I do not like to order online. When can I expect a copy at my local store (let's say I apply some pressure)? And will it, too, be subject to the $25 offer?
Aaargh!!! 2 Weeks??? For canada??? I'm living in france :(, and I can't wait for it!!! But I fear I will have to :(. The waiting is driving me mad, and it seems there can't be a day without me boring everyone around me to death about how this new edition seems great... Aaaargh!!! I can't wait!!! Fot those of us living overseas, will we also be able to buy it for 25$? If so, I'm buying 2 copies of it!!! And thank you very much for your work, it seems like you've realised all my dreams for Ars Magica
About times to overseas: There are so many variables, it's really hard to predict when any one person may get a new release. We ship to freight forwarders -- companies that aggregate shipments from multiple vendors and then send them to the overseas distributor. So one variable is, how far away is the freight forwarder? As an example, an Australian distributor recently switched from a freight forwarder in Chicago to one in Los Angeles. That means that the time in transit between us and the forwarder has gone from two business days to five business days. The next factor is how often the forwarder bundles together the freight. Daily? Weekly? Monthly? And then how is the freight delivered: air or sea? You can see how the uncertainty is magnified. Sometimes people in some overseas places (say, London) have books sooner than some people in some parts of the USA; other times, people in some overseas markets may not see a book until 2 months after it's officially released.
About prices overseas: Again, I can't really say for certain. I would be surprised if it worked out to $25 US anywhere else in the world, because of the added costs (shipping, customs brokerage), plus most other countries have a VAT/national sales tax that is included in the price. (In the US, the sales tax is calculated and added on top -- so you'll pay $26.63 for a "$25" book at a store in the Twin Cities.) We are certainly selling at the same base price to all of our wholesale customers. You might see what other $25 US MSRP books sell for in your local market, and expect that ArM5 should be priced similarly. (It might even be cheaper, thanks to the falling dollar.)
Finally, about Amazon: Yes. In fact, the description just went online today. They have not ordered the stock yet, but ArM5 and Calebais are both in their system and should be available for ordering soon.
As far as Amazon goes: Amazon.com unhelpfully claim it's "out of stock" rather than the more useful "available to pre-order! Gah!!
As for Amazon.co.uk - well they never manage to keep up on US releases and have still not heard of 5th Ed... Maybe March or July? They currently only list 1997 and earlier books for ArM... Oh dear, oh dear...
Will Ars Magica v5 go directly from the printers to Warehouse 23, or will it go through Atlas Games? I too am eagerly awating my order. Just for reading purposes - won't be able to play the game for 8 months :( (unless I can find a pbem game).
With luck Amazon (US) will switch within a couple of days to "on order" status, once they finish getting it set up in their order system.
I don't know what's up with Amazon-UK (or other branches), I'm afraid.
Re: Warehouse 23: The books pass through Atlas along the way. It's not a big deal, though; our printer is in Minnesota and so we get same-day delivery on the printer's own truck (which makes daily runs from Brainerd to the Twin Cities -- besides dropping off a huge load of ArM5, I could see they were picking up a couple of pallets of glossy paper for their sheetfed presses). Warehouse 23's order was packed and sent this afternoon, so it should be in Austin on Friday, UPS willing. I would be surprised if they were able to ship out all of the mail orders the very same day, though (given how many I hear they have pre-ordered).
On the question of orders within the US: All of the distributors who had turned their numbers in on time were shipped today. So when it is in your local store depends now on the shipping times. For example, we're a 2-day ship to some midwestern distributors; stores who, in turn, are only a 1-day ship (or pick up locally from their distributor) may have the book by the weekend. Most stores, however, are likely to have it next week. Next week, Thanksgiving throws an extra curveball in the mix... However, even California distributors should have the games on hand by next Tuesday. Thus, I think most stores around the USA should have the game in stock by next Friday, if not before.
This supposes that the store placed a pre-order with a distributor, however. I have a suspicion that numerous distributors did not order enough -- which must mean that their stores didn't commit to orders in advance. I'll try to get restock orders shipped ASAP...but again, all these shipping considerations come into play. (If a distributor sold out on arrival in the middle of next week and immediately re-ordered, it wouldn't be until December that they'd be able to have a restock order in hand, simply due ot shipping times.)
Moral of this story: Call your favorite game store ASAP and make sure they have the game on order, and that they are holding a copy for you.
I'm really looking forward to this! I know that both my FLGS' has preorded ArM 5th directly from Alliance. I'll guess that they'll get it a week after Alliance gets it, but when do A get it? Haakon
Thrumbar: UPS will deliver the books to Warehouse 23 tomorrow. From there, it depends on the delivery methods and how long it takes W23 to pack orders.
