Question regarding Wrath of the Cosmos pre-order.

Just out of curiosity, I got my Wrath of the Cosmos pre-order yesterday and while everything looks great I was wondering if there were supposed to be large Villian cards in the mix?

If not, that's fine I'll just keep an eye out for when they hit the store normally.  I've just gotten so used to playing with them that it seems kinda odd to not have a set for the newcomers.  :)

P.S.  Guise looks totally awesome and I can't wait to play using him!  Thank you all for making such a kick-ass product!

There were not supposed to be large villain cards.  The only set to include those was Vengeance - all others came from the large villain card pack.

If you like them, though, Spiff makes some pretty nifty double-sized villian cards that you can use.  Check out his stuff.

Ah cool!  That totally answers my question.  Danke!  ^_^

Do you have a  link to those?

http://www.spiffworld.com/sotm/

Preordered WotC or VotM?

Paul said they were only free to those who ordered them a while back.
https://greaterthangames.com/comment/94875#comment-94875

I mean, I wish my pre-order of WotC qualified me, but that's quite a lot of free oversize villians (over 5,000!).

On the BGG forums, Craig indicated that the upcoming oversized villians pack would be coming free to anyone who preordered WotC.

That is a lot of free villains, but that's what was stated.  Although I notice that the specific post I linked to is now gone, so maybe they're walking that back.  You can still see his post within other people's back-quotes in the BGG thread.

That post was based on a misunderstanding on my part. It's been deleted.

So Craig, how are you enjoying your new job?

I can't remember; I have the oversize villian pack that I snagged of eBay (a very lucky find, I might add) which includes all the current villains, save WotC and Wager Master of course. It still has the old Matriarch wording. Was there ever a pack that updated that?

Should I be concerned if I still haven't gotten my preorder?

That depends on where in the world you live. If you're in the US or Canada, send me an email to craig@greaterthangames.com. If you're somewhere outside of that, I wouldn't worry about it yet.

So when should we worry? Considering that overseas users paid as much for the shipping as we did for the game itself, it would be nice to not be dismissed like that.

I haven't had a shipping notification or anything, I dont know if its shipped, still in your US warehouse, stuck in transit somewhere and I have now seen people on the twitter saying they have bought the Omnitron pack at thier FLGS and stores getting thier shipping boxes. Overseas pre-orders should still be PRE-orders.

Sorry to sound grumpy about it, and I certainly don't mean to come across as a dick, but it is a little irksome.

It would be nice to know what's going on...

Looks like at this point I could get stuff quicker by ordering from a US store myself. That makes me sad.

Why not? Why shouldn't we be worried? You're making me worry!

EDIT: Damn Ninjas making serious points…

I did serious. I hope you're paying attention.

They stated elsewhere that they are waiting on France before they can ship.

Sure, but what's happening with that? And why does France affect everyone else anyway?

I read it (and can't find it now to verify thanks to Pydro's nooby thread snipping) as they WERE waiting on that but that had now passed. I could be wrong but I can't find it to check.

Im not a frequent forum-er, so I tend to miss a lot of what said in threads on here.

Last email I had from them (to confirm the shipping address, leading me to believe it was actually, ya know, shipping) was in November.

EDIT : Thanks for the link, Pydro.

You mean this comment in a thread about WCos shipping?
https://greaterthangames.com/comment/95080#comment-95080

Most likely shipping them all at once, then distribution is being handled over there, maybe shipping to France?

That's the one. (I went to the France thread to see where you had snipped it from, but there's no link in your snip's Pydro)

I read the "They've taken" as "We've got them now" not a "We're still waiting".

Although I haven't been on them in a couple years now, one of the features of the Blizzard forums that was nice was the "Blue Tracker" which made it easy for people to see a list of official Blizzard Employee posts.  I don't know if the forum software that GTG uses has that option or not, but if it's easy to do, that would probably be helpful for forum-goers who don't visit all that often.

So with the next pre-order thats being announced on Monday, can we get the non-US orders sent out *first* so everyone gets them at the same sort of time and shops don't get the game before folks who supported GTG with a pre-order?

Yes, DevTracker forums are soooooooo helpful!!

Yes, that would be nice.

