Thursday, October 30, 2008

This is Getting Annoying

Could someone please tell me how the heck I can snag a copy of Castle Zagyg: The Upper Works that doesn't involve having to pick up the phone to Arkansas and hope that someone at Troll Lords answers my call? Because the game was released at GenCon in early August and it's still not available through regular distribution channels so far as I know. No online game stores carry it; none of my local ones can get it. Even the TLG website continues to list it in their own catalog as "Available for Pre-Order."

I know people have gotten hold of the product. What did you do to get it? Was a phone call what it took? I have nothing against phone orders, but I have to say that, in this day and age, not being able to order easily online is rather inconvenient.

20 comments:

  1. Man, you get another year older and you turn into a grouch. :P

    Seriously, I am kicking myself for not picking this up at GenCon myself. Still, I hardly left the Rogue Games booth, bit when I did, I almost bought this.

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  2. The trolls seem like great guys, but they really do shoot themselves in the foot a lot when it comes to the business.

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  3. Definitely order it over the phone.

    Supposedly the copies for regular distribution are being sent out, but as Robert said, the Trolls are great and enthusiastic, but their follow-through on the business end of things seems lacking at times. Plus, given the latest weirdness with Gygax Games and Gary's IP (including Castle Zagyg), I would most definitely not wait to see if it actually makes it onto the shelves of your FLGS. Get it now while you can.

    I'm thinking of ordering another few copies just to sell on eBay in a few years to get my daughter through college...

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  4. I ordered it via their website and got it in just over a week. No phone calls needed.

    Awesome stuff; I'm still going through it.

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  5. I was waiting for it to show on Amazon so I could get free two day shipping (Prime membership).

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  6. It does seem like you can order it through their web store. But it would help if they took the "Available for Pre-Order!" off the individual product description, though.

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  7. I ordered it via their website and got it in just over a week. No phone calls needed.

    Oh, I know I can do that, but every time I try, I notice that there's no calculation that includes the cost of shipping. I don't want to have to wait for someone at TLG to get back in touch with me to tell me I need to add X amount to get it shipped.

    I don't know; the whole thing comes across a very amateurish, which I suspect isn't far from the truth.

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  8. I ordered from their web store using PayPal, and it calculated and included shipping on checkout (around $10, in my case).

    I imagine that TLG makes a lot more money off direct sales than sales made through the distributors. On an item like CZ, especially given the circumstances, it doesn't surprise me that there's apparently no hurry to get it into the normal distribution channels. Why move it into distribution at less profit if it's moving at an acceptable rate through direct sales?

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  9. Well, the word came down from Troll Lord about CZ and the rest. I guess that means if I want a copy I better get 'em on the line since he says everything Gary Gygax-related has to be sold by December 31.

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  10. ...and, they're not going to be shipping through Amazon. I'm going to be ordering a spare or two right away.

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  11. Somebody woke up on the wrong side of bed today. :) TLG annoys me with the bad editing and some other problems, but look at it this way. If you do actually want something from them, you can get it. Order by phone - it's totally old school. :)

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  12. In fact, it's not just old school. Consider it Gygaxian naturalism. Heehee.

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  13. I ordered from their web store using PayPal, and it calculated and included shipping on checkout (around $10, in my case).

    No such luck for any location outside the US. If I try to find out the cost for shipping to Canada, I get $0, which I'm pretty sure isn't correct :)

    Worse still, I've been trying to call all day and no one is answering their phone ...

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  14. Consider it Gygaxian naturalism. Heehee.

    Quiet, you! :D

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  15. I've ordered a couple of box sets to Montreal, and Steve quickly sends me a follow-up Paypal invoice with the shipping amount. They're pretty fast on that score.

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  16. :D

    You don't actually need the "Phone call" feat to make this work. Just describe what you do with the phone, and the DM will tell you if it works.

    Meanwhile, at the other end of the phone, there may or may not be someone waiting for the phone to ring, unless it's a tournament module, in which case there probably is, but it won't get picked up on the first ring because the monster will be cooking dinner or kicking around a kobold or something. Regardless of whether you take time to unscrew the phone earpiece checking for traps, the TLG employee will still be kicking the kobold no matter when you call. That's just how tournament modules work.

    When TLG answers the phone, their willingness to send you a copy of CZ:TUW isn't necessarily going to be adapted to your level of persuasion. You don't have a die roll to resolve the situation here either. You're going to have to roleplay it - and this is with someone who kicks kobolds around, so you might want to offer them some money.

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  17. I pre-ordered mine and got it somewhere between two and three weeks after the con. No phone calls required.

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  18. I ain't paying shipping to the UK to get this!

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  19. I've ordered a couple of box sets to Montreal, and Steve quickly sends me a follow-up Paypal invoice with the shipping amount. They're pretty fast on that score.

    That's encouraging at least.

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  20. You don't actually need the "Phone call" feat to make this work. Just describe what you do with the phone, and the DM will tell you if it works.

    I say again: quiet, you! :P

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