[Webcomic] The Order of the Stick thread
- Thread starter Piotyr
- Start date
figmentPez
Staff member
I'm pretty sure I know where the gate is.
The gate is built into the statue of Girard, and the rift is in the ass of the statute.
Dave
Staff member
Ooooh! That's devious!
That's an astute observation!
K
kaykordeath
FTFY...
North_Ranger
Staff member
Soooo...
Between Girard's buttcheeks there is a terrible hole in the fabric of the universe where monstrous things come out and no one wishes to enter?
Makes perfect sense to me.
Makes perfect sense to me.
...yes. That was the point. I chose the correct spelling.
New update on completion from Rich:
My days as an official millionaire have come and gone. The money became available to use on Friday, and I started spending it this morning. A heady 55 hours during which I wore a monocle, took an interest in yacht racing, and held strong opinions on the Estate Tax. But that time has passed already as I've started ordering stuff. Most importantly, the book reprints have begun their march to completion, along with the art print; the stickers and notepads will join them in a day or two.
Here's a sneak preview of the embroidered patch sample that I received last week. Some of the colors are off, so we're going to fix them in the final product, but I think the stitching came out very well. Check it out:
I've noticed that a lot of the survey results have comments along the line of, "I wanted to get a patch but I didn't know I needed to add money before the pledge drive was over." If that's you, don't worry; we're going to be stitching a few hundred extra. When everyone's rewards have been fulfilled, there will be a way for backers to buy patches through Ookoodook if they missed them (or need extras), until we run out. This will only be available to people who backed the project, though; I imagine we'll require some sort of verification of your Kickstarter info before you'll be able to place the order. The same will hold true for any leftover art prints we may have. In contrast, I expect we'll put up any extra stickers, notepads, coloring books, and Sticky Shticks that we have remaining without such a requirement, since those weren't explicitlypledge-exclusives the way the patches and the art print were.
So let's check out the Workometer and see where we stand:
In case any of you missed the announcement at Giant in the Playground, I've now started a Twitter feed for myself: @RichBurlew. I should be making updates about things as they happen, as well as pointing out some stuff that might interest backers (like other cool Kickstarter drives that need support). It won't be updated every day because I'm not an everyday kind of person, but there should be some useful announcements here and there.
Five Things I've Done Since My Last Update:
--Rich Burlew
My days as an official millionaire have come and gone. The money became available to use on Friday, and I started spending it this morning. A heady 55 hours during which I wore a monocle, took an interest in yacht racing, and held strong opinions on the Estate Tax. But that time has passed already as I've started ordering stuff. Most importantly, the book reprints have begun their march to completion, along with the art print; the stickers and notepads will join them in a day or two.
Here's a sneak preview of the embroidered patch sample that I received last week. Some of the colors are off, so we're going to fix them in the final product, but I think the stitching came out very well. Check it out:
I've noticed that a lot of the survey results have comments along the line of, "I wanted to get a patch but I didn't know I needed to add money before the pledge drive was over." If that's you, don't worry; we're going to be stitching a few hundred extra. When everyone's rewards have been fulfilled, there will be a way for backers to buy patches through Ookoodook if they missed them (or need extras), until we run out. This will only be available to people who backed the project, though; I imagine we'll require some sort of verification of your Kickstarter info before you'll be able to place the order. The same will hold true for any leftover art prints we may have. In contrast, I expect we'll put up any extra stickers, notepads, coloring books, and Sticky Shticks that we have remaining without such a requirement, since those weren't explicitlypledge-exclusives the way the patches and the art print were.
So let's check out the Workometer and see where we stand:
In case any of you missed the announcement at Giant in the Playground, I've now started a Twitter feed for myself: @RichBurlew. I should be making updates about things as they happen, as well as pointing out some stuff that might interest backers (like other cool Kickstarter drives that need support). It won't be updated every day because I'm not an everyday kind of person, but there should be some useful announcements here and there.
Five Things I've Done Since My Last Update:
- Placed the order for the art prints (now awaiting the press proof).
- Sent out surveys for all signed reward packages except for those listed as "Patience" packages, which won't go out for a few weeks.
