Address Lock Down
over 7 years ago – Tue, Jul 10, 2018 at 09:45:57 PM

Let me get this out of the way right up front. Production is running but there is no real update on that front. As we come close to the end of production I do have some things we need to take care of.

Locking Addresses

I will be locking down addresses on Friday the 13th (spooky right?). Hopefully, you have already checked and rechecked your shipping info but this gives you 4 days to ensure your shipping info is all set. Of course, if anyone needs any help or has questions please let me know.

GenCon

As I mentioned before I will be at GenCon. Anyone interested in picking there games up from our booth please contact me ([email protected]) or if you would like to just stop by and say "Hi", please do. My wife Liz and I would love to meet you. We will be at booth #3062 (hashtag "BlueDot").

Print and Play

The print and play files have been finalized and are available through backerkit. I just pushed it through so you should receive an email soon or you can visit your pledge confirmation and click on "Get Your Digital Downloads". There you will find the final print and play files.

For those of you interested in a printer friendly version I have just posted a solo print and play version with no color (no art really). This has just the 17 cards needed for a solo game.

Along these lines, I had an idea as well to put the solo (just 17 cards and colorless) game on the game crafter. This would be available immediately and would be available in 2 monochromatic versions. These would be "Day" (black text on white) and "Night" (white text on black). I think with their pricing it would be $7.99 for just the 17 cards and no box. The goal here would be to make it available in case backers wanted something a bit earlier and a bit for marketing of the game to that community. What do you think?

I think that is about it for now. I will send more info when I have it or even if I don't :). 

Thank you all once again for your patience and understanding through this process.

All the Best,
Jon Mietling
Portal Dragon

Officially in Production... Whew!
over 7 years ago – Sat, Jun 23, 2018 at 01:30:01 AM

Today I received and approved the card proofs and my rep said they will start production tomorrow. I wish I had the privilege of saying this over a month ago but that's how it goes. I am still very excited to say it now. 

The Contest

I am thrilled with the response to the little contest posted in the last update. I also loved hearing about all the places you plan to take Palm Island. From exotic to everyday life I am so happy that it will be a part of all of your lives in some small way. I hope to see many pictures of where you play. We have seen a few already on BGG's Palm Island page hopefully the winners will post as well. OH YA! Winners! 

I was packing the cards into the wallets and I found another set. It will leave me with just one but 14 is better than 12 right? Now it is a bit of a mixed bag. I had a few from the last print which is very close to the final print but there are a couple that are older or written on so they may not fully match with the final version. Some have feats some have villagers. and 2 are a bit older and have the pre-final art and different names, hopefully, it is not too confusing but all are very much playable. So here they are:

Aloïs Butaux Georgios Christou
Bury
Andrew Cross
Daniele Giardino
Emily Wickelgren
Jaap Bekooy
Paolo Canuto
Kevin Gordon
Jeroen Carrein
Drew Prosperi
Matt Woodruff
Sharon Falk
Joshua Shook

I will be in contact with these folks soon to confirm their addresses and I will try to get those out as soon as possible.

I want to thank everyone for posting. I truly enjoyed reading all of your comments. Thank you all. To answer a question from the comments, the "final" print and play files are on their way. I just need to put it together. I will try to get that as soon as possible. 

For now, that is about it. I hope to share some pics and progress from the manufacturer. Anything they send me I will be sure to post. 

Thanks again,
Jon Mietling

The proofs are in (partially)
over 7 years ago – Wed, Jun 20, 2018 at 01:41:43 AM

So last night I got the first set of proofs from the factory and they are looking great. I have already approved all of the digital proofs, the next step (which is happening now) is approval of the physical proofs as well. The proofs sent included the screen printed plastic box in its actual blue color, the rule book and the proofs for the 5 square divider cards.  

I don't know if I mentioned it but I also have received the solo deck sleeves which I will be shipping out to our fulfillment centers soon.  

I feel like I need to include a warning that estimations follow. We have had more delays than I expected already so I don't want to put too much hope in the accuracy of more estimates (but I am... fingers crossed). I am supposed to have the rest of the proofs on or before this coming Friday. With the current production schedule that would put completion on July 18th. This is based on their guaranteed manufacturing schedule if the approval comes through on Friday. I was just informed though that with the approval of the proofs listed above they have started production on those items (I am again working hard to not hold my breath, but that could take some time off the production timeline). Then 7-10 days for shipments to the UK and USA and from there, US shipments should see theirs within a week or so and the rest of the world in about 2 weeks.

