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Update #64: Expansion - Eminent Domain: Escalation
I hope by now you've all had a chance to familiarize yourselves with Eminent Domain, and I hope you're enjoying it! Thanks again for all of your support bringing the game to market.
I've been hard at work on the first expansion for Eminent Domain, which will be called Eminent Domain: Escalation. Here's a short description of what the expansion is all about:
Eminent Domain: Escalation amps up the action (and interaction) in Eminent Domain with new planets, new technologies, and a whole new meaning for the various different shaped Fighter tokens.
New planets: There are Hostile planets, which provide a Fighter to use every turn, Civilized planets, which confer victory points when you Dissent a Warfare role, new Start planets, and even planets with actions you can take instead of playing a card during your Action phase!
New technologies: There are new cards in each technology stack, which can be purchased with either Research symbols or Fighters! There's also a new stack of "Diverse" technology which requires 1 of each planet type to purchase. The new technologies allow you to do a lot of fun stuff, even attack another player's planets!
Fleet upgrades: In addition to Fighters, there are now Destroyers (the medium sized ships) and Dreadnaughts (the large ships). Players will have a Fleet tile, which provides actions to upgrade Fighters into Destroyers and Destroyers into Dreadnaughts. Each fighter type has it's own uses!
I've been playing an awful lot of Escalation, and I'm really happy with it! Pretty soon it'll be ready for a Kickstarter project of its own. Speaking of Kickstarter, Tasty Minstrel Games currently has a project up for another game which I did a lot of development work on: Ground Floor. I wrote a blog post about the game which you might find interesting. The project is going on for 5 days and has already hit it's first overfunding goal!
Finally, I'll leave you with the first illustration I've received from Eric Carter for Eminent Domain: Escalation - it's for a card called Peace Treaty, and I think it's awesome!
Update #63: Help TMG's next Kickstarter project rise to the top (no lead in our zeppelin)!
First off, I hope that by now just about everybody has received their copy (or copies) of Eminent Domain! I know there are some international supporters that are still waiting... I'm sorry about that, and I hope that in the future we can find a better logistical solution for international shipping.
I also hope that you've had a chance to try the game, and that you are enjoying it as much as I do :)
Tasty Minstrel Games has launched another Kickstarter project for a game called Kings of Air and Steam. It's an economic route planning and pickup/deliver game with a Steampunk theme. You'll program your Airship movement each round, and you'll take actions to improve your operation and deliver goods. You see, the airship picks up goods at factories and drops them off at your Depots, then your train network delivers those goods along rail lines to the cities that want them. Make money and expand your rail network in an effort to be crowned the new King of Air and Steam!
So take a look at the new project - it'll be going for another 40 days. In the next couple of weeks there will be reviews of the prototype popping up, and we'll have prototype copies with us at BGGcon, which is 2 weeks from today! If you are going to Dallas, please introduce yourself to Mike and I, we'd love to play a game with you.
- Seth
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John Morgan on November 3, 2011
I am already on board for KOAAS. I just happen to like pick up and delivery games. Also my collection is sorely lacking in the steam punk category.
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SethJaffee on November 3, 2011
Awesome John! Will you be at Hat's tonight? Shoudl I bring a KoA&S prototype?
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Update #62: Games arriving! Also, trouble contacting a backer...
For backers only,
Posted on October 13, 2011
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Update #61: Copies arriving... Horray! But be careful!
I'm happy to report that kickstarters all over the country have started receiving their copies. If you haven't gotten yours yet (and many have not), please bear with us just a couple more days while the rest of the copies find their way to their owners!
In the meantime, for those who DID receive the game already - please do be careful not to accidentally throw away the secret exclusive item! It WILL NOT be inside the game box, since it was created after the games were on the boat! My friend accidentally discarded his at first... so be careful!
Thanks, and enjoy the game!
Seth
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Sam Brown on October 6, 2011
I got to play my first game last night, just a few hours after it arrived. After a single game I feel like I've barely got a glimpse of the strategy - surprising in a game so simple. It will definitely see play at my next game night.
