Secret Santa 2019: Interest Check

[dashv]

Hey guys, bare in mind, use good old fashion led pencil to paper, make sure it's perfectly legible, and write your wish list to Mr. Claus.

His address is - P.O. Box 1, Santa Claus, IN 47579

He'll be picking up the letters by mid-December or so, he's running on a tight schedule this year so don't shuffle your feet. If you've been a good little boy or girl, he just might get you that Stadium Events, or that Panzer Dragoon Saga you've always wanted. Be on your best behavior, and Flashback you're already getting a Shaq Fu for the use of that swear word in your post.

See you guys this Xmas, I'm stoked!

Shaq Fu?!  I didn't know Santa loved me that much! 

I've actually been to Santa Claus, IN to visit Holiday World. It's a great little park with excellent use of the the holiday themes. I need to go back sometime. 

There is a Christmas Town, NC about 2 hours away from where I live.

[Warmsignal]

Hey guys, bare in mind, use good old fashion led pencil to paper, make sure it's perfectly legible, and write your wish list to Mr. Claus.

His address is - P.O. Box 1, Santa Claus, IN 47579

He'll be picking up the letters by mid-December or so, he's running on a tight schedule this year so don't shuffle your feet. If you've been a good little boy or girl, he just might get you that Stadium Events, or that Panzer Dragoon Saga you've always wanted. Be on your best behavior, and Flashback you're already getting a Shaq Fu for the use of that swear word in your post.

See you guys this Xmas, I'm stoked!

Shaq Fu?!  I didn't know Santa loved me that much! 

I've actually been to Santa Claus, IN to visit Holiday World. It's a great little park with excellent use of the the holiday themes. I need to go back sometime. 

I'd love to pay a visit to Holiday World, but just don't have the time to plan for a trip like that this season. Maybe next year.

[NickAwesome]

I'm in! Last few years have been fun!

[Flashback2012]

Updated the list. 14 names with 12 solid commits. Anyone else? Soera? Kashell? Turf?

[telly]

I haven't seen lady Deso in a while either 

Also are you including yourself flashback?

[soera]

I will.

[telly]

I will.

Yayy!

[telly]

So, what's next? I might be willing to run Secret Santa this year. I had that survey that I was thinking of making for folks.

Unless anyone else wants to take the lead too? Or we can do a team approach or something.

[soera]

Ill do it. Just going to be a bit more .. specific .. on rules this year.

[Flashback2012]

Wanted to put this up last night or this morning but I'm re-acclimating back to my night shift schedule after covering for a 2nd shift vacation last week. 

So, what's next? I might be willing to run Secret Santa this year. I had that survey that I was thinking of making for folks.

Unless anyone else wants to take the lead too? Or we can do a team approach or something.

I would have offered to run it if need be if Soera wasn't interested in doing so. I would have preferred you not have to as I enjoy watching you participate in the unboxing video the podcast guys do. 

Since Soera has mentioned he'll run it again this year, I went ahead and put my name on the list. 16 people this time around isn't quite 20 but still solid IMO.

Ill do it. Just going to be a bit more .. specific .. on rules this year.

It's great that you decided to participate/run it again this year. Had you not, the hope would have been that you at least participate and leave the running to someone else. Also, if we could clear the air about last year, I totally understand I was late in getting my list in a day late and while I did get some nice items last year (thank you again), I was a little aggravated that nothing from my list was included and I got items I already owned (I still have no idea which version that Rodea is) so if we're going to get specific on rules then I would suggest that at least ONE item from submitted lists be included.

The only other thing I can think of and I'm sure Telly was wanting to point this out is making sure the items sent are in a condition that we ourselves would want them to be in to avoid another issue like with what Kashell experienced. Drop shipping seemed to be an issue as well but I don't have a viable solution for that (though I'm not certain there are any international participants this time).

[marvelvscapcom2]

Wanted to put this up last night or this morning but I'm re-acclimating back to my night shift schedule after covering for a 2nd shift vacation last week. 

So, what's next? I might be willing to run Secret Santa this year. I had that survey that I was thinking of making for folks.

Unless anyone else wants to take the lead too? Or we can do a team approach or something.

I would have offered to run it if need be if Soera wasn't interested in doing so. I would have preferred you not have to as I enjoy watching you participate in the unboxing video the podcast guys do. 

Since Soera has mentioned he'll run it again this year, I went ahead and put my name on the list. 16 people this time around isn't quite 20 but still solid IMO.

Ill do it. Just going to be a bit more .. specific .. on rules this year.

It's great that you decided to participate/run it again this year. Had you not, the hope would have been that you at least participate and leave the running to someone else. Also, if we could clear the air about last year, I totally understand I was late in getting my list in a day late and while I did get some nice items last year (thank you again), I was a little aggravated that nothing from my list was included and I got items I already owned (I still have no idea which version that Rodea is) so if we're going to get specific on rules then I would suggest that at least ONE item from submitted lists be included.

The only other thing I can think of and I'm sure Telly was wanting to point this out is making sure the items sent are in a condition that we ourselves would want them to be in to avoid another issue like with what Kashell experienced. Drop shipping seemed to be an issue as well but I don't have a viable solution for that (though I'm not certain there are any international participants this time).

I'm not very caught up on what happened last year, but I really think this year is going to be magical .  I'm so happy that Soera is back on board with the tradition.  It feels very warm and cheery in the forums.


EDIT: I also agree with your wish list rules idea.  It fool proofs everything and makes it so no matter what, everyone gets something they enjoy. 

[telly]

That said, here's what I think should happen next year. I think people should fill out a Google Form or something when signing up, and answer a couple questions beforehand (communication is everything after all with something like this). These are some I came up with:

Are you okay with getting games that folks think you would like that are NOT on your wishlist (provided they are still of value)?
Would you like your Secret Santa to use your curated wishlist, site wishlist, or both?
How do you prefer the condition of your games? Do you want them to be CIB?
Are you okay with being paired with someone overseas?
Are you okay with getting gifts from someone overseas?

That's what I was thinking of putting in a survey (just copied it from last year's thread). Or we could just stick by the provided wishlists and not the site wishlist. I don't really have a preference.

[NickAwesome]

I think it's good to encourage gifters to use their giftees wishlist, but I also think it should be ok to deviate a bit.  I like the idea of getting at least one item off the wishlist and then the gifter could choose to get other items off the wishlist or go a little outside of the box. 

I think if people want others to strictly go off the wishlist, then the giftees need to make sure they have an accessible wishlist.  One year it was hard for me because my giftee pretty much just wanted promo items and rare amiibo and that can be tricky to 1) track down and 2) stay within budget.  Part of the fun for me is the hunting down items locally, if I'm required to go on eBay, that's just not as fun.

Personally, as long as I don't get a duplicate, I'm happy to be surprised.  An alternative system could be having the giftee just communicate through their wishlist and either say- please stick to my wishlist so they are not disappointed, or say hey I like surprises, based on my collection, what do you think I would like/ I am missing? That way everyone is happy.

[Cartagia]

Here a couple of issues I see with allowing a "Whatever is fine, except..." type of request (copied from last years thread):

• The gifter is out shopping, and sees a game they think their receiver might like.  They were told "or something I don't have", so they check the PS4 collection, and the game isn't there.  However, the receiver already has that game on XB1.  Some collectors may be fine with this.  Others may consider it a duplicate from the collection.
• This was precisely why I stuck exactly to the Wish List - also my receivers collection was massive and just to find if they had a title while out at a shop would have taken forever.  Consider this another request for being able to search within a collection.

[masamune]

I think it's best just to stick to the person's wishlist. That way people aren't surprised in a negative way about what they received.