Haakon: Alliance has four warehouses. Their Midwest warehouse (in Fort Wayne, Indiana) should receive the game today. Their East warehouse (in Baltomore) should receive it tomorrow. Assuming you're in Europe, your FLGS is probably ordering from the East warehouse.
Hello, I'm Michelle Barrett, the manager of Warehouse 23. Thought I'd provide a little reassurance straight from the horse's mouth. Ars Magica will arrive here Friday afternoon, so we'll start shipping first thing Monday. We're not going to get through all of them on Monday (which is a heavy day all by itself), but we should get them all out by Tuesday. John wasn't kidding about the number of orders, Ars Magica is one of our most heavily preordered items ever (#6 as I write this) and orders aren't slacking off yet. It's great to see such interest and support for a classic game.
I think someone asked this earlier, but I didn't see an answer, so I'll ask again. If I reserved a copy of the game at my local gaming store, will it also be only $25 when I get it, or does that only apply to copies that are directly mailordered through Atlas/Warehouse 23?
Lukas, assuming you're in the USA, any copy you buy before Dec. 31 should be $25 (plus tax, if applicable).
That's the "manufacturer's suggested retail price." Strictly speaking, though, we don't control what anybody sells the games for; hence it's a "suggested" price. Individual stores are free to set whatever price they think is appropriate. But this is of course true of all our products.
The earlier question was about an overseas market. Outside the US, prices rarely line up to a direct currency translation. (The euro is about $1.30 US right now, but a $10 game is likely to cost more than 7.70 euros in Europe, because overseas stores have a lot more expenses. From my visits to Europe, I often found that games cost about 50% more than they did in the US...part of that being taxes, part of that being the extra costs of importation.)
I'm in the middle of running BCoC (2nd ed) for my Ars4 game, and I'd much rather not have to fool with conversion any more than I have to... Will Broken Covenant 5 release with Ars5?
I do not like to order online. When can I expect a copy at my local store (let's say I apply some pressure)? And will it, too, be subject to the $25 offer?
ReplyDelete(I'm reading comments while munching a quick lunch at my desk.)
ReplyDeleteMy guess would be about 2 weeks. It's hard to say, because of the variables: customs clearance, delivery times, etc.
Aaargh!!!
ReplyDelete2 Weeks??? For canada??? I'm living in france :(, and I can't wait for it!!! But I fear I will have to :(. The waiting is driving me mad, and it seems there can't be a day without me boring everyone around me to death about how this new edition seems great... Aaaargh!!! I can't wait!!!
Fot those of us living overseas, will we also be able to buy it for 25$? If so, I'm buying 2 copies of it!!! And thank you very much for your work, it seems like you've realised all my dreams for Ars Magica
Will it be available through Amazon?
ReplyDeleteAbout times to overseas: There are so many variables, it's really hard to predict when any one person may get a new release. We ship to freight forwarders -- companies that aggregate shipments from multiple vendors and then send them to the overseas distributor. So one variable is, how far away is the freight forwarder? As an example, an Australian distributor recently switched from a freight forwarder in Chicago to one in Los Angeles. That means that the time in transit between us and the forwarder has gone from two business days to five business days. The next factor is how often the forwarder bundles together the freight. Daily? Weekly? Monthly? And then how is the freight delivered: air or sea? You can see how the uncertainty is magnified. Sometimes people in some overseas places (say, London) have books sooner than some people in some parts of the USA; other times, people in some overseas markets may not see a book until 2 months after it's officially released.
ReplyDeleteAbout prices overseas: Again, I can't really say for certain. I would be surprised if it worked out to $25 US anywhere else in the world, because of the added costs (shipping, customs brokerage), plus most other countries have a VAT/national sales tax that is included in the price. (In the US, the sales tax is calculated and added on top -- so you'll pay $26.63 for a "$25" book at a store in the Twin Cities.) We are certainly selling at the same base price to all of our wholesale customers. You might see what other $25 US MSRP books sell for in your local market, and expect that ArM5 should be priced similarly. (It might even be cheaper, thanks to the falling dollar.)
Finally, about Amazon: Yes. In fact, the description just went online today. They have not ordered the stock yet, but ArM5 and Calebais are both in their system and should be available for ordering soon.
As far as Amazon goes: Amazon.com unhelpfully claim it's "out of stock" rather than the more useful "available to pre-order! Gah!!
ReplyDeleteAs for Amazon.co.uk - well they never manage to keep up on US releases and have still not heard of 5th Ed... Maybe March or July? They currently only list 1997 and earlier books for ArM... Oh dear, oh dear...
What will be the wait on orders within the US?