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SethJaffee on October 6, 2011
@Sam: Awesome! I'm glad you like the game, and I hope you find some good strategies to try out!
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Update #60: Clarification of shipping details
The following was posted over at BGG by Dan Yarrington of Game Salute. It may help clear up some of the confusion about shipping. In short, I heard only that they 'started shipping games' last Friday, I was unaware that they had a schedule for that. I assumed they would send the Kickstarter copies first, and thus you guys would get them within a couple of days. Instead they had a planned schedule to get the games to arrive at everyone's home at approximately the same date. See below for details.
I apologize for any confusion caused by either a lack of details on my end, or my assumption that since shipping 'stated last friday' that the east coast kickstarters would receive the games 'any minute now.'
- Seth
Quoted message from Dan Yarrington:
Just wanted to provide a bit more detail and clarifications on the fulfillment process.
After
reviewing the thread a bit, it seems the main confusion stemmed from
the announcement that shipping began on Friday the 23rd, without further
details. Shipping began that day for stores that were a 5-business-day
ship (meaning it would arrive the following Friday), and then we
stagger-shipped the rest of the product Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday to
arrive by Friday / Saturday. So saying "These packages are expected to
arrive to most Kickstarter supporters and Preview Nights stores the week
of September 30th" would have been better.
I apologize that we
did not communicate that more clearly to Seth and Michael and to all of
you. I take responsibility for that error and the confusion it has
caused.
Shipping times for UPS and USPS vary a bit, but we chose
the best option for both cost and for timeliness. In many cases, we paid
a premium to send games via Priority Mail that could have been sent via
a slower service (Parcel Post or UPS Ground).
Our goal was to
have product land around the same time for all Kickstarter orders and
Preview Nights participating stores. Then regular preorders would begin
shipping after that. We did run into some unexpected shipping delays
here at the warehouse, so I apologize if you have not yet received your
copy or a tracking number. We are working overtime this weekend to get
the remaining shipments out the door.
Anyone who would like to
check on the status of their order is welcome to contact us directly by
emailing us through GameSalute.com or calling us toll-free at
1-800-459-5516. If you have not received a courtesy notification via
email by Tuesday morning (the email servers for UPS and USPS only
guarantee that the emails will send within 12 hours though they're
usually faster), please contact us and we'll get you all squared away.
We appreciate the opportunity to bring you these awesome games and we hope you all have fun playing!
- Dan Yarrington
CEO, Game Salute
www.GameSalute.com
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SethJaffee on October 6, 2011
Perhaps. And perhaps in our excitement that the game has finally started shipping, we should still wait longer to announce it! With a shipment so big and so complicated, it probably would have been a safe bet to assume it would take a while to get the sorting and shipping logistics taken care of, so a "started shipping" date could easily be misleading (and indeed, in this case it was). I feel like I could have saved some heartache by simply not announcing that. :/
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leslie barkley on October 10, 2011
True. I did receive my package the following day, it was well-packed and the promo was taped to the top box so no possibility of it being thrown out with the packing material. I recognize that one of my frustrations is that I had to travel to the post office each day to find out if the package had arrived since they shipped by USPS rather than UPS.
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SethJaffee on October 10, 2011
@leslie: Really? They never got you a tracking number or anything? Could you maybe have called them to see if it arrived? Anyway, sorry about the inconvenience, and I'm happy you got your game - and that they started taping the promo to the box! Hope you enjoy the game!
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This project successfully raised its funding goal on November 23, 2010.
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**NOTE ON NON-USA SHIPPING** We do not want to turn away our internationally based backers. You can get shipping to Canada for $20 additional dollars and anywhere else for $40 additional dollars. Also, please note that you may have taxes and or tariffs for importing games. Tasty Minstrel will not be responsible for these costs. ***A NOTE ON USA SHIPPING*** All support includes shipping within the United States!
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1 copy of Eminent Domain, with a set of **EXCLUSIVE** 3 Prestige Planets which are part of a possible future expansion of the game! These Planets will not be in the regular print run, and the expansion may never see print, so pre-ording on Kickstarter MAY be the ONLY way to get these extra Planet cards! PLUS permanent recognition in the rulebook as a "BRONZE" supporter.
