Author Topic: Regular production has resumed at Iron Wind Metals  (Read 22232 times)

Colt Ward

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Its also not enticing

Ever watch the restaurant saving shows?  They refresh the menu and the dining room, because eye appeal is important to bringing in new customers.  Its like the new era TROs, they are not made to appeal to you as a long term player but to get new playes involved.
Colt Ward
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"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

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dgorsman

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Its also not enticing

Ever watch the restaurant saving shows?  They refresh the menu and the dining room, because eye appeal is important to bringing in new customers.  Its like the new era TROs, they are not made to appeal to you as a long term player but to get new playes involved.

Granted.  Then again, those of us who have been around a while have the experience of the internet NOT being always shiny and pretty.  We didn't grow up with everything more or less graphically perfect and always functional, and are willing to just make it work rather than complain about things that are less than perfect.  Some complaints are warranted but beyond that it tends to sound like entitlement.
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It's not about "shiny and pretty" it's about "it's not worth my time to figure out how to use this when I have other alternatives".  That's not entitlement, it's reasonable application of limited resources.

This is also, incidentally, a problem BattleTech as a game was guilty of until very recently.
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Colt Ward

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Yeah, it does have some functionality problems if I want to examine the photos to see how to build the mech.  Its better for business if you have something that looks more up to date than what they have right now- for one thing, you get a very clear visual disconnect between the main site and the webstore site.  Knowing the old (and not to be repeated here) arguments about metal vs plastic, its better for a store selling metal to not appear old, cluttered, & clunky.
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

carlisimo

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I really struggled with the website at first.  Honestly it's more the fault of the way the game/universe is "organized", but the website doesn't help.

To find mechs right now, there are two places to go:
Battletech -> Mechs, or
Battletech -> Online Exclusives -> Mechs

It doesn't matter whether they're clan or Inner Sphere, 3025 or 3145, they're all thrown in there, in alphabetical order.  369 mechs to dig through in one place, 102 in the other.  I had no idea that you couldn't mix them all together.  Also, I was surprised to find photos that only expand to 300x300.

I realize Battletech doesn't make the following foolproof, but it'd be a huge help if the minis had filterable tech level, era and faction tags.  I'd give the Jenner the following: Inner Sphere, Battlemech, Draconis Combine, and I guess every era tag other than Reunification War and Star League (and whatever tech level the -D is... I don't know my tech levels yet).  I'd want to see a distinction between clan omnis and battlemechs, but I don't know how I'd handle later-era mixed-tech models.

The point of the faction tags wouldn't be to imply that no one else has them, but they'd be a clue to a new player that they do tend to belong more to one nation than another.  I know the forum often graciously says "play however you want," but we typically WANT to know what's lore-friendly, and we'll eventually get to it in our reading but omg there's a lot of reading to do to get there.

As long as I'm dreaming, I wish mechs like the Victor and Lu Wei Bing linked to one another.  I probably would've bought a Lu Wei Bing to convert into a Victor if I had known about it at the time.

BairdEC

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I have no idea what a Lu Wei Bing is.  The search engine had an interesting take.


Empyrus

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I have no idea what a Lu Wei Bing is.  The search engine had an interesting take.
lol

The MotW article might be of interest: https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,51504.0.html

Colt Ward

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 . . . it linked a image off Sarna?  lol
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

Dragon41673

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I really struggled with the website at first.  Honestly it's more the fault of the way the game/universe is "organized", but the website doesn't help.

To find mechs right now, there are two places to go:
Battletech -> Mechs, or
Battletech -> Online Exclusives -> Mechs

It doesn't matter whether they're clan or Inner Sphere, 3025 or 3145, they're all thrown in there, in alphabetical order.  369 mechs to dig through in one place, 102 in the other.  I had no idea that you couldn't mix them all together.  Also, I was surprised to find photos that only expand to 300x300.

I realize Battletech doesn't make the following foolproof, but it'd be a huge help if the minis had filterable tech level, era and faction tags.  I'd give the Jenner the following: Inner Sphere, Battlemech, Draconis Combine, and I guess every era tag other than Reunification War and Star League (and whatever tech level the -D is... I don't know my tech levels yet).  I'd want to see a distinction between clan omnis and battlemechs, but I don't know how I'd handle later-era mixed-tech models.

The point of the faction tags wouldn't be to imply that no one else has them, but they'd be a clue to a new player that they do tend to belong more to one nation than another.  I know the forum often graciously says "play however you want," but we typically WANT to know what's lore-friendly, and we'll eventually get to it in our reading but omg there's a lot of reading to do to get there.

