Infinity Defiance, the new game from Corvus Belli

Anything else to throw at us, 2020?

 

Thank you @Koni

I believe that you guys at Corvus Belli will do what you can, that is really appreciated.

 

So the ship for Europe still hasn't left?

Huge, huge disappointment. Staggered delivery is the least fair variant possible. Like someone said above, it will be an awful experience to watch people from the US enjoy their minis and game while we have to wait months longer. To think I've paid 10% of All-In bundle value to get split shipment.

This should have been delivered to warehouses and then sent out locally, everywhere in the world, at the same time, so that everyone would have the same experience.

There are cargo trains going from China to Poland and Germany, was that route explored?

Very disappointed with another huge delay. Spring delivery of Wave 2, if not later... Wow.

 

How hard can it be to fit a single container on one of those ships? Maybe China should stop eating every single endangered species in the world and get their stuff together?

... I'm pissed.

 

<on second thought, maybe I shouldn't post the antagonistic part of this post>
Yes, this sucks for RotW (edit: Rest of the World) backers, but the world doesn't revolve around you. Welcome to a world that's been fucked by a pandemic.

 

Not sure what "RotW" means. The company could at the very least do it fairly and release from shipping points at the same time, to everyone.

They've played on our FOMO for how long, with the Defiance Kickstarter being the only shot at getting those specific minis and the game? And with the two-wave shipment? We've invested in both the game and the additional payment for shipping and now we'll get another huge dose of feeling like we're missing out while US and AUS players show off their playing and painting pics and videos.

It's not fair to the EU players and especially those of us who shelled out for two-wave shipment. You don't make a subset of your customers into second-rate customers by alienating them this way. This is not how stuff like this should be handled. IMO the company should take the brunt of the customer dissatisfaction and only release from warehouses when all three (US, AUS and EU) warehouses are stocked.

Instead they choose to satisfy US / AUS customers but piss off the EU ones? Why?

I've paid an insane amount of 100 EUR total for shipping itself and still I'm not only getting the stuff half a year later than initially expected (that's on the pandemic), but also second rate treatment?

 

You really think that CB should hide US/Aus products under a stone and wait for third ship to arrive?
Get real...
I'm not pissed. I don't feel like second rate customer. And all it took was a little bit of reason.

 

Game industry here, on the production side. You guys have NO IDEA how fucked absolutely everything in shipping is right now. Boats dumping steep price increases on you at the last minute if you don't have a great contract, cancelled and re-routed to take more profitable goods, competing with PPE shipments and Christmas-season-deadline consumer goods, etc. It's anarchy out there.

The lines to Europe have more intense competition for lower capacity and are way, way more fucked than the ones to the US.

Add to this the issues with factory production: the -entire game industry- is trying to shove delayed projects' production and shipping into the period before Chinese New Year, because projects continuing over that period either incur massive storage fees and risks (water damage, theft) or another 4-6 weeks of delay. Many other industries are in the same place, competing for the same boats (and sometimes the same factories, if the game factory prints other stuff too).

Not only are we looking at delayed existing projects, but production has gone way way up because games are selling out crazy-fast. Revenue is up 80% in some smaller markets, and up at least 20-40% in larger ones. Even b-list games that were struggling to get picked up and printed a year ago are suddenly getting made. Also we're looking at a 30-40% price hike over last year, if your goods don't get out in the next couple months, so everyone is rushing it now.

Contracts with distributors to buy our games are easier to land right now (that's my job) but getting a place in line to produce them is the nightmare of my poor colleagues.

My own company has been screwed so hard by this stuff that my colleague who should be overseeing product design has had to spend several months just figuring out how to claw out our own place in the line. Only because he's really good at this and we have established contacts with a decent rapport have we been able to be delayed 2-3 months max.

TLDR: Stop whining and research the state of shipping for the global games industry right now before you jump on CB for this.

 

Were it only for games industry... It's the same for every one out there. The more regular and big you are, the more on time your shippings are evaded.

I'm disappointed for the delay too, but these are things that (sadly) happen

 

Oh, I'm not mad at CB. I'm mad at China. You have no idea how much.

Just to get it straight, the two of you. Why do I have to feel good again? Because some chinese shipping company can not get a single container on the ship in time? It has nothing to do with "second rate customer" or "jumping on CB".

Shipping of a container filled with cardboard boxes must be complicated. But I bet shipping of all the shark fins to make some nice soup for chinese wedding is going real smooth.

And whoever said "oh, it's a pandemic out there." maybe remember why we have a pandemic going on.

It's not "a world that's been fucked by a pandemic", it's a world that's been fucked by China. And noone is saying a word, because ... 1.4 billions of customers and lots of $$$.

Peace out.

 

Oh yeah... it's definitely China's fault when shipping companies show preferential treatment to certain customers who most likely paid for it. Welcome to a world where even the biggest communist state has strong capitalist elements.

 

In fairness, there are probably priorities being set by the logistics train going to Europe that rank toys and games down the list vs., say, pandemic supplies like gloves, disinfectants, and masks. that would be less unscrupulous capitalism and more public health priorities set by government on both ends.

Doesn't change the problem that stuff gets delayed, but everything is being screwed up by the pandemic: scarcity over time + unexpected shifts in needs.

 

Hey, I think that your point is fair. I also think that CB shouldn't pay the price for anything outside their control.
I wasn't writing about not being pissed overall. I'm. A little. But not at CB. That's it.
My post was targeted at suggestions that Corvus Belli should delay delivering of Defiance to US and Australia because Europe will not get it at the same time.
I'm from Europe by the way ;)

 

Absolutely, though I'm sure they have to pay for that to be prioritised, be it because of profits or because of the extra costs that logistics partners need to take on for fast-tracking certain orders and putting others on hold. Or simply because of profit opportunities. Trade terms with China haven't been the best the past 150 years or so...

 

Same here. Don't feed the troll. He just wants attention.
Let's just wait and be happy when the Shipment arrives :)

 

No! I'm going to ignore your knowledge, experience and expertise and keep thinking it's just CB being mean!
But seriously, I'm a logistics broker and it is CRAZY out there right now. The shipping costs are astronomical assuming you can find someone to take the load, you pray it can be picked up and delivered on time. We have customers holding freight that needs to be shipped, just to wait for rates to go down.
For a small company to coordinate Time on Target delivery to multiple countries at the same time would be impossible. Let's just count our blessings they are being shipped.

 

Do you have an alternative mechanism by which scarce services (in this case international shipping) would be prioritized that would result in the shipment of toys and games over health care resources? If so, would we want it?

 

It's not about want or not, I'm fairly sure G7 countries have the tools and legislation in place to make such demands while the rest of the world will have to rely on G7 not implementing them so much that regular old monetary incentives become unworkable to get critical goods. Though, it's probably only US, China and maybe Russia who can wield enough clout to use those tools if they do it carefully enough not to piss off too many of the G20's.

 

So not so much a problem of market capitalism as a problem of scarcity and government priority.

As an aside, I find the forums of a retailer of niche wargames in a thread about a crowd-funded game an odd place to make an argument about the failures of capitalism.

Hopefully we all get our games soon. Thanks for the update, CB.