OOTS Book 5 - Blood Runs in the Family (plus 2015 OOTS Heroes Calendar)

[Sime]

Got mine today, I live in Italy!

It's... huge. It's almost thick as three/quarters of vol.2 and 4 combined.

[Rad]

Got mine today, I live in Italy!

It's... huge. It's almost thick as three/quarters of vol.2 and 4 combined.

I also got mine in Rome

[William Fox]

Forza Azzuri! Nutro un grande affetto per gli italiani. Vi saluto!

Also, glad you italians (and erryone else) is getting their books. I finished reading the other day, and loved it.

Spoiler

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Quoth the Familiar was bloody hilarious!

And for good measure, I re-read all the comics since the end of book 5. I am now 100% re-caught up on all things OotS.

[Meph]

Yesterday I got my orders too, humbly happy! (Germany)

[hagnat]

book arrived yesterday... spent the next 4 hours re-reading everything :)
its one big & heavy book, damn

- from Brazil

[Peelee]

I also got mine in Rome

Forza Azzuri! Nutro un grande affetto per gli italiani. Vi saluto!

Eu! Spero vos frui!

[Alaska Fan]

Shipments to Alaska are even starting to arrive; mine came yesterday. Likely the lack of snow impeded the dog sled teams. Or something.

[Armitage]

I've got my calendars yesterday.
The current one is now hanging on my desk at work. Now I just have to wait for my colleagues to make the mistake of asking me what it is and I will drag them into the madness that is the Fandom of the Stick!

Or I will just enjoy the georgous artwork.

Whatever.

[Unregistered]

Got the calendars and the book today in Germany (cheaper shipping option). At first glance it looks like everything is in good condition. I'll only be able to really look at them tomorrow but seeing the parcel this evening just made my less than optimal day end with a smile.

[ooknabah]

My book arrived today in Vancouver. Read the whole thing in one sitting, and man does it look good with all the others on my shelf. Hope it is joined by yet another in less than five years!

[snowblizz]

YesyesyesyesyesyesYeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees.

Book came to LGS today. So like 10 minutes after I get the e-mail notification form the store I'm doing a Darth Vader impression downtown..."boook ...*srrrrgh**shhhz*rrrgh* you've have my booo*shzzzzzghrrrgh*k". Took em a while to figure out what I wanted.

So within 3 days (Wed-Fri) calenders and then book.

[Druness]

Got mine in Vancouver today - cheap(Canadian) shipping option, book only. And I've almost finished my reread of the previous books!

[Parlik]

Reading all the strips again reminded me of a question...

Was the last member of Tarquin's adventure party ever named?

The guy with the shoulder pads, just the rest of them all were, so I assume Rich named him as well, even if it never showed in the strips.

[Noctew]

Finally got my books in Germany (courier tried to deliver on Thursday, had to pick the shipment up today). The good: the books and calendars are great and arrived in perfect condition. The bad: based on the tracking number on the label, Ookodook didn't even ship the package until January 12th. So that's why it took so long.

[Emanick]

Reading all the strips again reminded me of a question...

Was the last member of Tarquin's adventure party ever named?

The guy with the shoulder pads, just the rest of them all were, so I assume Rich named him as well, even if it never showed in the strips.

I'm pretty sure he never was. Everyone around here refers to him as "Shoulder Pad Guy" or whatever; I'm sure someone would have noticed if his name was mentioned somewhere, even as a throwaway.

[Keltest]

I'm pretty sure he never was. Everyone around here refers to him as "Shoulder Pad Guy" or whatever; I'm sure someone would have noticed if his name was mentioned somewhere, even as a throwaway.

Obviously that means he's going to be the first one to die when the inevitable downfall of the empire scheme starts.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Reading all the strips again reminded me of a question...

Was the last member of Tarquin's adventure party ever named?

The guy with the shoulder pads, just the rest of them all were, so I assume Rich named him as well, even if it never showed in the strips.

Unfortunately, no. There's been several names cooked up for him, similar to the High Priest of Hel, the most common of which is SPG or Shoulder Pad Guy.

