# Christmas idea.



## Devin (Oct 1, 2012)

I was talking with Dinoh earlier today, and the word Santa was pulled up. I was thinking about how awesome it'd be to host a secret Santa on the Temp. This is how it'd go. People would PM me on here with their address, Once there's a nice even amount of people set up, I'll randomly pair two members together. I'll send a PM to both of them with only a address. Then they can ship the gifts to one another. They can post in the thread I'd make once they get the gift. By gift I don't mean a $500 PS3. I mean a small toy, candy, or trinket. The only issue I see it that some users could join the event just to get a gift, and not send anything out. Which I'd have to find some way to lessen the odds of that. Anyway, what do you guys think? I believe reddit did something similar last year, but it'd be great to see this on the Temp.


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## Arras (Oct 1, 2012)

Devin said:


> I was talking with Dinoh earlier today, and the word Santa was pulled up. I was thinking about how awesome it'd be to host a secret Santa on the Temp. This is how it'd go. People would PM me on here with their address, Once there's a nice even amount of people set up, I'll randomly pair two members together. I'll send a PM to both of them with only a address. Then they can ship the gifts to one another. They can post in the thread I'd make once they get the gift. By gift I don't mean a $500 PS3. I mean a small toy, candy, or trinket. The only issue I see it that some users could join the event just to get a gift, and not send anything out. Which I'd have to find some way to lessen the odds of that. Anyway, what do you guys think? I believe reddit did something similar last year, but it'd be great to see this on the Temp.


Haha, that's awesome. Make sure you pair people based on their location though, sending candy across the globe is pretty expensive.


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## Devin (Oct 1, 2012)

Arras said:


> Devin said:
> 
> 
> > I was talking with Dinoh earlier today, and the word Santa was pulled up. I was thinking about how awesome it'd be to host a secret Santa on the Temp. This is how it'd go. People would PM me on here with their address, Once there's a nice even amount of people set up, I'll randomly pair two members together. I'll send a PM to both of them with only a address. Then they can ship the gifts to one another. They can post in the thread I'd make once they get the gift. By gift I don't mean a $500 PS3. I mean a small toy, candy, or trinket. The only issue I see it that some users could join the event just to get a gift, and not send anything out. Which I'd have to find some way to lessen the odds of that. Anyway, what do you guys think? I believe reddit did something similar last year, but it'd be great to see this on the Temp.
> ...



That would definitely happen. I was just thinking about the cost of shipping being expensive for those people who don't live in a Temp populated area.


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## DinohScene (Oct 1, 2012)

Brilliant idea!

I'll deffo join in on this ;D

Btw I think that when you have enough people you should set a max amount what people can spend.
A max of 4 dollars or 5 or something similar.


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## Clarky (Oct 1, 2012)

i've seen this in forums before, although you do get some shits who recieve without giving. Worth a try surely?


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## Arras (Oct 1, 2012)

Devin said:


> Arras said:
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> > Devin said:
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Yeah. There are a few people who live in the Netherlands, but if you get weirder locations like some remote island you'd be hard pressed to find a Temper near you. (that sounds like one of those annoying ads. Find Tempers at YOUR location!)


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## exangel (Oct 1, 2012)

As a minimum I'd say 100+ posts members, or members with trading forum access should be a requirement.  blacklisted traders would not be eligible


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## Devin (Oct 1, 2012)

@[member='TwinRetro']

I saw you come in here.  Post your opinion, or else I'll sick the goat on you.


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## Hyro-Sama (Oct 1, 2012)

Arras said:


> Yeah. There are a few people who live in the Netherlands, but if you get weirder locations like some remote island you'd be hard pressed to find a Temper near you. (that sounds like one of those annoying ads. Find Tempers at YOUR location!)



Except the tempers aren't offering sexual pleasure.


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## Bobbyloujo (Oct 1, 2012)

It's a nice idea but I'd be leery about giving my address away to some random guy on the internet.


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## GamerzHell9137 (Oct 1, 2012)

*Pointing at flag*


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## exangel (Oct 1, 2012)

Arras said:


> Devin said:
> 
> 
> > That would definitely happen. I was just thinking about the cost of shipping being expensive for those people who don't live in a Temp populated area.
> ...


You should just ask people to specify willingness to pay international shipping to even things out.




Bobbyloujo said:


> It's a nice idea but I'd be leery about giving my address away to some random guy on the internet.


