BackerKit Data, Guinness World Record Attempt Results, Pre-order Charge Schedule & More
almost 3 years ago – Thu, Jul 15, 2021 at 11:11:45 PM

Hey everyone!

We've got a fun update today. To start with, some of you asked about the data - what colorways and materials were the most popular, how many sets were ordered in total, etc. So let's open with that!

BackerKit Stats

1) The campaign featured a diverse lineup of Dispel and gemstone offerings. What was the most popular style? Vaporwave by Dispel, by a mile. To date, this colorway has been selected more than 11,500 times across all SKUs! The next highest selections land around 5,000 each, so it truly is an overwhelming favorite. Meanwhile, when it comes to glass and gemstone, Prismatic Glass is the favorite.

2) How many sets of 7 dice have been ordered? Over 40,000.

3) How many individual d20? Nearly 21,000.

4) What was the most popular Dice Vault or Tabletop Vault? This one was a bit a surprise - the Lunar Vault was the clear winner here! Typically, we would expect a Black Walnut Dice Vault to win out, but while that was one of the more popular options, the premium Lunar Vault was the top dog.

5) How many sets were purchased by the average backer? Between 2 and 3 sets - specifically, 2.25.

Guinness World Record Attempt

Well, as promised, we gathered last weekend to officially attempt to break the world record for the longest line of dice. A continuous line of dice, each die touching exactly two other dice, no more and no less. The only exception to this being the first die and the last die - each of those, naturally, would only touch one other die.

So how did it go? Did we do it? Well, today's episode of Wyrm Lyfe answers that question, and we felt it was only fitting that you get to see it before anyone else:

Big thanks to our contact Brittany and our adjudicator Claire from Guinness World Records, everyone that joined in to help make the attempt, and, last but not least, each and every one of you for contributing to this campaign and giving us one more die to place in that line! We couldn't have done it without you.

Survey Details and Future Updates (AKA the Boring Stuff)

We'll be in touch as the campaign progresses, according to our regular update schedule, as discussed last time. But we did want to mention a couple of things before we go.

Late Surveys & Our Kickstarter Policy

Kickstarter is a unique platform where you are pledging for and ordering items which do not yet exist. There is a lot of uncertainty and room for error with delivery estimates in many cases. However, we are confident in our estimates, and stand behind them. As such, any backer whose order ships later than the last day of their estimated delivery month will receive a $25 Gyft Certificate to WyrmwoodGaming.com with their order. This guarantee only applies to orders that have been fully submitted according to our guidelines and lockdown dates.

As of this writing, there are around 900 incomplete orders. These are mostly from surveys that have never been filled out, but it also includes a fair amount of orders with credit card issues that have not been resolved.

Obviously, these orders can't be processed fully. Until fulfillment wraps up, we'll still process as many orders as we can for backers that turn in their survey late, and attempt to get everyone their order as close to the original estimates as possible, but we cannot guarantee on-time delivery for orders that have not been submitted or completed on time. We are scheduling production and placing orders with some overage to cover defects and issues, and ideally this overage will cover whatever items these backers ultimately select, but in the event it does not, we will need to delay fulfillment of these orders, and they will not be subject to our guarantee. However, it's important to note that the vast majority of backers have no cause for concern here, and are fully covered by the above policy.

Pre-orders & Charges

Pre-orders have been open since the end of the campaign on Kickstarter, and will remain open until near the end of fulfillment in 2022. To avoid confusion, we'll be charging pre-orders on a weekly basis, every Friday, beginning this Friday, June 16th. These orders will ship after the final Kickstarter wave, which is estimated to ship in April 2022. The amount of time it will take for pre-orders to complete shipping depends entirely on the volume of these orders, but they should begin shipping April/May 2022. Keep an eye on future updates for more details, especially once fulfillment begins, as we'll be able to be more specific about the timeline then.

Update Schedule

As mentioned in our last update, we'll be moving to our standard update timing of once per month shortly. Once fulfillment begins in November of this year, we'll move to two updates per month - once on the 1st and once on the 15th - and remain on that schedule until fulfillment concludes.

Next Steps

We've been working to line up production and finalize packaging, and are nearly there. We are confident in the timeline and we will be formally submitting our purchase orders in the next few days. We're then transitioning to work on building out fulfillment infrastructure, verifying that our inventory systems are up to speed and making sure our accounting is being handled properly. You know, really electrifying stuff! This is where you remember we're moving to monthly updates, and feel relieved. We'll check in with anything exciting, but barring that look for an update on the 1st!

And that about does it for this update. Thank you for your support, thank you for being part of our Guinness World Record, and thank you for being a friend. Seriously, though, this campaign has been a huge success for Wyrmwood & Dispel, and that's all thanks to you. We're going to work hard to get you dice you'll love for years to come.

