The Future of Revomaze...

[TheJuggler]

I have one of the first 20 R2 Mercury, and I'm not a lover of it. I have now cancelled my R2 pre-orders and ask to sell my voyage status. I was told that they have a long waiting list for the voyage status but no one has come forward yet to buy it back

Looking at the first 20 Mercury, How many have been opened is 1 or 2?
Has anyone a Revo HQ asked me for my feedback? well not yet.
Have they asked the other 19 for feedback yet?

It's a shame as I love my R1s, anyway Andrew you got us all talking again, not sure Revo HQ are going to like what they hear though.

Most if not all of the first 20 have been opened, most opened it the first time with either a shortcut, or a failure of the maze in some way. Feedback to my knowledge was never requested directly, however I believe most have sent emails to Chris, or commented in the forums giving feedback. Personally I've not had much response to my feedback. I'm not sure what to make of that, given that I was one of the few to open the maze correctly.

Regarding the issues, I have no idea how well they have been solved, if at all. Many have commented having received the replacement draw bar, but few are happy, and many prefer the original bar with some other home made modifications. I have personally not received a new bar, nor any communication of one, so cannot comment from personal experience about the fixes. What I will say however is that with the comments I have read, I do not believe the problems are all resolved. Chris has moved into full production though, so I guess he's happy enough. While I do not intend this to be a rant, since that is highly unproductive, I will say that Chris promised that all of the first 20 would be "Completely happy with their puzzles" before moving to mass production. I fear that has not happened.

Also on a side note, none of the coins which are the prize for opening the puzzle were shipped with the first 20, as they were not ready. I assume that they will be a gating item for the remainder of the puzzles to be shipped. For those in the first 20, the coins would be shipped once the puzzle was proved to have been opened. I am yet to receive my coin, or any indication of when it will be shipped.

Well i trust Chris that he will make the R2's a lot better that what they are now. I know how shiddy it is to recieve an expensive awesome looking puzzle but wont be able to get the full experience. But i think that they really should make more obsessions! A lot of my friends wont buy puzzles that worth 150£. But im sure that about 10 out of my friends will buy the obsession if they were available.

I do hope that you are right... so far I am yet to see evidence of this. The R2 is a good concept, but at this point, I fear there are a number of issues which need to be resolved before this is a truly great puzzle like the R1 was.

So coming back to the topic of this thread, where do I think Revo will be in 5 years. To be perfectly honest, without some major changes I don't see Revo still producing puzzles. There are many great designs which have been produced to this point, but the R2's are far from production ready, and there seems to be a cash flow issue which has yet to be stemmed.

I have always, and will always wish Chris and Revo all the best, but my expectations for the continued success are low.

[Mrhero]

I think the 1st thing that caused the issues is the rush . They try to do a lot in little time , but sometimes quality is more important than quantity. I personally wouldnt mind to wait 10 years till i will be able to buy the R2's

[Kirk2000]

I too would wait a long time for a top quality puzzle.. The emphasis is on quality.. I have all the time in the world to wait on Chris.. I also think that the production ratio in time it takes to make one of these puzzles and the cost is cheap.. If these were made in the Unites States they would cost close to $1000 each.. 25 plus hours of manufacturing time each equates to a lot of $$$$$.. I used to be a metallurgist & tooling inspector for a major military aircraft manufacturer and know the manufacturing time on a CNC machine that it takes to make small parts.. I think Chris rushed the puzzles to market and had production issues.. Trying to make all the parts in house is a big undertaking. I remember Sophie saying that each back piece of the R2 took Chris 8hrs plus to machine. I have a lot of faith in his abilities and in the long run the production time to create each puzzle will fall. Until then, the wait goes on.. KIRK

[smiteo]

I agree with a lot of the posts above, especially Neil's comments.

but my biggest concern is the lack of transparency and communication from RevoHQ. Public communications are rarely given anymore - most information is traded through private messages and word of mouth. And when announcements are made, they often contradict past statements or promises (and I'm not talking about schedules here - I understand that schedules do slip).

I would rather RevoHQ is more upfront on what is going on. I'd be happier to support them going forward if I knew what was going on. This black hole makes me concerned about their welfare, and the long term future of Revo.

On the subject of R2s, I can't say I'm totally happy with my puzzle. Each of the drawbars has its own problems, but the new one does seem to work better for me - at least it keeps me from cheating and opening it early. But the puzzle still feels like a prototype. I hope the remaining batches are smoother. Who knows though without any status or information on what is happening.

