Status Report 2: GC Secrets PDF
over 6 years ago – Mon, Oct 23, 2017 at 07:51:31 PM

Greetings Backers,

This is a quick update so you know the current status of the GC Secrets PDF.

An essay on Design Philosophy from Alan. (Talking about the decision making process when creating Planet Mercenary.) Complete first draft, waiting for first editorial pass.

A full combat example showing how movement, enemy actions, fireteams, area affect weapons, and concealment function in combat. Drafted, waiting for editing

Extended Index Complete

Game FAQ (will be partially pulled from Errata document.) Mostly complete & edited.

Additional instructions on generating NPCs. Waiting for Sandra to draft

Instructions for creating new background packages. Waiting for Sandra to draft.

Discussion of decision process and challenges in designing AI and Amorph characters. Waiting for Sandra to draft.

Sandra's work schedule was significantly impacted by fall break which included 12 hours of driving. Alan had significant personal commitments as well. But we did make some progress and are poised to accomplish much more.

Next update will be Monday October 30.

Thanks for your continued patience and support.

Sandra, Alan, and Howard

Status Report: GC Secrets PDF
over 6 years ago – Mon, Oct 16, 2017 at 06:11:36 PM

Greetings Backers,

The final deliverable we need to complete for you all is the GC Secrets PDF. Alan and Sandra have got an outline in place and some of the writing done. Since we're still drafting materials, some of the sections may merge or change later.

Currently planned sections:

An essay on Design Philosophy from Alan. (Talking about the decision making process when creating Planet Mercenary.)  Complete first draft, waiting for first editorial pass.

A full combat example showing how movement, enemy actions, fireteams, area affect weapons, and concealment function in combat. Outlined, waiting for Alan to draft

Extended Index Complete

Game FAQ (will be partially pulled from Errata document.) Mostly complete & edited.

Additional instructions on generating NPCs. Waiting for Sandra to draft

Instructions for creating new background packages. Waiting for Sandra to draft.

Discussion of decision process and challenges in designing AI and Amorph characters.  Waiting for Sandra to draft.

Working on GC Secrets is high on Sandra's priority list this week. Alan has piles of other commitments, but intends to sneak in work on this as well. Howard is focused on creating the comic and on work related to getting Random Access Memorabilia ready for print.

We'll report back on our progress in one week on Monday October 23.

Thanks for your continued patience and support.

Sandra, Alan, and Howard

Final Planet Mercenary Shipping Update. (#11)
over 6 years ago – Sat, Sep 30, 2017 at 12:22:31 AM

Short version of shipping update

I have mailed all of the packages that don't require some form of special handling.

About 280 packages into the mail this week. The only packages that remain in my hands are

• 21 unanswered surveys
• 18 special handling whom I will contact (or have contacted) individually
• 35 returned packages whose owners I'll contact individually.
• 14 recent pre-orders which I'll send out either later today or tomorrow

This will be the last public shipping update as all the remaining packages require private communications.

The final numbers to report are:

• High Admirals: 10/10 (100%)
• Rear Admirals: 10/10 (100%)
• GenCon Field Marshals: 4/4 (100%)
• Retailers: 13/13 (100%)
• Commodore: 755/757 (2 unanswered surveys)
• Company Commander: 2295/2302 (6 unanswered surveys, 1 shipping tomorrow)
• Sergeant In Motion: 286/286 (100%)
• Seventy Maxims with Air Drop: 395/398 (3 unanswered surveys)
• Seventy Maxims only: 1014/1024 (10 unanswered surveys)
• Air Dropped Grunt: 256/256 (100% delivered)
• Forward Observer: 234/234 (100% delivered)
• Pre-Order 772/782 (10 shipping tomorrow)

Total number of packages mailed: 6500.

Longer version:

This week I finally figured out how to plow through international shipping. It was still tedious with a lot of data entry, but I was able to get it all done.

Friday 9/22: I went to the warehouse by myself on this day. It had become difficult to move or find anything because of the accumulated mess. So I spent some time cleaning up. We've accumulated a lot of empty cardboard boxes. These are just the boxes accumulated since we started up shipping again in late August.

And then there is the stash of boxes from shipping in July and early august.

That six foot tall pile of boxes is hiding the piles of boxes behind it. All these boxes are destined for a cardboard recycling center as part of the post shipping clean up.

I also assembled more of the pouches that go into all the Company Commander and Commodore level pledges.

I pre-built a stack of packages so they were ready for labels.

Saturday 9/23: I applied labels to the pre-built packages and loaded them into my car. The process for International is that they have to be hauled over to our house where Fed Ex can pick them up. Fed Ex then takes them to the Parcel Monkey facility where they're formed into a bulk shipment that travels to the various countries. Once in those countries the packages then go into local courier services where they get delivered.

On my end it means that I had stacks of packages sitting in my house pretty much constantly. I also became on first-name basis with the Fed Ex guy who was making daily trips to my house.

In the evening I did data entry on international labels so I could send out a batch on Monday.

Sunday 9/24: Day of rest and family things.

