FFP's Reddit Discussion

[Odie]

SOBS Q&A highlights from the Reddit event:

How confident are you on a Aug 2014 delivery for SObS? And will backers be guaranteed to get copies before you sell the game, like at Gencon?

Jason: We will do our best to hit the August 2014 delivery date for at least the two Core Boxes for SOBS, and as many of the other Stretch Goals and Add-Ons as we can! Obviously you can't predict everything with manufacturing delays and the like, but that is our intent. There will almost certainly be two shipments for all of the KS materials as we have added far more content than we could fully complete to have ready for August.

As for GenCon, I can't say for certain that EVERY backer will have their copies of the game before GenCon hits, but that is our intent that most backers should have at least their Core Games before we sell the game at GenCon 2014.


Shadows of Brimstone has been a runaway success since day one. So, honestly, how quickly did you blow through your planned stretch goals and had to start scrambling for new ideas? Or put another way, which SGs that we've seen weren't exactly planned from the start? Were any of the otherworlds not planned previously to the KS?

Scott: The Shadows of Brimstone Kickstarter really exploded right away and hasn't slowed down. We were pleasantly surprised but also not quite ready for that level of intensity. The entire KS campaign is being run by just the three of us and we haven't been getting much sleep. As for how many stretch goals we had planned and blew through too fast, well, we had a massive amount of concept art from the last couple of years with lots and lots of ideas, but they were in a raw form and needed to be made into pretty graphics for Stretch Goals. Before we launch the KS, we thought that we had graphics for Add-Ons and Stretch Goals for the first several days, but those were blown through in the first few hours! Since then, we've been barely staying ahead of the onslaught. Don't get me wrong, it's a great problem to have, but fairly stressful. Also, while most of the SGs were planned beforehand, we've made room for some new ones that were inspired by many of our loyal Backers! As for OtherWorlds, we were not planning to do the 'Hell Train' or the 'Belly of The Beast' - both of these were ideas, but back-burnered because they were "out of scope". As a bit of a spoiler, I will also say that there is one more OtherWorld that you have not yet seen. It was already planned and has art for the tiles, but we have not yet revealed it!!!


The $1.5mil and $2mil stretch goals are really far out there - any plans when those goals aren't met to get those items still in the hands of backers?


Jason: Those far off Stretch Goals do need the funding for us to be able to devote resources to them, so if we don't hit them, they probably won't get made for a while. That being said, we are really excited about them and even if we don't hit them during the Kickstarter, they will most likely eventually come out as expansions, just much further down the road.


Is the town going to be a set board, or is there a chance it might be a bit more variable? Will there possibly be a reverse side to it?

There was some discussion in the comments section of the kickstarter about possibly having the town maybe having the buildings be separate cardboard pieces, in order to have a bit of variety in the town layup (or possibly new and variant towns, with shops one town might have not being available in another). This led to the wonderful idea of having ruined flipsides to these hypothetical buildings, and being able to burn the town to the ground.

I then ask the question- can we burn the city to the ground?

Jason: Right now the Town Board is a single fixed board, but there is no reason that we couldn't add more to it. It is possible that it may change before release, as the expanded town is still in development. I do like the idea of destroyed buildings... I should also say that 'the Town' actually represents several different Frontier Towns that you can visit. In this way, events can allow for a Town that you are in to be overrun, destroyed, or even be corrupt from within!



Did you expect SoB's KS to be so popular? If you don't make the 2M goal, do you plan to sell future supplements to cover those stretch goals you didn't reach.

Jason: Most likely. We are excited about some of those later, far out Stretch Goals, but we need the funding to be able to make them anytime soon. If we don't hit them, they will most likely show up way down the road as future expansions.



What is the reason for disallowing multiple pledges in sobs?

Jason: We are not disallowing it, we are just making sure right now that it will be technically feasible with the pledge manager. Assuming that we do allow for multiple Pledges, they would still each require the Shipping charge for international backers, and the Mine Cart bonus credit would not work toward additional Pledges. We are hoping that we can officially announce this option in an update soon.

