Upper Works review?

Posts: 413 · Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 9:32 am

mbassoc2003 wrote:

Yeah, I found that international buyers cannot buy online because you have to e-mail them first with your full order and get a shipping quote to add into the online shop at checkout. I think they could use a better customer experience all round. I know they're small but my understanding is that they do have dedicated staff. Someone should be focussing on getting money in through the door, and that means providing the products you already have to customers waiting to pay for them. TLG seems to be cracking under the strain, and it's not for wont of money. We are lining up to give them money. They just can't get organised enough to take what is being offered. Bigger companies have gone under for such things. They need to watch they don't go the same way.

So, I'm curious... Has anyone out there, outside of mainland America, managed to get a copy of CZ:UW mailed to them by TLG?

I've had a copy for about (a month?).

Back on Dragonsfoot someone mentioned that TLG had them in stock though the website still said pre-order. I placed an online order through paypal on a Saturday night and they shipped it that monday and I had the copy on Weds.

I was working on an index and expanded table of contents when my ex came back into my life and im now trying to patch things up which has joyfully taken all my spare time.

Posts: 2525 · Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 2:54 pm

I have finalised an order to the UK, and the Trolls say they'll ship out this week, so hopefully I'll have a copy by Xmas. I suspect there are gonna be like Rappan Athuk Reloaded (but without the dungeons Laughing

), but still the definitive castle to base your campaign around. Kinda an upgrade to B2 if you like. What Castle Whiterock fails miserably to achieve. So for that reason, I think these are a wise investment, regardless of what happens to the ballance of the CZ works.

Posts: 140 · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 6:34 am

How many sets did you order?

If it was just the one, what was the shipping cost? (Ive not had a reply)

Posts: 211 · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 10:20 am

mbassoc2003 wrote:

I have finalised an order to the UK, and the Trolls say they'll ship out this week, so hopefully I'll have a copy by Xmas.

So, how did you manage to get 'em to reply to your emails? It's like trying to get blood out of a stone! Sad

Posts: 2525 · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 11:18 am

otherworld wrote:

So, how did you manage to get 'em to reply to your emails? It's like trying to get blood out of a stone! Sad

Many international phone calls on consecutive days.

Posts: 211 · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 12:20 pm

mbassoc2003 wrote:

Many international phone calls on consecutive days.

Well, bollocks to that, I don't want it that much. Confused

Posts: 2525 · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 5:47 pm

otherworld wrote:

Well, bollocks to that, I don't want it that much. Confused

It's a very good piece of work. Up there with RA Reloaded. And I'd be willing to bet that if Mongoose do ever republish, they'll butcher the hell out of it. So this boxed set will probably be last decent piece of writing to be published in a while.

There is a whole industry full of also rans, but quality is very rare in the industry at present. Don't write this off on account of how hard it is gonna be to get. You may well regret it.

Posts: 211 · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 7:06 pm

mbassoc2003 wrote:

It's a very good piece of work. Up there with RA Reloaded. And I'd be willing to bet that if Mongoose do ever republish, they'll butcher the hell out of it. So this boxed set will probably be last decent piece of writing to be published in a while.

There is a whole industry full of also rans, but quality is very rare in the industry at present. Don't write this off on account of how hard it is gonna be to get. You may well regret it.

Yeah, you're probably right, but if I can't persuade TLG to take my money.....

Maybe I'll wait until NKG gets hold of some.

Posts: 1348 · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 7:30 pm

Steve has a new email address specifically for placing orders. Oddly, it is easy to remember:

orders@trolllord.com

Please try that one. You're doing yourself a disservice if you let this product slip by, and the Trolls aren't helping by making it seemingly more difficult to get than it is. Stupid growing pains.

Posts: 211 · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 8:43 pm

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

Posts: 2525 · Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 12:23 pm

And don't forget this little twist... The more people push to buy direct from TLG (it was a struggle but I think I got there in the end), the less likely it will get to distributors, because there is a minimum quanity TLG need to have boxed and ready to ship to the distribution chain. The more we buy direct, the more we eat into that stock, and if it doesn't get into distribution, it's percieved rarity value will be higher. Whilst the over all print run will inevitably probably remain the same either way, and low at that (it would be good if a final figure came out), if it never reaches the shops, the haves and have nots will be different, and there will be more demand for the product on eBay. Particularily outside of the US.

