TOPIC: $52. Dead Characters after Six - no pin for them.

Randolph Strommen wrote: 500 2" buttons cost $.35 each. 1,000 buttons cost $.30 each. And this is retail. So, for the whopping total of 0.60 you can print 2 buttons for each person.

There are already buttons for each adventure, Normal and Nightmare, so I would find it hard to believe that there would a cost issue.

So, let's get the Ghost buttons back. There's some nostaliga about the buttons, and a story to go with them. I think far more than the survivor buttons.

I used to sell promotional products like these, so I can agree with you that the cost is technically negligible. That's not the problem though. Jeff is already in the position of having to order buttons and make his best estimates based on previous years' data as to how many Nightmare and Hardcore/Normal buttons to print x 2 (a mix of each, for each dungeon). He has to make sure he has enough for most of each group to survive. He ends up with leftover buttons each year which is a sunk cost - those button get thrown away. Adding in an additional 2 sets of Ghost/Victim buttons substantially increases that sunk cost. Yeah, they're cheap individually, but he has to order in bulk to get them down to that price.

I like the idea of a sticker to go over the Survivor section - that would still be an additional cost but sheets of stickers are way cheaper than buttons. Much easier to limit costs too - print only a few sheets for each day and if more are needed go to the nearest available printer and load it up with more blank label paper. My only concern would be how much additional time it would add to the epilogue room - there have been huge improvements to how quickly we get through there now, I would hate to see that suffer.

One cost savings would be to not print multiple versions of Ghost Buttons for Normal and Nightmare. Just print up a run of Ghost buttons for each of the two Dungeons, to be given out regardless of the Dungeon difficulty level. I know my friends would just like a button to display commemorating the run, regardless of the wording on it.

I agree. I have been running TD since at least 2006, and have buttons for every year on my office wall. For the amount of money required to play, the cost of a ghost button is a minor expense. Having no button for this year is a major disappointment. We die too often (not a hard core, purple token group). At least give me a button to remember the event by!

As someone who died 3 times over this year, I'd love a ghost button.

Three friends and I attended our first Gencon this year, and 3 of the 4 of us tried True Dungeon while we were there. We went with the Into the Underdark Puzzle variant on Normal, and had 2 veterans (who were very generous with giving out some gear to fill out our sheets) and a couple of people who had played before, along with 4-6 or so of us noobs.

It was a blast and an incredible experience, but we failed the final puzzle and were promptly murdered by insects.

I have to say, it was a little disappointing not to get a badge like I'd seen many people walking around with. Survivor would've been nice, but even a Ghost one would've been fine.

Did get a pin ticket (the 'get one free with purchase') which I used when grabbing a couple of random 10 packs, so it's not like I went home entirely empty handed, but it would've been a nice addendum to the other bits we took home with us.

Basically, a Ghost badge wouldn't be a dealmaker or dealbreaker, but it certainly wouldn't hurt either. I respect that there are business considerations to address.

I really miss the ghost buttons, too. They were a great conversation starter and marketing for TD. For new players, seeing all those Ghost buttons also helped control unrealistic expectations. I've seen a few first-timers surprised (and disappointed) that you could actually die, since they had only seen Survivors out in the convention center.

If surplus orders are a big obstacle, print the year on Survivor, but keep the ghost pins generic so they can be used from year to year. (Yeah, yeah, I know you'd have to store the surplus...). The ghosts could write the year on their own with a Sharpie if they want that.

Haunted Doug wrote: If surplus orders are a big obstacle, print the year on Survivor, but keep the ghost pins generic so they can be used from year to year. (Yeah, yeah, I know you'd have to store the surplus...). The ghosts could write the year on their own with a Sharpie if they want that.

That's a great idea, Doug.

Haunted Doug wrote: I really miss the ghost buttons, too. They were a great conversation starter and marketing for TD. For new players, seeing all those Ghost buttons also helped control unrealistic expectations. I've seen a few first-timers surprised (and disappointed) that you could actually die, since they had only seen Survivors out in the convention center.

If surplus orders are a big obstacle, print the year on Survivor, but keep the ghost pins generic so they can be used from year to year. (Yeah, yeah, I know you'd have to store the surplus...). The ghosts could write the year on their own with a Sharpie if they want that.

That wouldn't really appeal much to my group, since they like to have a button that reflects the Dungeon they were on, regardless of whether it is Ghost or Survivor. Hopefully a way can be found to include Ghost pins again. I suspect Jeff might not realize how much people like them.

Haunted Doug wrote: If surplus orders are a big obstacle, print the year on Survivor, but keep the ghost pins generic so they can be used from year to year. (Yeah, yeah, I know you'd have to store the surplus...). The ghosts could write the year on their own with a Sharpie if they want that.

I was just going to suggest this.