Secret Santa 2015 - Santas are Giving Their Thanks!

[Aussie2B]

Depends on what you have and what your recipient wants. I believe it was started with the intention of people hopefully using stuff in their trade box, but not everybody holds on to stuff they don't want. I don't think there's ever been a year in which I didn't spend some money, but I always try to throw in some extra stuff I have on hand. Me, I always make a wide-open wish list, basically saying anything I don't already have is okay, which both makes for a fun surprise and also hopefully makes it easier on my Santa to get rid of dupes or unwanted games they may have instead of having to go shopping.

[Daria]

I've been a member of the forums for a couple years now and have never heard of this, sounds cool though. Do people usually go out and buy stuff or give things they already have?

Either, sometimes a bit of both. There's a mimumum dollar amount set and you receive a wishlist from your person.

[eskobar]

I always wanted to try the secret santa but I am in Mexico and that could be problematic for the person shipping to my country and possibly a delay of the package I ship to

[megasdkirby]

I did it over the summer and it was fun, but right now I cant afford it either.

Same here.

I would love to, just as I did in the summer. But things are tight economically, plus time is slim (thanks to work), so I will be unable to participate.

Perhaps next year, as I love participating!

[JSoup]

I never do Secret Santa's.
No special reason, just not interested.

[Tanooki]

Seems it's a money issue, perhaps we can modify it??

Everyone here more or less has some trade or sale games on here, elsewhere, perhaps ebay? Maybe we can do it like a business job holiday meal -- pot luck. Everyone can go in, and everyone can put some items of equal value more or less and no higher than X dollars in value total, and then people can trade bundles. It's no longer a secret santa, unless someone is the arbiter and keeps the names off the goodies until after if people wish to speak up. Then the worst of it by rule would be eating the shipping.

[Aussie2B]

I don't really see the point of that. You're still spending money on shipping and potentially on items if you don't have trade fodder, you're just less likely to receive something you actually want. Unless the list of goods is public, but then how is it much different from a regular trade? And even then, you'd be at the mercy of what people offer and what hasn't already been claimed when you get to it.

If you have to shop for everything you give, you still don't have to spend more than, say, $25. The suggestion is around 20 bucks worth of stuff at a minimum, and if you're not sending heavy stuff, a few bucks should cover shipping. People can and do spend/give more on occasion, but you certainly don't have to. Personally, I think it's reasonable enough, though I completely understand if people want to minimize their holiday expenses because things can definitely rack up if you're shopping for many different people.

[Niku-Sama]

we need a merger


http://forum.digitpress.com/forum/ne...2239&noquote=1

i'd be fine doing it in the summer, or Christmas or both and I usually pull from what I have

[Niku-Sama]

we need a merger...


http://forum.digitpress.com/forum/sh...-November-23rd

i'd be fine doing it in the summer, or Christmas or both and I usually pull from what I have

[thetoxicone]

I haven't been on this site in a year or so but I've done a few of these secret Santas here before and have plenty of goodies to give as gifts

[The 1 2 P]

I have never signed up for secret santa on an online forum but I would guess that the lack of participation here is due to the reasons already mentioned, specifically because this site isn't as frequented as much as it was 5-8 years ago. And secret santa isn't the only thing to suffer because of that. The monthly deals thread has been almost non-existent for over a year.

[Emperor Megas]

I've been here for years and I never recall there being a Secret Santa. Was it ways listed in Classic Gaming? It's pretty much the only forum I frequent here so if it's been in others I wouldn't have seen it.

FWIW, the only thing that makes me apprehensive about things like this is short notice and quick deadlines (the same with the Pumpkin Carving idea). I know allotted time given is probably plenty of time for others, but I honestly need LOTS of time if there's more of an investment than simply sending a gift. Like making wishlists for example. I have no idea what I would put on mine, and my free time is such that I rarely set aside mental time to even consider it.

I've done Secret Santa many times at another forum that's all but dead now, but we all new each other well enough that when we got the name of our recipient we had an alright idea of what they might like. I honestly don't know much about the members here, and there are only a few that I can put a personality to their handle, good or bad, which puts me at a loss.

[Aussie2B]

Pretty sure it's always been in Off-Topic, but there have been board announcements about it that show up at the top of every section like there is right now. There have been some years when it wasn't held, though, last Christmas being one of them (hence the summer exchange in its place).

Some years were super tight on time, but I'm glad that this year it's being done early enough to leave signups open for a while and a decent amount of time between receiving the wish lists and sending the stuff out. Since I always do some shopping, it's nice to have enough time for, say, an eBay auction to come to a close, get the stuff shipped to me, and then ship it to my recipient myself. I know some people have bought stuff and had it shipped directly to their recipient, but I like to make sure everything is okay, get everything combined, wrap it up, and all that jazz.

[Niku-Sama]

i'm going to leave my wishlist open to what ever, you can send me a friggin buffalo chip if need be as long as it gets participation

[Guntz]

My issue is I'm already part of two other Secret Santas and the DP one started too late. Chances are I'm not gonna enough from my stash to fill a wishlist. With such a short deadline, buying stuff online wouldn't be an option.

[Aussie2B]

Got my wish list sent off! C'mon, everybody, join the festivities while you still can!

[Niku-Sama]

I'll send my l my open wish list when i get home. Do we have enough?

[celerystalker]

I'd like to, but I'm having trouble even thinking of a wish list. It drives my wife crazy, but there isn't much of anything I can think of...

[alexzorg]

can i sign up?

[Secret Santa]

Ho ho ho! Santa's here, everyone.

Remember, Santa needs your wishlists and mailing addresses by Friday, November 27th. Send these to me as soon as you can! Make sure you've sent both your address and wishlist to Santa by then as a PM. Double-check your PM's sent messages folder if you aren't sure if you have already sent both, and if you still aren't certain, it is better to be safe than sorry: send them both again! Santa can handle duplicates better then he can handle missing messages!

I see that we've got quite a bit of discussion happening here. I'm glad to see we have some nice boys and girls who have already signed up! But I think we could use a few more. So I'm going to extend the deadline until the 27th for you to throw your Christmas cap into the ring and participate in our Secret Santa.

As for everyone that's concerned about not having enough ideas for your wishlist... don't be! Remember, the most important part of Secret Santa is participating and giving a nice gift to your recipient. That's the real meaning of Secret Santa: to spread the joy!

If you'd like to participate but can't think for what to ask, just do something simple like say:

• I collect for these consoles, anything for them is fine.
• This is what I already have, anything I don't have is OK to send.
• I like these genres, please choose any one you'd like.
• No games for me, thanks, but I like these kinds of movies.
• I have enough games, but I really like gaming merchandise, so posters and figurines please.
• Anything nice is fine, please send me whatever you wish.
• No gift for me; please instead donate some nice items to a local charity or a needy family.
• Please save your presents or a financial gift for Toys for Tots or another charity of your choice.

After all, you don't have to get to give, so just choose anything along the lines of these if you don't have something more specific in mind!

With all that said, Santa wants to remind everyone that if he doesn't get both your wishlist AND mailing address on time, you might not be able to participate, as once Santa matches up everyone and sends out your info to each other, that's that! So please, hurry with your PM's so we can all have a merry Christmas!

Santa's out for now, but I'll be back again soon. Joy, peace, and love to the world! Treat others as if they were your friends.