Would the additional pledges also get the stretch goals associated with it?

Jason: Yes, they will get the Stretch Goals associated.

Wait wait, dos that mean that all the money that gets added at the pledge manager also counts towards stretch goals? Even after the ks has ended?


Jason: I'm afraid not. The Stretch Goals are currently only planned to unlock based on the total funding during the KS itself.



I'm curious about your experience of the kickstarter process. On so many projects I see the organizers leaking comments like "this has been such a wild ride" or "we are working hard and exhausted" or "we didn't realize how intense it would be". We know you aren't publishing rookies and looked hard at how to build a campaign before jumping in. Can you give us on the other side a glimpse into what makes it such a high octane experience on your side of the fence? What are the top 2 or 3 things that keep you on your toes or surprise you.

Scott: Good question. We definitely researched the Kickstarter thing and have been backing projects for quite a while (with our personal KS profiles). But nothing truly prepares you for running a KS campaign for the first time. If/when we do it again, the biggest thing I would change is to have more people running it. For this project, it is just the three of us doing everything. So, most days, I'm in the comments section chatting with backers and answering questions, while also creating the graphics for the new SGs and Add-Ons, updating SGs as they unlock, answering KS messages (we get about a hundred a day), making and updating the various ads (we're advertising on BGG, KickTraq, Facebook, Beasts of War, etc), and posting daily updates with new art and information to share with the backers. That is already the workload of several people, but I also have to keep developing the game, itself, or we won't get it done in time. So, I'm assigning and providing feedback for illustrations and miniature sculpts, writing art descriptions, generating concept art, graphic design for card layouts and icons, doing some illustrations myself, and corresponding with China for our other products like LNOE: Blood in the Forest and Dark Gothic. I'm not exaggerating when I say that we haven't been getting much sleep or even having time to eat regular meals. So, next time, it would be good to have it worked out with a crack team of FFP people devoted to each facet of the KS campaign.



I am so impressed with the Shadows of Brimstone game. Did you have any idea that it would be as big as it is? Well done, and we still have 48+ hours to go.

Jason: We are all really excited to finally share it with you guys as well! We love to dream big with our games, which is one reason we have a policy to indefinitely support all our games into the future! SOBS was meant to not just be a boardgame, but an entire Product Line all at once. Normally we only have the time and resources to do one game and maybe an expansion per year. With this KS we are going to be able to get a jump start on the SOBS line and really get a lot of great stuff straight out of the gate!



Will we be able to change / upgrade our pledge to mine cart at the pledge manager?

Jason: We won't really know for sure until we have the Pledge Manager in place. That is something we are looking at doing though.



How will you keep us updated on the status or SOBS once the Kickstarter ends?

Jason: We will continue to do updates that are sent out to all backers, even after the project completes!


How do the figures that come in the core boxes work in the otherworlds?

Jason: Most of the enemies can cross from world to world! The monsters in the Core Boxes are specifically meant to be very omnipresent across the Mines and otherworlds for just this reason.


For those of us with the Mine Cart what extra Add Ons would be the most beneficial to buy with the extra credit?


Jason: Extra Monsters are probably your best bet, though you might consider an extra set of the Doors (they are really cool)! We will also have more non-Mine Cart Add-Ons soon that are not gameplay related, but will be fun to have (in a sort of pimp out your game way).


We know there is a Cartwright connection to Shadows of Brimstone, any more cross references in store?


MB: Already revealed is the Night Terrors from ATOE and The Cult of the Crimson Hand from ATOE, COPE, and FANG.


Do the mine doorways have any functionality? How are they represented in the game without using the terrain pack? With a counter? Or just some art on the tile? Also what is the use of the other terrain pack? Just pimping out ? ( not trying to be negative, just honest questions )

Will there be more terrain packs?

Jason: In SOBS, the open map tile exits are doorways that you can look through. The plastic doorways are really cool to put at each of those open tile exits to show that there is a door there. Also, the Gateways work great to highlight where the portals are, connecting one world to another! They really look cool on the tabletop.

[mqstout]

Thank you for this recap. +1 rep.