It really would be nice to have an official line on exactly what is going on or has gone on. Normally they just come individually via Fedex so holdups with French customs shouldn't have made a bean of difference. Unless they are trying something new with shipping via a consolidated distributor, after all there was an intimation somewhere from Paul that there might be a cheaper method of shipping to the EU in the future (don't ask me to link it as I haven't a clue where it is). And a bulk load went off to Esdevium before even the US stuff started shipping. If they are trying something new then it would have been cool for us to have known beforehand, if it's business as usual then... what the heck?

Eh. I much prefer that the mods, admins and everyone else have the same colour text as us, and when they need to step in they use their funky coloured text. They're just as fallible as us and giving them blue text lends undue credence to everything they say.

Good god, yes, it's not like they need any more encouragement. I've heard that all that swivel chair fun makes the blood rush to the head.

Agreed! We all need to stick with the standard color.

The tracker was just a way to see all the admin posts in one stream, rather than having to go hunt for them.  The text color was incidental.  Also, while I agree on the mods…the admins, when talking about their business and game, really shouldn't be as fallible as the rest of us.

To be honest I'm in canada and got mine just yesterday at the same time as the local store. Well even the store owner was surprised to get his stuff on the same day as the pre-orders. I believe the feeling of I should get it before those who didn't preorder it is legitimate. It might be petty in some ways but it still is legitimate. Like I said earlier to not hold up to that is to bite the hand that feeds and could hurt in ulterior pre-orders especially if they don't acknowledge how some would feel cheated.

Due to the way we are shipping to the EU, they all have to go at once. That ensures that we're saving everyone money. Which is why we had to wait for France.

As far as the next preorder goes, I believe the plan is to go in reverse order from this one. EU, other international, Canada, US. But don't quote me on that.

Whoops! Finger slipped.

Thanks for the answer Craig its appreciated

Thanks for the heads up Craig. So what is the expected delivery date for EU peeps?

Edit : Never mind, I just read my email. They are not going to be sent out for another two weeks.

I do appriciate the situation and the response, fingers crossed that next Villains Unleashed goes smoother all around, but I don't see us getting Wrath before March.

That's unfortunate.  I appreciate shipping EU stuff first for the next pre-order.  I'm interested in and excited by the new expansion, but my enthusiasm is a little dampened by not having the current expansion yet.  (I'd probably feel better if I hadn't decided to save shipping on Sentinels Tactics and have the main game and expansion shipping delayed until the map pack add-ons were ready.  So much pre-ordered stuff unreceived!)

New expansion hasn't even hit playtest yet.

I don't have an email, because someone preordered for me.

Can someone post it here please? I'd like to know what's going on.

Email from Paul below...

"Greetings!

Okay. That sucks. I know it's not your fault >G, but, man. Feels like it's been FOREVER already, and it's difficult knowing so many people have been enjoying it already.

Big disappointment.

Working for a French company as I do this’ll probably go on for more than another two weeks Then we have the delays in freight forwarding. Roll on March… never mind though, it’ll get here when it gets here.

Urgh. What's the problem, France?

I blame Ronway.

I concur.

As someone based in the US...I totally agree that EU orders should go first next time. They have so much further to travel, and all of the duties really hang things up even more (hanging "duties?" teehee). I'm fine delaying mine to make sure they at least are on the WAY across the ocean to those other fine fans of the game!

Agreed.

I don’t think that any of us over here are going to disagree!

As far as the next preorder goes, I believe the plan is to go in reverse order from this one. EU, other international, Canada, US. But don't quote me on that.

Craig, I'm absolutely quoting you on that, because that IS the plan.

That is fair.

Definitely agree!

Very reassuring to hear.  :)

that sucks dam french lol

also you may want to update the orders in peoples accounts as mine still says just 'order created' along with now i look at it the most optimistic note i ever wrote about lumping the WotC in with my sentinels tactics as they were both due to come out december lol (that was long before they then announced tactics being shipped alot earlier in the year).

well hope fully it will all be sorted soon, and i hope mine arrives before my friend just goes to his local store and buys it all

They're already selling them in the UK and I'm stuck waiting for this damn pre-order!! I'd almost prefer to have my money refunded and just buy them here!! Ok I miss out on a few promos, but I'd get everything else and at least HAVE THE GAME!!! This is ridiculous. 

