behind, we do shy away from saying which items are in the warehouse and which are delayed to avoid people asking if we can just ship the ones they want, but in this case, since the items are currently very late and include the April Adventure Paths from both lines, we felt that it would be a good idea to let folks know, as those are two show stoppers.
Sara Marie responded as I was looking up the response lol. But I was going to say @Kelseus that Sara Marie said that they had gotten some of the May products from whatever arrived recently but not which ones. That is where my question is directed.
@Sara Marie thanks for jumping in, appreciate everything you guys do to keep us informed out here.
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I was listening to a radio podcast and they said that the mess in Egypt has totally thrown off Garden Gnome availablitity in the US.
I am very interested in these kinds of cause and effects. If you don't mind sharing, I'd love to know what podcast/episode if it is one that is covering the issues from the Suez Canal blockage.
I don't have much insight into why the container(s) with April items are taking longer, if the Suez Canal issue caused a back up with port inspections, or if its just a delay with inspections, etc. I'm super curious of course, I just don't have eyes on that kind of information.
I was listening to a radio podcast and they said that the mess in Egypt has totally thrown off Garden Gnome availablitity in the US.I am very interested in these kinds of cause and effects. If you don't mind sharing, I'd love to know what podcast/episode if it is one that is covering the issues from the Suez Canal blockage.
I don't have much insight into why the container(s) with April items are taking longer, if the Suez Canal issue caused a back up with port inspections, or if its just a delay with inspections, etc. I'm super curious of course, I just don't have eyes on that kind of information.
Just speculating but the kind of issue they had with the Suez Canal will just leave ships out of position in their schedules and so have random knock on effects all over the place. Same thing happens with aircraft when there's a storm or other unforeseen event (you know, when we all used to fly places). Massive cascade effects can happen from sometimes even a relatively small disruption.
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We have received some May products, though I have been too focused on April to remember which ones have arrived. Generally, if some products are running behind, we do shy away from saying which items are in the warehouse and which are delayed to avoid people asking if we can just ship the ones they want, but in this case, since the items are currently very late and include the April Adventure Paths from both lines, we felt that it would be a good idea to let folks know, as those are two show stoppers.
Didn't you get a tracking number?!
Or you did, and it still says it's in Fife?
Is all the April stuff in one shipping container? I've had that impression for both April and May, until you reminded me that you've received some of the May stuff but not all of it.
Do you know where the containers are, particular the April one(s)? Again, I had the impression they, at least the April one(s), is/are in Seattle, but held up at the port for some reason. Not the case?
Can we get pdfs of the April stuff? I have players ready to play ruby Phoenix next week.
Not before the late May release date.
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Logging in for the first time in a while to say:
Keep truckin', Paizo. You've more than earned my patience, and my loyalty.
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I apologize if I'm speaking out of turn. Before I talk, I want to emphasize I have NO knowledge of paizo's shipments, but logistics is my work nowadays.
I don't have much insight into why the container(s) with April items are taking longer, if the Suez Canal issue caused a back up with port inspections, or if its just a delay with inspections, etc. I'm super curious of course, I just don't have eyes on that kind of information.
From my perspective (general ocean logistics background, not specific to your shipment without knowing what vessel it was on), what you've been describing does sounds like an inspections delay. I've had shipments get caught up in customs like that before. My absolute blind guess, based soley on what you've been able to share with us, is that the container likely failed initial inspection in some way (usually, sadly, just a paperwork issue), and they're waiting on another slot for a second inspection. Or possibly third, if there actually was a problem.
Sometimes there's no problem at all though, and your container gets randomly flagged for a big inspection that can take a long time to complete.
I deal with California ports, not WA, but I know even our routine customs inspections took basically forever due to Covid restrictions. There's simply not enough personnel to handle the increased workload that Covid imposed, not to mention the intial preference to handle inspections out at sea before the vessel berths, which adds several hours to what was before a 1-2 hour process. That has eased down, we're doing inspections at berth again, but I don't know if that's true up in your area.
For the curious, container traffic dropped like a rock early on in the pandemic in response to decreased consumer activity. That slowly came back, but the capacity to physically load and unload containers from vessels, and then to reload them onto trucks and train cars for furtherance is still greatly reduced. Which means for the last 6 months or so, container vessels especially but all cargo ships generally have been sitting offshore for weeks waiting for a slip. The port of LA, which is arguably the largest port by volume in North America, was the primary culprit for that and tied up a LOT of shipping volume. That came to a head about 2-3 months ago as ships got diverted to other ports and our dockworkers and transportation employees got vaccinated, creating more capacity. The Suez blockage, while being a damn mess generally, also eased up some of the pressure. Ships that were coming here now are going elsewhere. Now the backlog is down to "OMG" instead of "if we turn the lights off and pretend no one is home, do you think the economy will go away and bug someone else?"
A lot of the same issues, at a smaller scale, are happening in Seattle, and the same easing up has also been occurring over the last month. For that reason, the Suez blockage is probably going to make inspections and unloading easier for our ports for at least the short term, but goods traveling around the world will be moving slower. I predict food and manufacturing parts should be back on track in a couple of months, but non-perishable consumer goods are going to see major to minor delays until Lunar New Year 2022. Which as I said elsewhere, is going to make September fun for my former place of employment as the containers for Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales start hitting the West Coast (that should illustrate the kind of lead times freight has build into their schedules, by the way).
That you've already received some of the May stuff is great though. I didn't think April stuff had been caught by Suez affects, but I was worried about May. It definitely sounds like that worry was misplaced.