[ChristianSt]

Finally got my books in Germany (courier tried to deliver on Thursday, had to pick the shipment up today). The good: the books and calendars are great and arrived in perfect condition. The bad: based on the tracking number on the label, Ookodook didn't even ship the package until January 12th. So that's why it took so long.

Received my (German) package today, too (directly, no need to pick it up later), and since you brought up the topic, I want to add to it.

Mine too has shipped late. It says "Sender's Signature and Date 01/11/2015". Not sure what is going on and whether it has something to do with the "cheap" preorder shipping method. From what was said in the thread I thought that this was a bulk order thing and was shipped to bulk shippers around Jan 1-3. On the Ookoodook-page I even still found:

1/5/15 - Order of the Stick Pre-Order Shipping Status. All orders shipped to fulfillment. The new Order of the Stick book, Blood Runs in the Family, and the 2015 calendar are in various stages of shipping. International orders should arrive at the fulfillment company today, where they'll ship out to the various countries and then to you.

Domestic orders were shipped to fulfillment last Friday. They should arrive Monday (in Dallas) and then ship directly to you.

So that leaves the question: Why does my package says it has a date of 01/11/2015? I would greatly appreciate it if someone could say why It is labeled that way ...
It also has an "Intl. Priority Airmail - U.S. Postage Paid - Chicago, IL" label, which makes no sense to me in context of doing a bulk overseas shipping ...

If that signalizes the shipment fulfillment center has a turnaround of a week, I would say it is a rather poor service...
And if that really is the case, it wouldn't hurt to be more transparent about potential shipping delays in the future. Especially the Ookoodook text reads like "just cheaper shipping cost without downside":

Blood Runs in the Family and the 2015 calendar are both scheduled to arrive in the Ookoodook warehouse during the first week of December, but can be pre-ordered now for immediate shipping when they arrive. During this pre-order, Ookoodook is able to offer a lower shipping price (both domestically and internationally) for most orders that include either the new book or the new calendar—just select the shipping option labeled "Preorder Fulfillment" at check-out for the lowest price. This special shipping rate will no longer be available once these items are in stock, so, you know, you might want to get on that.

This shouldn't be understand as a complain per se. I'm satisfied with my Calendar, and maybe would have used the cheaper shipping even with knowing it arrives one week later, but from the available information I certainly would have expected an earlier delivery (and just thought that it was a normal case of "International shipping time sucks").



EDIT: I really enjoyed the "bonus image" for 2016 and hope that Redcloak/Jirix foreshadowing will hold true . Though I would really like to get them from my FLGS in the future. I had no really bad experience with Ookoodook, but I just have the feeling that international shipping condition gets worse and worse .

[snowblizz]

Received my (German) package today, too (directly, no need to pick it up later), and since you brought up the topic, I want to add to it.

Mine too has shipped late. It says "Sender's Signature and Date 01/11/2015". Not sure what is going on and whether it has something to do with the "cheap" preorder shipping method. From what was said in the thread I thought that this was a bulk order thing and was shipped to bulk shippers around Jan 1-3. On the Ookoodook-page I even still found:

So that leaves the question: Why does my package says it has a date of 01/11/2015? I would greatly appreciate it if someone could say why It is labeled that way ...
It also has an "Intl. Priority Airmail - U.S. Postage Paid - Chicago, IL" label, which makes no sense to me in context of doing a bulk overseas shipping ...

Basically, they "outsourced" shipping to a third-party, in Illinois (or that was where it was "stamped" as it was officially leaving the country), which is not that surprising since Chicago O'Hare airport is a very very VERY large hub for international air-traffic. In this case "bulk shipping" meant OkeyDokey(*) passes the books on to a logistics/packaging handler together with a list of who gets what (I'm speculating but they could even had stuff directed there from the printer, though IIRC not in this case), it does not mean it is all shipped in a container to Europe e.g.. It makes sense in that the 3rd-party has a huge warehouse and packaging set-up compared to OkeyDokey for fulfilling an initial glut of orders for the new book, whereas OkeyDokey are probably swamped by Xmas orders anyway. Of course, the 3rd party has a contract to fulfil, but our books is just one of many small orders they are doing right then. Especially if there's been delays before their part in the chain they may have scheduling issues of their own, so they got to them when they got to them, where the slotted stuff went through first (I'm speculating a bit here, but that's how it probably works).

