Progress Report, May 17
Things are rolling along with getting donation rewards made and with getting on with the motion comic and website. And Erfworld returns to comic updates on June 6! Here's what's happening.
Motion Comic Prep and Voice Work Ongoing, Composers Composing
We've gotten over a thousand audition files for parts in the motion comic. Crystal is still sorting through those, but we'll be casting roles over the next month or so.
Brian has assembled a crack team of Photoshop folks who are prepping every one of the almost 2000 panels in the book. That's coming along well.
We've officially signed Zain Effendi as our lead composer. This is really exciting, and he is working on specific theming right now, including a main title theme from a tune that I actually wrote for that purpose almost 5 years ago. Zain will score the whole project for us when we have the video and audio, but will also employ the talents of composer Thomas VanOosting.
Website and Board Game Testbed in Development
I've hired webcomic creator, pro website designer and all-around good guy Steve Napierski of Dueling Analogs to design the front end of the new site. It's all centered around your own user lookup so that you can promote and share all your writing, art, game design, and gaming experiences with other readers. You'll have to see it to picture it, probably. But Steve's the man for helping us make that look slick.
Making it work will be lead programmer Rorschach from the #erfworld IRC channel. He's a Drupal guru who is focused on the mechanics of moving all of what we've got on the old site (all forums history, IDs, wiki with article history, etc.) over to the new site, before building out the new functions. Fortunately, getting PHPBB to merge with Drupal is his specialty! He will also be programming the board game testbed, likely in HTML5.
Timeline on the new site is "by the end of the year" at the latest.
Post Cards Done and Mostly Signed
Tonight I just finished signing all the Rectangles of Gratitude. That was about 6 hours of total work, just going til my hand cramped up and quitting for the day, and very worth it. :) Here they are:
Xin has a similar box to sign of the 5-year postcards, and is pacing herself. Her hand cramping would be more of a problem than mine.
Stickers Done
Sticker sheets are done and in the house. They're tough vinyl and look beautiful. Here's one on my downstairs tower, sorry for bad phone pic:
ebooks
The ebooks have been dragging, sorry. We decided for the second printing (both ebook and print volumes) to go back and correct all mistakes that readers found in the first printing. That took some time. Also, getting them in every format has required some graphics work. We're making progress every day on these, and hope to have them out by month's end.
Print Books - BIGGER Hardcovers
Similar delay on getting books to printers, compounded with trying to get estimates from new printers, based on our poor experience last year getting books delivered on time and intact.
The big news here is that I have decided that hardcover books will be 10 x 14 instead of the softcover 8.5 x 11! These will look amazing and I can't wait to see them. For those who didn't get one with your pledge, they'll be $40 in the Erfworld store.
Crap Golem Shirts in Production
The crap golem shirts are about halfway through screening. It took finding the kind of printer who was equipped to do the bleed over the bottom edge of the shirt like this, but wow was that worth it. Check it out:
Hamstard Beanies Design Finalized, Dwagons Ordered
Also looking great are the Hamstard Beanies. After some tweaking on the colors and the shape, I think they really captured the essence of everyone's favorite bastard hamster. This pic is not bean-filled but we're going to wait for the dwagons order (which we're finishing up this week) to get a sample Hamstard to evaluate the filling.
So that's the state of the project. I continue to work on all of this and more, plus planning a busy summer con schedule. But mainly I am trying to work with Xin and our new inker Mike Valle to get that launch buffer built, including many pages of scripts and text updates. Thanks again, everyone!
Rob Balder
1,148
Backers
$84,981
pledged of $24,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding period
Feb 14, 2012 -
Mar 15, 2012
- 2 created · 23 backed
- Has not connected Facebook
- Website: erfworld.com
Pledge $10 or more
39 backers
Brag About It Forever - Permanent site badge for your log-in at Erfworld.com, showing that you helped fund the motion comic and are superior in every way to those who did not.
