Update! Action Board designs, Mermaid Hunters improvements and more!
over 3 years ago
– Thu, Apr 29, 2021 at 07:47:23 PM
Hi everyone! I hope you're had a good month! Nick and I are deep into work on Yeld stuff, and I'm happy to say we're right on schedule! Today we're going to talk about:
Filling out your Backerkit survey
New Action Board designs
Improvements to Mermaid Hunters
Backerkit survey: Last week we sent each of you a Backerkit survey. So far about 75% of you have completed it and confirmed your Kickstarter pledge. Thank you very much! We'd like the rest of you to complete your survey as soon as you can. The survey has a few purposes, but one of them is to allow you to confirm which extra add-on items you paid for during the Kickstater, and to add on a few more if you want. For example, if you selected the Mermaid Hunters box set as your reward during the Kickstarter and also ledged an extra $10 for a print copy of the Sword Master Job Guide, you'll select that extra item in Backerkit.
Filling out your survey tells us exactly what you want, and lets us know how many copies of each product we need to manufacture. The sooner we have these numbers the sooner we can place orders with our printers!
To be clear, we're not ready to place orders yet! But the sooner you can fill out your survey and confirm your pledge the better. It really does help! The Backerkit page is open until the 16th of May, but I really hope most of you will finish your survey this week. If you need any help please let us know!
Its also worth mentioning that the Backerkit has a brand new add-on item we didn't offer during the Kickstarter. The Summer 2021 Collection is a print product that includes all the free digital content unlocked as part of our Kickstarter (as well as some previously unpublished content). You can add it to your pledge in Backerkit for just $8!
New Action Board designs: Those of you who have played Yeld before know that fights take place on an 8x8 inch grid called the Action Board. For years Nick and I have used a chess board for all of our playtesting, demos, con games and campaigns, and honestly that works just fine. We even recommend it in the rulebook! But Mermaid Hunters has finally given us a chance to create an official Action Board, and its time to show it off!
Actually, we have two designs to share today! The first is the Action Board that comes with the Mermaid Hunters box set (and the PDF). This will be an 11x17 inch paper playmat, designed to match our Yeld character sheets. As you can see it includes both an Action Chain and Monster Chain track (Thank you Maya-Chan31 for the inspiration!) as well as a tracker for the Round and Restless Dead. The circles are large enough to place a standard 6 sided die on, which makes it very easy to track the Action Chain and see what round it is.
The second design is for our Deluxe Action Board. This one will be a large 18x18 inch board game style board. It contains all the same information as the paper board, presented on the sides instead of the top. We're offering the Deluxe Action Board as a $6.00 add-on (you can add it on right now in Backerkit). We're offering this at cost, BTW. We REALLY wanted to include this version of the Action Board in the Mermaid Hunters box set, but it was just too expensive. So instead we've decided to make it available to backers at cost. We'll also offer it for sale eventually, but the price will be MUCH more than $6! So get it now!
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Both of these designs are still works in progress. We're still making adjustments and tweaking colors (I want to add a texture to the Deluxe action Board's blue). But this is pretty much what the final versions will look like.
Mermaid Hunters improvements: We originally released the digital version of the Mermaid Hunters starter set back in December of 2019. This Kickstarter has given us a chance to go back and revise the set, making some changes that we think will make it easier to use!
Fixing typos and errors! Its always embarrassing to see typos in a finished product. Its also unavoidable. But we do our best to minimize them, and revising Mermaid Hunters has allowed us to eliminate a number of typos that have been bothering us, as well as a few errors and inconstancies. No doubt you'll still find a few typos. We know you enjoy telling us about them!
Improved fights! Balancing Mermaid Hunter's pre-set adventures has been a little difficult. We have to take a lot of considerations into account, even after plenty of playtesting. New RPG players may not make the same choices as experienced gamers, leading to fights being too difficult. Experienced gamers may be able to immediately recognize Yeld's power dynamic and optimize their characters to make every fight a cakewalk. And of course, choosing Friend types and assigning Core and Special dice can dramatically effect a group's power. After a year of having Mermaid Hunters in the wild we heard back from a lot of players, and the mixed review was that Mermaid Hunters was both too easy and too hard.
Our first solution is to give the Game Master better tools to manage the fights and understand their Monsters. Too often Game Masters told us they weren't quite sure what to do with their Monsters or how to take advantage of their special rules. Now each fight in Mermaid Hunters includes advice for using the Monsters, including suggestions for when to use their Special dice and Spells and how to take advantage of the fight's special rules. We also included the rules for every Special die and Spell a Monster will use in the fight right there on the same page! No more flipping to the back of the book to see how that Trip Special die or Fire Hat spell works!
Our second solution is to provide Guidelines for adjusting the difficulty of each fight. Each fight includes specific suggestions for making it easier or tougher. These suggestions are simple to implement and easy to understand. We've also included advice for adjusting each fight if your Yeld game includes 4 more or more players! So grab seven of your friends and go hunt some mermaids!
