Guys, [...] I always go above and beyond when I do Secret Santas, so it hurts me when someone does less than the bare minimum to fill their quota. [...] It reeks of laziness.
And the way you chose to go about this reeks of pettiness. You got one of the games you wanted, one that usually goes for $40+, and another that roughly costs around $30 loose (only the cover seemingly being a repro), plus three nick-nacks. The spending limit was $60 and it appears you got a package that's roughly $80 in value, meaning your gifter went above and beyond using the "lists" you provided, so if you don't like any of the stuff you got, sell them.
The rules specifically stated to use the "wish list", not the "sell list", which seems rather dubious on your part in all honesty. I'm going to be nice and give you the benefit of the doubt, though, and guess you have those games on your sell list because the condition they're in is not to your standards; however, if that were true, then you could've easily moved the games you wanted to your wish list, which wouldn't have taken you more than a few clicks to do. In other words, this is the classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Also, your "list" covers some games that are way out of the price range established with one going over the top of $100. Not to mention that a good amount of them cost or range somewhere around $60; were you going to go into hysterics had your gifter sent you just Chibi-Robo! Park Patrol with maybe a bag of Skittles? Seriously, you weren't pragmatic in the slightest here—you played yourself. Truly, the type of behavior you've exhibited here is deplorable.
That said, I think most of all this slip-up is a learning experience that I hope
dhaabi takes note of were he to host this again next year.
And before there's any kind of talk of whether the budget should be increased, I believe no, $60 is a fair price range to adhere to. What has to be done here is the giftees taking that price to heart and properly using the wish list to add games that don't go over the stipulated price, as well as come to terms with the possibility that their Secret Santa may end up gifting just one game that could possibly cost them $60. That of course doesn't mean a Secret Santa can't throw something else in the package for the sake of Christmas, but this notion of always expecting more than one thing is, in my sincerest opinion, detrimental to the spirit of the event.
To wrap this up, and this is just my personal opinion but I think what I said back in 2020 should somehow be implemented for this event: people who barely participate on the forums shouldn't be allowed to be part of the year's Secret Santa. Honestly, coming to a forum, or anywhere else for that matter, to essentially just participate in a gift exchange is akin to vultures flying over an aimless wanderer or sharks circling someone adrift in the middle of the ocean.