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $15 or more
183 backers
Literally Trillions of Electrons - a download of Erfworld Book 1, the Battle for Gobwin Knob in .pdf or other e-book format, plus the site badge at Erfworld.com.
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $20 or more
31 backers
Rectangle of Gratitude - a signed postcard with a special thank you message, plus the e-book download and site badge.
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $25 or more
147 backers
Stupid Meal, (or Pimp Your Lunchbox) - a sticker set of Erfworld characters, plus the signed postcard, e-book download and site badge. This reward package hereafter known as the "Stupid Meal."
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $31 or more
104 backers
Adept-class Signamancy: A softcover copy of Erfworld Book 1, signed by Rob Balder. You'll also get the badge at Erfworld.com (all donor levels $10 or more get the badge, too). Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $33 or more
4 backers
Rodent Fever - One 7-inch high bundle of sunshine, the new Hamstard the Bastard Hamster bean-fill plush toy. You'll also get the badge at Erfworld.com. Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.
Estimated delivery: Aug 2012Pledge $35 or more
66 backers
Pink Rock, Don't Care - a Kickstarter exclusive pink decrypted dwagon plushie (not armored), but nothing else. (Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.)
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $40 or more
23 backers
If Life Gives You the Shirts - One t-shirt with new Crap Golem design in any size, plus the Stupid Meal deal. (Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.)
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $45 or more
25 backers
Signamancy at Lunch - A softcover copy of Erfworld Book 1, signed by Rob Balder, plus the Stupid Meal deal. (Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.)
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $50 or more
109 backers
Shiny Circle of Something - DVD or Blu Ray copy of the completed motion comic, plus the Stupid Meal deal. (Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.)
Estimated delivery: Oct 2012Pledge $70 or more
14 backers
Want Shiny Circle, But I'm Also Cold - DVD or Blu-ray of the motion comic, plus the Crap Golem shirt, and Stupid Meal deal. (Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.)
Estimated delivery: Oct 2012Pledge $80 or more
37 backers
Immortalize Me - a first printing copy of the hardcover version of Erfworld Book 1, the Battle for Gobwin Knob, plus your name on a special thank-you page in that and all future printings of Book 1, and the Stupid Meal deal (Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.)
Estimated delivery: Aug 2012Pledge $95 or more
18 backers
Allergic to Dwagons - Hardcover copy of the book, DVD/Blu Ray, plus your name on the thank-you page, and the Stupid Meal deal.
Estimated delivery: Oct 2012Pledge $100 or more
26 backers Limited (39 of 65 left)
Just Want the Cyoot! - One of the armored decrypted red dwagon plushies shown in the video, plus your name on the thank-you page, and the Stupid Meal deal. (Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.)
Estimated delivery: Apr 2012Pledge $125 or more
9 backers Limited (16 of 25 left)
The Cyoot and the Bitter - One Hamstard plush beanie, and one of the armored decrypted red dwagon plushies shown in the video, plus your name on the thank-you page, and the Stupid Meal deal. (Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.)
Estimated delivery: Aug 2012Pledge $130 or more
198 backers Limited (52 of 250 left)
Sponsor One Page - armored plushie, hardcover book, your name on the thank-you page, DVD/Blu-ray and Stupid Meal (Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.)
Estimated delivery: Sep 2012Pledge $170 or more
21 backers Limited (29 of 50 left)
Sponsor One Page AND I'm Cold! - armored plushie, hardcover book, your name on the thank-you page, DVD/Blu-ray, Crap Golem Shirt, and Stupid Meal (Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.)
Estimated delivery: Sep 2012Pledge $260 or more
5 backers Limited (70 of 75 left)
Sponsor Two Pages - VIP Badge hanger and ride the Party Bus at Intervention Con, our motion comic release party, plus armored plushie, hardcover book, your name on the thank-you page, DVD/Blu-ray and Stupid Meal (Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.)