This brings up another topic that I was really hoping would be a non-issue. However, with the current schedule, it is looking more likely. This year for the first time Portal Dragon will have a booth at GenCon. It has always been my policy to ensure all backers get their games before selling at a convention. Up until now with my schedules, this has never even been close. I purchased the booth and paid for some big Palm Island advertisements earlier in the year when our delivery schedule was set to complete couple months before GenCon. The substantial investment here requires me to do something I never intended to do. Which is to sell at a convention before all backers have received their copies. Though many backers should get their copies before the convention, I believe this project was successful because of our backers and you do deserve to receive your copies first. Believe me, this is something pains me and I have been fearing with all of the delays. I am still pushing hard to get things moving at the fastest pace possible. But I wanted you all to know the facts and to express my most sincere apologies for the delays. Since we will be at GenCon if you would like to arrange a pickup at the convention instead of normal delivery please contact me ([email protected]). Either way, if you are attending I would love to meet you. I will post more details with our booth number in later updates.

A fun little contest.

I understand many of you were hoping to take Palm Island with you on various vacations this summer. Though the print and play is available, for most it is just not the same. So as a token of gratitude and remorse I want to run a little contest. I have a few of my personal prototypes of Palm Island which I am going to split into solo decks and include a solo deck sleeve. This will end up being 12 solo sets of Palm Island that I will mail out to the winners. This is how it is going to work. Leave a comment below with where you planned to play or take Palm Island. On Thursday I will use a random number generator on the qualified comments (1 per backer) to select the winners. Then I will get your addresses and send you your solo copies of Palm Island. 

More to come soon,
Jon Mietling
Portal Dragon

White Box Recieved
over 7 years ago – Sun, Jun 03, 2018 at 01:01:13 AM

This week I was so excited to receive a box from China. Inside was the white box proofs for Palm Island. 

I first opened the basic Plam Island Box. They included all the cards including some samples for the dividers cards and the rules. It all fits nicely and the box is constructed well. For all those waiting to hear back about sleeves. I did sleeve all of the cards and placed them in the box. They do fit, but the box does not close all the way with the rulebook in there as well. Of course, that is with 64 cards sleeved. I used perfect fits but there is some room for bigger sleeves. I don't think you will be able to double sleeve these though.  

I also got the All Weather Edition. The box is great though the sample they had was in red the final will be in blue as shown in earlier updates. I tested it and it is waterproof. A great case to carry to the beach.

The plastic cards are nice and also do well in water. These samples they gave me had a full color back and I submerged them for 36 hours and there is no smearing or discoloration.

Yesterday received the proofs for the solo deck sleeves. They look great. A nice flexible durable plastic. I have had one set in each pocket since I got them and I am very pleased.

I have confirmed all the details, approved the samples and we are now working on the setup to get into full production. 

That's it. Just a quick update on where we are. 

Thank you all,
Jon Mietling

A Quick Update
almost 8 years ago – Thu, May 24, 2018 at 02:17:00 AM

I just wanted to let everyone know where we stand. In short, not much is happening right now and sadly we have still not begun printing.

Lately, there has not been anything happening for me other than the occasional email. The final quote took much longer to approve than I had anticipated but all points have been covered and agreed upon. I have made the deposit and the process officially started over a week ago. Sadly I am still currently awaiting the white box versions of the game for approval and they are sitting on the artwork until that is complete. As a pretty much one-man crew I am used to things moving as fast as I do but all my work has been done with this process for over a month. I am working to expedite the process where I can. When we had the original delays with this manufacturer I sought out quotes from other companies but they turned out to be no faster. All that said it could be much worse and for some delays like this on an already quick project with the expedited shipping unlocked we are still looking at July.  With my original estimates, I was planning on going to print the day I got the funds from Kickstarter and fulfilling earlier than the estimate. But this is how it goes working with a manufacturer I have no previous experience with. 

On an upside, the solo deck sleeves are being printed. These are sourced from another factory and will be headed to our fulfillment centers in the next week or so.

I am very sorry for all the delays. I was really hoping to get the games out to you before your vacations and trips this summer. I truly appreciate all of your support for this project and through these opportunities to learn and improve as a publisher.

"The most important words a man can say are I will do better."

Thank you,
Jon Mietling