Exploration

And The Exploration was delivered...
over 5 years ago – Wed, Oct 28, 2020 at 12:56:37 PM

Hello all! Around 50% of the games were delivered, but... You know what I'm writing about. I would like to apologize you for this rulebook and solve this and other issues.

#1 The rules !?

So, with the game box all of you received the rulebook. It happened. It contains too many abbreviations and shortcuts (many times even no information about something). You asked a huge number of questions and thank you very much for your feedback. It will definitely help to fix the rulebook. Until now I tried to answer your questions and react ASAP. It turned out that this is not the right way because in a hurry I even started to make mistakes in explaining the rules (it happened on BGG in the play by forum thread). I decided to stop for a moment, catch my breath and the conclusions can be read below:

Step A) with the main intention of allowing you to enjoy the game as quickly as possible.

• Addition to the rulebook - I will continue to write the answers for your questions and concerns. There is already one document gathering some missing information on BGG. It will be updated every few days.

Link to rulebook addition

• Play by forum - it is the fastest method of sharing the playthrough with you. I will continue to explain the gameplay action by action, in the simplest game setting (8-turned, human vs AI, no expansions).

Link to play by forum

Step B)

• New rulebook - there are too many questions, misunderstandings and missing informations in the rulebook. I will rewrite the rulebook. What about distribution of the new rulebook? We will come back to discussion once it will be finished. For now the most important thing is to have a new rulebook.
• How to play video/ playthrough? - there are many questions about how to play or playthrough video. We need at least two months to get it right and we will. However, the priority will be to prepare a new rulebook.

#2 Fulfillment status

Rulebook is not the only problem. Still many packages (especially in EU) are not delivered yet. Last week fulfillment partner was honest with me. They didn't have the correct size of cartons to pack the games, so... We are waiting for cartons. Please follow KS's comments. If I get an update, I will write there.

#3 Core box / All-in gameplay / Add-ons

Everything except the Collector's miniature comes in one box. There is only one version of the game and it is All-in gameplay. It was a very difficult decision. Exploration is very expensive to manufacture, especially with low production volume and interestingly, lower costs were associated with the production of the theoretically more expensive version. Hope you understand that we had a very tight budget and one fatal decision could have ruined the entire project.

#4 Announcement

I feel like I owe you more explanations after the project. For some of you it might be interesting, for other creators it may be helpful in delivering better games. I am going to share with you the backstage of creating Exploration, but most of all I have a job to do here.

If you can, please enjoy playing Exploration.

Kind Regards

Damian Korus

First games delivered!
over 5 years ago – Sun, Sep 27, 2020 at 10:58:45 PM

Hello all! I learned that the customs clearance process takes a bit longer and requires, for example, the opinion of the plant and seed protection inspectorate and other similar government institutions. Anyway Let's go to current status of fulfillment!

#1 US & Canada

We had a delay with vessel arrival, customs clearance and domestic transport. Currently our games are in the warehouse and fulfillment partner is preparing the packages and arranging deliveries. At this moment I don't have any declarations when we are going to start shipping to you, but I think we can expect that majority of games will be delivered in October.

#2 EU

On Friday, we finished customs clearance and on Monday / Tuesday the games should reach our warehouse. European games are around one week delayed in comparison to US & Canada games. We can expect that majority of games will be delivered in November.

#3 Asia & Pacific & Rest of World

As you may know from comments, first games was already delivered. 

Japan / South Korea / Taiwan / Thailand / China -> Fulfilled

Australia / New Zealand -> Packages was sent on 29 August

Singapore -> Packages was sent on 8 Sept

Brazil / Argentina / Chile / Reunion / Russia -> Planned deivery in November

Summarizing, fulfillment is going much slower than I thought. There are still many question marks about delivery timing, but the most important thing is that the games arrived (almost) to our hubs.

The last step will be the most difficult, but I hope we've reached the limit of problems for this project!

Kind Regards

Damian Korus 

Freight shipping status!
over 5 years ago – Sat, Aug 15, 2020 at 03:20:49 AM

Hello all! Today it's finally time to announce the first highly accurate delivery plan. Our logistics is split on 3 areas: US & Canada, EU and Asia & Pacific & Rest of World. For each part there is different company responsible. 

#1 US & Canada

Vessel name is NYK WREN/011E (by clicking on his name, he can be followed on the route to the USA). Vessel left the port on August 14. Planned arrival to our fulfillment center is 4 September. Then we have to repackage, prepare shipping information, etc. This means that the first games should be delivered by the end of September!

* IMPORTANT NOTE: If you plan to change your address from September 4 or earlier, please contact us via mail, BackerKit support or private message on KS.

