October/November Progress Update: Getting Back on Track
over 4 years ago – Fri, Oct 25, 2019 at 12:14:48 AM

Hi again, God Hunters. Amy here.

First, let me apologize for how long it took to produce this update. I wanted to have something concrete to give everyone, so that this isn’t just a lot of big talk.

The Early Access files have been updated, and now include the entire book. We’re still going through editing, but the translation is finally complete and ready for you to consume. It will be made available in a separate backer-only post following this one.

Now, on to much more important news that you probably checked this update looking for: This is how the creation of Kamigakari: God Hunters will proceed.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the lost money back from KrakenPrint. That was the bad news. Good news: We have acquired a partner to continue funding the project, Alan “Milly” Loera, who you may know from from the Serpent Sea Games Discord server or the Legend of Zelda fangame, Reclaim the Wild. He has agreed to fund the completion of Kamigakari and oversee its financial future.

Milly will be investing in Serpent Sea Games to allow us to finish the project as promised, including the print books and expansions. I cannot spend any of Serpent Sea Games’ money without Milly’s approval and will not personally receive any more money until the Kickstarter obligations are complete and Milly has made back his investment. My role as the producer will continue with that restriction. Everyone who has requested a refund will get one in the coming months. I haven’t forgotten about that.

The layout design will now be handled by Todd Crapper, we have brought Rosalie Fox back as an editor to help finish things in a timely fashion, and thankfully, Noelle’s translation work was completed before the events of September. With these combined efforts, we can have a PDF out sooner rather than later, and following that, the print books and expansions that were promised.

See you next month! We’ll probably talk more about editing since, I just want to say it again, the translation is finally done.

Transparency, Refunds, and an Apology
over 4 years ago – Fri, Sep 13, 2019 at 01:48:30 AM

In relation to the recent allegations, I'm going to now show proof that everyone who wanted payment after the book's release has been paid, as have Arclight and BackerKit. Also, please rest assured that this is not the end of Kamigakari. The Early Access manuscript will be completed, and the PDF and Corebook will come out. This was never in question for a second.

Note: Char Boucher and Grant Chen are receiving their payment out of the game's eventual sales upon release.

With all of that done, a confession and an apology. I did not take any money that was planned to be spent on the production of the book. I spent the money needed to make the book on making the book, as you can see above. The remainder of money from Kickstarter and BackerKit was spent on myself, thinking that it wouldn't be a problem. My plan was always to use the proceeds from the sales on DriveThruRPG and IndiePressRevolution to fund the creation of the physical books. I mean in no way to suggest that I was in any way justified or right. This is not how a business should be run, and whether it's a common mistake or not, I feel bad for ever having made it. I hope I've been able to regain some trust with all of you.

I set aside some project money as a project emergency fund, but I spent it when the project's unexpected popularity required redoing the budget to account for the number of books that would need to be shipped.

Once everyone was paid, it is true that I took all remaining money as "my share." That was wrong and stupid of me, and if I had the chance to do it again, I wouldn't have. But the fact is that I did, so the blame for this incident is mine and mine alone.

As for how I'll fix it? I'm in touch with a lawyer working pro bono to help me recover the $5500 KrakenPrint has taken and won't give back. I'll use this money to give refunds to everyone that wants one. You can get a refund by contacting me at [email protected] with the subject line "Kamigakari Refund."

Work has not ceased. We're down a translator and a layout designer, and I'm working to find replacements for them, which I will pay for out of my own pocket - Only fair, I figure, since it was my mistake that got us in this mess. I don't know if this will cause a further delay. I certainly hope not, but it may be possible. Hopefully, this fully explains what happened, shows I understand that it was a mistake, and satisfactorily resolves any concerns any of you had.

Hopefully, Clarification
over 4 years ago – Thu, Sep 12, 2019 at 02:33:07 AM

Tonight was pretty dire, but hopefully this will at least show that things aren't nearly as bad as they seem. I know you hear this every time someone gets caught being shady, but it really isn't as bad as it looks.

There was a hiccup with the printing process. That's what I was alluding to earlier, because I didn't want to call them out and create drama. Kraken Print, the printer contracted to make the physical book, went bankrupt and we are in the process of retrieving our deposit from them. Staff have been paid that requested up-front pay, and staff who elected to be paid from the eBook (PDF) sales will be paid when those sales are made. Royalties were paid to Arclight as well. In other words, everyone that should be paid is paid.

While talking to Noelle about the predicament with KrakenPrint, I stuck my foot in my mouth hard and made things sound infinitely worse than they actually are. The book is still going forward. We are continuing work on the book with the remaining team members. I am presently saving up my personal funds in order to hire a replacement layout designer and printer, in that order. The misunderstanding was not cleared up sooner because I had a brief, but serious hospital stay and couldn't contact anyone.

