Malleus Monstrorum Slipcase Set is out!

[MOB]

Good news Canadian Call of Cthulhu fans - Malleus Monstrorum is now available from our Canadian warehouse! Special Leatherette version and the Malleus Monstrorum Keeper Deck too.

 

 

All also available from our US, EU, and Australian warehouses. PDF included! (UK – sorry, we're still trying to find a way to get the shipment across the Channel...)

Edited January 21, 2021 by MOB

[giuliano m.]

Are the coupon for the discounted prices of malleus mostrorum sent  out for european costumers ?

[Neil]

They have been. Contact customer service if you cannot find the email.

[giuliano m.]

I will.Thanks

[Tann]

Hello everyone!

Long term Chaosium follower, forum lurker and first time poster here - which makes me a little sad that this is my first post

I hope I am speaking for all your UK customers out there when I ask if we can please have an update as to the shipping problems being experienced getting MM to the UK?

Given that it was over a month ago now that the delivery first hit customs at the Port of at Calais, and (understandably perhaps given all the transport ruckus that Brexit caused there at that time)  resulted in the delivery being returned to Poland; I am left wondering how it can possibly take over a month to get a delivery across the channel re-organised, unless there is some other issue that is causing shipping issues?

The last message I can find on the subject was two weeks ago, itself some three weeks after the shipment was first declined.  Time for an update on the problem please?

This isn't a complaint, just a frustrated potential buyer trying to understand what is causing the delay?

Thanks

 

 

Edited February 4, 2021 by Tann
Syntax

[Scotty]

30 minutes ago, Tann said:

The last message I can find on the subject was two weeks ago,

Hi, our last update was 27th January:

https://www.chaosium.com/blogcovid19-shipping-and-fulfilment-update-27-jan-2021-inc-uk-malleus-monstrorum-news/

Quote

UK Malleus Monstrorum Update

In our previous shipping and fulfilment update we mentioned our difficulties getting the Malleus Monstrorum slipcases across the Channel (due to Brexit-related congestion in Calais, our shipping agent regretfully had to send the pallet back to Poland). 

Michal, our resourceful chief of operations, has tried a different approach, with the new shipment instead landing in Bristol. However, the estimated delivery date for this was 27th January and unfortunately, according to the latest tracking information, the shipment is still in transit. This situation is beyond our control and we appreciate the ongoing patience of our UK customers!

We will make an announcement when the Malleus Monstrorum shipment finally arrives in the UK

You can subscribe to our newsletter to receive these updates direct to your inbox at https://www.chaosium.com/ at the bottom of the page or by RSS at https://www.chaosium.com/rss.php?action=newblogs&type=atom

[Tann]

Yup, completely missed that one somehow - Doh!

Thank you for the update.

 

[MOB]

Good news for our UK Call of Cthulhu fans! – we've just got confirmation that our Brexit-blighted Malleus Monstrorum shipment has (finally!) made it across the Channel.

We hope to have MM available for sale from our UK warehouse by early next week...

[MOB]

Finally some good news for our patient British Call of Cthulhu fans! – after two attempts, we got our Brexit-blighted Malleus Monstrorum shipment across the Channel and into our UK warehouse!

In stock in all five Chaosium warehouses (US, UK, EU, AUS, CAN):

• Malleus Monstrorum Slipcase Set - USD$89.99
• Malleus Monstrorum special Leatherette Edition - $199.99
• Malleus Monstorum Keeper Deck - $29.99

Price includes PDF!

[SunlessNick]

And ordered.

[greger]

I got mine a few weeks ago, and I just love them.

But, could there be any comment on why some of the monsters didn't make the cut from the previous Malleus Monstrorum?

I only god to page 14, when I looked in the old one, to find one that isn't in the new edition, the Adumbrali.

And I am sure there are more examples, but I just peeked at the (old) book in a store, so couldn't cross reference everything.

[Rick Meints]

On 2/21/2021 at 11:45 AM, greger said:

I got mine a few weeks ago, and I just love them.