Obviously this is an optional thing.  Don't participate if you don't want to give your address away.  -_-


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## Devin (Oct 1, 2012)

Bobbyloujo said:


> It's a nice idea but I'd be leery about giving my address away to some random guy on the internet.



I'm sure too many people won't send bombs, or anything of the sort. If you've bought something from the trading forum, then you already have.


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## Hadrian (Oct 1, 2012)

Here's a better idea:
Everyone send £5 to me.


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## exangel (Oct 1, 2012)

In some locales you may need to put something substituting a name on parcels that aren't addressed to a person.  at least "Resident"  may do.  I've sent small packages to people addressed to their usernames before.  you should provide a disclaimer to people who wind up with international secret santa recipients that they should look at the laws for customs too.  it would stink for someone to wind up a grinch unintentionally due to a customs hold.


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## BORTZ (Oct 1, 2012)

Hadrian said:


> Here's a better idea:
> Everyone send £5 to me.


Whats you PayPal account? 

But seriously im totally in.Ill send anywhere and not worry about getting anything back. This is a great idea. What sorts of things are we thinking?


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## exangel (Oct 1, 2012)

BortzANATOR said:


> But seriously im totally in.Ill send anywhere and not worry about getting anything back. This is a great idea. What sorts of things are we thinking?



Well, depending on where my secret santa's address is I would send either some mexican candies, but if sending food is a bad idea I'd probably send something like a Gacha machine toy:
http://www.tomyyujineurope.co.uk/


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## MelodieOctavia (Oct 1, 2012)

I think this is a good idea, but I also think this could go wrong for some folks. There would have to be some strict rules set in place. Just a few off the top of my head...


1. All rules that apply to the trading forum also apply here. 100 posts required, and no one with 20% warn level or greater shall participate
2. Don't tell the name of your giftee to anyone...this is mainly a courtesy than anything.
3. Anyone who fails to send a gift will 1.) be barred from future GBAtemp events or 2.) 20% warn automatically, or both. This would obviously have to be on a person to person basis, but if you got your gift and you just decided not to send a gift just because, you're going to be blasted with both barrels.
4. And of course GBAtemp would not be held responsible for lost or stolen property...obviously.
5. the gifts would have to be a certain dollar amount but not above a certain amount(TBD)

I think the only way this would work is if it would be an official event, so I'll have a small chat with my fellow staff to see if it's been done before, or if it can be done at all.


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## Devin (Oct 1, 2012)

TwinRetro said:


> I think this is a good idea, but I also think this could go wrong for some folks. There would have to be some strict rules set in place. Just a few off the top of my head...
> 
> 
> 1. All rules that apply to the trading forum also apply here. 100 posts required, and no one with 20% warn level or greater shall participate
> ...



I figured as such. Let me know, and if it doesn't work out I might just host a small event myself but this event definitely needs guidelines.


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## [M]artin (Oct 1, 2012)

This sounds like a great idea! And then we can have a giant unboxing Christmas thread on the 25th or the day after! Fun!


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## Devin (Oct 1, 2012)

I was talking with Dinoh earlier today, and the word Santa was pulled up. I was thinking about how awesome it'd be to host a secret Santa on the Temp. This is how it'd go. People would PM me on here with their address, Once there's a nice even amount of people set up, I'll randomly pair two members together. I'll send a PM to both of them with only a address. Then they can ship the gifts to one another. They can post in the thread I'd make once they get the gift. By gift I don't mean a $500 PS3. I mean a small toy, candy, or trinket. The only issue I see it that some users could join the event just to get a gift, and not send anything out. Which I'd have to find some way to lessen the odds of that. Anyway, what do you guys think? I believe reddit did something similar last year, but it'd be great to see this on the Temp.


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## Devin (Oct 1, 2012)

[M]artin said:


> This sounds like a great idea! And then we can have a giant unboxing Christmas thread on the 25th or the day after! Fun!



Yes it'd be great.


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## exangel (Oct 1, 2012)

For enforcement as @TwinRetro described perhaps a generated code would be given to the sender to include with the present, for the recipient to enter into the website.	
People should be expected to send international packages before the last week of november and domestic packages before the second week of december, imo.	

With a grace period (before warnings are issued) TBD so everyone has time to verify their packages or receive customs notices if such a thing occurs.  But the event entry should be closed with plenty of time for everyone to receive their gift on time.  Maybe a week or two early if lucky.  I'm going off the presumption that people would be able to participate even with minimum rate postage though.

