Goodman Games

This is all so strange. You seem all over the place. I'm glad to hear that the Dagger screen is almost done and you will be focusing on the product we purchased. I for one could care less about this stretch goal. It is out of place in my opinion. I am also glad that we are back to not having to pay extra for S&H, but now you have a bunch of people that have payed more. I think in the end I will get plenty of product for my money and you have apologized. I'm looking forward to this Kickstarter getting back on track and staying there.

omg!! when is this damn thing coming out?
i've got about 15 preorder products waiting to be shipped from frpgames and this is the only thing holding them up.
sheesh!!!

so irritating

I know. I asked the publisher a few days ago if it was going to ship by the revised date of the end of November & he said yes. It's December already & it hasn't shipped. I wish he'd stop saying things & not delivering. So far all he's published for this Kickstarter is a single pdf. Not a single piece of paper has been shipped so far. I'm losing patience with this guy, his excuses & his broken promises.

I'm not sure with what's happening with the current product line, but I worked closely with John when he published my S&W: Whitebox and he did an outstanding job of both quality and meeting deadlines.

It's possible that the demand for Appendix N Adventures was greater than he expected and this is giving him issues. I know he's basically a one-man publishing company...

Hey guys.

Here is the latest email response I have sent out (only one in last three weeks) to an Appendix N Adventures subscriber:



And here is my Kickstarter update from November 29:



That artist turned in his art last night (at the deadline). In the update prior to this one, I let folks know that my other artist was getting surgery for cancer and that would slow up his art out put too. He has the front piece to finish and the next pdf gets emailed and the first rewards shipment goes out.

The first two Appendix N Adventures will going into game stores right after the first kickstarter shipment and the Appendix N Adventures subscriber shipment goes out (in the next couple of weeks).

Yes, the project is behind and I hope to catch up dramatically before the second shipment. I am not trying to just give excuses (it is late and THAT is my fault), but instead point out that I am trying very hard to keep everyone up-to-date on the progress.

that being said i just cancelled my preorder. i want my other stuff that has been sitting on hold for almost 3 months.
i know there are deadlines and such. believe me i deal with them on a daily basis, but sometimes i have to nix things. some of these things are for other peoples christmas that they wouldn't recieve now until whenever.
good thing i didn't subscribe to these if this is going to be the situation.

I've subscribed.

Well, you have two different issues here.
(1) The release of Appendix N Adventures
(2) The fact that one product is holding up a shipment

As to #1 above, if you look at gaming publishers in general and independent gaming publishers in specific, you'll see that product delays happen all of the time. It's not like you have a large company trying to plan a huge product line, but instead we have a one-man operation trying to deal with artists, paper suppliers, printers, and the like.

As to #2 above, I'd say be careful about tying together a huge order on a "TBA" product. Clearly that didn't work out so well.

I guess I hate to see so much venom directed at John. Seems disproportionate to what he deserves, even if it's his "fault" that your order was delayed.

I have to agree with finarvyn. I backed this Kickstarter myself. Was exctatic when it blew by the goals it set for itself. I also realized that may set it back. Too much success. Im I happy no? Am I going to blame Brave Halfing for being successful? Cost of doing business I guess. John has been very forthcoming about the trials and tribulations with the birth of this monster baby. Based on the other items I ordered from him directly and what I have bought through my FLGS Im very excited about this product and waiting is just making me more excited.

Sorry for the rant but I like this company very much and hate to see it slammed.

I can sympathize with the Brave Halfling (I'm a subscriber and waiting patiently). I'm trying to get three different products from two different publishers completed, while working, selling a business, dealing with family and general life issues... holidays (gah!)

It's frustrating as a consumer when things don't ship, but overall that's 1st world problems. Relax. Enjoy your holiday.

I don't mind getting e-flogged for saying so, but we should be expressing our happiness that John is able to keep us up to date on the progress of this whole thing and give us insight into the precise causes of the delays we consumers are facing.

He could be saying "it'll be done when it's done."

He could be saying absolutely nothing and leaving us to speculate and drive ourselves crazy.

Yet people in general focus on the unavoidable negative thing - the delay - rather than commend John for being on top of the situation and personable enough to be taking time he could be spending selfishly just to keep us informed.

I, for one, thank John for his efforts and patiently await what I am certain will be a product well worth the wait.

well first of all it's nice to see everyone come to the defense of the little guy. no really it is!

i did not say i would not support him. i said i was cancelling my preorder because i've seen multiple dates and this one is going to push gifts to others after the holiday season. i did not bash him in this respect, but gave my reason for cancelling and was up front about my frustration.

secondly... i did not subscribe, AND i'm glad i didn't if this is going to be the situation. i stand by that. i check gaming sites regularly. (as in at LEAST once daily for new goodies)

did i say i was NOT going to buy these products? no...
did i say that whats his face was horrible and bash him ? no...
i know what deadlines are. i run an inpatient pharmacy at a hospital. i know all about that, and deadlines and dates rolling by with nothing to show.. thank you. i got that under control. something i deal with on a daily basis.

i gave my reasons for saying what i said and will stand by them. i also will purchase these items WHEN i see they are available. do i want my money tied up in the meantime with what i said above being the case. no

glad we are at an understanding, but it is nice to see the little guy backed up even if it is taken out of context.

oh, and finarvyn..

something isn't TBA when dates are involved

John is not on top of the situation though. Nothing has shipped yet. I've no experience with him or his company apart from this Kickstarter. So far I've been disappointed by the lack of product. I hope he gets on top of things soon. I don't think he's being ill treated when consumers express their legitimate concerns about missed deadlines & changing shipping rates. I've re-read this thread from page 1, & I see very little evidence of any venom towards John.

If & when the modules arrive, I'll reasess my view but so far all I've seen are a pdf and explanations about late modules.