Oh, and just a note, modern logistics operations are massively complex machineries where stuff can be sent back and forth in manner that makes no sense to any person with a sense of logic.

(*)It sounds much funnier that way, no offence intended (and I can't remember the numbers of "o":s)

[Jasdoif]

This shouldn't be understand as a complain per se. I'm satisfied with my Calendar, and maybe would have used the cheaper shipping even with knowing it arrives one week later, but from the available information I certainly would have expected an earlier delivery (and just thought that it was a normal case of "International shipping time sucks").

Just in case you missed this from earlier:

Ookoodook has informed me that as of Saturday, January 3rd, all pre-order books/calendars have left Ookoodook's warehouse in Texas. That puts them in the hands of the bulk shippers, and since we've never used this shipping company before*, no one can say how long they will take from this point. I also can't say whether or not you will be getting a shipping email if you haven't gotten one already, because I don't know if they're doing that in the absence of direct tracking numbers that need to be distributed. But still: They're in the mail, on their way.

* Lest you think Ook rushed into this without trying the company out first, be aware that this is not the company that they originally planned to use. That first company had been employed successfully several times by APE Games for their (non-OOTS) Kickstarter fulfillment, but was the one to run afoul of the TSA for whatever reason that no one can explain to us yet. Ookoodook could not wait for that bureaucratic quagmire to be sorted out, so they switched the shipment to a competing company. It is that competing company that has the books, but we don't know for certain how long they will take to deliver them.

[ChristianSt]

(I'm speculating a bit here, but that's how it probably works).

Oh, and just a note, modern logistics operations are massively complex machineries where stuff can be sent back and forth in manner that makes no sense to any person with a sense of logic.

I don't think random speculation is really helpful in finding out why this took a rather long time. Also it might be useful information for Ookoodook down the line. In any case having that date stamped on the package doesn't look good for Ookoodook, whether or not it is their fault or not - because that is the only date I have to judge when it was sent to me. (And I don't think that an angry/annoyed reacting is unrealistic for seeing a 01/11 shipping date for a Calendar ordered on 10/26...)

Just in case you missed this from earlier:

Thanks for assuming I didn't read a post I did read while writing that post.

But that post doesn't address my point, because that is a post that was only available long after most people have finished their order (I'm not sure, but at the time that post was made this shipping option shouldn't be available any more). And even without that TSA shenanigans the Giant said here it was clear that this shipping option would be slower, which wasn't something mentioned on Ookoodook (or if it was, it must have been relatively buried).

Not everyone has access to a post from the future in a thread on a different website* while shopping for a calendar

*And yes, while a large portion of OotS-Calendar-buyers probably visit the forum, I wouldn't be surprised if >50% of people buying the calendar didn't read the thread, let alone anything not in the OP.

[Jasdoif]

Thanks for assuming I didn't read a post I did read while writing that post.

Hmm. I can see how you might confuse "not assuming you had read it" for "assuming you hadn't read it", but I'm curious...were you expecting me to somehow determine that you (or anyone in a similar position, for that matter) had read a post from 7 pages back, which you had neither mentioned nor quoted nor linked, that seemed related to what you were asking about?

[Lissou]

Seems pretty straightforward to me. They had to change shipping companies pretty much at the last minute, and had no control after they did their share (shipping it to the shipping company in early January). Said shipping company took a while to ship all orders, which isn't Ookoodook's or the Giant's fault and couldn't have been predicted with no prior experience with that shipping company.

[factotum]

Yeah, the thing about not being able to look into the future seems to me to be exactly what you're complaining the Giant didn't do--he said they've never used this company before, how are they supposed to know in advance what sort of delays they'd add into the shipping? If you don't have a crystal ball to determine such things then neither does he.

[ChristianSt]

Yeah, the thing about not being able to look into the future seems to me to be exactly what you're complaining the Giant didn't do--he said they've never used this company before, how are they supposed to know in advance what sort of delays they'd add into the shipping? If you don't have a crystal ball to determine such things then neither does he.

If that is the case, then it is at least feedback that this new bulk shipper is slower (for whatever reason).