I think minimum value shouldn't be strict.  What if my hobby is making hemp jewelry and I make something unique and send it?  maybe the stuff only cost me 50 cents but I put effort into it.  a Gacha toy is only a dollar.  the postage I'd be personally okay with volunteering may be higher than the value of the trinket I send.  I just think that maximum value is more important to impose. If there's an unboxing thread people shouldn't be feeling sore because someone sent something "too nice".  
My opinion is that $10 should be the maximum.	But possibly restrictions on what can be sent.  I have some used games that might be nice to send but what if my Santa has no use for such a thing (doesn't own the console it's for, or already has it)?  a gift that might need to be pawned because the recipient can't get any joy out of it is probably the wrong type of thing to send.

edit: grammar


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## 431unknown (Oct 1, 2012)

I'd be up for joining in on this. If you would need a hand with planing or something just drop me a PM.

Edit: yeah there should be a strict set if guidelines involved with doing this. Also where ever possible 2 people that are close in location should be paired up to help speed shipping. When and if this actually comes to fruition people should join in by PM not by posting to help with the secretive part. I think that there should be a minimum and maximum dollar amount set, but then as exangel has suggested if she sent something she made what would it be worth?  It's really the thought that counts and I'd say that's priceless. I feel that many of us here are becoming like a family but there is always going to be that 1 person that will ruin it for the rest of us


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## BORTZ (Oct 2, 2012)

[M]artin said:


> This sounds like a great idea! And then we can have a giant unboxing Christmas thread on the 25th or the day after! Fun!


Awe man i love that idea haha


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## DinohScene (Oct 2, 2012)

I don't mind if I get paired up with someone from the USA or Asia or Africa or what ever country/continent is furthest away from me.
I just loev seeing the joy in people when they receive a gift ;3

I think that you should also add an option for people that don't care about distance.
I'd love to send something for Christmas to Mexico for example or to Sri Lanka.
If the person I was paired up to also doesn't mind it that is.

edit:
Don't know if this is discussed yet but also a small idea.
Maybe when people are paired up they should have a small list of things they'd love to have.
Or things they really don't like/are allergic to if people are sending foodsies to eachother.

It might help a lot with buying things for others ;o


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## Narayan (Oct 2, 2012)

This sounds good. 

though is there still someone active from the Philippines? i might have to ship outside the country.

also how about you ship something that might be found locally.


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## Devin (Oct 2, 2012)

Sounds great. We should stockpile all the rules mentioned so far, organize them, and see what the Staff think it it hasn't already been mentioned to them yet.


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## exangel (Oct 2, 2012)

Devin said:


> Sounds great. We should stockpile all the rules mentioned so far, organize them, and see what the Staff think it it hasn't already been mentioned to them yet.


It's your thread.  Sounds like a job for you =P


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## Devin (Oct 2, 2012)

exangel said:


> Devin said:
> 
> 
> > Sounds great. We should stockpile all the rules mentioned so far, organize them, and see what the Staff think it it hasn't already been mentioned to them yet.
> ...



But I'm lazy. ;A; And I have more Breaking Bad to watch.


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## exangel (Oct 2, 2012)

Devin said:


> exangel said:
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> > Devin said:
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I cannot think of a more legitimate excuse.


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## Devin (Oct 2, 2012)

1. All rules that apply to the trading forum also apply here. 100 posts required, and no one with 20% warn level or greater shall participate
2. Don't tell the name of your giftee to anyone...this is mainly a courtesy than anything.
3. Anyone who fails to send a gift will 1.) be barred from future GBAtemp events or 2.) 20% warn automatically, or both. This would obviously have to be on a person to person basis, but if you got your gift and you just decided not to send a gift just because, you're going to be blasted with both barrels.
4. And of course GBAtemp would not be held responsible for lost or stolen property...obviously.
5. the gifts would have to be a certain dollar amount but not above a certain amount(TBD)
6.People will be matched on location, and whether or not they are okay shipping outside of their area.
7.If people are allergic, or want to be specific on what they have. (Maybe a small description with their preferences. Not in a "this is what I want way", but in a this is what I have so don't buy me this because I will have no use for it.)
8. A unboxing thread that people can post in on Christmas day, or the day after. So they can express their joy and the people that sent it can be joyful that the other person got their gift.
9. Devin gets to be the person to randomly pair, and match the users if this idea is a success. ^-^

That's about the gist of things. If I left something out let me know.