Posts: 211 · Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 4:55 pm

serleran wrote:

Steve has a new email address specifically for placing orders. Oddly, it is easy to remember:

orders@trolllord.com

Please try that one. You're doing yourself a disservice if you let this product slip by, and the Trolls aren't helping by making it seemingly more difficult to get than it is. Stupid growing pains.

Well, nobody replies to emails sent to that address either. Great company! Rolling Eyes

Posts: 1348 · Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 5:45 pm

Yep. Too bad I have to keep disseminating information that is public knowledge:

Steve's PC was reformatted and reinstalled the last few days, so he has not been at anything computer-wise for nearly a week (if not more.) Supposedly, emails were lost in this (I don't know as I am not there, nor am I responsible for the event.) The Troll forums are ripe with information....

However, I will gladly get copies for you and send them along (reimbursed, naturally) if that is what it takes. Email me at serleran shift-2 gmail period com.

Oh, and I have made Steve aware of this thread, so he should hopefully stop by to answer any concerns.

Posts: 153 · Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 7:46 pm

A quote from Steve on this subject:

"mbassoc2003, Hello. Steve here at TLG. As for you concerns about shipping overseas we do it quite regularly. The problem is that paypal does not offer any decent system for weighing packages and the USPS governs the cost of shipping by weight, size of package and destination. Paypal falls far short of allowing us to create in an online store shipping center. We generally use flat rate shipping boxes for most things and can guess the cost. However, these often loose their flat rate when their weight goes over a certain amount (depends on the box). At that point the destination kicks in and price can vary wildly. Shipping overseas is a bit of a guessing game, but we've gotten it down to a science, once we've reviewed an order. But paypal offers only by weight or cost, both of which fluctuate constantly due to sales items etc etc.

If you are having trouble, submit the order like normal. It won't charge you a shipping charge. We'll process it and hold it until we have contacted you and confirmed shipping charges are on the way. It sounds a bit cumbersome, but its far better than creating a pre-set shipping charge that we will be forced to revise and resend to you anyway.

The overseas shipping problem has nothing to do with a broken system here at TLG. Honestly, our shipping system works amazingly well considering the volume of direct orders we ship, the retail orders we ship and the distributor orders we ship. These range from small single issues of the Crusader to large palatalized shipments...our biggest to date was 7 fully packed pallets, all shrink wrapped and waiting for ABF to pick up. All this for TLG. Couple that with the shipping of third party products that we routinely do and trust me when I tell you we are on a first name basis with all the folks at UPS and the two USP Offices here abouts. I actually mentioned to Mark, Todd and Davis today about adding a slightly more mobile shipping report set up to the fray and Mark said "Don't touch it. Its working and its simple."

I apologize for the inconvenience, but unless folks in Europe and Asia are willing to pay a flat rate that will probably be more than they would normally be charged there is nothing we can do.

That said, our webmaster is looking at using a more advanced shopping cart system offered by paypal, but this will probably not fix the shipping overseas issues. We'll see.

I do apologize for the inconvenience, but at present this is the best option we offer. I have just shipped Upper Works into distribution. It arrived in Ft. Wayne today (the 13th), ships to distributors beginning on Monday (that includes Esdevium who operates out of the UK) and should be available in the last week of November. I know Esdevium has ordered some, I suspect not enough to meet their demand, but if you go down and place your preorder with your local shop they will probably be able to set you up in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks!
Steve"

Posts: 1348 · Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 7:46 pm

And, here is the response posted by Steve at the TLG forums (he did try to register here but something didn't work right -- maybe he never got the email? hehe):

[edited because Deogolf posted it already]

Posts: 153 · Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 7:48 pm

D'oh!! Sorry 'bout that!! Embarassed

Posts: 211 · Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 7:52 pm

Thanks for the info, and thanks Serleran for your kind offer of assistance, but I think I'll hang on a couple of weeks and get one from Esdevium when they reach Blighty.

Posts: 140 · Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 8:05 pm

Ive now ordered Upper Works from troll lords (it took a bit to get a reply). Theyve charged me $ 29.95 for postage to UK.

Posts: 827 · Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 8:31 pm

nn wrote:

Ive now ordered Upper Works from troll lords (it took a bit to get a reply). Theyve charged me $ 29.95 for postage to UK.

ouch?? at least you will have it + before most in uk but still ouch

Posts: 2525 · Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 6:00 am

nn wrote:

Ive now ordered Upper Works from troll lords (it took a bit to get a reply). Theyve charged me $ 29.95 for postage to UK.

That's about right for the price of a USPS mailer. NKG will not be able to do it any cheaper.