Mini Update
3 months ago
– Sat, Nov 02, 2024 at 07:37:05 AM
Hey Everyone,
Just a quick update. Due to some miscommunication between our distributor and manufacturer, not enough minis were made to cover the amount that were lost. So the mini printer has gone back to reprint the rest. This means that again, some of you will receive your minis very soon, while other may have to wait a bit longer.
I know this has taken a long time, but please rest assured that I will do my best to make sure all orders are fulfilled. For me, this last hurdle has been a huge point of stress and for those who are still waiting, I apologize it has taken this long.
Sadly, at this point the unexpected handling charges, reprint fees, and excessive shipping fees (the company that originally quoted us and lost the minis was much cheaper than the one we are using now) has driven my family pretty far into debt and made operating Millian Games without Max impossible. As soon as the last mini is delivered, I will be closing down Millian Games.
Quite honestly, I don't have the band width for it. When I agreed to take Millian Games, I was single and had loads of free time. Now I am married, a father, and working two jobs to cover our expenses. Maybe in the future Max, might take up the mantle again, but it won't be me.
Thank you for your support, understanding, and your patience.
-Sam
Minis Are In!
5 months ago
– Thu, Aug 29, 2024 at 08:30:35 PM
Hey Saurians,
Just a quick update, most of the minis are completed and so we have begun the process of shipping them out. While those are processed and shipped the remaining minis (about 30 sets) will be completed and shipped to the warehouse. This means that if you are expecting miniatures, you will likely see them in the coming weeks. If you do not, you may be part of the last round of minis that will ship out in late September.
This process has been extremely slow, to say the least! We're happy to learn that our manufacturer now offers 3d printing at an affordable rate, which means in the future we can have everything made in one spot and avoid this awkward slowdown we're experiencing. Just like the first Kickstarter, this has been a learning process as we experience new challenges and the joys of international logistics, haha.
We want to thank you all again for your patience, understanding, and support. We know that this should have gone smoother and we're working to improve our systems to prevent bumps in the road like this in the future.
Thanks again,
-Sam
P.S. - We apologize for our slow response times on our emails these past couple of weeks. Between the new baby and going back to work, it's been a struggle to stay on top of everything. But don't worry, we will address any emails we receive, just a tad slower than usual. Thank you for understanding.
Miniatures Finished (Finally!)
6 months ago
– Thu, Jul 25, 2024 at 09:17:56 PM
Hey Saurians,
I apologize for the long delay between updates, my wife and I had a baby and it's been very hectic and exhausting! I've been pushing along our miniature printer and they just let me know that they have finally finished the minis and are prepping them to ship. This took much longer than we anticipated since they were not prepared for the reprint job for the minis that were lost in transit and had quite a few other orders ahead of us. As soon as they are shipped out from the warehouse I will send out another update so those who are still waiting for minis can be on the lookout.
That's all I have for now, just that quick update!
Thank you for your patience!
-Sam
Fulfillment Almost Finished + Minis Shipping Shortly
9 months ago
– Wed, May 08, 2024 at 07:21:36 PM
Hey Saurians,
We're happy to report most games have arrived at their intended destinations! That being said, if we're being completely honest, this has not been a smooth fulfillment process. In an effort to be fully transparent at all times, in this update, I'll cover what we've been dealing with on the back end and what we intend to do about it. Additionally, an update on the minis, which we know many of you are patiently waiting on.
First off, we want to address two issues that seem to have frequently come up.
- Issue 1: Backers who were supposed to receive Acrylic Standees for Sauria and Claw of Sauria instead received two sets of Sauria Standees. We have no idea why this mistake was made so often, but it seems the biggest bulk of the error was made by our former UK warehouse (more on them later).
- Issue 2: Backers received items damaged, especially boxes. This issue is normal and just happens, but it was especially prevalent in the UK.
If either of these issues happened to you, please reach out to [email protected] and we will submit a request to get a replacement shipped out to you.