- Had a meeting with my lawyer about various concerns arising from the Kickstarter pledge drive.
- Emptied my email inbox, as promised! (It got full again, but still.)
- Placed the order for all six book reprints and sent the first of three Very Large Checks along with it.
--Rich Burlew
O
Overflight
I can't imagine what it's like to receive over a million dollars and spend it in your own business immediately afterwards.
Maybe this is why I will never be an entrepreneur.
Maybe this is why I will never be an entrepreneur.
Man, Tarquin's attack methods are ballsy.
Its a good thing they all had the reflex to get away from it?
figmentPez
Staff member
I thought it was a giant loogie at first. I guess a ball of acid does make more sense than snot.
Rich sent out another update overnight, progress has occurred!
Project Update #33: Samples, Samples, Everywhere
Lots of progress over the past week. Just about all the physical products have gotten moving, and I'm actually waiting for delivery on the art prints, notepads, patches, and sticker sheets. Nothing to do but keep looking out the window for the delivery truck (metaphorically speaking, since the truck will be going to Houston).
The helpful folks that have been printing the sticker sheets, Stand Out Stickers, sent me a few production samples the other day. They are magnificent. Shiny and durable vinyl stickers that will stay stuck to whatever it is to which you stick them. Here's a photograph of the samples next to a punk rocker minifig, which has been the traditional standard of measurement among fine sticker artisans since the late 14th century.
Also, in case some of you didn't see the revised patch sample picture that I entwiticated, here it is again. Since I've already had like twenty people ask: Sorry, no, you can't have the old incorrect sample, even if you like it better than the correct one. There was only one of those made.
In other news: After a surprising amount of editing for something with so little text per page, I finally sent off the completed files for the coloring book to the printer (a different printer; everything gets its own printer). We should get proofs back sometime this week. With a little luck, the actual coloring books will arrive in the warehouse ahead of the regular OOTS books so we have time to ship out all the bookless rewards first.
Speaking of shipping, I've gotten word that all of the $10 nothing-but-a-magnet and $14 nothing-but-two-magnets reward packages have now shipped—not counting those that added a patch or the Sticky Shticks, and not counting those 100+ people from those reward levels who still haven't filled out their shipping survey. Even if you are declining the magnet and just want the digital rewards, I ask that everyone fills out their surveys so I'll know not to bug you about it later. Anyway, that's like 1800+ envelopes in the mail, so good news there, right?
Let's take a look at the Workometer:
One thing that I want to point out is that this is strictly my Workometer, not the printer's or Ookoodook's. The book reprints still have at least two weeks of printing ahead of them (maybe two-and-a-half), but most of it doesn't involve me. I need to check the updated copyright page proofs when they come and write another big check, and that's about it. Still, as far as I know, we're still on target for books to begin shipping out by the last week of April.
Five Things I've Done Since My Last Update:
--Rich Burlew
Project Update #33: Samples, Samples, Everywhere
Posted by Rich Burlew
Lots of progress over the past week. Just about all the physical products have gotten moving, and I'm actually waiting for delivery on the art prints, notepads, patches, and sticker sheets. Nothing to do but keep looking out the window for the delivery truck (metaphorically speaking, since the truck will be going to Houston).
The helpful folks that have been printing the sticker sheets, Stand Out Stickers, sent me a few production samples the other day. They are magnificent. Shiny and durable vinyl stickers that will stay stuck to whatever it is to which you stick them. Here's a photograph of the samples next to a punk rocker minifig, which has been the traditional standard of measurement among fine sticker artisans since the late 14th century.
Also, in case some of you didn't see the revised patch sample picture that I entwiticated, here it is again. Since I've already had like twenty people ask: Sorry, no, you can't have the old incorrect sample, even if you like it better than the correct one. There was only one of those made.
In other news: After a surprising amount of editing for something with so little text per page, I finally sent off the completed files for the coloring book to the printer (a different printer; everything gets its own printer). We should get proofs back sometime this week. With a little luck, the actual coloring books will arrive in the warehouse ahead of the regular OOTS books so we have time to ship out all the bookless rewards first.