But from what the the Giant's posted here*, it was kinda expected - which, especially from the Ookoodook website was not clear. And even from this thread the only "hint" at a expected delayed shipping before the Giant's post* (which was made after preordering was over), was the answer to the question "how fast is the 'Intl Preorder Fulfillment 1' shipping option?":

No idea. Not super-fast, I'd imagine, but then again, this is a pre-order: the book won't be coming out until the first week of December anyway. I'll ask Kevin from Ookoodook what he thinks the speed will be and get back to you.

and I couldn't locate any added information. And since international in itself isn't super-fast, that basically is no information


Maybe it was a case of "random delays/shipping quirks got my package delayed" (and maybe that explains the shipping date + int. airmail label). If that is the case it would certainly not hurt for Ookoodook to include some information somewhere when it left them, because if the only date on the package is "X", why should a random costumer assume "a well, this is a preorder shipping, which may done in bulk, so it was probably delayed a week somewhere after Ookoodook who sent it off at X minus a week".


But from following this thread, I have gotten the strong feeling that Ookoodook didn't share relevant shipping information to costumers. Especially that this preorder shipping is slower than normal shipping. I'm kinda used to "international shipping is slow and expensive", but I don't need to have additional random delays without being told so.




*

If you don't have your calendar yet, it's because you chose the reduced price shipping option—which was a bulk shipping deal. Bulk shipping means that no orders leave the warehouse until every order that chose the bulk shipping is ready to leave. Your order wasn't delayed because it was waiting for the books per se, it was delayed because the bulk shipping you chose is a lot slower—and, as circumstance would have it, it ran into some regulatory problems along the way. Had you selected the more expensive Priority Mail option, you would have gotten your calendar before Christmas (assuming you're in the USA).

Since the entire point of the bulk shipping is to save money by sending everything at once, pulling the calendar-only orders out and sending them first would have cost additional money.

[Lissou]

I understand the annoyance: I too picked the cheaper shipping option with the understanding that it was cheaper as a "reward" for people who preordered but otherwise exactly the same as the second cheapest option. I thought that was why it was only given as an option for preorders. It seems the actual reason was that it was a bulk option, and it only makes sense to ship in bulk when you have a bunch of orders to fulfill at once - which makes sense for pre-orders but not afterwards.

But you got your order, it's in good shape, and the delay wasn't planned or predicted. And yes, some people may have picked the slightly more expensive option had they known it would be faster, but I don't think the delay was that big a deal and I don't think Ookoodook was in any way trying to be deceitful in the way they phrased it. As far as I'm concerned there is really nothing left to talk or complain about here.

[ChristianSt]

I understand the annoyance: I too picked the cheaper shipping option with the understanding that it was cheaper as a "reward" for people who preordered but otherwise exactly the same as the second cheapest option. I thought that was why it was only given as an option for preorders. It seems the actual reason was that it was a bulk option, and it only makes sense to ship in bulk when you have a bunch of orders to fulfill at once - which makes sense for pre-orders but not afterwards.

But you got your order, it's in good shape, and the delay wasn't planned or predicted. And yes, some people may have picked the slightly more expensive option had they known it would be faster, but I don't think the delay was that big a deal and I don't think Ookoodook was in any way trying to be deceitful in the way they phrased it. As far as I'm concerned there is really nothing left to talk or complain about here.

This shouldn't be understand as a complain per se. I'm satisfied with my Calendar, and maybe would have used the cheaper shipping even with knowing it arrives one week later, but from the available information I certainly would have expected an earlier delivery (and just thought that it was a normal case of "International shipping time sucks").

I'm not really complaining. If it sounded that I think Ookoodook is deceitful I'm sorry for this. Maybe I was a too verbose (and maybe a bit indirect) to basically say "You really should be better at sharing relevant information in the future". Maybe it would also be better to have written that directly to Ookoodook and not to this thread.

All I can say that I personally think I will in the future only deal with Ookoodook when it is "necessary" - which probably is the next Ookoodook-exclusive book/calendar/OotS merchandise I want. Because, well, the Giant's work is awesome enough to deal with such shenanigans from time to time. But I would very much appreciate it to have it available through my FLGS instead.

[HeeJay]

So for those keeping score, packages have finally reached Finland.

