Overall status update - important news for 2024

Hey everyone, I know we just hit you with the weekly art post, but I think we're due for an overall status update. Especially because we started discussing some changes at discord that will come here by the end of the year.

1) WHERE ARE MY PACKAGES:
We are going to send what's in, and not hold it for the additional parts. So this means if you are owed the missing December 2022 Wallet Game (Championland: Track and Field), the June 2023 Wallet Game (Super Slopes) and the July 2023 Wallet Game (The Royal Limited and Second Line Expansion), we are looking at a way to get these out next week in one package. They are sitting here waiting for the little extra stuff that goes in some but not all of your packages, and we're just going to ship what's here. We're going to just take a look at how we can get those wallets out to everyone they are owed to (and if only one or two of those three, we'll get those out as well).

That means we need to get details on any game swaps going as well, and I think we can have that done Monday. So expect a post Monday asking for swaps (or a post Monday saying that this was too complex on the logistics end and we're shifting gears, but I think we can make it work.)

2) WHAT ABOUT AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER:
If you remember recent updates, I've said we're running on a 2 month backlog. So August would be due in October and September would be due in November. If we just send out the wallets as they arrive, both will go out together, late October / Early November. But guess what else is in the same shipment as those games? The October and November wallet games! So if we ignore everything else, and make sure the wallet games are going out as they arrive, by mid November you should have the November wallet game, and everything prior.

3) WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER ITEMS:
We will catch them up when they arrive. Some other parts are arriving next week, but others the week after, but with so many things in each package, that cycle could go on forever. So when we have enough to send in a package, we will send it and update the status here. Most of this shouldn't be too far behind, but we want to make sure you are getting something, and that nothing is holding that back.

4) THE CORE ISSUE:
This has been repeated so many times before, but I'll do it hopefully for the last time. The core issue is that the most complex of our packages includes:

• postcard game
• rules for that postcard
• a few additional cards
• rules for those cards
• an expansion or small game
• rules for that.
• Sometimes more than one of those
• with rules for each
• A wallet game
• with wallet
• and rules
• a free expansion
• with rules
• A role playing game
• with wallet
• and rules
• and the content card

That's 13-17 different items that we are waiting on to send the most complex ones, and because of the nature of the process we do all of them at once, so the least complex ones are held as well. The least complex ones use 6-10 different items per month. It only takes one to hold up a package, so dropping 7 of them on average is a big, big, deal when it comes to bottlenecks.

5) THE SOLUTION
I've avoided this forever but at the end of the year we are ending the limited postcard tiers and the role playing tiers. We will have one physical games tier:

Wallet Games and Extra Stuff
This is essentially the current unlimited $18 level and the least complex of current tiers. It's going to be the current wallet game, it's expansion if offered, and something extra (usually an expansion or small game. This also includes the $5 coupon code for our site, and PNP access and a one time t-shirt. We're looking for some fun ways to spice up this level as well, without complicating shipping. But it's essentially the existing unlimited level.

6) WHAT IF I'M ON A LEVEL THAT IS GOING AWAY?
We will give a heads up starting Dec 1, that you can move to another level if you'd like to stay. I'm not sure what happens to everyone who doesn't move from their level to an active one, and what happens when we cut a level, but I will be reaching out to Patreon for some guidance here. You could move today if you aren't interested in getting the last of your current tier, but if you want to get the last parts, hang there until December 1.

7) MY THOUGHTS ON THIS
I'm sad that we need to cut these levels and some of the lower tier patrons have been here since the very beginning. I don't expect you to go from $5 a month to $18 a month. That's not feasible or realistic for everyone. I am happy and proud of everything we did, but I'm extremely frustrated with the bottleneck that 17 items per month can cause. It's not just a bottleneck in receiving those items at the same time, but it weighs down the art, graphics, development, testing and fulfillment teams. I've tried to hire someone to manage this, but that person really needs a team, and that's why it's always struggled. It's a lot of products. And it can get behind very quickly. We are best at making the wallet games, so we need to make them and get them out on time and not hold it back for a very limited item that is delayed for rules edits.

So it's the right call, and while it's a bummer due to the history of those tiers and product lines, it just has to happen. And I think and hope as a result, we can find the space to look back at the things like the postcards and roleplaying games and make some really good ones without the pressure of hitting every month. And then if we come across a ton of really good ones, develop them and have a nice backlog of completed designs and art, etc.. we can find new ways to get them out.

But I think the answer is not that it's part of the monthly rewards. The rewards should stay simple just to keep them going out every month. That is the ultimate goal, and without 7 things getting in the way, it should be much better. I think this also opens the doors to getting those BGOTMC staff members that we want, but they aren't in charge of getting the packages out the door, but instead in charge of the things that aren't holding up the packages. A better PNP process. Better features of upcoming games. Better Patron only sales and offers. Better digital content. Better communication in general. That's all on my list of where our energy should be spent. Remember the big 2022 preview that was so awesome? Removing half of the items that go in each package helps make it so we can have a 2024 one, and not skip it like we had to do in 2023. I'm feeling very positive about everything these changes bring, including a massive stressful weight lifted. The club stresses me out daily because it's gotten too complex.

8) YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS
Would love to hear your thoughts, as always.