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## exangel (Oct 2, 2012)

Narayan said:


> This sounds good.
> 
> though is there still someone active from the Philippines? i might have to ship outside the country.
> 
> *also how about you ship something that might be found locally.*


Yeah, I live in El Paso Texas which is in the border with Mexico so that's why my idea is Mexican candy, a local candy can be a really special treat.  If you elect to be an international Santa, then maybe keep in mind to try to send something that tells the recipient something they would not know about the area.  like a postcard,  just a suggestion.  I would be happy to compile a list of suggestions for a formal announcement if the event gets the OK from staff.


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## Devin (Oct 2, 2012)

I'd been notified via PM that we'd be rocking on our own for this event. Which TwinRetro is probably about to post. We're still doing it considering majority if not all of you thought it was a good idea. I'm hoping to have a signup thread with in-depth details on the event, so look forward to that. Even if it's not official I hope we still get a ton of people to signup. I'm going to leave thsi thread open for discussion on how we can improve things so far.


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## 431unknown (Oct 2, 2012)

I'm still up for it even if it's not an official GBATemp event.


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## exangel (Oct 2, 2012)

I will help with gift suggestions and a simple verification system.  It's my hope that if 100% of participants get their gift this year then perhaps an official one could be done next year.  And even if staff still doesn't want to do this on an official level, more people would be into participating next year.

As far as the unboxing thread goes I think that would have to go into General Off Topic or EotF though.  I'd ask that no one start the thread themselves, Devin should wait to start one on Christmas Eve.  No one's gonna stop people from opening their presents early but we shouldnt show em off til it's time 

Who knows, maybe only 10 or 20 people will participate.  

With the actual thread announcing volunteering to do Secret Santa, I feel there is no problem with talking about participating.  It should be said that if you want true anonymity you can participate by PM without revealing yourself in the thread, but surely some people will still have questions.  The true list of participants may be much longer than the people who actually discuss it.  Even if the rules are clear some people may still be concerned or not see THIS thread.


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## Sterling (Oct 2, 2012)

Leave it to Devin to come up with a great idea. This would be awesome. Especially if it was done in tandem with the usual 'temp festivities.


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## Devin (Oct 2, 2012)

Shaping up to be quite some event. Imagine the faces on Tempers when they get to open their gift on Christmas day. I've been asking exangel, and Dinoh to send me some candy since they have diverse candy in their areas. ex sent me some rice candy, and I thought it was great. It's great to get unique gifts.


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## BORTZ (Oct 2, 2012)

I hope i get dick tacs.


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## Devin (Oct 2, 2012)

BortzANATOR said:


> I hope i get dick tacs.



Can't tell if that's a play on words, or if you just misspelled it.


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## BORTZ (Oct 2, 2012)

Devin said:


> BortzANATOR said:
> 
> 
> > I hope i get dick tacs.
> ...


http://www.flickr.com/photos/steiny/195527717/


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## Devin (Oct 1, 2012)

I was talking with Dinoh earlier today, and the word Santa was pulled up. I was thinking about how awesome it'd be to host a secret Santa on the Temp. This is how it'd go. People would PM me on here with their address, Once there's a nice even amount of people set up, I'll randomly pair two members together. I'll send a PM to both of them with only a address. Then they can ship the gifts to one another. They can post in the thread I'd make once they get the gift. By gift I don't mean a $500 PS3. I mean a small toy, candy, or trinket. The only issue I see it that some users could join the event just to get a gift, and not send anything out. Which I'd have to find some way to lessen the odds of that. Anyway, what do you guys think? I believe reddit did something similar last year, but it'd be great to see this on the Temp.


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## yusuo (Oct 2, 2012)

Im up for this, just give a fake name, real address and im happy, how do I go about participating


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## 431unknown (Oct 2, 2012)

BortzANATOR said:


> Devin said:
> 
> 
> > BortzANATOR said:
> ...



I wouldn't even know where to buy them around here.


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## BORTZ (Oct 2, 2012)

http://www.amazon.com/Dick-Tart-tit-Display-40pcs/dp/B001D24V7M


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## 431unknown (Oct 2, 2012)

I think 85$ would be just a little over the max spending limit. Who knows tho maybe your secret Santa  might be a Mr Money Bags.


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## exangel (Oct 3, 2012)

General Off-Topic Announcement (to raise awareness for people who may otherwise ignore the WTT/WTG forum): http://gbatemp.net/topic/335371-secret-santa-event-announcement/

Event Rules, Guidelines, Sign-Ups: http://gbatemp.net/topic/335370-secret-santa-event-rules-guideline-and-signups/


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