As long as I'm dreaming, I wish mechs like the Victor and Lu Wei Bing linked to one another.  I probably would've bought a Lu Wei Bing to convert into a Victor if I had known about it at the time.

carlisimo...I have been considering doing this on my site, and I can say from a programming level, the amount of time needed to do something this intense and deep...is astounding. It's not something that is an easy undertaking, ESPECIALLY when there are roughly 2,000 listings to do it to. IWM or even myself (I maintain my site as Speck does IWM's)...would need to actually hire someone and dedicate their time to that kind of undertaking, and that's a cost I personally don't have the money for so it will be a "when I can get it done".

As far as IWM making the position available...that's completely up to them, but they would probably be better served placing that money elsewhere. Although I don't speak FOR them, it's just an observation from my years handling my own site. It could cost a small fortune to be honest.
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carlisimo

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I completely understand.  It's just how I felt when I went to their website for the first time.

I also think it could potentially pay for itself by making it easier to get into the game, but only in the long term.  And it's "only" <500 mechs; maybe the kind of players who shop for other unit types can be assumed not to need so much hand holding.

Psycho

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That level of filtering was/is a big hurdle in getting the new CSO site up and running (plus all the data entry). Big bucks to have someone else do it, huge investment of time to do it yourself.

The other aspect that goes under the radar is that IWM is not responsible for BT as a game. They make the minis, and that's it. It's easy to assume that CGL and IWM are one in the same. They're separate entities. What makes perfect sense from a game perspective may not move the needle from a production standpoint.

jimdigris

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I have no idea what a Lu Wei Bing is.  The search engine had an interesting take.
Apparently, that was the mech that he drove. :D

speck

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Why was the change to a new store needed?

Move the store to a modern backend platform that offers more features for backend and front end, plus other reasons as well. Handling of product images is a huge upgrade over current site. Easily able to add multiple images per product.

 
I really struggled with the website at first.  Honestly it's more the fault of the way the game/universe is "organized", but the website doesn't help.

To find mechs right now, there are two places to go:
Battletech -> Mechs, or
Battletech -> Online Exclusives -> Mechs

It doesn't matter whether they're clan or Inner Sphere, 3025 or 3145, they're all thrown in there, in alphabetical order.  369 mechs to dig through in one place, 102 in the other.  I had no idea that you couldn't mix them all together.  Also, I was surprised to find photos that only expand to 300x300.

I realize Battletech doesn't make the following foolproof, but it'd be a huge help if the minis had filterable tech level, era and faction tags.  I'd give the Jenner the following: Inner Sphere, Battlemech, Draconis Combine, and I guess every era tag other than Reunification War and Star League (and whatever tech level the -D is... I don't know my tech levels yet).  I'd want to see a distinction between clan omnis and battlemechs, but I don't know how I'd handle later-era mixed-tech models.

The point of the faction tags wouldn't be to imply that no one else has them, but they'd be a clue to a new player that they do tend to belong more to one nation than another.  I know the forum often graciously says "play however you want," but we typically WANT to know what's lore-friendly, and we'll eventually get to it in our reading but omg there's a lot of reading to do to get there.

As long as I'm dreaming, I wish mechs like the Victor and Lu Wei Bing linked to one another.  I probably would've bought a Lu Wei Bing to convert into a Victor if I had known about it at the time.

The reason for the split is that not all BT codes are in distribution, which is why there is a split off Online Exclusive. I have changed category names on some and adjusted others for the new store. Plus I have added some extra info for each unit, an example Era and TRO.

Added faction info just goes beyond what can easily/ added in timely manor. I view the Master Unit List as the home for that level of data since it can change. While TRO normally does not.

The image size is a product of how the current platform can handle them. New store produces more options and size increase.

Probably because the "mid-2000s geocities" looking online store is repelling customers. :P

That's not a joke, by the way.  At least two new players I know were sufficiently put off by the storefront to just wait for the new kickstarter minis before diving into building a collection.

There's probably backend reasons for it, too, beyond that.

I Agree about the look, with new store it will have a modern templating system so it will bring it into what the web looks like now. I have not see any evidence of lost customers and maybe once or twice a year I hear someone complain about the store.

This coming change is for the better for IWM and also customers.


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Move the store to a modern backend platform that offers more features for backend and front end, plus other reasons as well. Handling of product images is a huge upgrade over current site. Easily able to add multiple images per product.
That would be a huge upgrade.

Will also be work done to reduce the number of categories, or to convert them to mere filters?
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Colt Ward

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I Agree about the look, with new store it will have a modern templating system so it will bring it into what the web looks like now. I have not see any evidence of lost customers and maybe once or twice a year I hear someone complain about the store.

This coming change is for the better for IWM and also customers.

To be fair, if someone looks at the site and goes 'Nope' then they are not likely to contact you guys.  But the wife does marketing, and I have a PR background, so a week does not go by we are not discussing a company or pols public image/presentation and the effects so its something I can easily see matching up with what Scotty says.  Not that the website bothers me, its functional and mostly intuitive in how its organized- but I am a customer and love IWM's customer support/service, making me a loyal customer.