Maybe yours, but not mine.

I did see Blood Runs in the Family for sale at the Friendly Local Game Store though.

There's still a small, slight hope I'll have the calendar before January runs out...

[snowblizz]

I don't think random speculation is really helpful in finding out why this took a rather long time. Also it might be useful information for Ookoodook down the line. In any case having that date stamped on the package doesn't look good for Ookoodook, whether or not it is their fault or not - because that is the only date I have to judge when it was sent to me. (And I don't think that an angry/annoyed reacting is unrealistic for seeing a 01/11 shipping date for a Calendar ordered on 10/26...)

It is not random speculation, it is a *very* educated "guess". You wanted to know how come it could say X and I'm explaining to you how it most likely is, based on all the information available to me.
Note though that you did not order anything the 26/10, you PRE-ordered. In this case ther PRE- means the stuff wasn't made yet. There's been messages posted about the progress and lack thereof.
Obviously being personally annoyed is completely your option. But since you are a member here you can't claim to have been uninformed.

I understand the annoyance: I too picked the cheaper shipping option with the understanding that it was cheaper as a "reward" for people who preordered but otherwise exactly the same as the second cheapest option. I thought that was why it was only given as an option for preorders. It seems the actual reason was that it was a bulk option, and it only makes sense to ship in bulk when you have a bunch of orders to fulfill at once - which makes sense for pre-orders but not afterwards.

Funny because I picked bulkorder precisely because of the understanding that it'd be cheaper and with the assumption that it would be a lot slower. Because that is what bulk usually means and how postage usually works.

Maybe yours, but not mine.

I did see Blood Runs in the Family for sale at the Friendly Local Game Store though.

There's still a small, slight hope I'll have the calendar before January runs out...

Awww, know at least 3 others here who have them. Toivotaan parasta.

[The Giant]

And here I thought the fact that people had their packages would stop the complaints about shipping.

It's a little disingenuous to criticize Ookoodook (or me) for not telling you how long the shipping would take in October when you are fully aware that we were planning on using a completely different company back in October. Whatever understanding you had from reading the initial promotional material is largely irrelevant, because that shipping method went out the window and they had to scramble around and get a new one at the last minute. It makes no sense at all to complain that we didn't accurately lay out the details of the shipping service we didn't know we were going to be using. If we had stuck with the old service, the books would still be waiting in a warehouse somewhere, hoping that the TSA clears them to ship. Therefore, ANY service that we replaced the old one with is an unqualified improvement. I have no idea why the postage is stamped January 11th, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it sat and waited for eight days from when Ookoodook dropped it off on the 3rd, because the only available alternative was for it to not ship at all.

It's even more disingenuous to complain that one might not have known about delays if one didn't read this thread, when you did read this thread and did know about delays. I have no patience for meaningless hypotheticals. If you're not personally criticizing Ookoodook for the packages being stamped 01/11, don't make a lot of noise about worrying that someone else somewhere might someday criticize them for it. That's practically the definition of concern trolling.

If you have your book now, it's only due to effort on the part of Ookoodook when they suddenly had to run around and figure out a new method for shipping thousands of packages right around Christmas. It's kind of amazing that they were able to find a new shipper as quickly as they did. And frankly, the only reason they even tried using a bulk shipper is because every single time we put out a product, there are five hundred complaints from posters here about the high cost of international shipping. This whole thing was an attempt to respond to everyone's criticisms from last time. Next time, we'll try something else, but you know what? It might not work. There's no way to tell beforehand. Even the original shipper for this project had been utilized several times before this stupid TSA thing popped up out of nowhere.

Ookoodook will never be able to deliver fast accurate international shipping at a price that the people complaining are comfortable with. It won't ever happen, because they're not Amazon and they will never have a warehouse in Europe. You're buying from an American small business, not an international corporation, and it will always be suboptimal because "optimal" is being defined by companies with a lot more money and manpower than Ookoodook will ever have.

To put it in D&D terms: Amazon is a 20th level Wizard; Ookoodook is a 5th level Fighter. You can put a lot of effort into optimizing the Fighter to make it as good as it can be, but the best you can ever make it will still fall far, far short of an unoptimized Wizard.