Speaking of shipping, I've gotten word that all of the $10 nothing-but-a-magnet and $14 nothing-but-two-magnets reward packages have now shipped—not counting those that added a patch or the Sticky Shticks, and not counting those 100+ people from those reward levels who still haven't filled out their shipping survey. Even if you are declining the magnet and just want the digital rewards, I ask that everyone fills out their surveys so I'll know not to bug you about it later. Anyway, that's like 1800+ envelopes in the mail, so good news there, right?
Let's take a look at the Workometer:
One thing that I want to point out is that this is strictly my Workometer, not the printer's or Ookoodook's. The book reprints still have at least two weeks of printing ahead of them (maybe two-and-a-half), but most of it doesn't involve me. I need to check the updated copyright page proofs when they come and write another big check, and that's about it. Still, as far as I know, we're still on target for books to begin shipping out by the last week of April.
Five Things I've Done Since My Last Update:
- Proofread and edited the coloring book (several times).
- Ordered, proofed, and approved the notepads (I didn't get a sample yet, though).
- Updated and revised the copyright pages of all six reprinted OOTS books to reflect things like their current print run, the other titles printed in the series, and, in the case of No Cure for the Paladin Blues, that we're now printing on recycled paper that wasn't available the last time we reprinted it.
- Worked with my site admin on a plan to securely distribute the digital PDF comics that are coming without overloading my server on the day that they're announced.
- Wrote up a list of exactly which monsters will be appearing in the first Monster Mini document.
--Rich Burlew
You are faster than my RSS feed, man!
I do like this implication that they'll figure out it's a fake due to "Thog" having impeccable grammar.
North_Ranger
Staff member
Curb stomp provided by Tarquin in 3... 2... 1...
Oh. He did watch his grammar. :/
Project Update #35: Advanced Delays and Difficulties
On Saturday, I tweeted that this update was going to be delayed until today because I wanted to get an accurate estimate from the printer about when the books were going to arrive in the Houston warehouse. I'm glad I waited, because the answer was not what I would have liked. The latest word is that the coloring books aren't being bound (stapled, really) until Thursday, April 26th, and that they and the first wave of reprints won't be shipping out from the printer until the first week of May. This blows my last hope that these books would have gotten into the mail in the month of April, as was my original plan. I'm not really sure why it's taking longer than normal to run a simple reprint; all I can imagine is that the sheer number of books we're printing at once has bumped us up against the printer's maximum output capacity. They only have so many presses and binding machines, and I think we're using all of them at the same time. Then again, sometimes its very hard to get detailed information out of people who would rather not talk about the subject, so it could be something else entirely.
Anyway, what this means for you is that nothing with a coloring book or a reprint book will start going out the door to customers until the second week of May. Some of you may have addresses that will need to be changed because of this, since this is definitely a delay from what we originally announced. If you need to change your address, message me through the Kickstarter mail system—click the blue "send message" link right under the title of the project while you're logged in. Tell me your new address and I will change it manually in our system and then send you a confirmation. This is unlikely to further delay any of the packages that were already scheduled for later, however; signed books, crayon drawing packages, and any package with the Sticky Shticks expansion should still be delivered within their original timeframes.
I'd also like to personally apologize for the delay. Even though I don't think I could have done my part any faster than I did, I'm sure there's some way I could have pressured the printer for a more accurate time estimate before we began. I should have found it suspicious that no one mentioned any lengthening of the schedule due to the number of books being printed. So for any inconvenience this may cause to you, the backers, I apologize.
In other cheerier news, even after a mix-up with the delivery address for the shipment, the embroidered patches finally made it to the warehouse last week. If you pledged at the $15 "magnet and a patch" level, then your order has mailed (unless you added Sticky Shticks to it). In fact, I can prove it, because here's a photo of all of them right before they went on an exciting adventure to the post office:
So let's take a look at the Workometer:
As you can see, I've been plugging away at those miniatures since they don't require any writing (meaning that I can still work on them when I'm extremely tired). My hope is that now that the books' arrival date has been set, I can stop spending so much time dealing with various printers and manufacturers and focus on getting some more of these digital rewards finished.