Same here in Spain, the stores are selling it but it doesn't seem that pre-orders will be delivering any time soon...

Time for news I think, >G, even if the news is just "no change".

The natives are getting pretty restless over at BGG too.

I like GtG, but I must confess that, if it was any other company, I would already have asked for a refund.

I can totally understand that. I'm dangerously close to feeling that way myself.

Same here.  I'd have made more of a fuss, but I'm very positively disposed towards GtG.  After all, they made this game that we love so much, and seem like an all-round awesome bunch of people.

As people say, hindsight is 20/20.  GtG can hardly have known how the shipping would turn out.  However, I can't help but wonder about the overall business model when it comes to their store.  One of the reasons I preordered from them was the hope that buying directly from them would support their company more than buying from another outlet.  It's not the only reason: I also wanted the promos and hoped (as it turns out, vainly) that pre-ordering from them would mean getting the game as soon as possible.  Given that the latter hasn't worked out, I'm left wondering how the profit from their webstore compares to the profit they get from, for instance, selling to Amazon.  If it's the same, I'd have to ask: why not just include the promos in the product for everyone, and leave it to other retailers' distribution networks to take care of this oh-so-bothersome shipping?  I tend to think that, as a successful company, GtG must consider every option.  I tend to assume that, as they do have their own store rather than leaving it up to other retailers to sell their stuff, there must be some benefit for them in doing that.  I guess… I just hope the benefit to them is good.  It would at least be some consolation to think that we were supporting the company by ordering from them, they they were getting a bit more from it than if we hadn't, even if we've been stuck with this long wait as a consequence.

As I've probably said a million times now, communication is the key for me. I'll put up with delays as long as I get regular updates (sure I'll grumble, but I know the delays can't be helped so I won't hold it against them).

And it's all gone very very quiet now. This worries me.

And to be honest, annoys me a little. It's not that hard to give us occasional updates, but it's just not happening.

I'm sure that >G make more profit from retailing their own products than they do wholesaling to distributers. Doesn't seem worth the effort otherwise...

Something that's also bothering me - I'm hearing "I won't preorder from >G again" quite a lot right now, and it think a big part of that is the lack of communication about the delays. This of course is bad publicity, and will have a knock-on effect on sales. Disgruntled customers don't buy your products as much (or at all) in future, and discourage others from buying as well.

I want >G to continue to be successful, and hearing complaints about customer service makes me sad. >G is better than that, but we're not seeing it right now.

Yup, if it wasn't for the promos I'd be asking for a refund now.  The next one may well go better (I hope it does cos I've ordered it now!) but this current order seems to be a complete failure of customer service, i'm afraid.

I'm going away on my hols next week.  If there isn't any sign of it having shipped when I return then that is my patience cutoff and I'll demand a refund.

In my case, it's just that the delay allowed me to compare the cost of pre-ordering with buying at my local game store. And to be certain that said store will manage to have the future expansions in stock - something I was not sure of at the time of KS. I will miss promos, but, well, I already had to pass Dark Watch, thematically my favorite team, so…

It's more getting back to reason than a retorsion measure. I won't done a costume, become "The Irritable No Pre-Order Man !", and kidnap Christopher (again) so I can force him to design expansions just for me (only a coalition of EU super villains could manage such a plan - but the Pre-Order Six won't appear until European Sentinels #7 )

Communication would be good - it's, after all, a crisis - even if it changes nothing. But I am certain GtG's team is very upset about the delay.

Send me a pm… I still have one set left over from the bulk order I did at the time that went unclaimed and it is now yours.

Otherwise, I think that the last few posts here pretty much capture the mood quite well. No communication and sparse details is poor form. Really, they should have said something about the change in shipping process many months ago so that we would have known what was potentially coming. Pretty much everybody here is patient and tolerant as we all know and love the >G crew, but there is a lot less sympathy elsewhere which is a real shame to see.

Popped on here for some news and have to echo the comments everyone else has made... I want to support >G, and understand this isn't their fault, but the situation is starting to get silly now. I was happy to take a big hit on shipping at the time but now that the game is available over here (UK) I could easily pick up the WotC and the extras for a lot less (and possibly source the promos online later and still save some money!). It's not all about money of course, but the communication we've had over this hasn't been good enough, and although I won't be asking for a refund or anything like that I can't see myself pre-ordering again.