I'm not giving up on Revo. But they are on double-secret probation for me.

[zebrafinch]

I keep checking the site in hope that a new revomaze one will be produced for the general public. I would love to see another revo with difficulty somewhere between bronze and green. Something not too hard, but that would be a challenge for people who loved the bronze difficulty but found the silver really hard.

As for the R2 puzzles, since these are a 100 club only type pre order, pay to join just to be able to buy them, limited to only 100 and not being sold to public until all are done, if at all. I have completely lost interest in them. If they offered a pre order to the general public on a special edition R2 that was meant as a starter puzzle just like the blue r1 was a starter and learning experience for first time revomaze buyers, I would buy one, but since it seems that is not the business model they are planning for these puzzles, the average puzzle buyer is out of luck.

[Dorothea]

I still believe in REVOS and the new set.

The principle of changing the maze bar into a disk gives fascinating new opinions for maze development.
The problem is the pin/drawbar assembly, especially compared to the simple an therefore reliable construction of the R1.

The worst scenario i can imagine is a change in the "hull/pin-bar" design, the maze disk (mercury) is great and abslotutly amazing.

I've opened mercury the wrong way but for me it has a great replay value, equal to bronze or refit silver.

I believe things will get better and we will see a lot of great puzzles coming in the next 5 years.

[AndrewParr]

I keep checking the site in hope that a new revomaze one will be produced for the general public. I would love to see another revo with difficulty somewhere between bronze and green. Something not too hard, but that would be a challenge for people who loved the bronze difficulty but found the silver really hard.

Completely agree. If they sold a new revo at that difficulty level, I'd buy it. Heck, If they made a new static maze every month, I'd buy them all.

[prodigy]

I think that Mercury is a fantastic puzzle and so fun to solve and I have solved it many times now. For me it works perfect and I cannot see any problem to go on and produce the last 80 and future R2s. I just hope for more information from Sophie here on the forum.

[halfbake69]

I think that Mercury is a fantastic puzzle and so fun to solve and I have solved it many times now. For me it works perfect and I cannot see any problem to go on and produce the last 80 and future R2s. I just hope for more information from Sophie here on the forum.

Agree^ with the new draw bar in place it works perfect for me too but i also agree that we should ear from revo HQ more often !
I did not have Time to finish it yet but im close
And looking foward to venus !

[Rachel K]

Hi All,

I’ve just got back from a week’s leave and have been working through my emails. I apologize that things have been quiet from our end we have been getting our heads down to some serious work.

Ok so whats new!

Well, we have been having some difficulties with our engineers and so have now changed to a new company. Whilst this was unforeseen and caused rather a disturbance, to say the least, our new company have produced for us some of the best quality pieces Chris has ever seen. Currently they have programmed and produced the Blue V1s and are working on the Green and Bronzes at the moment. As the batch sizes we are requesting presently are quite small we do not have priority of the machines but once we have fulfilled the ‘pre-orders’ and the new company are able to stock up their shelves a little we will have the ability to get back to ordering in the old, better way.

Revomaze Hits US Stores!

We have been working with the US store Marbles for the past couple of months and they have just released the metal Blue V1s into their stores this week. Once the new engineering company have produced the Green V1 they too will be available from Marbles and so the forum should soon be flooded with new puzzlers. A brand new R1 design for Marbles has been discussed but yet to be fully confirmed I will keep you informed of any new developments there.

Purples!

Chris has been working on the Purples and R2s simultaneously over the past weeks he is currently concentrating on setting up a jig for a certain ‘part’ of the Purple maze, the sleeves are all here and the two serial code winners will receive their purples next week, along with the prototype winner. The lottery winners will receive their puzzles the week following.

Mercury batch 2!

As well as the Purples Chris has been getting his head down and working on Mercury batch 2. I personally know little of the details but he has informed me that the backs are almost complete (which is the longest part) and his next job is the ‘R’ logo then mazes.

Mini’s!

Once the Purples have been shipped the machines will be free for Chris to work on the Mini orders, he believes he can get these done quite quickly and material, boxes etc are all here ready.
I do not always get chance to frequent the forum as much as I would like to but please know you will always receive a response from me if you email directly with any queries you have. If you do not receive a response in a timely manner please check the ‘Announcements’ page where I tend to note down if I am away from the office and the duration.

Finally, I hope everyone had a lovely Easter.

Kindest Regards,

Sophie