Monday 9/25: I focused my morning on tasks related to the currently running Kickstarter for Random Access Memorabilia. (We opened up additional sketch ordering.) I also had to create a shipping estimator related to that project. I also had a lot of home school tasks to do. In the afternoon I prepared postage and sorted packing lists because I planned to spend significant hours at the warehouse the next day.

The lists I was working to sort were packages with mixed contents. I've discovered that it is easier to make sure I pack boxes correctly if I highlight the things on the list that don't match the standard package.

Doing the highlighting is tedious, but it really helps me when I'm packing because I don't have to be thinking, just following instructions. I still make mistakes. They're easy to make when packages are as complex as these. But when backers discover those mistakes, they email and I fix it by sending whatever I missed.

In the evening I did data entry on International packages so I could send out a batch on Tuesday.

Tuesday 9/26: I processed regular store packages and dropped them off at the post office. I also shipped out a pile of packages going to Canada because those can go directly to USPS instead of via the courier services. I prepared base packages that were ready for me to add items.

Then in the evening I did data entry on International labels. So I could send out a batch on Weds.

Wednesday 9/27: I sorted more mixed contents packing lists so that I had final counts of what to put into packages. I hauled a load home so that I could do data entry and apply labels so that a batch could go out Thursday morning. The remainder of the day went in to home school tasks, family tasks, and answering customer support email.

Thursday 9/28: I made the final packages so that everything was in a box and just waiting for a label. For the mixed contents packages this meant writing names on the outside of the boxes so that they went to the right people. I hauled piles of packages home. Then I sat down to plow through data entry. I wanted to get it all done so that the Friday morning batch would be the final one. Unfortunately other things derailed my work and I had to go to bed with 40 labels waiting to be printed and 20 packages still needing data entry.

Friday 9/29: I pushed hard to get labels printed and placed so that packages could be on the porch ready for pick up. Then I plowed through data entry to get the other twenty ready to go. By 10:30 am all of the packages were waiting for pick up. And then I began writing this update.

This has been a long, crazy, exhausting push to get all of the packages into the mail. I've still got clean up to do both physically in the warehouse, physically in neglected household tasks, and organizationally as I finish up those final packages that are in my hands. Thank you to everyone who communicated with me. You've all be so nice and understanding, even when I made mistakes. I've really appreciated that.

This is the end of the weekly shipping updates. We still owe you the GC Secrets PDF.  Our next scheduled update will be in two weeks on October 14 when we will give you a progress report on that portion of the project.

Thank you for your patience and support.

--Sandra Tayler

Planet Mercenary Shipping Update #10
over 6 years ago – Fri, Sep 22, 2017 at 10:04:36 PM

Announcement: New Kickstarter

The Kickstarter for Schlock book #13 is live and already funded. You can click here to see how it is proceeding toward stretch goals.

Short version of shipping update

About 150 packages into the mail this week (50 of which were Handbrain only packages), 274 packages to go. With the exception of some special handling and new Pre-orders, all of the US packages are in the mail and likely delivered. In the mail are:

• High Admirals: 10/10 (100%)
• Rear Admirals: 10/10 (100%)
• GenCon Field Marshals: 4/4 (100%)
• Retailers: 13/13 (100%)
• Commodore: 755/757 (2 unanswered surveys)
• Company Commander: 2038/2302 (258 International remaining, 6 unanswered surveys)
• Sergeant In Motion: 285/286 (1 International)
• Seventy Maxims with Air Drop: 394/398 (1 International, 3 unanswered surveys)
• Seventy Maxims only: 1013/1024 (1 International, 10 unanswered surveys)
• Air Dropped Grunt: 256/256 (100% delivered)
• Forward Observer: 234/234 (100% delivered)
• Pre-Order 772/779 (9 remaining)

International Orders: I will continue to work through these as quickly as I can. I'm trying to send out some each day. I'm should have Company Commander level completed by the end of next week. (266 Packages)

Unanswered surveys: 21 people have not yet answered their survey either on Backerkit or on Kickstarter. I can't mail your package to you if I don't have your address. (21 Packages)

Longer version

Progress on shipping was frustratingly slow this week.

Friday 9/15: I posted the updates and then was completely absorbed with family errands and tasks.

Saturday 9/16: We had a 2 person crew at the warehouse and got 100 packages into the mail.

Sunday 9/17: Day of rest and family things.

Monday 9/18: I got around 30 international orders into the mail, but the website for the mailing service I use started being buggy and slow. I prepared base packages at the warehouse. Then I spent several hours doing the accounting that I neglected to do the prior Friday. I also sent notes to the bonus story artist for Schlock book 13 and spent several hours on Kickstarter preparation for launching the Schlock book 13 Kickstarter.

Tuesday 9/19: We launched the kickstarter in the morning. The middle of the day was occupied by the annual Writing Excuses business meeting where we discuss finances, schedule recording sessions, and organize other things relating to the podcast. I went straight from that meeting to a meeting with a school administrator about making adjustments for one of my kids. I'd intended to prepare some international shipping labels, but my shipping service kept giving me database errors. I answered a pile of customer support emails instead.