One thing I'm a bit confused on: when we Euro backers paid for shipping with the preorder, was that not calculated using the old shipping-direct method? If so, and given what's happened, could >G not just revert to this method and send us our stuff, or have they already comitted financially to shipping via France? Or have I missed something here?

Unfortunately I’ve found communication generally to not be >G’s strong point, they seem to like their excitement and mystery over clarity.
Not to say that’s a full on criticism per se, making updates fun and thematic or intriguing is cool and all, but over the various kickstarters and even the current pre order you’ve got people confused over what they’re funding exactly.
I’m well up for teasing tidbits, but after the basics are clear of what exactly am I buying here, what’s the approximate shipping date or, “don’t get so worked up by this stretch goal, we’re not going to just send you an empty box” (a kickstarter example I remember causing some confusion at the time).

After having to chase them up on my last order, the quiet over these delays and the lack of clarity with some of the contents (oversized cards, approximate dates, shipping costs queried by estelindis) with the current pre-order, I’m wary and haven’t placed an order yet. I really want to as I have everything >G have produced so far, but I’m waiting on further details and for the current delays to be sorted before I do, most of which could probably have been sorted already with clearer/more prompt communication.

Yes, some more communication would be good.  When it comes to the EU shipping discrepancies for the Villains pre-order that I posted about, even an acknowledgement saying that they're looking into it would be nice.  I guess I thought that GtG might feel tired of the huge amount of repetition involved in trying to get the same bureaucrats to do the same thing over and over re. the French VAT number, but that this new issue might be more easily solvable, and thus not such a drag for them.  On the other hand, maybe they actually can't be sure the new shipping will work out at all until the current matter with the Wrath of the Cosmos pre-orders is sorted out...  All speculation on my part.  Again, a bit of communication would help, with speculation being replaced by solid facts.

Still, at least one nice thing came out of this: Mezike offering a set of Dark Watch promos to TheSoundOfTrees.  Very kind!  :)

This is very kind of you.

We are very close to a solution, but don't want to post something in a super-public-announcement kind of way until we are 100% certain.

However, I will say here that 1) I completely understand your frustration and 2) Jodie is right now over at another facility attempting to print labels which, if successful, should allow us to circumvent the "lack of VAT number" problem and ship all of the EU preorders before the end of the week.

Thanks a million for that post, Paul.  :)

I join my thnaks to Estelindis's - and add some for Jodie too !

Thanks for the hopeful news and Good luck!

Great to hear that you are looking into alternatives. Fingers crossed!

Cool, nice to hear of some progress :). And now you know not to bother with France again, because they're clearly rubbish ;).

Just saw Paul's post about this in the announcement forum.  Great news.  It's nice that another local company was able to help out, with the assistance of Fed Ex.  Of course, GtG has helped other businesses when they had shipping problems, so it's a good example of "what goes around comes around."

Looking forward to receiving my copy of Wrath soon.  :)

Fantastic! That's great to hear. :)

See, I'd have been happy with a post saying, "We're working on something but not sure if it's going to work or not yet... But we're working on it."

I'd rather see a post that said the delay was caused by monkeys protesting a tire swing be added to the Gateway Arch.

I'd rather that Criag submitted to the >G experimental powers acquisition program, and got those teleporting powers Rabit keeps saying he wants, isn't that the reason >G really hired him, to annoy Rabit?

Oh, Craig doesn't need powers to do that…

To teleport or to annoy you? Or to annoy you whilst he is teleporting?

Yes

In the Presidential Palace of Mordengrad, the servants shake in fear as the dreaded Baron's voice rises in anger :

"WHAT ?! How dare they send their infamous Sentinel propaganda when I made sure they didn't recieve  their VAT number ? They defy Baron Blade AGAIN ? My curse on you, Legacy, and your Greater than Game lackeys !"

Will the nefarious Baron find a new plan to delay the assembly of the New Sentinels ? The answer in next 'ish. Stay tuned - and fear the power of the Fright Train ! But 'nuff said.

Tracking number received!!

Huzzah!

Any news about South America shipment?