VGCollect 2023 Secret Santa!

[dhaabi]

It's that time of the year with holiday spirit soon to be in the air! Presenting a tradition many here have come to love, I introduce VGCollect's 2023 Secret Santa gift-exchange, now eleven years in the running! I'd like for the event to go as planned without any issues or hurdles, so I politely ask that this introduction post be read in full. Additionally, we as a community have established that all who are interested to have been members of the forum community for at least three months prior to this announcement topic alongside some sort of site activity.

For anyone returning, it will be obvious (or perhaps not) that there has been a change in event organization. But fret not, the same event with all the same heartfelt love and focus on community remains. In preparing this formal announcement, I've decided to streamline steps so that most everything I need as the organizer is supplied all at once. With that said, I've created a Google Form for those interested in participating to fill out. For those concerned, the form does not collect e-mail addresses, and completing the form does not require a Google account. Be aware that to formally join the event, the attached form below is needing to be completed. With that said, for the sake of the establishing further interest and discussion, please be sure to also post in the forum topic if you're planning to take part.

VGCollect 2023 Secret Santa Sign-up
https://forms.gle/JC7t8WX7SLCuDmjs8

Feel free to publicly discuss what you think should be the expected spending limit, any updates you'd like to share with everyone participating, or anything else related to Secret Santa. As is typical, I think everyone would appreciate any and all discussion to help raise excitement and to maintain engagement. Toward the end of the sign-up period, I will publicly mention what the advised spending limit that has been selected by most participants is. If the spending limit becomes more than you originally were planning to spend, or if there is any reason you need to withdraw from the event whatsoever, please let me know via PM so that you are formally withdrawn. At the latest, please let me know by the end of Monday, October 23, as wish list information will be sent to all Santas the following day.

The event has started a little later than it has in more recent years, but I believe there is still plenty of time for a successful event when looking at the timeline of last year's event due to how I'm collecting information. I would still like for there to be enough time for anyone interested to see this topic, so the sign-up period will run for two weeks until around this original post time on Monday, October 23. Following the sign-up period, I will assign Santa/giftee pairs while forwarding wish lists, and the actual fun will begin!

Something I will mention is the advised spending limit. As one should assume, this limit tends to be more of a guideline. I don't think this has been any major issue in the past, but it's worth addressing, nonetheless. On that note, many participants in the past have gone above-and-beyond in curating their gifts and mailing them with love, so continuing that attitude would be fantastic to see.

2023 Santas
1. masamune
2. Cartagia
3. telly
4. ferraroso
5. kashell
6. puddingm
7. koemo1
8. NickAwesome

As stated above, this is now the eleventh year the VGCollect community has celebrated this Secret Santa event! Below are past topic discussions for each previous year:
Secret Santa 2013
Secret Santa 2014
Secret Santa 2015
Secret Santa 2016
Secret Santa 2017
Secret Santa 2018
Secret Santa 2019
Secret Santa 2020
Secret Santa 2021
Secret Santa 2022

As it's needed, I will publish follow-up posts while also updating this initial topic post below:

October 16 Update
The expected spending limit should be around $60 USD.

October 24 Update
Giftee wish list and shipping information has been forwarded to each participant's Santa. Packages should be mailed no later than November 15.

November 06 Update
After items have been mailed, tracking and shipment information should be forwarded to me via PM so I can ensure everything is running smoothly.

For any who are interested in watching this year's community gift-opening event, it has been uploaded to YouTube.

[masamune]

Sign me up for another year. I filled out the Google Form.

dhaabi, should this post be stickied to the top of the forum page and the previous year be unstickied?

[dhaabi]

Sign me up for another year. I filled out the Google Form.

dhaabi, should this post be stickied to the top of the forum page and the previous year be unstickied?

Submission received without issue! And yes, that will need to be done. I don't have that ability to take those actions, so we will have to wait until a forum admin for it to be done.

[telly]

Count me in too! Thanks for leading this Dhaabi

I do have a question though. The Google form asks for a wishlist as well. Usually we do sign ups for two weeks then a week for wishlist. Do you want a wishlist finalized when we submit the form?

[dhaabi]

I do have a question though. The Google form asks for a wishlist as well. Usually we do sign ups for two weeks then a week for wishlist. Do you want a wishlist finalized when we submit the form?

A wish list doesn't need to be finalized now, since I'll only be forwarding wish lists in around two weeks. If anyone needs to continue updating their list between now and then, they're more than welcome to do so.

[Cartagia]

I'm in and filled out!

[telly]

Completed the form!

I made a list of 20ish games in case my Santa doesn't want to sort through my on-site wishlist but I'll wait until we know what the budget is.

[ferraroso]

Done!
Make sure to add some Japanese-exclusive items to your wishlists, everyone!

[telly]

Added some to my Wishlist and will look to add more later!

[kashell]

Is the Google Form the place to add additional caveats about one's wishlist?

[dhaabi]

Is the Google Form the place to add additional caveats about one's wishlist?

If there's anything particular needing to be specified such as wish lists, a PM can be sent to me. The sign-up form was only designed to gather general information all at once. Hope this helps!

[dhaabi]

Done!
Make sure to add some Japanese-exclusive items to your wishlists, everyone!

Glad to see non-US participants! I don't think there's been representation from Japan before after looking at past events, but perhaps I'm wrong.

[kashell]

Is the Google Form the place to add additional caveats about one's wishlist?

If there's anything particular needing to be specified such as wish lists, a PM can be sent to me. The sign-up form was only designed to gather general information all at once. Hope this helps!

Noted. Thanks!

[soera]

Interesting ....

[dhaabi]

puddingm has returned for another year!