Vault Games in 2018 - Bigger and Better

Hey there Vaulters. 2017 was full of ups and downs both in and out of the store but the great news is we’re still here! That’s right. The store has been operating for almost 1 year and 3 months now and what a wild ride it has been.

But now, 2018 is upon us and, with a new year, means a new outlook on the future. So, let’s go through our plans for 2018 and how they affect you.

Customer Service

Our goal here at Vault Games is to provide the best customer service possible in the tabletop retail industry. Through 2017, we provided that stellar customer service around 95% of the time. But, that 5% stuck out to us and was completely unacceptable.

What are we doing about it?

Starting right now, we have instituted a dedicated Customer Care Specialist position within Vault Games which is currently being headed by Pedro. His responsibility is to keep you informed regarding outstanding orders, as well as answer any queries you send through to our customer support system or Facebook Page.

This role will be further augmented with a dedicated Stock Specialist role that the hidden-vaulter Jennah will be officially taking control of this year as well. Her role will be liaising with our suppliers to keep us stocked up, but also working with the Customer Care Specialist to keep you informed if you have ordered an out-of-stock item or if there have been any changes to expected release dates for preorders.

Shipping Costs

Despite courier rates increasing year-on-year since we opened online in 2014, we’ve worked hard to keep shipping rates unchanged. Unfortunately, the cost of shipping has begun eating a little too far into our finances and we need to readjust.

From February 1 2018, we will be increasing all shipping rates by $2 (I know, so much right?!) and upping our free shipping threshold to $120 (it will still be $6 flat rate for WA though as the average shipping cost for orders to WA is $20+).

An Online Switch

In February, we’ll be switching over to a new online platform for the Vault Games store. Our intention is to tighten up the information sharing between our suppliers and our inventory system, as well as fix some major automation issues our inventory is currently experiencing (so much work is currently done by hand that it pulls time away from making sure you get the best experience possible).  

We expect the online store to go down for a day or two as we make the switch with some quirks still cropping up for a month or so afterwards as we wrangle this 3-year-old behemoth into submission. Once it’s live though, it’s going to be easier and faster for you to find what you’re looking for online, complete with up-to-date information on availability.

A membership program is incoming

Since the library launched early last year, so many of you have jumped on board and are enjoying games in the comfort of your own home while simultaneously supporting the space you know and love. Frequently though, we’ve had members of the community want to support the store further.

So, with that, we are currently piecing together a membership program to be launched in Q1 this year. We are currently working on two levels, one for in-store customers, and one for remote customers that focuses more on the online store. Once we have the details locked down for it, we’ll post them here on the blog.

The Future of Living Card Games and FFG Organised Play

Early in 2017, we put the kibosh pretty hard on LCG organised play. Due to a mix of an overabundance of competing events, and a fractured player base across the different games, it was hard to nail down attendance for our LCG events.

That all changed however, when Legend of the Five Rings dropped in late October. With the release of Legend of the Five Rings, we started up a regular fortnightly casual play event on Saturday mornings and found it to be a well-attended event. So, in 2018, we’re using that model and extending it a little further.

First of all, at Vault, we will only be supporting regular organised play for two of the Living Card Games. Those games are Legend of the Five Rings, and Android: Netrunner. Just like L5R, we’ll be running a fortnightly casual gaming meetup for Netrunner on the opposite Saturdays to L5R. 

What about Arkham Horror LCG you say? We will still be stocking the cycle packs and running the official one-off events for all those lovers of everything Cthulhu. We had great success during our One Night In Arkham event last year so we're currently looking at running quarterly events with our own prize support. 

Furthermore, we’ll also be starting up some regular Star Wars: Destiny events here in the store. The final details of this are still being worked out so make sure you keep an eye on our Facebook Page for the announcement once everything is worked out.

A Change to Board Games & Burgers

Board Games & Burgers is getting a little change-up as well. We’re moving it to once a month on the First Saturday. Why are we doing this? To make it better. By cutting down the regularity, we’re able to focus on getting in a variety of partners to make sure each event has a different flavour from Brisbane’s local burger joints.

If you have a favourite burger joint you want to get involved in Board Games & Burgers, get them to reach out to us on our contact page or our Facebook Page.

Saturday Night Board Game Tournaments

With one of the Saturday nights now freed up from Board Games & Burgers, we’re starting up a regular tournament series to be run on the third Saturday of each month. The final selection of games is yet to be determined but here’s a few ideas we’re floating around:

• Colt Express
• 7 Wonders
• Settlers of Catan
• Terraforming Mars
• Carcassonne
• Junk Art
• Splendor
• Burger Up
• Raiders of the North Sea
• Scythe
• Ticket to Ride
• Munchkin
• Quadropolis

Keep an eye out on our Facebook page event schedule for more details and let us know if there are any games in particular you want to battle it out on the table.

An Update to Mini Madness on Sundays

Firstly, we’re killing the monthly painting workshops. Instead, every Sunday will have a painting area set up for general painting and workshops. As always, it will be $10 to use the in-store paints and you get $1 off Reaper or Wizkids mini to paint up on the day.

Next, we are starting up a few leagues from February for both Warhammer: Shadespire, and Necromunda: Underhive. You can find out more about these leagues on the events tab of our Facebook page.

Finally, we’ll be instituting a 12 month glory board. That means every miniatures game you win in store will get added to the glory board and the top of the board at the end of the year will win a special prize.

So much more to come…

This is all just the tip of the iceberg. We still have plenty more items we’re working on this year. Tabletees will be adding new designs regularly. We have a few extra products in the works and even a few special events. Keep your eyes peeled to our blog here and our Facebook Page. 2018 is going to be big.