But, could there be any comment on why some of the monsters didn't make the cut from the previous Malleus Monstrorum?

I only god to page 14, when I looked in the old one, to find one that isn't in the new edition, the Adumbrali.

And I am sure there are more examples, but I just peeked at the (old) book in a store, so couldn't cross reference everything.

In general, something was removed because:

• we no longer had the rights to use it.
• it was too similar to another creature.
• thematically it might be better in its own book (like Dreamlands).
• quality.
• a combination of factors. 

Edited March 8, 2021 by Rick Meints

[klecser]

25 minutes ago, Rick Meints said:

In general, something was removed because:

• we no longer had the rights to use it.
• it was too similar to another creature.
• quality.

Hold up. Are you saying that you don't make editorial decisions as a deliberate personal attack on specific gamers? Because I have it on poor authority that you do! 😉 

[StevenGEmsley]

Has anyone in the UK actually received theirs? I ordered mine from Leisure Games months ago (and paid for it, I might add), and whilst I received the pdfs recently, on chasing up the hard copies this weekend was informed:

"The distributors have put out a statement about delays to many lines brought about by several factors, mainly in this case delays at ports due to both Covid and Brexit."

which seems at odds with MOB's statement above that it's in stock in the UK warehouse. Is it available over here or not, does anyone know?

Edited March 7, 2021 by StevenGEmsley

[MOB]

51 minutes ago, StevenGEmsley said:

which seems at odds with MOB's statement above that it's in stock in the UK warehouse. Is it available over here or not, does anyone know?

Malleus Monstrorum is in stock in our UK warehouse for direct sales on Chaosium.com. Unfortunately, for the reasons Leisure Games gives above, we currently don't have sufficient stock in the UK to be able to send it out into retail distribution there. We are working finding an optimal way to get more stock into the UK.

[StevenGEmsley]

45 minutes ago, MOB said:

Malleus Monstrorum is in stock in our UK warehouse for direct sales on Chaosium.com. Unfortunately, for the reasons Leisure Games gives above, we currently don't have sufficient stock in the UK to be able to send it out into retail distribution there. We are working finding an optimal way to get more stock into the UK.

Ah, I get you...Chaosium have stock for direct retail sales, but resellers haven't received stock yet? That makes more sense, thanks for clearing that up  🙂

[Rick Meints]

2 hours ago, StevenGEmsley said:

Ah, I get you...Chaosium have stock for direct retail sales, but resellers haven't received stock yet? That makes more sense, thanks for clearing that up  🙂

We have no control over when, what or how much distributors order. Nor do we have any control over how or when they sell the product to game shops.

[StevenGEmsley]

I understand Rick, and thanks for clarifying...I have a lot of year's in the logistics and fulfilment industry, so I get it. I read into the announcement above that stock was in the UK for retailers to have their orders fulfilled, but that incorrect assumption was mine. My original post was enquiring of end-users if any actual customers had received books here yet.

[Lordabdul]

On 2/21/2021 at 9:19 AM, Rick Meints said:

In general, something was removed because:

If I remember correctly, some monsters were also removed because they are specific to an unusual setting and will only show up in the appropriate book. For instance: Dreamlands creatures.

Edited March 7, 2021 by lordabdul

[MOB]

53 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

If I remember correctly, some monsters were also removed because they are specific to an unusual setting and will only show up in the appropriate book. For instance: Dreamlands creatures.

That is correct.

[ThornPlutonius]

I just purchased a copy of the slipcase set from my local store.

It is a gorgeous set.  The books look great and are of high physical quality.  Each page is a delight to peruse.

However, my initial experience of the text leaves me disappointed.  While skimming the book for the first time, I flipped pages, enjoying the layout and pictures and the presentations of the creatures and deities.  Unfortunately, EACH of the few times I stopped at random places to read the text, I encountered textual errors.  Some of those I saw at random are such that I was reminded of using a spell checker w/o actually reading the text in a critical manner.  For example, A Leviathan has a Combat action called "Thrash (mnvr).  The description says, "...trashes the victim...".