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2 copies of Eminent Domain. One for you and one for your best friend. Each game comes with the set of **EXCLUSIVE** Prestige Planets cards as above. PLUS permanent recognition in the rulebook as a "SILVER" supporter.
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***BEST DEAL*** - 3 LIMITED EDITION copie of Eminent Domain, digitally signed by the artist and designer and numbered. Each game with the set of **EXCLUSIVE** Prestige Planets cards as above. PLUS permanent recognition in the rulebook as a "GOLD" supporter.
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Mega-Bundle: 6 regular copies of Eminent Domain (each with a set of **EXCLUSIVE** Prestige Planets). This is great for going in with friends, especially if you add $40 for international shipping. PLUS permanent recognition in the rulebook as a "PLATINUM" supporter.
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1 LIMITED EDITION copy of Eminent Domain + 3 regular copies of Eminent Domain for your friends. Each game comes with the set of **EXCLUSIVE** Prestige Planets cards. PLUS your name (or one of your choosing, within reason) in the title of one of the Technology cards! For example, "Dr. Mayhem's Weapons Emporium". PLUS permanent recognition in the rulebook as a "PLATINUM" supporter.
Pledge $200 or more Pledge $200 or more
1 LIMITED EDITION copy of Eminent Domain + 3 regular copies of Eminent Domain for your friends. Each game comes with the set of **EXCLUSIVE** Prestige Planets cards. PLUS your get to name one of the Advanced, Fertile, or Metallic planets in the game! PLUS permanent recognition in the rulebook as a "PLATINUM" supporter.
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Tasty Minstrel Games sponsored game night. Michael Mindes and Seth Jaffee will fly out to your hometown, hand deliver you a copy of each TMG product (Terra Prime, Homesteaders, Belfort, Train of Thought, Jab, and Eminent Domain) and host your game night. There is only one opportunity for this, so get your group to pitch in quick! Also, you will be forever known as the "TMG Uber Fan" in the Eminent Domain rulebook. You'll also get everything from the $200 reward above. **USA ONLY**
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Tasty Minstrel Games is a board game publishing company based in Tucson, AZ started by Michael Mindes in early 2009. Seth Jaffee is Head of Development for Tasty Minstrel. Both have a long-time love of games.
Thanks for the update. I'm excited about what this expansion introduces, and I'm looking forward to the Kickstarter.
@Jake: Thanks!
@Vince: I'm not entirely sure how takeovers work in RftG, just that nobody I know actually uses that par t of the game. I've tried to make my "takeovers" appropriately costs and fair. A player having their planet taken over receives Reparations (2vp) to soften the blow. It doesn't hurt too bad to lose a small vp planet, but having a Prestige planet taken over could be a decent swing in the game!
@Cole: Each of the roles have been bolstered, specifically to address your concern there are 3 techs and 6 planets that have the Peace Treaty effect listed above. I've found that when opponents have Peace Treaties in play, players think twice about calling Warfare willy-nilly, either they slow down, or give away VPS (potentially hastening the game end), or both - whether or not that's worth it is debatable on a case by case basis!
I did attempt to use the different colored resources in different ways, but so far it was all disappointing. The reason is because the resource type is simply a reflection of the planet type, so any requirement of a specific resource type is redundant to the planet requirements to get technology. Perhaps in a later expansion I'll introduce some other aspect to the game that is not dependent on planets like Technology is, and then that aspect could deal with different resource types... but not this time. That said, there ARE new ways to use resources in this expansion!
Thanks for the reply Seth! I really do love EmDo, so I would never think of not giving you the benefit of the doubt - it's just that the thing that really hooked me was the indirectness of the game. I'd be sad to see that lost.
As for the different colored resources - that makes sense. Though most games with resources have those resources coming from a specific terrain type (like settlers), meaning it isn't that the resource has a different meaning but that is functions differently. Example; this could be a way to allow for differing planet types to interact - you get a metallic tech that does stuff with the water resource. Just thinking out loud.