Update for USA and Canada
almost 2 years ago – Sun, May 01, 2022 at 07:42:41 PM

Dear Backers, 

We've had an update from our fulfilment partner for the USA and Canada - Quartermaster Logistics (QML). 

They confirm that our project is all paid up and is in their fulfilment queue, and they are expect to begin shipping in approximately two weeks time. 

This is later than expected,  and here is a message from QML which may help give you some context as to why:  

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To our QML Clients,

As you all know, we are currently in the middle of a time with unprecedented demand for

shipping and logistics. The need for freight and direct-to-consumer shipping is not only high in

our industry but worldwide across all industries. While we were all affected by the pandemic and

its impacts up and down the supply chain over the past two years, we are still feeling the

residual impact here at QML on our scheduled fulfilments for you. All of this has impacted our

ability to forecast and predict when fulfilments are going to occur for our clients.

What this means for you is that you are seeing or will see some delays in the projected

dates for fulfilment as we work diligently to handle this unprecedented demand. This is below

the standards that we've set for ourselves and the expectations that we've created for you as

our clients. We apologize for any difficulties that this may have caused you and we are working

diligently to improve.

We have taken the steps to expand our operating hours and to increase our staff and

labor to handle the requests of our hundreds of fulfilment clients, so we don't foresee this

impact to be long lasting. We appreciate you choosing us as your fulfilment partner and we are

grateful for your continued patience here as we manage these delays.

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Keep in mind, QML are one of the best in the business, and even they are struggling. We trust them and stand by them while they work through this, and we hope you will do the same with us in turn. 

We'll continue to keep you informed as the time draws near, and let you know if that date holds or slips further. 

Please understand that we've worked hard for years developing this product, manufacturing it, marketing it to you, and now it is very painful to see it all just sitting in a warehouse. We want it shipped as much as you do, but we all just need to be patient for a little bit longer while they work through the backlog. 

Thank you for your support - great games will be with you soon! 

Nothing is ever quite perfect...
almost 2 years ago – Sun, May 01, 2022 at 07:04:43 AM

Dear Backers,

First of all, thank you to everyone who has received their pledges so far for expressing how much they love them!

Unfortunately, amongst all that great early feedback, two small issues have emerged which we’d like to address immediately. 

Issue 1: Medical Record Dials

This issue only affects backers who pledged for the Sector Collector’s Box.

There is a misprint on the black HP wheel: a number 9 where the number 12 ought to be. We are mortified, and want to fix this for you ASAP.  We’ve come up with two solutions you can choose between:

1) Print and Play 

We’ve created a Dial Correction PDF file, which you can print out at home to amend the dials yourself. We’ve tested it here at the studio and the result is actually very good. Here is the file, along with step-by-step instructions for the fix:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jmnd8sjHv3rZYgqFLLd1YT0eGzddRChz/view?usp=sharing

2) Replacement 

We’re looking into printing a batch of physical replacement dial wheel components to send you. 

However, as you may know, China (where we manufacture our games) is in lockdown at the moment and no production is happening there at all. We hope they will be back online soon, but either way we’re looking into the various options and alternatives, and we’ll let you know as soon we have a viable plan of how to do this for you.  Just please understand it may take a while - we can't say for sure in these uncertain times. 

If you’d like to put your name down for a set of these replacement dials, please fill out the form here:

https://forms.gle/WkjqT4xb7LywTMXP8

Until then, hopefully option 1 will keep you gaming!

Issue 2: Small Sleeves

Due to a change made late in the game development process, an additional card was added to the game. 

Normally that is a good thing, but in this case it also means that unfortunately two packs of our small sleeves will no longer be enough to sleeve everything in the Sector range as advertised - you’ll be one sleeve short!

If you happen to have purchased sleeves for Escape the Dark Castle in the past, you should have some spare sleeves from those packs (because that game came in under the sleeve count). 

Otherwise, we’d be happy to post a couple of small sleeves out to you, just to make sure you have enough.  If you’d like that, please fill out the form here:

https://forms.gle/2ZVMpxK2jQtWGWM1A

While you wait, to keep you gaming, we suggest not sleeving one of the rules reminder cards, since after a game or two you’ll probably leave those in the box anyway.