See, that is what I am talking about though - you see him as having dropped the ball because nothing has shipped yet... yet show no appreciation at all for him keeping everyone up to date on why there are delays, what those delays are, and how he is seeking to fix those issues.

Sure, not one thing has shipped and he had a moment there where he was going to increase shipping costs.

We could be in a situation where John said "well, some of the money from the kick starter didn't come through and I've run into unexpected increases in my costs, so I'm going to just do half of what was originally laid out." but he didn't because he is on top of that situation.

We could be in a situation where John said "you will all have to pay additional shipping because the money just didn't work out right on this," and stuck with it - but instead he provided some options and is doing his best to get us what was promised, because he is on top of that.

There are a million worse ways he could be handling things, and only a few (given the circumstances) that he could be handling things better - I say that is on top if it. The fact that you seem to disagree with that just shows that you are focused solely on the negatives, which is exactly what I was getting at in my earlier post.

We should all be glad that John puts out high quality product for affordable prices even when confronted with issues as big as him not actually getting the full amount from the kickstarter that was expected, nor him getting his materials/art at the prices he was originally quoted. Instead some of us are only pointing out that there have been delays.

I'm patient. I received the PDF for Ruins of Ramat, and I'm very stoked about it. Heck, I won't even be able to get to that adventure for a while, so I'm ok with it. I know I'll eventually get my books, but I'm not worried about it. I don't feel burnt about any of the kickstarters I've backed, and they're all late. But I think I feel this way because I feel like I'm getting a deal. Now if I were to pay "full price" for being a supporter, i.e. SPONSOR, I'm sure I'd feel differently. But, I'm not, and don't.

I've been happy with BHP so far. Why? He's been absolutely forthright about the situation and his delays, he's been very communicative and he's taken - and incorporated - feedback. "Of course he has", you say, "any good businessman would." You'd think that, but there are a number of Kickstarter projects that have gone way, way off the rails with nary a word, or worse, outright lies. Want to waste 15 minutes you'll never get back on what can REALLY go wrong with a project? Google "they became flesh kickstarter" and read the comments.

Life makes a mockery of the best of men.

Nothing I have seen makes me any less stoked for when I can get me some Brave Halfling DCC materials.

I write a lot of rpg material...and i mean A LOT! if were to publish a module or campaign book based on my own homebrew works (and i'm tempted, cuz it's nothing that's been done before) i would damn well make sure i would have everything in line before i would even think about the kickstarter. i'd have my work done, and the kickstarter time would be for the extras that were either already funded by myself or already completed. that's the responsible business like thing to do. kickstarter should be about funding the project you have created and have ready to go and not one you have hopefully to go.
maybe i'll just unload my own works and see what you all think..
and it's already finished. no deadlines to meet.
i'm not knocking the brave halfling press because he has GOOD stuff!!! BUT i don't feel like that's the way the kickstarter should be used.
you kickstart and set dates when you have something to have ready for the shelf, or when you know if you HAVE to delay it will be only momentarily and a fluke event.
seriously.. i am a single Dad with two kids and an insane ex-wife, two jobs and i still get my stuff in line with my "life and death work at the government hospital pharmacy". guess what.. i still have time to draw dungeons and run weekly games.
that and we just had a earthquake as i typed this... ha!

this may be becoming a convo about the abuse of the kickstarter system...
not that it implies in any way to brave halfling (which i believe it does NOT)

there are many kickstarters that just flat out cancel their "bids"
i believe BH will produce, but like i said NOT in the time period that suits me.
should things be wrapped up or damn near before things are being pre ordered or pledged? hell yes, but every businessman has their own idea of customer satisfaction. nothing against BH, but things could have been run better. when there are less people involved there are fewer fingers to point when it falls through. delays included. you take the good with the bad, and HE has done a WONDERFUL job explaining his circumstances, but that's not good for business of course which goes back to my original frustration. i'm not frustrated with him. its a learning experience. nothing more. when the item is available i will indulge him as i said before.
my main arguement is dates and kickstarters are missused on the whole. something i thing that should change if this OSR hobby is to endure.

Yeah! You should do it. More material is always better.

I paid an extra 20 dollars for shipping to get my items on the promised dates & then the next day John changed his mind again. Forgive me if I focus on the negative but I'm annoyed about this.

I've learnt a valuable lesson here. I'm not going to back Kickstarters that are nowhere near ready ever again.

I think one detail that might be overlooked here is that people or companies need KS to get the funding they need in order to complete projects. To buy art for a RPG product is costly, and then if no one buys the product you're out a ton of money with nothing to show for it.

The point of KS is to pre-sell a product so you're not investing money you don't have, while at the same time finding an audience before the product is ready. On the flip side, you can also find out that the audience just isn't there and save yourself some financial ruin. See Hungry Honey Badger dice game from Fat Dragon Games (which I so wished had gotten funded). Tullis would have been out mad money if he had dozens or a hundred sets of custom dice manufactured and didn't make up the expense in sales to at least break even.

So to say the products should be finished before the KS runs doesn't always make sense.
John/BHP also shared that a few high level backers welched on him at the last minute, and can you really get down on the artist for having cancer?

Yes the delays suck, I don't want to invalidate your feelings about that but there have been KS debacles far worse and if you know John even a little, you know he'll not only make good, he'll make it up to you too. I'm getting off my point, which really is:

Usually people or companies need KS to get the funding they need in order to complete a project. So to say the products should be finished before the KS runs doesn't always make sense.

I agree. None of these things are good for business no matter how big or in this case small. Unless these modules are amazing I don't think this is the publishing company for me.

C'mon lets just get behind John

He's just trying to create some cool adventures for us.

He sounds like he is trying hard to deliver.