Scheduling for Shipping

To avoid some confusion in the coming month, here's going to be the absolute dates for all the shipping in terms of the books in cards in case you supporters would like to know anything.

April:
15th- Final decks will be completed (missing card received)
19th- Senior Show, presenting Masquerade afterwards
20th-Remainder of month- Masquerade decks available for purchase to Champlain College students (in the game labs or upon requests)

May:
4th- Graduation
6th-10th- Shipping dates for all Kickstarter backers

The reason we're looking at a shipping day a month from now is simply because this might be the only chance I'll get to give out the decks to many of the friends and supporters here at college before I might never see them again. That and there might be some polish we need to apply to the boxes to ensure their durability and I can't do that until I return home in May.

If you are a Kickstarter backer on Champlain College campus, I will find you and I will give you your prizes. Expect that soon.

If I know you personally, say you're family perhaps, I'll find a way to get you your backings soon too. For now the focus is successfully graduating. The future of Masquerade is looking bright though.

Thank you all!

The Cards Are Here!

So I got them, yep. We're still missing a few due to printing issues, so don't expect to see any decks just yet. But the important thing is I can actually physically touch them.

If you live on the Champlain campus, please find me if you'd like to take a look at them. The cards came out really nice.

The Unpacking

The actual box. These still need a little work on the next print

All the cards save for one, we're missing the 61st card, the Plague Doctor

A close up on the cards. The art Deanna did is outstanding and really sticks out

The card backs

It's been a long, strange trip and there's still a long ways to go. After the missing card problem gets sorted out (I'll have to wait for another shipment from home for that), I can start to hand out these babies to some of the backers nearby.

I probably won't get everyone on Kickstarter their prizes until sometime in May though. Just a heads up. My capstone is the next biggest thing on my plate, that and preparing for graduation.

But please don't worry, the end is in sight. Thank you all for your support!

Editors and Book Covers

The majority of my updates concerning the Masquerade projects these days have been on the Kickstarter website with the handy update feature they have. As a result, this blog has been neglected somewhat over the past few days, so here is an update just for you guys!

Remember though, you can find the Kickstarter here (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/708854852/masquerade).

The biggest news I have concerning the Masquerade book is the fact that I have two new copy-editors looking over the book for me. One is a full-time author for a variety of books and the other is a professional journalist for online gaming websites. For privacy, I won't mention their names. This is good news for me, considering I just finished applying my own edits to the entire book. I've already went through a first chapter edited by one of them and seen plenty of errors I'll need to go back and fix.

Another important thing I've been working on is the actual book cover for Masquerade if you recall in my last post. I had a simple design worked out, but I took it and modernized it.

I really like this new design a lot and want to take it to a graphic designer in school to have them polish it up. I feel the font needs a little work.

There's been no real news on the card game side for Masquerade, I need to begin work on the King prize's card, the Plague Doctor. I'll probably start sketches for that idea sometime after Christmas.

King Prize and Book Cover

As of writing, we are 16% into funding for the Masquerade Kickstarter! I honestly didn't expect to get that far in just two days. What's more impressive is that the King prize has already been claimed! That means someone has backed $300 or more for Masquerade and earned the right to create their own card which will appear in the final version of the game.

I won't say who is the victor without his express permission, but he's a friend of mine!

In other news, I realize I'm going to have to work really hard to get everything printable next semester once the Kickstarter is a success (That's right, claiming victory already). That includes the book and the cover, and trust me when I say I've been working hard on the editing all over break. As for the cover, well...

This is the first draft I had in mind, a sort of old fashion feeling. I don't know if this is what I want though, it doesn't feel modern enough. I'm going to have to be playing with styles on my own all over vacation unless I find a graphic designer interested in helping me with the book.

Perhaps I'll have to look around school when I return.

Remember, dear readers, to tell your friends about the kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/708854852/masquerade). Shameless advertising away!

Kickstarter Prizes

So besides today's blog video, I've also put together the prizes I'm going to have for the Kickstarter. The thing is I'll need some feedback for them to see what you guys think of them. Anyway, here's the video real quick if you're all interested.



Do I seem nervous? I certainly am starting to feel it!

Here's the list of prizes I decided on for the Kickstarter project. If you don't know how it works, basically if you donate the listed amount of money or more, you can choose the prize you want plus all of the prizes beneath it. You can check out the Kickstarter pages for more details (http://www.kickstarter.com/).

$5 or more: You get your name added to the rulebook as thanks

$20 or more: The card game is yours plus all the below

$35 or more: The book is yours plus all the below

$50 or more: Both the book and the cards will be personally signed by me plus all the below

$100 or more: Special Edition pictures from the original card game and book plus personal special mention in my blogs. You will also be mentioned in a special thank at the back of the book plus all the below

$200 or more (Limited to 5): Your name will appear as a character’s name in the game plus all the below

$300 or more (Limited to 1): You will get to design your own card that will appear as the special 61^st card in the game. This includes a picture of yourself as designed plus all the below

The limited prizes are obviously limited to only a few people, the first few who donate that much. I decided to make the prize for the Bloody Christmas Contest, which failed big time, the main prize for Kickstarter. I'm not expecting a whole lot but I am going to try to market the crap out of Masquerade once I get started.

Also, here's the card box I'm working on as promised.

I used a design I found online for poker boxes, so it should be about the same size and hold up to 61 cards for the deck. The design is pretty straight forward and I'll go into more detail with it in the future when I complete it.

Until then, take care guys!