New content! The new version of Mermaid Hunters also includes a small amount of new content in the form of new Monsters, Spells and a Mentor. These are all the results of our Kickstarter backers who selected the pledge to create something original for the set! I think you're all going to really like what they came up with!
That's it for this week. We'll be back next week with some more previews and (I hope) news about international shipping!
- Jake
Important update! Backer Kit is live! Please read!
over 3 years ago
– Fri, Apr 23, 2021 at 02:20:46 AM
Hi everyone! Here' s the big update you've been waiting for. The Mermaid Hunters Backerkit page is now live! It took longer to set up than expected, so we appreciate your patience. I want to walk you through the Backerkit and explain everything. This is important, so please make sure you read it all!
In this update you'll find:
Instructions for Backerkit
News about postage costs
Our newest add-on, the Summer Collection 2021 book!
Instructions for Backerkit: The instructions below may not be 100% accurate, since what Nick and I see is a little different from what you'll see! Please let us know if you have any questions! You can also contact Backerkit's support. They're very helpful!
Step 1: The Backerkit Survey email: You'll have received an email from Backerkit, with a link to your Backerkit survey or the Mermaid Hunters Backerkit page (I'm not exactly sure what this look like or what terms they use). This email will be delivered to the same email account you use for Kickstarter. If you don't see it please check your junk/spam folder. If you don't already have a Backerkit account you'll need to make one. Its easy! The link should lead you to a page that looks something like this:
Step 2: The questions page: Clicking the 'get started' button should lead you to the 'questions' page (see the image below). On this page you'll see a message that says "Thank you for pledging our campaign! Your pledge level items are already in your cart, feel free to purchase additional items through the add-ons." Select the "Got it, thanks" option (its the only option) and click "Next"
Step 3: Add-ons: This step is really important! There's a lot of information on this page (you can see it all below). On the right side of the page you'll see:
A list of everything included in your Kickstarter pledge (this does not include any add-ons you paid for during the Kickstarter but does include free content).
Your shipping total (Don't worry! This is just an estimate. We'll talk more about this below).
Your pledge amount (This is the actual amount you pledged during the Kickstarter, and it includes money you pledged for any add-ons you wanted).
Your balance (This is the amount you'll need to pay through Backerkit. This includes your shipping fee and any EXTRA add-ons you add in Backerkit. You won't be charged for this until May 16th).
Here's what you want to do:
Take a look at your pledge and make sure it matches the Reward you selected during the Kickstarter. All the content of your Reward, including free digital content like the Summer Collection and Sword Master Guide should be listed her (except for the Cat Friend Type, which we decided to distribute separately).
You'll notice that your pledge doesn't list any of the add-ons you paid for. That's because you're going to select them right now! Go through the list on the left side of the page and select every add-on you wanted! Book versions also include the digital version, so you don't need to select both! If you decide to add more add-ons than you paid for during the Kickstarter campaign Backerkit will add those to your balance, and we'll charge you for them along with shipping on May 16th.
If you didn't select any add-ons during the Kickstarter and would like to now you can! Any add-ons you select will be added to your balance, and we'll charge you for them along with shipping on May 16th.
Once you've selected all of your add-ons your balance will display what you owe. This will be your shipping plus the cost of any add-ons you didn't already pay for during the Kickstarter. we'll charge you this amount on May 16th.
Once you've gone through all of those steps you can click the "Next" button.
Step 4: Shipping: The next page is the shipping page. I'm sure that some of you saw those shipping prices on the last page and had a heart attack. I don't blame you. We're going to talk about shipping prices below, but for the moment please know those are just ESTIMATES.
On this page all you'll need to do is fill out your full address. If you end up moving before we ship you can change your address, and we'll send you a reminder the week before we ship.
We will be offering a local pick up day in July for people in the Portland area. We'll have more info on this as we get closer to July. So if you're local and wan to save a few bucks you can choose the local pick up option.
Click "Next" to go to the next page!
Step 5: Confirm: This is the screen where you'll confirm everything. On the left side you'll see all your pledge, reward and shipping information from previous pages, your address and a list of everything you're getting. You can edit all of this right here.
On the right side you'll enter your payment info. What you'll be paying for is your shipping plus any add-ons you added today. If your pledge contained only digital items and you didn't select any add-ons today your total should be $0.
Keep in mind we will not be charging you today! We won't be charging anyone until May 16th! So fill everything out now and hit that "Place my order" button, and then when the 16th rolls around we'll charge you.
TL,DR: Please go back and read it all! Seriously! As a recap, the Backerkit survey allows you to confirm your Kickstarter pledge and select the add-ons you paid for. You can also add new add-ons if you want. You'll also conform your address and enter your payment info. We will NOT charge you until May 16th.
Please answer soon! We need this information from you ASAP so we know how much product to order!
Why is shipping so expensive???!!! I know this is the elephant in the room, so lets talk about it. Shipping, especially international shipping, is super expensive right now. During the Kickstarter we promised you we'd look for the very best shipping rates for you, and one of the reasons we chose Backerkit is so that we could charge your shipping separately so we had time to find you a better price.
