In Which I Am Gifted a Shroud of the Avatar Box
While I’ve already thanked him in person, I’d like to take this opportunity to offer a very public note of thanks to Dark Wraith Dragon, for sending me a boxed copy of Shroud of the Avatar.
As you may recall from my previous articles about my ongoing wait for the physical rewards I should — by now — have received for backing Shroud of the Avatar on Kickstarter back in 2013, I had resolved to purchase a physical copy of the game off of Amazon the next time I had occasion to visit the United States. At the time I resolved to do so, I would have been able to get it in a mere couple of days by signing up for an Amazon Prime trial, and usually my trips south of the Canadian border last for about a week…and it would have been no big deal to have the box shipped to the hotel I was staying at.
Well, I was in the United States a couple of weeks ago, on a family trip to San Diego (mainly Legoland, but also Disneyland and some other places). However, when I looked at Shroud of the Avatar on Amazon again in anticipation of snagging a copy, I noticed that it was no longer Prime-eligible. So I didn’t bother ordering it. And unfortunately, despite Amazon’s claim that they could ship to Canada, none of the addresses I could provide as a destination were among the places in my country which the box could be shipped to. (Let’s not dwell overmuch on why that’s bizarre.)
Enter Dark Wraith Dragon, who bought a physical copy off of Amazon, and then sent it to me in the mail…an act of generosity that I’m frankly floored by. And which will be, for the time being, memorialized in another header widget. So, again, thank you, Dark Wraith. I’m quite happy to have the box in hand (and yes, I’ll be opening this one up and doing an unboxing post in the future):
‘Tis thy move, Portalarium.
Oh, and: Because Dark Wraith Dragon is just that kind of guy, he has made a series of high quality, frankly awesome Ultima Dragons logos that everyone is free to use. Worth checking out, I’d say!
There are good people in the world.
There are, yes.
Oh yeah, the box thing. That’s too much for me. IMO, you’ve always been publicly positive, neutral, or optimistic about SotA and they just don’t give a shit about giving you a copy of the game that you rightfully paid for years ahead of time.
You have that counter up there as a passive reminder that Portalarium can’t even fulfill their basic promises. There isn’t even on optic of decency when it comes to sending you out your damned box.
Truth be told, I blame EA for this.
Something to consider doing again. I am glad you did get a boxed copy. 🙂 Now to contact Chris and get your collectors edition box.
Next Tuesday: Team meeting + grilling +shipping party. Plan to have the team send out all the remaining boxes. “if you are owned a box, write Customer Service or Chris on the forums, will also look for folks who have posted in the Physical Goods thread on the announcement forum.” FROM https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/chris-developer-stream-highlights.156201/#post-1245364
My hope would be that they have internal lists of whose boxes have and haven’t gone out. Why should there be a need to get in touch?
Just thought I’d be nice and pass it along to you.
I do appreciate the tip. I’m just sick of being told that the quickest way to get a box is to supplicate Chris.
This stuff should be tracked. If it isn’t being tracked well enough that our own feedback is necessary to remind them of what’s outstanding, that’s beyond merely disappointing.
Well, I left a post on the forums. Guess we shall see what comes of it.
They do NOT have an internal list of whose boxes have gone out. Not a complete list anyway. They turned a list over to their French fulfillment company. Some boxes went out. There was no tracking. They have no idea of the status of any particular account’s box. They are depending on people self-reporting. It’s a mess. If you haven’t checked in, they will assume you got your box. If you get a message to Chris, MAYBE you will get a box.
Bankruptcy and closure seems too kind a fate for such a den of blundering incompetence.
@Frank Fairly certain that Chris made snide comments about those who wanted tracking and described it as a waste of resources. I cannot fathom how the upper management in this company is still employed and that people still reward them financially for their unapologetic failures in this debacle (specifically the fulfillment of physical goods).
I recently sent a small package to Germany. The price with no tracking was $4. Tracking would have raised the cost to $15. A larger package would have cost $30. I believe Portalarium didn’t have the cash for tracking, so they were faced with a choice: not shipping at all, or shipping the cheapest way possible and hoping for the best. I’m sure they would say they made a good faith effort. Chris often says they did most of what they set out to do. I think he’s downplaying the failure and trying not to reveal the company’s true situation. All I can say is the people still giving them money are well aware of the situation and choose to keep Portalarium afloat because they lcan afford it and like what the game is.
They are literally operating on a shoe string budget, with less and less capital coming in each month. Does anyone really think it’s surprising that they removed how much money they have been generating every month? They did this because folks recognize this is the entirety of the companies’ income and if they saw how little it is, they would probably freak!
I simply don’t get how this level of incompetence can keep going after all this time. Oh wait, that’s right, there are players that still give money to this vaporware scam. You are right Frank, the players still giving them money seem to be aware of the train wreck and continue to still support it,