ReplyDeleteWill Ars Magica v5 go directly from the printers to Warehouse 23, or will it go through Atlas Games? I too am eagerly awating my order. Just for reading purposes - won't be able to play the game for 8 months :( (unless I can find a pbem game).
ReplyDeleteWith luck Amazon (US) will switch within a couple of days to "on order" status, once they finish getting it set up in their order system.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what's up with Amazon-UK (or other branches), I'm afraid.
Re: Warehouse 23: The books pass through Atlas along the way. It's not a big deal, though; our printer is in Minnesota and so we get same-day delivery on the printer's own truck (which makes daily runs from Brainerd to the Twin Cities -- besides dropping off a huge load of ArM5, I could see they were picking up a couple of pallets of glossy paper for their sheetfed presses). Warehouse 23's order was packed and sent this afternoon, so it should be in Austin on Friday, UPS willing. I would be surprised if they were able to ship out all of the mail orders the very same day, though (given how many I hear they have pre-ordered).
On the question of orders within the US: All of the distributors who had turned their numbers in on time were shipped today. So when it is in your local store depends now on the shipping times. For example, we're a 2-day ship to some midwestern distributors; stores who, in turn, are only a 1-day ship (or pick up locally from their distributor) may have the book by the weekend. Most stores, however, are likely to have it next week. Next week, Thanksgiving throws an extra curveball in the mix... However, even California distributors should have the games on hand by next Tuesday. Thus, I think most stores around the USA should have the game in stock by next Friday, if not before.
ReplyDeleteThis supposes that the store placed a pre-order with a distributor, however. I have a suspicion that numerous distributors did not order enough -- which must mean that their stores didn't commit to orders in advance. I'll try to get restock orders shipped ASAP...but again, all these shipping considerations come into play. (If a distributor sold out on arrival in the middle of next week and immediately re-ordered, it wouldn't be until December that they'd be able to have a restock order in hand, simply due ot shipping times.)
Moral of this story: Call your favorite game store ASAP and make sure they have the game on order, and that they are holding a copy for you.
We need screen shots or sample pages ASAP!
ReplyDeleteMichelle says the last batch of previews will be going up on the website on Friday.
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to this! I know that both my FLGS' has preorded ArM 5th directly from Alliance. I'll guess that they'll get it a week after Alliance gets it, but when do A get it?
ReplyDeleteHaakon
Thrumbar: UPS will deliver the books to Warehouse 23 tomorrow. From there, it depends on the delivery methods and how long it takes W23 to pack orders.
ReplyDeleteHaakon: Alliance has four warehouses. Their Midwest warehouse (in Fort Wayne, Indiana) should receive the game today. Their East warehouse (in Baltomore) should receive it tomorrow. Assuming you're in Europe, your FLGS is probably ordering from the East warehouse.
Hello, I'm Michelle Barrett, the manager of Warehouse 23. Thought I'd provide a little reassurance straight from the horse's mouth. Ars Magica will arrive here Friday afternoon, so we'll start shipping first thing Monday. We're not going to get through all of them on Monday (which is a heavy day all by itself), but we should get them all out by Tuesday. John wasn't kidding about the number of orders, Ars Magica is one of our most heavily preordered items ever (#6 as I write this) and orders aren't slacking off yet. It's great to see such interest and support for a classic game.
ReplyDeleteI think someone asked this earlier, but I didn't see an answer, so I'll ask again. If I reserved a copy of the game at my local gaming store, will it also be only $25 when I get it, or does that only apply to copies that are directly mailordered through Atlas/Warehouse 23?
ReplyDeleteLukas
Lukas, assuming you're in the USA, any copy you buy before Dec. 31 should be $25 (plus tax, if applicable).
ReplyDeleteThat's the "manufacturer's suggested retail price." Strictly speaking, though, we don't control what anybody sells the games for; hence it's a "suggested" price. Individual stores are free to set whatever price they think is appropriate. But this is of course true of all our products.
The earlier question was about an overseas market. Outside the US, prices rarely line up to a direct currency translation. (The euro is about $1.30 US right now, but a $10 game is likely to cost more than 7.70 euros in Europe, because overseas stores have a lot more expenses. From my visits to Europe, I often found that games cost about 50% more than they did in the US...part of that being taxes, part of that being the extra costs of importation.)
Excellent!
ReplyDeleteNow, how about Broken Covenant?
I'm in the middle of running BCoC (2nd ed) for my Ars4 game, and I'd much rather not have to fool with conversion any more than I have to... Will Broken Covenant 5 release with Ars5?
Yes, new newly released revision of Broken Covenant uses 5th edition rules. :)
ReplyDelete