The good news is that we THINK we have found better rates. We don't want to promise anything yet, but we've found a service that we like and we're testing it out now. We'll know if it will work out by early May, and if it does we'll adjust shipping rates in Backerkit before we charge you (and we'll send you an update telling you all about it).
In the meantime the shipping prices you see in Backerkit are estimates (plus $1.70 for packaging and handling). Backerkit required us to enter some kind of shipping fee, and we decided it was better to error on the side of caution and enter the higher fee you MIGHT have to pay than the lower fee we HOPE you'll pay. We know this is a little confusing and not ideal, but please know we're doing our best to get you an affordable rate. If this works out (and it looks like it will) we can use this new cheaper method for our next Kickstarter and our normal store orders from now on without any hassle or uncertainty.
What's new? You may notice that the Backerkit page has a brand new add-on that we didn't offer as part of our Kickstarter. The Summer Collection 2021 is a brand new book collecting all of the free content we're releasing as part of the Mermaid Hunters Kickstarter, including the Spear Master Advanced Job, the Boss Monster Parade and some older rare content that has never been in print. Every backer will receive the digital version of this book for free, but several of you let us know you'd like a print version as well, so we're offering it as an $8 add-on!
I think that's everything for now. Obviously, if you have any questions please let us know. With Backerkit out of the way Nick and I will be focusing on creating the Rank 1 Adventure Set and Sword Master content, and preparing the Mermaid Hunters box to send to the printer. We'll have another update for you in early May confirming shipping and how and when we'll be distributing digital content.
Thanks,
Jake
The Cat is out of the bag!
over 3 years ago
– Mon, Apr 19, 2021 at 08:20:01 PM
Hi everyone! I'm excited to say that today we're releasing the first piece of content form the Mermaid Hunters Kickstarter! The Cat Friend Type is an exclusive reward for Kickstarter Backers who are also supporters of the Yeld Patreon! The Cat Friend Type can be used in any Yeld game, and includes 6 cool new Special dice for your Cat to use!
So if you're a Yeld Patreon supporter please check your Kickstarter messages to download this new single page PDF (We'll be including a physical copy with your rewards too)! If you were expecting to receive this PDF but don't see a link in your messages please let us know.
Not a Patreon supporter, but still want the Cat? Here's your second chance! Our Backerkit page will be open later this week and through mid-May. If you subscribe to the Yeld Patreon before the Backerkit page closes we'll send you the Cat Friend Type PDF!
We'll be back later this week with a bigger update all about Backerkit!
-Jake
Small update!
over 3 years ago
– Sun, Apr 18, 2021 at 04:43:47 PM
Hi everyone! We just wanted to give you a small update so you know what's going on.
Our Backekit page is taking a little longer to set up than we expected. We were hoping it would be live last Friday, but now we think it will probably be up sometime this coming week. When the Backerkit page is live you'll receive an email from Backerkit with a link to the survey where you can confirm your Kickstarter pledge and select additional add-ons (if you want any).
The Backerkit will also list shipping costs. Its important to know that the costs listed in Backerkit will only be ESTIMATES. We're still looking for better international shipping prices for you, and while the initial prices you see in Backerkit will be estimates, we hope to adjust those prices in may before we charge you for shipping and any add-ons you select through Backerkit. Speaking of cheaper shipping...
We MAY have sound a shipping solution that offers significantly cheaper prices for international backers. We don't want to promise anything yet, but we're going to test out this new option later this month. If we're confident in the option we'll be able to adjust our Backerkit international shipping prices and make shipping a lot more affordable for you. Not cheap, but way less expensive! We'll keep you updated on this. If it all works out we'll also use this option for future Kickstarters.
Nick and I are hard at work on Kickstarter content. The first bit of content we plan to release is the Cat Friend Type, a special reward for Kickstarter backers who are also supporters of the Yeld Patreon. Cat will be available this coming week!
We'll have a larger update for you when the Backerkit page launches. thank you all for your patience!
- Jake
The Kickstarter Survey is out!
over 3 years ago
– Sun, Apr 04, 2021 at 06:06:22 PM
Hi everyone! I hope you're having a nice weekend. This evening we sent out our surveys for the Mermaid Hunters Kickstarter. Please take a few minutes to fill yours out. Here's what the survey includes:
A chance to confirm your shipping address. Don't worry, we'll confirm it again before we ship your rewards!
Two questions. Are you a member of the Yeld Patreon? Do you have anything you'd like to tell us?
That's it! Nice and simple.
Traditionally Kickstarter surveys include a lot more questions, but this time we'll be using Backerkit, and we'll be asking you most of those questions on that platform. We expect our Backerkit page to go live sometime around the 15th of this month. Once the page is live you'll receive and invitation, and you'll be able to confirm your Kickstarter Rewards (including any add-ons or extras). We'll have a full guide for using Backerkit once the page launches!
In the meantime, please contact us if you have any questions!