Thank you for understanding that these things happen, and for your patience while we work hard in the background to put it right for you. 

As always, we are committed to fully taking care of our backers - thank you all! 

Shipping has begun!
about 2 years ago – Fri, Apr 22, 2022 at 03:46:02 AM

After much anticipation we're pleased (and relieved) to confirm that shipping began from our UK hub last week! Thanks for your continued patience while we've navigated this difficult process.

A few housekeeping notes for those of you in the UK, EU and Rest of the World (excluding USA and Canada)

When your parcel ships, you'll get an email confirmation from our fulfilment team with your tracking number so you can follow its progress. With such a large Kickstarter to fulfil it may take several weeks until every parcel has left our hubs - so please don't panic if you don't get an email right away. 

Transit times will vary significantly depending on your location. Some of you may have your games next week, while other parcels may arrive well into May. With the current world logistic system being what it is the exact timelines are hard to predict so we may need to rely on your patience a longer.

USA and North America - as per our last update we're still waiting on a firm date for fulfilment our shipping partners but it is imminent and we'll post an update as soon as it is confirmed.

Problem? Don't worry! 

When dealing with thousands of complicated orders and shipping them all over the world, a few problems are bound to occur. If your shipment is damaged in transit, or has missing items, or goes to the wrong address, please don't worry. Just email us at [email protected] and we'll fix it for you fast and free. 

Please don't report shipping problems in the comments section of the campaign page -  we might miss them, and you might cause undue worry to other backers over what is usually an isolated incident. Emailing helps us get to you faster by putting your request right at the top our inbox and from there we have an excellent customer service system in place to make sure we always do everything we can to keep our backers happy.

We have fulfilment dates!
about 2 years ago – Fri, Apr 01, 2022 at 04:48:25 AM

Hello backers,

We’re pleased to announce we finally have some initial dates for the fulfilment of this project. 

The time to Expand the Universe is almost upon us!

 UK Hub

Pledges for backers in the UK, Europe, and 'Rest of World' locations will ship from our UK hub, and this is scheduled to begin on April 11th.   

 North American Hub 

Pledges for backers in the USA & Canada, are a couple of weeks behind that, and while we don't have a date locked-in they are are tentatively scheduled for the last week of April.  We will post a new update as soon as we receive our confirmed slot. 

Thank you

These dates are obviously later than we forecast, and later than we would have liked.  The team at Themeborne would like to thank you all for being patient and sticking with us during these difficult times.  As has been widely reported across our industry and others, the global logistics crisis and manufacturing limitations have taken this process beyond our control, as we have explained in our updates.  It has been very frustrating for everyone involved. 

But, the wait is almost over, and this amazing collection of products will soon be on the final leg of it's journey to your doorstep!

As always, we will share more news when we get it. 

Final Call!
about 2 years ago – Fri, Mar 04, 2022 at 11:32:48 PM

Dear Backers,

As we move into the final stages of our campaign we want to make sure that we can ship your games to you as soon as they arrive. Please help us by reading this update carefully, taking action if needed, and asking questions if you’re not sure.

Please check your delivery address

It’s important to double check your address on your Backerkit account to make sure we’re sending your order to the right address. Incorrect or incomplete addresses could incur additional costs and/or delays. We want to get your order to you as soon as possible without any problems so please help us do so!

If you’re not sure how to access your Backerkit account, then you can enter the project name (Expand the Universe) into this survey-finder:

https://www.backerkit.com/are_you_a_backer

Have you moved house since you filled out the survey? Do you want your parcel delivered somewhere other than your home? Is everything spelled correctly and in the right order? This is your chance to make any final changes.

All delivery addresses will be 'locked down' 7 days from today, on Friday 11th March 2022, after which further changes may not be possible.

Late Surveys

The last thing we want is for any of our backers to get left behind so it is important for us to state that if you have not completed your survey then it is likely your order will not be fulfilled until we have taken care of the backers who completed their surveys in time.

If you are in any doubt about the status of your pledge, simply log-in to your Backerkit account at www.backerkit.com and double check. If things are still not clear, then by all means email us directly at [email protected] and we'll be happy to help.

Thank you for making sure everything is in place and helping us get your parcels to you! We’re really excited for you to get your hands on your orders.