Estimated delivery: Oct 2012Pledge $390 or more
7 backers Limited (43 of 50 left)
Sponsor Three Pages - Signed sketch by Xin Ye of your subject of choice, plus VIP Badge hanger and ride the Party Bus at Intervention Con, armored plushie, hardcover book, your name on the thank-you page, DVD/Blu-ray and Stupid Meal (Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.)
Estimated delivery: Oct 2012Pledge $520 or more
3 backers Limited (7 of 10 left)
Sponsor Four Pages - Your face in cameo in a battle scene in a future page of the main Erfworld comic, plus VIP Badge hanger and ride the Party Bus at Intervention Con, armored plushie, hardcover book, your name on the thank-you page, DVD/Blu-ray and Stupid Meal (Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.)
Estimated delivery: Oct 2012Pledge $1,040 or more
2 backers Limited (3 of 5 left)
Sponsor Eight Pages - Your face and costume idea as a caster in the Magic Kingdom on a future page of the main Erfworld comic, plus VIP Badge hanger and ride the Party Bus at Intervention Con, armored plushie, hardcover book, your name on the thank-you page, DVD/Blu-ray and Stupid Meal (Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.)
Estimated delivery: Dec 2012Pledge $1,950 or more
4 backers Limited (1 of 5 left)
Sponsor Fifteen Pages - prose episode written and signed by Rob Balder, describing who you'd be in Erfworld (at least 1000 words) plus VIP Badge hanger and ride the Party Bus at Intervention Con, armored plushie, hardcover book, DVD/Blu-ray and Stupid Meal (Outside of North America, please add $10 to your pledge for shipping costs.)
Estimated delivery: Dec 2012Pledge $5,000 or more
0 backers Limited (5 of 5 left)
Dance For Me, Author-Boy! - I (Rob Balder) will fly out to visit you (North America and Caribbean only) and spend a day or so geeking out with you and your game group or whatever. I will bring goodies and surprises and I don't (just) mean booze. You will also get the armored dwagon plushie, hardcover book, DVD/Blu-ray and Stupid Meal.
Estimated delivery: Dec 2013Pledge $7,500 or more
0 backers Limited (1 of 1 left)
Adept-Class Dollamancy - Xin Ye will cosplay in any outfit of any Erfworld character at GenCon 2012, and do a photo shoot. You will also get the armored dwagon plushie, hardcover book, DVD/Blu-ray and Stupid Meal.
Estimated delivery: Aug 2012Pledge $10,000 or more
0 backers Limited (1 of 1 left)
Master-Class Dollamancy - Rob Balder will cosplay in any outfit of any Erfworld character at GenCon 2012, and do a photo shoot. YES, THIS INCLUDES WANDA AT HER SLEAZIEST. You will also get the armored dwagon plushie, a hardcover book, DVD/Blu-ray and Stupid Meal. You will also get a signed vomit bag.
Estimated delivery: Aug 2012
Comments
Creator Xtense on September 18, 2012
Just received my Stupid Meal here in Poland - took 'em a while, but finally it's here. I love the sticker set, it's just great - you almost don't want to stick them on anything so they'll last longer, but that's not an option of course :) . Cheers Rob, thanks for all of your hard work!
Creator Da Mayor on June 20, 2012
Geeze. Typoed Dwagon and didn't even notice.
Creator Da Mayor on June 20, 2012
Speaking of crap golems, when will it occur to Parson that if a Yellow Dragon that isn't occupied for a turn, he could probably be down in the cesspit helping Sizemore make a HUGE number of particularly noxious crap golems? Or is that standard practice already?
Creator Da Mayor on June 16, 2012
Definitely lookin' forward to the Crap Golem shirt... looks AWESOME! (Describing them as "Crappy" would be a good thing, I guess?)
Creator Rob Balder on May 17, 2012
D'oh I forgot to link Dueling Analogs. http://www.duelinganalogs.com/
Creator Gozer Games on May 17, 2012
Awesome!