~ Ed Maranville, VP Crowdfunding Fulfillment for Wyrmwood

~ Karen Wang, CEO/Founder Dispel

BackerKit Locked & Charged! Timeline Refresh and Future Updates
almost 3 years ago – Fri, Jul 02, 2021 at 02:31:11 AM

Hello!

At this point, surveys have been locked and charged, and we have our (basically) final numbers, which means we can start to get production planned, and formally move the project into the next phase! But before we get to all of that, let's check back in with a refresh on our overall project timeline.

Project Timeline

• April 27th, 2021: Project Launch!
• May 27th, 2021: Kickstarter Campaign Closes
• May 27th, 2021: BackerKit Pre-orders Available
• June 10th, 2021: Kickstarter Funds Received
• June 11th, 2021: BackerKit Surveys Sent to All Backers
• June 25th, 2021: BackerKit Surveys Locked
• June 28th, 2021: BackerKit Balances Charged
•  June 30th, 2021: Total Production Numbers Finalized and Submitted for Production <- We Are Here! 

Errored Charges & Unanswered Surveys

We are still sorting out a handful of issues in BackerKit, and we need your help! While the majority of surveys and charges moved through without a hitch, we do have about 225 backers with card issues that need to be addressed, and about 1,000 backers that did not fill out the survey fully, or at all. Anyone with card issues has received an email from BackerKit concerning the issue, and in some cases your bank may have reached out to authorize the transaction. Thanks for those of you that have already taken care of it, and thanks in advance to the rest of you who will soon! These are getting cleared up, so aren't a huge concern.

The blank surveys, however, are a more difficult matter. We are arranging our orders for production now, and we can only base the production numbers on the orders we've received. So backers filling in the survey late risk their orders not being produced on time. In light of these facts, our delivery estimates - and our pledge to ship orders by these estimates - do not apply to orders that are submitted late. If you haven't filled out your survey, please do so immediately, and we'll do our very best to get all of your orders on time. The more time that passes, the harder that becomes, so please, do not delay. Fulfillment of your order depends on it!

Update Schedule

Now that the project is moving into the next phase, we'll soon be shifting to our standard Kickstarter update schedule, barring any time-sensitive news we need to share ASAP. There are a couple of reasons for this change. First, it gives your inbox a bit of a rest. We know there are a lot of things competing for your attention, and we never want to be one of those brands that's always blasting you with an email you auto-delete or ignore. Second, with all of the deadlines and key information settled, there isn't a whole lot to talk about during the planning and production phase. We'll of course keep you posted on how it's going, share details of the production, let you know of any problems, etc, but we can easily do that within our regular Kickstarter update schedule, which is as follows:

Project in active fulfillment: Twice a month, one on the 1st and the other on the 15th

All other projects: Once a month on the 1st of each month

What is "active fulfillment," you might ask? That means that we are literally in the process of fulfilling and shipping orders. For this project, that period will begin in November, a few months from now. Starting in August, you can expect an update on the first of each month with whatever news we have to share (we may deviate from that schedule for time-sensitive issues or especially cool news, of course).

It's important to note that decreased update frequency doesn't mean we're going anywhere, or that we aren't working on the project as much. On the contrary, we're now beginning the hard work of planning and executing the actual production. And if you have any questions you can always message us - we'll continue to actively monitor the inbox and comments and respond daily.

That's about all the news we've got for this update - thank you for your support, and we'll be back later this week with some information from the BackerKit numbers, once we've had more of a chance to explore them. And there may also be some news regarding a certain world record to share, too... stay tuned!

~ Ed Maranville, VP Crowdfunding Fulfillment for Wyrmwood

~ Karen Wang, CEO/Founder of Dispel

New Photos Inside - BackerKit Final Days!
almost 3 years ago – Thu, Jun 24, 2021 at 12:17:57 AM

Hello, everyone!

As we close in on the end of the survey period, we have some new photos for you, featuring d20 on white backgrounds, which will give you another reference point as you're making your final decisions. Speaking of making decisions...

BackerKit Locking Down FRIDAY

BackerKit is going to lock this coming Friday, June 25th. As of this writing, there are still a significant number of surveys that haven't been completed, or have only been partially completed, with critical information such as payment method or shipping address still missing. If you filled out your survey completely, you should have reached a confirmation screen, and received an email summary of your response. If you have not received this confirmation, please fill out your survey immediately using the link in your invitation email - or one of the reminder emails that BackerKit has sent. If you can't find your email invitation at all, send us a message and we'll be happy to help you out. Without your timely response, we can't guarantee your order will arrive in accordance with our delivery estimates, so please, act now if you have not already done so. Thank you for your cooperation!

Gyft Certificates & Other Issues

We understand that some of you have reached out concerning the application of WyrmwoodGaming.com Gyft Certificates to your pledge - please note that we are working on these requests now, and are resolving the last of them today, so you should be all set shortly.