If it cuts down on the workload for you guys and you see a uptick in web customers, that rocks!  Meanwhile my local store's distributor quit offering IWM's BT line so after requests they now order directly from you guys.  Or will when the factory is back open.
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

speck

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That would be a huge upgrade.

Will also be work done to reduce the number of categories, or to convert them to mere filters?

I think I did cut down on categories and have set up some filters. I plan to do more with filters after the launch.

carlisimo

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The reason for the split is that not all BT codes are in distribution, which is why there is a split off Online Exclusive. I have changed category names on some and adjusted others for the new store. Plus I have added some extra info for each unit, an example Era and TRO.

Added faction info just goes beyond what can easily/ added in timely manor. I view the Master Unit List as the home for that level of data since it can change. While TRO normally does not.

That's totally fair.  For what it's worth, I don't think the MUL is very helpful when you're new.  It's great after you start figuring things out, but it gives you way too much information, too many options, to be a good starting point.  People with experience in other tabletop games are going to make choices based on the miniatures first.  If there are filters to weed out minis not relevant to us, great.  (So I'll keep advocating for high-level filters like Clan/IS and maybe era/TRO date.)  Then we look at the rest, click on the ones we like the look of, and see if they fit what we're trying to do. 

I'd much rather find out that a mech was an online exclusive after clicking on it rather than going to a separate page with all of them there.  If it isn't practical, I understand, though I still think it's detrimental to keep them separated.  It feels like something that's only relevant on the back end. 

speck

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That's totally fair.  For what it's worth, I don't think the MUL is very helpful when you're new.  It's great after you start figuring things out, but it gives you way too much information, too many options, to be a good starting point.  People with experience in other tabletop games are going to make choices based on the miniatures first.  If there are filters to weed out minis not relevant to us, great.  (So I'll keep advocating for high-level filters like Clan/IS and maybe era/TRO date.)  Then we look at the rest, click on the ones we like the look of, and see if they fit what we're trying to do. 

I'd much rather find out that a mech was an online exclusive after clicking on it rather than going to a separate page with all of them there.  If it isn't practical, I understand, though I still think it's detrimental to keep them separated.  It feels like something that's only relevant on the back end.

Due to how the new system associates products to categories there are way I can create a link to show all mechs with filter options. It’s on my post launch list.

I do have Clan and IS options.

carlisimo

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Sweet!   :thumbsup:

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Sweet indeed!  The grognard community will at least be appreciative of no clan stuff pre-3049 when we select IS...  ^-^

Colt Ward

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I know Speck had not responded yet . . . and I am awaiting official word to prod my FLGS, but Ohio is set to re-open some stuff in May 12th but the employees have to wear masks.  PLEASE tell me you intend to wear masks?!
« Last Edit: 28 April 2020, 10:18:07 by Colt Ward »
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

jwt708

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For what it's worth...13 days ago I placed an online order and I received it yesterday. I don't know what typical processing times for orders are, but it seemed to take longer, but I blame the COVID. The website warns about delays so no complaints here! I was happy it came at all, and a big thank you to whoever went in to ship my order. :rockon:
« Last Edit: 29 April 2020, 06:28:35 by jwt708 »

Colt Ward

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Oooo?  I thought they were shutting down everything . . . now I will have to see if my FLGS will place the order.
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

faithless

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Oooo?  I thought they were shutting down everything . . . now I will have to see if my FLGS will place the order.

Colt,

I checked right before everything went curbside only and they had not made an order. I doubt they have since. But maybe with things soft reopening they might.
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Colt Ward

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Yeah, I was going to wait until they open . . . I had a list and would pre-pay for them.  4 mechs, BA, vehicle and 5 protos . . . what I want is most of the way to free shipping with IWM, I would just rather buy through the local store to promote business.  I have no idea what it takes for them to make their order but I was wanting to pick some up.
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

faithless

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I have an omega on the list for when they order again.
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MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Just before my state went into lockdown, the owner of my FLGS announced that he could once again start ordering from IWM.

I'm waiting until they resume production- hope to get some of the new minis.
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speck

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For what it's worth...13 days ago I placed an online order and I received it yesterday. I don't know what typical processing times for orders are, but it seemed to take longer, but I blame the COVID. The website warns about delays so no complaints here! I was happy it came at all, and a big thank you to whoever went in to ship my order. :rockon:

Mike and 1 or 2 other people were in once or twice a week to pull and ship web orders.

When I have a update from Mike about IWM fully coming back online I will post it.

jwt708

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Thanks Mike & others! Very happy with my miniatures and looking forward to more!

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Awesome I got a order ready to go. Just waiting for the Open sign!!
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