I emphatically and sincerely apologize for the trainwreck tonight turned into, and wish Noelle and Olivia the best on their own pursuits, and I particularly apologize to them for failing to meet the standards of professionalism that they expected of me.

And to you, the backers, I'm sorry that this got so out of hand so quickly. I hope, now that I've explained what's going on, that we can move on and get excited for this book once again. It's coming! You've got my word.

-Amy Veeres

Critical Update! Please read.
over 4 years ago – Thu, Sep 12, 2019 at 02:16:40 AM

Hello everyone, this is Noelle. If you're not aware, I'm a translator on this project. This update is not going to be a good or happy one, and I'm sorry in advance for having to do it. However, you deserve to know.

In short: Amy Veeres, the person in charge of Serpent Sea Games and the project's boss, has admitted to stealing all of the backers' money.

The following are screenshots I took from the Discord channel in which we discuss business.

I would like you all to know that Amy is prone to lying. It's how she deals with stress and her anxiety. Most of the time, these are things that are incredibly obvious to be lies, and most of the time after she has calmed down she will admit to lying.

I was inclined to believe that this too was a lie. Just the other day she was talking about how Krakenprint had apparently shut down and wasn't taking her calls anymore--a quick Googling will confirm Krakenprint is having a lot of difficulty right now. However, she'd apparently already paid a sizable deposit, and could've been said to be stressed about that, hence triggering a need to lie about the state of our funds.

However, she made this claim that she spent all the money on Thursday the 5th. After asking her to come clean and tell us she had been lying, she refused to go back on it. I waited the weekend to give her time to calm down, and then on Monday the 9th I asked her again if she had found the money. She neglected to even respond. So, having no choice but to believe her, I left the project.

Today, Wednesday the 11th, I woke up to a DM from Olivia Hill, who was to be in charge of our layout and book design. Olivia had a similar reaction to me, and was intent on doing what was right. I happily agreed, because in the end the people who are hurt most by this are you, the backers. I want to give you something, even if there's no money to finish it with. I just didn't want to support Amy in any way in doing that (she seems intent on putting out the PDF and recouping the losses—the THEFT—through PDF sales, even though this will not work and I absolutely refuse to help someone who stole from you, in any case).

Olivia sent an email to Amy, asking her to do the right thing and turn the license over to us so we could finish it independently from her. Amy's response was to post a Kickstarter update claiming everything was fine.

I dearly wish this is just a lie. I hope that when Amy reads this, she contacts us and admits to lying and that she did not steal from the backers and that we can finish this project and give you, the backers, what you deserve (and what I've been excited to bring you from day 1!). But sort of the nail in the coffin for me was when Liv shared this last picture with me, dated February 6th, 2019, a few months after the Kickstart campaign ended.

What's going to happen next?

I don't know. It largely depends on what Amy does next. If she's lying, nothing short of a full coming clean, a full apology, and then a full and complete accounting of what the state of the money is right now will satisfy me, personally. And even then I will likely demand she somehow account for the money going forward, such as signing someone else's name onto the bank account so they can monitor the whole thing, or even just transferring all funds over.

If she's not lying, the trick is that she is the sole owner, operator, and employee of Serpent Sea Games, which is what holds the Kamigakari license. If she decides not to give us the license, then there is little we actually can do. If she decides to give us the license, then Olivia and I will do everything we can to give you what you deserve.

What can you do?

Urge Amy to do the right thing. Either she can come clean, or she can give us the license so we can do what we can for you. Those would be the right things.

What you should not do is flame or harass Amy. Please, as a personal favor to me, please refrain from this behavior. Your frustration and anger are completely justified, and you are valid in feeling those things—I'm right there with you! But the internet tends to go a little overboard with these things. I would much rather have earnest pleas for the right thing to be done here than for the situation to get worse with the usual threats. This naturally goes for the rest of the group working on this game, too.

Assuming my access to publish updates isn't somehow revoked, I will try to stay in touch with you and let you know where we're at.

I'm so sorry this happened. It wasn't anything I wanted, for anyone involved.

tl;dr: Things are fine
over 4 years ago – Thu, Sep 12, 2019 at 12:19:07 AM

Hi everyone. I'm Grant, an editor on Kamigakari. I'm not exactly a PR guy, but I'll give this my best shot.

This is about that alarming update from Noelle. The short of it is, Amy did not steal the money. The conversations posted are missing context from before and after, and the conclusions Noelle has drawn are inaccurate. Amy and Serpent Sea Games are continuing to work on the game as usual, minus Noelle.

I want to say more, but like I said, I'm not a PR guy, and I don't want to misrepresent anything or accidentally create some unexpected expectation.

Thanks for being with us. We at Serpent Sea are all looking forward to getting this game into your hands and hard drives.