Even with having very little info to go off of, my list of potential gifts is already way over budget.. and that's even after I knocked a few things off. But there's still more I'd like to put on there. Sigh.
Secret Santa used Christmas Spirit on AaronKI's Wallet. It's Super Effective!
Edit: All main gifts bought, I think. Now I move on to the "stocking stuffers" and package presentation.
AaronKI on
0
Options
FiggyFighter of the night manChampion of the sunRegistered Userregular
edited November 2010
I have a feeling this got lost a few pages back. If you're having trouble sufficiently stalking the forums, this handy guide should outfit you with the proper toolery.
What is this? This is a compilation of tips, tricks, and tidbits that will help you make the most of your stalking experience this holiday season. Want to know how to get around the forum's search limitations? Don't know what to do with your Santee's real name? Wondering what his or her gaming tastes might be? Read on and you'll find out.
Forum Searching
This is by far the most powerful tool in your arsenal. While all other means of stalking run the risk of mistakes and confusion, this is your surefire bet.
First, let's have a look at the Advanced Search feature of the Penny Arcade forums:
_______________________
_______________________
The most obvious, yet often frivolous, method of searching for your Santee's desires is to type his forum handle in the "User Name" box. This will bring up the most recent 250 posts by your Santee. This is great and all, but you'll often want to dig a bit deeper or refine your results.
Threads started by Santee: This is helpful in that you'll have a great snapshot of topics/things your Santee is especially interested in. Ideally, you'll want to check off the "Threads" radio button in the bottom left, so you get a very compact glance of just the threads and not every single post in those threads, which you'll be scouring anyway.
.
.
Digging deeper: Chances are, your Santee has far more than 250 posts on this forum. If you're just looking for a list of threads he has posted in, check off the "threads" radio button as described above and input the forum handle with "Find Posts by User" to get a better list which you can then delve into more deeply manually. Alternatively, you can also limit your search to specific sub-forums, like Games & Technology, or the like.
You can also look back further than the most recent 250 posts by changing the date field. Select one of the date options in "Find posts from" and then select "and Older." By fiddling with these options, you can dig up several hundred (or thousand) more posts to scour.
.
.
I want specifics, man! Well, in that case, you want enter some search terms as well. One limitation to this forum is that you cannot search for terms with fewer than four characters. This becomes a bit of a problem when it comes to certain topics, like the Wii. For that, see the next bullet point.
Using specific terms like "favorite" (and favourite*) will give you a snap shot of anything they might have mentioned that they particularly enjoyed. A term like "shirt" will likely bring up posts with hints as to their taste in clothes. Other words like "hate," "love," and "boner" might give you some interesting tips as well. You get the idea.
*Keep in mind that some words are spelled differently in certain regions of the world. Your Santee might spell color with a "u," so make sure you account for that if you're looking up specific info.
.
.
Breaking the Law: While these forums are great and all, the sheer magnitude of traffic means there are certain limitations to what we can search. Anything less than four characters won't work, and you're limited to one search every 60 seconds. This can put a damper on your stalking experience if you mistype something, or a particular avenue arrives at a quick dead end.
There is hope! It is possible to search the forums using Google, thus avoiding these pesky limitations.
First, go to the Advanced Search page of Google. Here, type the address of the forum you want to search. In this case, you want forums.penny-arcade.com. You can also limit the search to a sub-forum by using that forum's address. For example, G&T is http://forums.penny-arcade.com/forumdisplay.php?f=15
Now, you can search to your heart's content, without worrying about time or character limitations. However, the catch is that it's harder to limit results to just your Santee's. By including "AND Joe" to your search terms (where Joe is your Santee's handle) it will do a decent job, but it's not as accurate as using the forum's own search function.
.
.
Notable Threads: Some threads on these forums, if your Santee has posted in them, are particularly useful for our purposes. Here are a few of those:
(Note that many of these threads have been running for years, so you will want to dig up the previous, locked versions of these as well)
The Steam Thread: This speaks for itself. You'll likely be able to nab your Santee's SteamID here, if it's not in their signature or profile. This will give a list of all owned games on the platform.
