OK, how do we give gifts in secret? (That is what Secret Santas do, right?)
I can see [strike]two[/strike] three ways of handling this. (Blame or thank Hornet65.)
0. Just blurt it out. (No secrets). X gives an unwrapped present to Y.
On Sunday, X makes a combined post; “I choose Xxxx as my pick, and give Yyyy to Y.”
1. Family-style gift exchange. (Giver is known, contents are not.) X puts a gift for Y under the tree, everyone can see that the wrapped present is from X to Y. This would be done by X making a public post about a gift given to Y, and sending Y a private message with the contents.
On Sunday, Y posts the name of the gift character and can publicly thank X.
2. Sender’s identity is kept secret. (Recipient does not know who the giver is, even after opening the gift.) The presents are put under the tree surreptitiously, or via an intermediary. This would be done by X sending a PM to Newshawk, stating this character is my gift to Y. The intermediary would send a PM to the recipient describing the contents without disclosing the identity of X.
On Sunday, Y posts the name of the gift character and can only guess who X is. The forum can join in on the guessing. After a while, X can choose to disclose the sender’s identity.
Option 1 is easier to implement, but runs the risk of the same character being chosen by two different gift givers.
Option 2 is more of a hassle, but will prevent duplicates.
Update: Option 0 is easiest of all; no secrecy. And, it has the possibility for bonus points: X posts early and gives to Y the character that Y was planning to claim. Y has to make a new choice, and X gets the admiration of the forum.
I think the idea is that on Sunday we simply post the name of the person who we’re supposed to be giving a character to, and then saying who that character is…
The only difficulty I see is deciding on what character to give, since usually with Secrat Santas, the giver and recipient know each other, and choosing a gift is a tad bit easier, while in this case, it’s a bit more difficult to find something the person you’re getting a gift for likes…
I go with the first option. As for your concerns, Hornet, if you weren’t so busy doing your “Pinky and the Brain” impersonation, you’d be able to figure out what your Secret Santa pick would like to have for a character. Finding one that he or she hasn’t chosen yet is the challenge.
As for me, I know my gift recipient will love my gift!
0. Just blurt it out. (No secrets). X gives an unwrapped present to Y.
On Sunday, X makes a combined post; “I choose Xxxx as my pick, and give Yyyy to Y.”
Better yet: Keep the starting time for announcing personal choices as is but allow gift announcements to start an hour earlier.
For instance: During the pre-selection first hour, X posts “I give Yyyy to Y” and Z posts "I give Xxxx to X.
Then at the previously stated starting time, X can post “Thank you, Z, that was most appropriate. I’ll have to go with my second choice, Xxxx2, instead.”
[quote]I go with the first option. As for your concerns, Hornet, if you weren’t so busy doing your “Pinky and the Brain” impersonation, you’d be able to figure out what your Secret Santa pick would like to have for a character. Finding one that he or she hasn’t chosen yet is the challenge.
As for me, I know my gift recipient will love my gift![/quote]
Lol Yeah I went over each pick of who I got, then tried to find the best “match” of their tastes of who I had.
I’m also giving another member of the game a gift as well and will announce it on the same post as my Secret Santa post.
[quote]I go with the first option. As for your concerns, Hornet, if you weren’t so busy doing your “Pinky and the Brain” impersonation, you’d be able to figure out what your Secret Santa pick would like to have for a character. Finding one that he or she hasn’t chosen yet is the challenge.
As for me, I know my gift recipient will love my gift![/quote]
Hey! It’s Christmas, I put taking over the world on hold during holidays… being who I am, and always over-analyzing everything, I will go over each pick that the person I got has made, and then read about each and every one. Then I will make a spreadsheet complete with graphs detailing all of the characters’ similarities, and from that I can find a character that fits to the current trend of characters… Or, I’ll guess, flip a coin, roll a die, spin a wheel, or just close my eyes and point at the screen and see what I get.
This is how I understand it:
*
For 12/26/2010 and 01/02/2011:
These two holiday rounds will begin Sunday at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT.
Both rounds will last for one week, ending the next Sunday at 8:59 PM ET/5:59 PM PT.
Each participant is expected to announce their personal selection and their Secret Santa selection (and the recipient).
If the Secret Santa gift character comes from the participant’s own stash, the participant is allowed to make a replacement selection.
*
This is how I understand it:
*
For 12/26/2010 and 01/02/2011:*
These two holiday rounds will begin Sunday at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT.
Both rounds will last for one week, ending the next Sunday at 8:59 PM ET/5:59 PM PT.
Each participant is expected to announce their personal selection and their Secret Santa selection (and the recipient).
If the Secret Santa gift character comes from the participant’s own stash, the participant is allowed to make a replacement selection.
-Joe[/quote]
That’s correct, Joe.
Mystic wrote:
[quote]Ohhh… very cool. I have a character in mind that’s very similiar to my recipient’s last pick.
Just to clarify, round 37 starts 12/26 @ 6 PST/9 EST, correct? Does the Secret Santa gift last for that whole round as well?[/quote]
Also correct, Mystic. While I would like everyone to give their Secret Santa gifts on Sunday, belated gifts are welcome, too.
And just like physical gifts, theys should come with receits in case the gift doesn’t fit (to large, to old, not hot enough), we get doubles, or if its for the opposite gender, etc…
