Ask Zev: Duel in the Dank?

Q: Can you comment on the problems some gamers have reported with Duel in the Dark boxes (mildew, wet, bowed)? What caused the problem, and will this problem affect any future releases, like 1960?

A: I was not in control of production nor did I choose the printer. Still, Friedemann and I had no idea that something like would happen. The only explanation we have gotten—and one has to understand that China has a warm, humid clime—is that the boxes were finished and sitting for a month while the other components were being done. (We had a change in some components causing a delay in the games.) So the boxes are sitting in a humid clime, probably not stored in the best way, etc. As for the bowing, well, that one I don’t know if anyone could have predicted would have happened, but I think the printer should have realized that the weight of all the components would need a stronger box (and I know Friedemann asked several times for a stronger box after receiving some advanced copies).

We’re doing our best to make good on these problem boxes, and I think we’re manging okay. Friedemann and I are discussing placing an expansion in a brand spanking new box so that people can replace theirs. The box should be stronger, and I think a little larger (or either we will also supply a shorter inlay) so that the box will sit better.

As for future problems—well, I won’t be using that printer again for any job of mine. Plus this has been a singular incident since my publishing career in 2000, so people should be very confident that I will not be using the same printer again and can rest assure that all future games will be up to my level of quality. —Zev Shlasinger

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