Wednesday 9/20: The database was down all of this day as well, so I was unable to do any international shipping. I did answer customer support questions. I processed some shipping corrections (usually a packing error where I missed putting an item into the package, so I send the missing item. I make more of these mistakes when processing complicated packages like the ones that were combined with handbrains.) I also processed and shipped out regular store orders and prepared base packages so that once I had functional international shipping again I could get a lot of it done. I also packed up merchandise to send to Salt Lake Comic Con with Howard.

Thursday 9/21: International label making was working again, so I spent several hours processing around 30 labels. I also prepared more base packages. My goal is that by Monday or Tuesday I have all of the packages assembled and just waiting for the tedious data-entry-heavy process of making the labels.

And that's where we are for now. I can see the end of this shipping and I'm really excited to get there. I want get all of the packages out of my hands and into yours. Next update will be 9/29.

Thank you for your patience and support.

--Sandra Tayler

Planet Mercenary Shipping Update #9
over 6 years ago – Fri, Sep 15, 2017 at 01:59:28 PM

Announcement: New Kickstarter

Next Tuesday Howard and Sandra will be launching a Kickstarter for Schlock book #13. We'll post an update here when it is live.

Alert about hurricane affected areas

I've been checking the USPS website to find out which areas of Texas and Florida still do not have normalized mail delivery. Packages for the affected zip codes are being held and I've sent an email to those backers to determine when they can safely receive a package. Packages to non-affected zip codes are being mailed as normal. If you didn't get an email, your package falls into the "as normal" category.

Short version of shipping update

About 470 packages into the mail this week (150 of which were Handbrain only packages), 367 packages to go. With the exception of some special handling all of the US packages will be in the mail by tomorrow afternoon. In the mail are:

• High Admirals: 10/10  (100%)
• Rear Admirals: 10/10   (100%)
• GenCon Field Marshals: 4/4  (100%)
• Retailers: 13/13    (100%)
• Commodore: 755/757 (2 unanswered surveys)
• Company Commander: 1953/2302 (343 International remaining, 6 unanswered surveys)
• Sergeant In Motion: 277/286 (9 packages due to ship today)
• Seventy Maxims with Air Drop: 392/398 (3 due to ship today, 3 unanswered surveys)
• Seventy Maxims only: 1009/1024 (2 due to ship today, 2 International remaining, 10 unanswered surveys)
• Air Dropped Grunt: 256/256 (100% delivered)
• Forward Observer: 233/234 (1 International remaining)
• Pre-Order 772/772 (100% delivered)

International Orders:  I will continue to work through these as quickly as I can. I'm trying to send out some each day. I'm should have Company Commander level completed by the end of next week. (351 Packages)

Unanswered surveys: 21 people have not yet answered their survey either on Backerkit or on Kickstarter. I can't mail your package to you if I don't have your address. (21 Packages)

Longer version

This week I only had two workers (me and one assistant). Running a smaller crew requires different organization than a larger crew. You can see that I've set up my shipping station so that I have everything in reach. I need that so that I can pack boxes solo.

 Friday 9/8: I wrote updates for this Kickstarter and the Handbrain Kickstarter. I also did the weekly accounting and made sure I continue to have enough space on the credit cards to charge postage purchases. I also spent some time counting invoices and supplies so that I knew how many base packages I needed to make.  We've shifted over to mass producing piles of identical packages and then creating the postage for them after they're made. This seems to simplify the process a bit for our smaller crew.

Saturday 9/9: I prepared a hundred or so packages of Handbrains so they were ready for postage. I also prepared the final Commodore packages so that they could go into the mail on Monday morning. I also printed the final US Company Commander packages so that I could sort the invoices and figure out which base packages to make.

Sunday 9/10: Day of rest and family things.

Monday 9/11: My helper and I loaded up all the handbrain packages and dropped them at the post office. Then I worked solo for several hours preparing Company Commander packages.

Tuesday 9/12: I applied postage to company commander packages while my helper loaded them into the car. Then helper built boxes while I assembled more company commander packages. I was creating them in batches such as Company Commander Defaced with Handbrains and RiPP tokens. Or Company Commander Defaced with Handbrains and added Pristine book.

Wednesday 9/13: I didn't do much direct shipping work on this day. I was focused on efforts for the adventure pdf, preparing the next Schlock book, and preparing for the kickstarter for the next Schlock book.

Thursday 9/14: I applied postage to company commander packages while my helper loaded them into the car. Then my helper created more assembled pouches while I created base packages for the Company Commander packages that have mixed contents (IE packages that have individualized contents rather than one of the more standard options.)

Later today and tomorrow I'll put the remaining US Company Commander packages into the mail. Then I can focus my full attention on getting international packages into the mail as quickly as possible. With that as my main focus it should go more quickly.

Remaining deliverables that we still owe you: The Game Chief Secrets PDF. I will focus on editing this as soon as all the packages are in the mail. Alan has been writing on it this week.

Your next shipping update will be next Friday.