If you are in possession of a WyrmwoodGaming.com Gyft Certificate code, would like to apply that to your Kickstarter pledge, and have not already contacted us about it, please do so immediately so that we can do it for you. Unfortunately, since these codes are created from our website, we cannot directly accept them within BackerKit and must credit you manually. It's not a problem, but we need to hear from you to do it... so please reach out, and don't wait until the last minute.

As a reminder, when contacting us about this, please follow the appropriate instructions below:

•  For physical certificates: Send a clear image of the certificate to [email protected] 
•  For digital certificates: Copy and paste the code into a direct message to us here on Kickstarter

If there is any other problem with your order preventing you from filling out your survey, get in touch with us ASAP so that we can help you with it before lock down on Friday.

Dice Photos

Here are some photos of the resin collaborative dice under studio light against a light background, as requested! 

For the Record

With just a few days left, we're looking forward to seeing the final numbers on the campaign. Speaking of final numbers... we got some dice today. You could say we got a record-breaking amount of dice. Now we just gotta line them up! Easy, right? It's only about 20,000 of them... how bad could it be?

I guess we'll find out... stay tuned for more soon! :)

~ Ed Maranville, VP Crowdfunding Fulfillment for Wyrmwood

~ Karen Wang, CEO/Founder Dispel

One Week to BackerKit Lockdown!
almost 3 years ago – Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 01:28:03 AM

Hello everyone!

Big thank you to everyone that has already completed their survey - which is most of you! There have been a handful of issues with survey invitations, which is normal, and we're working through that now. The two most common issues are:

1) People that signed up for Kickstarter accounts through the iPhone app and selected the "hide my email" option - due to a bug this prevents BackerKit from being able to send you your survey link. If you believe this applies to you, please send us a direct message with the email address you'd like to use, and we'll make the change in BackerKit.

2) Some backers mistakenly placed a pre-order before surveys were released. This may have prevented BackerKit from emailing a survey link, since the same email address already had an order on file. We are in the process of resolving this issue by merging these pre-orders with backer pledges, and re-sending the invites. If you believe this applies to you, be on the lookout for the survey invitation and be sure to fill it out as soon as it arrives.

Some other important notes:

The Polar Disturbance d20 will be added to qualifying orders after surveys are locked. If your order has three sets of dice (or the equivalent minimum value of $180), a single Polar Disturbance d20 will be added to your order post-lockdown. Please note that this bonus reward does not stack (ie, purchasing six sets of dice does not result in two bonus dice).

Those of you with WyrmwoodGaming.com Gyft Certificates you'd like to apply towards your pledge, please contact us with the certificate details, and we'll be happy to make that adjustment for you.

•  For physical certificates: Send a clear image of the certificate to [email protected]
•  For digital certificates: Copy and paste the code into a direct message to us here on Kickstarter

Guinness World Record Attempt

We've been getting the pieces in place for our Guinness World Record attempt, which will consist of creating the longest continuous line of dice. At this point we've met our official adjudicator, who will be on site in Pennsylvania to monitor the attempt and officially certify the record, should it be successful.

The dice themselves have been produced and are en route to us as we speak (due in the shop next week!). We'll be heading down to PA to make the attempt in two weeks time, and of course we're going to capture a lot of footage and content from the weekend to share with you all... from the set up of the record attempt, the attempt and final decision, and, of course, our after-party with a fireworks celebration, once we've pulled it off. Unfortunately, the event won't be open to the public, but we are going to share as much as we can with you all. Thank you all for backing and being a part of it with us!

Fulfillment Planning and Production

BackerKit surveys will lock down on Friday, June 25th, one week from today. Orders with a balance due will be charged on June 28th, the following Monday. We'll use these numbers to plan production and begin work on orders of items, packaging and more, so it's very important to have your order in before June 25th. Thanks again to everyone who's already filled out their survey. Your response has been great, and we're excited to get moving on production. We also look forward to sharing our progress with you in future updates.

For now, we wish you all a great weekend, and we'll be back with at least one more update before the surveys lock, so keep an eye out.

~ Ed Maranville, VP Crowdfunding Fulfillment for Wyrmwood

~ Karen Wang, CEO/Founder Dispel

BackerKit Surveys are 100% SENT: Check your email for the invitation!
almost 3 years ago – Sat, Jun 12, 2021 at 12:53:41 AM

As promised, this update is the official heads up that all of the BackerKit surveys have been sent! You should have emails in your inbox with all of your invitations right now!

If you missed it, here again is the video from the previous update with details on how to complete your BackerKit survey:

So be on the lookout for that email. If you don't see it, or if you need assistance in any way, you know how to find us: send a direct message right here on Kickstarter and we'll be happy to help.

Enjoy your weekend, everybody!

~ Wyrmwood & Dispel