Which reminds me: If you got one of the "Stick It to You" or "Stick It to Your Family" pledges, please try to get me your reference photos in the next few days! I'd like to get started on these since, like the miniatures, they don't need any writing. But right now I have less than half of those that I need. So try to corral your family and take a photo of them this week, if you can. Thanks.
Five Things I've Done Since the Last Update:
--Rich Burlew
P.S. Due to the delays with the books, I may send out some of the "Patience" surveys out this week, even though they won't ship for a while. If you've been waiting for them, keep an eye on the inbox associated with your Kickstarter account.
Posted by Rich Burlew
On Saturday, I tweeted that this update was going to be delayed until today because I wanted to get an accurate estimate from the printer about when the books were going to arrive in the Houston warehouse. I'm glad I waited, because the answer was not what I would have liked. The latest word is that the coloring books aren't being bound (stapled, really) until Thursday, April 26th, and that they and the first wave of reprints won't be shipping out from the printer until the first week of May. This blows my last hope that these books would have gotten into the mail in the month of April, as was my original plan. I'm not really sure why it's taking longer than normal to run a simple reprint; all I can imagine is that the sheer number of books we're printing at once has bumped us up against the printer's maximum output capacity. They only have so many presses and binding machines, and I think we're using all of them at the same time. Then again, sometimes its very hard to get detailed information out of people who would rather not talk about the subject, so it could be something else entirely.
Anyway, what this means for you is that nothing with a coloring book or a reprint book will start going out the door to customers until the second week of May. Some of you may have addresses that will need to be changed because of this, since this is definitely a delay from what we originally announced. If you need to change your address, message me through the Kickstarter mail system—click the blue "send message" link right under the title of the project while you're logged in. Tell me your new address and I will change it manually in our system and then send you a confirmation. This is unlikely to further delay any of the packages that were already scheduled for later, however; signed books, crayon drawing packages, and any package with the Sticky Shticks expansion should still be delivered within their original timeframes.
I'd also like to personally apologize for the delay. Even though I don't think I could have done my part any faster than I did, I'm sure there's some way I could have pressured the printer for a more accurate time estimate before we began. I should have found it suspicious that no one mentioned any lengthening of the schedule due to the number of books being printed. So for any inconvenience this may cause to you, the backers, I apologize.
In other cheerier news, even after a mix-up with the delivery address for the shipment, the embroidered patches finally made it to the warehouse last week. If you pledged at the $15 "magnet and a patch" level, then your order has mailed (unless you added Sticky Shticks to it). In fact, I can prove it, because here's a photo of all of them right before they went on an exciting adventure to the post office:
So let's take a look at the Workometer:
As you can see, I've been plugging away at those miniatures since they don't require any writing (meaning that I can still work on them when I'm extremely tired). My hope is that now that the books' arrival date has been set, I can stop spending so much time dealing with various printers and manufacturers and focus on getting some more of these digital rewards finished.
Which reminds me: If you got one of the "Stick It to You" or "Stick It to Your Family" pledges, please try to get me your reference photos in the next few days! I'd like to get started on these since, like the miniatures, they don't need any writing. But right now I have less than half of those that I need. So try to corral your family and take a photo of them this week, if you can. Thanks.
Five Things I've Done Since the Last Update:
- Spent more time with financial spreadsheets than anyone in the creative field should ever have to spend.
- Reread Romeo and Juliet with a notebook in hand, writing down ideas as I got them.
- Tested out a plan for a super-secret bonus reward that will be free for everyone who backed—and is NOT the missing Mystery Prize #9. Think of it as the new Mystery Prize #8.5, and I should be able to announce it by the middle of May.
- Played high-level phone tag with the people printing the notepads, asking why I didn't already have them. I don't have an answer yet.
- Drew 22 different orcs, among other monsters, because encounters with just one kind of orc are boring.
--Rich Burlew
P.S. Due to the delays with the books, I may send out some of the "Patience" surveys out this week, even though they won't ship for a while. If you've been waiting for them, keep an eye on the inbox associated with your Kickstarter account.
North_Ranger
Staff member
Now that's just cheap. I'm worried about being in any kind of living condition this time next year, and even I've got more patience. Tsk tsk, I say. Tsk tsk...
Wow. He got owned at the end there.
Bards make great distractions!