Now for something that many of you are asking about, miniatures! We are finally shipping the miniatures. It may seem like that took a long time, and that's because it did! The reason? Our UK warehouse lost the first shipment of boxes which contained 2/7 of our minis. We originally thought that having a UK-based miniature printer (Limelight Miniatures) and a UK-based warehouse would be a good thing, but as we slowly found out, the UK warehouse was not up to our standards and actually had an issue using a UK-based miniature printer. On top of that, they were extremely unresponsive and difficult to work with, and as I said above, we got a lot of reported damage and incorrect orders from them. So naturally, after they lost hundreds of mini sets and damaged countless boxes, we stopped using them.
We're now using another warehouse that has been very communicative and easy to work with, thank goodness. They've started to ship out the 5/7 miniatures we had left, while the good folks at Limelight Miniatures work to replace the lost minis. Below are a couple of pictures they sent us, confirming that they have them and have began to pack and ship them out!
That's all to say that, it has been very rocky for us to get these games out, mostly for reasons that are out of our control. However, we also want to acknowledge our mistakes as well. As many of you have pointed out and as our last update said, Sauria's Secrets is missing two standees. We can't confirm if this was our fault or the manufacturer's as the upload portal that they used to upload our art files was cleared of all its data after the games were printed, but we are going to assume the responsibility.
We've explored ways to rectify this. Ideally, we would just have a punch sheet with the standees sent to each backer who got the add-on. However, since it would be an entire print run for this single punch-out sheet, the cost is very prohibitive. So, working with what we have, here is our best solution:
- We will upload the hybrid's PSD files so anyone can download them if they want to make DIY standees.
- Any backer who ordered Sauria's Secrets may receive a $5 partial refund if they would like to receive one. To do so, please send an email to [email protected] and we'll process it as soon as possible.
- Once the miniatures have been delivered, our miniature printer will forward us their print files, which we will be posting so if anyone wants to make extra minis, or if they lose or break any, they can make their own.
We know this isn't a perfect solution but as a very small company, it's the best we can do. We thank you for your support and patience and look forward to hearing your feedback on our game!
-Sam
Reporting Damage and Miniatures
10 months ago
– Fri, Apr 05, 2024 at 10:23:52 AM
Hey Saurians,
Games are arriving and things are mostly going smoothly! Just wanted to give some updates on damaged games and the miniatures.
Damaged Games
As games arrive, it is an unavoidable frustration that some will be damaged. Most damaged games get beat up in transit from the fulfillment center to your home, somewhere in the postal system.
If your game or components are heavily damaged, please email us at [email protected] with -pictures- and your shipping information.
These are very important, especially pictures, as we need them to file a claim with the postal services, otherwise, we will have to pay for shipping a second time when we send you your replacements. Additionally, it keeps everyone liable. If we say something is damaged, that could mean anything, but showing how beat up something is helps ensure it won't happen again and gives your replacements priority.
Miniatures
Many of you are asking about the miniatures, understandably. I'll be totally transparent so you understand what we've been dealing with. We originally had a fulfillment center in the UK that was going to handle all the miniatures being shipped out. At the last moment (February if my memory serves me), they canceled on us, saying they didn't want to ship outside of the UK. This was very frustrating because we were very clear on what we wanted.
So we went to our backup UK warehouse that we had used in the past. Unfortunately, they are much more strict on how we pack and organize things. Since we are a small company and there are so many models in our game, we can't afford to go the big box traditional route of creating molds to make miniatures (this method is faster but much more expensive). Instead we have to 3d print them. We are using Limelight Miniatures https://limelightminiatures.com/ , a small 3d printing company. How Limelight originally packed all of the minis wasn't sufficient for this new warehouse, but we didn't find out about this until we sent over about a quarter of the minis. So, Limelight is having to repack everything and label each box with barcodes, which is a lot of work for their small team. As for the quarter we had sent, because it didn't have a barcode, the warehouse has given it a low priority, so it's currently "being processed".
That's all to say that we do have all the miniatures, they are all in nice inserts, ready to ship. However, the new warehouse we are using has surprised us with new requirements that we are rushing to meet so that they will ship the miniatures out to all of you. More than anything we want these miniatures shipped out, unfortunately, we're being forced to wait.
Thank you for your patience as we sort out these new hurdles,
-Sam