Is "Yolanda" really pronounced "Yo-land-RAH"? (Volume 2, p. 253)

I also found a glaring error in the description of the Courtiers of King in Yellow, pallid dancers.  They are described as having robes that develop razor edges when they initiate their "dance of death".  Yet, in the stat block description if their characteristics, under the Combat section, we are told that the robes only turn into razors when they courtier is NOT engaged in the dance of death.  [See attached example images.]

I am glad to have the books.  They contain lots of great information. I look forward to digesting them and using what I find in them.  I am disappointed, however, at buying yet more expensive RPG books that appear to me to have not been given the eye for textual detail that they deserve. 

[Mike M]

Thanks for spotting the three errors mentioned. The will be corrected and also added to the errata document.

We do use professional proofreaders, as you would see in the books' credits. But, sometimes, they are unable to catch everything, so we are grateful to those who let us know where errors still exist, allowing us to update files accordingly. 

 

 

[Rick Meints]

I want to clarify something. We don't rely on crowd-sourced editing. It's not about saving money, or because we don't care, or any other similar reason. The situation is simple: We don't want to ignore people who point out errors. Obviously, it would be ideal if there were no errors to report, but that doesn't change any of what I just said. Until there are no errors to report, we aren't going to ignore those who choose to point them out, regardless of their motivation for doing so. It doesn't matter if someone wants to help us, criticize us, lecture us, or any other motivation you can think of. We listen. So why do we create threads for it? To keep it all in one place, or at least probably in fewer places. Also, because if we didn't somebody else probably would. That's it. It's not because it is step 19 of our production process.

I think using the auto industry as some sort of illustrative example is an unfair comparison. Having worked in the auto industry for 26 years I know we are not the US auto industry of the 1970s or 1980s. Since 2015 we have worked hard to improve all aspects of the quality of our products. I can assure we we are not trying to compete based on flash, trendy, or similar while ignoring quality. 

We have been improving. We plan to keep improving. That includes improving our editing. Improving all aspects of our quality has been one of our core goals since 2015. I apologize if we have ruined RQ for you, or profoundly impacted your enjoyment of any of our games. I'm sorry we motivated you to feel you had to provide a number of lengthy examples to reinforce your opinions.

Thank you for the feedback. 

[Rick Meints]

48 minutes ago, klecser said:

Something that is noteworthy is that Rick has the sales figures. And we can speculate all day long as to the perceived impact of typos on sales. But then the question becomes, how are sales? And if sales are healthy, it means that the proportion of buyers that are turned off by typos and rage quit a game are likely pretty small compared to people who just want inspiration for running great games.

Chaosium's sales have had double digit increases every year since 2015. Would they be higher if we had error free, or nearly error free products, of course. How much higher, I don't know. As I said, we don't like errors, and we are happy for all sources of feedback. When I thank people for it, it is sincere. 

As an example of trying to sincerely reach out for assistance, I'd like to know what you and Runeblade see as a fair rate of pay (per word, per page, etc.) for the services of an editor that would get us to an acceptable level of "nearly no typos". I can then compare that to what we have in the budget, and potentially make adjustments.

Thank you in advance.

[klecser]

37 minutes ago, Rick Meints said:

As an example of trying to sincerely reach out for assistance, I'd like to know what you and Runeblade see as a fair rate of pay (per word, per page, etc.) for the services of an editor that would get us to an acceptable level of "nearly no typos". I can then compare that to what we have in the budget, and potentially make adjustments.

As mentioned before, I don't have the expertise to answer that question. I fully acknowledge that you are the one in the driver's seat. I fully acknowledge that there may very well be diminishing returns on proof-reading costs. I also don't buy into the idea that role-playing proof-reading by small companies should be expected to be fully on par with proof-reading in other industries.

I'm gonna buy the books because, ultimately, content and ideas matters more to me.

Edited April 3, 2021 by klecser