No products in the cart.
Weekly Store Update: 25 August
It's hot here. Like...melt your brain hot. It's so bad, I had to put away Spirit Island for a bit and pull out Three Sisters. It was the perfect antidote! Around the store there's a few timely topics to discuss, and - as always - we have some new items and restocks to show you. So, get your sunscreen on and check us out!
INTRO
Welcome to our weekly newsletter! For our new readers I'm Eric, and Wendy and I run Stone Valley Games. This newsletter is our way to share both local and world-wide gaming news of interest that popped up last week. It also provides our subscribers, both local and remote, some information on the going's on around here so everyone feels like part of the action. At the bottom of this newsletter we show you the restocks, new items, and preorders added to the store last week. It's not too difficult to navigate, so let's get to it!
YOUR GAME MISSING SOMETHING?
The process for claims relating to missing or mixed-up items in your Fantasy Flight game have gone thru quite a few changes over the last few years. Not only Fantasy Flight, but any publisher that's housed within Asmodee. It's been steady for a few years now, so I figured it'd be time to share in case you weren't aware.
Asmodee's policy for items missing from their games is that you must contact the retailer where you purchased the game. The retailer will then be responsible for providing you with replacement parts or a replacement game, if necessary.
So, once you receive your game from us and notice something wrong in the box, just send us back a note with the game title and a detailed description of the missing, damaged, or incorrect components. We will work with Asmodee to correct it. As I sent you the game, I won't need the date or proof of purchase - I already have that necessary information.
As far as timeline, it has become a nicely streamlined process and usually takes less than a few weeks to fix from start to finish - as long as the game in question is in stock at an Asmodee warehouse.
Don't forget, we are more than happy to help you out with your questions and you can either reply back to the order email or hit that contact us link and let us know what's going on - it's all good!
WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS
There has been a significant uptick of attempted fraud orders lately. This is something that usually ebbs and flows over time, but it's been very concentrated over the last few weeks.
What the thief does is obtain someone's credit card information and then order something from us. They fill the name and billing address properly on the billing side. Then, they either put their name, a fake name, or the billing name in the 'delivery' side and add a different address. I assume it's their address - or maybe a friend's. There is always a bogus email involved with these fraud orders as well.
Now, if we actually processed the order, the billing party would be out of their funding, our store would be out the game, and the thief gets away. However, the billing party ultimately recognizes the fraudulent transaction and reverse charges - so then we refund them and pay the chargeback fee. So, that means we're out the game, out the funding, and pay a fee on top. No joy I tell you, no joy! Interestingly, we've realized that 100% of these fraudulent orders are done through PayPal. So, I don't know how or why that is, but since we recognized that trend a few years ago we no longer use PayPal to purchase anything.
In any case, we pay attention to what orders are rolling through the store. Our fraud software is spot on too and will cancel orders for us when it recognizes these signs.
So, if you are trying to order something for a friend or to a different adress, make sure to leave a phone number in the system. We will call you to verify everything is on the up and up, unless - of course, I know you from previous orders, in which case I know your ordering habits and we're good. You know, I just wish folks would just do the right thing, it'd sure be easier for all of us!
NEW AND RESTOCK
We received a nice influx of the Dungeon Crawl Classic dice. Have you seen these? It's not just the usual D4, D8, D20, etc. No, they have some crazy die including D3, D5, D24, D30 - and more! The first time I ran across these years ago I was so impressed I developed some of my own charts to roll that D24 and D30 against. Fun!
With amps on fire and ears ringing, Iron Maiden launches today as well. This is a really neat product, as these expansions cover numerous board games: Zombicide 2E, Zombicide Undead or Alive, Massive Darkness 2, Ankh, Cthulhu - Death May Die, and Zombicide Invader. That's quite a range! The more base games in a collection makes this an even more interesting product. Rock on!
While there is a metric ton of expansions and such, we went with the base game for Lords of Ragnarok. After all, there is already a metric ton of goodness in the base box...and we are getting a little tight on space around here again, so needed to settle down on this one. At its core it's a territory control game, but with the tactical nature of the ruleset it's possible to snatch that victory from what was apparently a defeat in the last turns. Great production value too!
We also received a significant restock for the Two Thin Coats paints. These have been very popular since arrival and are picking up steam all the time. These paints have a lot of great features, cover well, and the colors are tight. One of the most difficult colors to find is the 'right' white, and this is about as good as we've ever seen. Anyone who tries to get those miniature eyes just right know what I'm talking about. The washes, though, are probably the most popular. They really cut paint time down and look great doing it.
Finally, if you hadn't heard, KeyForge is back! Designed by the well renowned Richard Garfield, it completely changes up the 'usual' deck building requirements and grind to find 'just the right card' from games like Magic the Gathering. The deck-building system ensures no two games are ever the same and rely on playing the deck exactly as purchased - with no alteration. This allows people of different skill levels to be able to compete. We're glad to see it back!
THE WRAP UP
Okay, enough news for this week! Below are the Restocks, New Items, and Preorders added to the shop last week. You can click on the item to learn more, and many of the products have review and gameplay videos so you can see the game in action. If you're visiting our page and you'd like to keep up with our giveaways, sales, new products, and articles like this one just create an account here. Once created you will be subscribed to our newsletter and become enrolled in our loyalty system, instantly earning 50 Stones that you can use on your very first order. A Stone? One Stone is equivalent to One Cent. That doesn't sound like much, but you earn 2 Stones for every dollar spent and 5 for each product review, so though it may seem small, those savings add up fast! Redeem your Stones upon checkout, and they can save you up to 10% off your cart total. Loyalty Matters!
