Braille Dice from FigmentsOfFilaments

Unfortunately the FigmentsOfFilaments Braille dice I bought through Etsy I can't recommend at all. This video illustrates why (beginning around 01:55): https://www.twitch.tv/videos/247980840

UPDATE 20180419 12:00 pm: Follow up email from seller. They recently bought a better 3d printer that should help, and they are open to making some of the suggested design improvements. I have asked them to email me when they have made those improvements, and I will gladly re-evaluate the improved dice.

UPDATE 20180419 11:00 am: I have been emailed by the seller. I have responded to the email.

UPDATE 20180418: Regarding my critique of the Figments Of Filaments product, and being unable to get support from the seller, one person on Facebook (apparently personally connected to the creator of the product) posted very emotional dissenting comments upset about my assessments.

More hopeful about the design and quality of the Braille dice from others we are receiving next.

Short summary:

• Least expensive Braille dice we could find available ($10 plus S&H).
  
• Inconsistent sizing (d6 much smaller than the rest of the dice and smaller than normal d6, making it more difficult to read by touch, and just strange).
• They are hollow and the walls very thin. Even though most of the dice are 3-5 times larger than regular dice (making it easier to read by touch), they feel much lighter than regular dice, so very easy to accidentally knock over when tryng to finger read. The larger size is easier to use for touch, but means we can't use them in a typical dice tower. We're trying to find options for oversize dice towers to accommodate larger dice.
  
• They do not include painted (or other) visually readable numbers so that other players/GM can verify/see the results as well (reduce cheating).
  
• Several dice had poor 3d printer manufacturing errors including holes in them and/or the braille was inconsistently rendered making it much harder to read by touch.
• Due to lack of contact information on the invoice and in the email, and technical issues with Etsy, I was unable to easily contact the seller.

Recommendations to creator for improvements:

• Implement better quality control and/or better 3d printer service.
• Enlarge the d6 to match the other dice.
• Consider printing thicker walls so they are less fragile or easily knocked over when trying to read by touch.
• Check them for balance. They don't have to be perfect, but make sure they aren't too loaded to mostly one result.
• Includd a different color (high contrast) number painted/printed/embossed (not raised) for non-visually impaired people to be able to read as well.
• Include other contact options besides just through anonymized Etsy email, including contact information in the email and on the printed invoice as well.
  

In addition to my reviews of the products as I open them on the show (and we all share the first impressions as they happen), I will be taken the different Braille dice from different providers to our local "Nexus Center", which provides services for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and visually impaired community members. There I will ask people to proviude their observations of the different products, and I will report back to everyone what they say.

After the show (which is when I noticed the problems with the product), I tried to find a means to contact the seller, but they did not provide an easy method of communication, and after my third go round with etsy's technical issues, I gave up in frustration. I do not have much time to spend trying to track them down. Last week between school and work I put in over 136 hours!

All of the emails from the purchase were formatted like "transaction@etsy.com" or "noreply@etsy.com". When prompted to create an account with the existing email for the transaction, etsy's site responded that the email wasn't recognized, but when tried to create new account with that email, it responded that the email already existed, and when asked for password, it reported no such email.

The invoice doesn't include email, phone number, website or other means of contact (only postal address). So, between the lack of contact information, and etsy's technical issues, and my very VERY busy schedule, I didn't have more time to trying to find a means to contact the seller.

To be clear the review isn't about "shaming" in the least, it is a live show where I shared information on the fly, musing aloud and showing with the audience my observations of the product.

As an owner of 4 small businesses (1 of which is a non-profit), any business owner generally knows that you only get 1 chance to make a first impression with customers, that is life.

If the seller wants to reach out to me to replace/fix the issues, that would be great.

I share any product review follow-ups with the audience as well.

The video is just an honest critique not an attack in the slightest.

The product I received was highly flawed.

The burden of quality control is on the business owner or individual creator, not the purchaser.

I am glad to hear that you believe what I received is not a typical example of their product.

I had no other data to draw upon or share with our audience, other than the product I received.

If the seller happens to come across this review, and would like to address the design, manufacture, and support issues, I hope you find this feedback useful feedback. You are welcome to use any of our Contact options via web form, email, phone, social network: CONTACT US.

Happy Gaming!