#2 EU

Vessel name is OOCL SCANDINAVIA 0VA7JW1MA (I can't find tracking information for this vessel). It will depart from Yantian Port on August 17. Planned arrival in Europe is 15 September. I will be notified of the planned delivery to the fulfillment center after August 17, but we can estimate that it will be until September 21 or 22. Then we have to get your packages ready and hopefully the games should be delivered by mid-October.

*IMPORTANT NOTE: If you plan to change your address from 15 September or earlier, please contact us via mail, BackerKit support or private message on KS.

#3 Asia & Pacific & Rest of World

We didn't have a large number of orders from this area, so we will be using direct shipping. All games are already in our fulfillment hub and are being prepared for shipment. It means that we will start fulfillment from next week and there are big chances that the first game will be delivered till end of August!

*IMPORTANT NOTE: If you plan to change your address between now and October, please contact us via mail, backerkit support or private message on KS. This information is very urgent because we already started the fulfillment!!!

#4 Minitures painting 

Below I would like to share with you with the "official" painting of miniatures. I wonder how many of you will paint them and what will be your ideas?

In the next update, I will write about fulfillment status. If you have some additional questions, don't hesitate to ask. Of course, don't be shy and share your messages with us when you receive the game. 

We are at the final stage before fulfillment. I'm so excited! 

Kind Regards

Damian Korus

Assembly completed!
over 5 years ago – Wed, Jul 15, 2020 at 07:09:00 AM

Hello all! Today I have a very quick update for you. Assembly is completed and we are heading for shipping.

#1 Game assembly

It was a great feeling when I saw the assembled Exploration boxes for the first time! I am very happy that games will soon arrive to your homes. Below you can find some photos from the game production.

#2 Shipping

Currently we are preparing the games for freight shipping (packing into cartons, pallets etc.) Freight shipping partners are ready for pick up the games.  As soon as we finish preparing the transport, I will receive the sailing schedule. I will share with you estimated date of delivery in the next update.

Kind Regards

Damian Korus

Preparation for shipping
over 5 years ago – Tue, Jun 16, 2020 at 01:23:16 AM

t is clear informationHello all! Shipping arrangement during Covid crisis is crazy, but let's start from the beginning.

#1 Magellan CC issue

At first thank you all for answering the form and for comments.  Please understand that, there are many factors influencing the decision.

• Your votes - majority of you, 52,2% want to modify the mold, 26,9% want to modify the card and 20,9% want to leave it like it is. This is clear information from you.
• Shipping - we cannot split shipping to international hubs for 2 parts (core box and all-in), due to low production volume and global freight situation. It means that mold modification will cause 40-50 days delay also for core box backers (around 33,6% of backers).
• Risk of 2nd wave of Covid-19 - I hope that it will not happen, but if it will, we will have a huge problem with fulfillment, project budget and many other adversities.

Analysing the project risk, we cannot afford to modify the mold now. Of course I don't want to leave it like it is forever. The first thought to solve this issue is to modify the mold before 2nd game printing and send you improved miniatures. It will be challenging, but it is possible. Second is the discount for next KS project. If you have some other ideas or experiences, feel free to write them in comments. Anyway I will not forget about you, like I didn't forget about backers from first (cancelled) campaign. In addition, in the middle of July, I will have painted miniatures (including Magellan CC in current position), so we will see how it looks.

#2 Shipping

Probably all of you already received the reminder email before lock your shipping address. So, if your adress changed, please fill in the survey once again. If you plan to move out to new address soon, please also let me know. It will help to avoid shipping problems.

If you are going to move out to different country, you are not able to change the survey, so please contact me directly via KS private message, BackerKit support or email.

There are also 45 backers who didn't fill in the survey. Most probably they will not do this, so if someone want to change his/her mind, please fill in the survey until end of this week (20 June). 

There is also a group of 10 backers with shipping payment problem. All of you with this problem received an email about it. This is very important because almost all of these 10 people have already paid for their rewards.

#3 Draft timeline for fulfillment

It is draft because of difficult situation causing limited freight and land transportation.

• Panda will finish assembly by the end of June
• We need around 2 weeks to prepare games for freight shipping.
• Depending on destination it will take up to 7 weeks to deliver games to East coast of USA or Europe. Than our fulfilment partner will need 2-3 weeks to repack games and deliver it to your doors.

It means that in realistic scenario, you should receive your games in the middle of September.

I hope that this is acceptable for you. Finally we are approaching the shipment. I can't wait when you can play the Exploration!

Kind Regards

Damian Korus