The Good Old Games Thread: Not unlike Steam, GoG.com is a digital delivery service geared toward older games. If your Santee has posted here, you'll get a snapshot of gaming tastes.
The Pick-up Thread: This is a thread wherein G&Ters post pictures of things they have purchased, or "picked up." This speaks for itself.
The Great Backlog Challenge Thread: If your Santee is participating in this thread, you've lucked out. This will give you a full listing of all owned games on every platform he owns, along with the status of whether or not he has finished those games. If he's got a particularly long backlog, perhaps a new game might not be the best option. It's likely he is holding off on buying a new game until he clears up what he's got--they call it "falling off the wagon" over there.
The Goozex Thread: This will likely land you your Santee's Goozex ID, which you can stalk to get a listing of games he is currently trading away as well as requesting.
The Desktop Thread: People post their desktop screenshots. Could be a glimpse into the inner workings of your Santee's mind!
The Workstation Thread: Plenty of people posting pictures of their desks/gaming setups. You'll see their knick knacks, garbage, and whatever else.
Previous G&T Secret Santa Threads: Last, but not least, you want to look up SS threads of years past. If your Santee participated, you'll get last year's hints, last year's given gifts, and last year's received gifts. Sweet! There is also a handy chart to quickly find what your Santee gave and receive.
I have a feeling this got lost a few pages back. If you're having trouble sufficiently stalking the forums, this handy guide should outfit you with the proper toolery.
I have a feeling this got lost a few pages back. If you're having trouble sufficiently stalking the forums, this handy guide should outfit you with the proper toolery.
Ok, so I feel like it's time to help my Santa out a bit, seeing as I don't really post all that often these days:
First things first...hate to say it, but don't buy me video games. I have an ample backlog that I'm not doing great at getting through, and I don't even play that much these days.
My main interest lays in music. my last.fm is fairly reflective of my tastes. I collect and listen to vinyl, just created a Discog which is pretty near to my whole collection. There's also a wantlist on there if you'd like me to take all the fun out of it for you.
I also play/write music...guitar, piano, harmonica mainly. So any cool stuff like that is cool.
Reading is always a good time, have a pretty large collection of books. Always looking for something new and interesting. I'll try putting together a Shelfari to give you an idea of my taste. Recently got really into Ralph Waldo Emerson. Looking to broaden my collection of Classics. Awesome poetry is always welcome.
Other interests: personal fitness, cooking. (I'm asking my family for the P90X program and a Juicer)
Overall, I'm on a huge self improvement kick these days. So anything that you think would make me a better or more well rounded or happier person...I'm all for it.
Edit: Or just ignore all of this and do whatever you want.
And...none of the Google results of my name are me.
Out of interest I seem to have seen nearly half the people in this thread mention a lack of posting by their santa. What do you people consider a low amount of posting?
EDIT: oops I mean Santee not Santa. Also this is not an elaborate plot to work out my santa by analysing comments on posting times
Out of interest I seem to have seen nearly half the people in this thread mention a lack of posting by their santa. What do you people consider a low amount of posting?
It's the time between their posts. Some people just forget that PA exists for months at a time.
Wow, I'm being a bad potential Santee this year, aren't I? My posting frequency's gone down greatly since my weekends started being taken up with seeing somebody and not with communing with my fellow game lovers. Other times I browse the forums and make driveby posts while I'm working, but I can't exactly go into deep stalking mode while at the office.
I've slapped together an Amazon wishlist, if you're desperate (and I'll keep adding things to it as time goes on), which you can find here!
My shirt size is XXL, if such things are in your range of ideas.
Bursar on
GNU Terry Pratchett
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
Out of interest I seem to have seen nearly half the people in this thread mention a lack of posting by their santa. What do you people consider a low amount of posting?
EDIT: oops I mean Santee not Santa. Also this is not an elaborate plot to work out my santa by analysing comments on posting times
Maybe I post a lot, but I consider it low when someone has less than 1 post/day for the last year. The "find all posts by user" thingy shows 250 posts, so if the last page shows posts not from this year, I don't think they've posted that much.
Out of interest I seem to have seen nearly half the people in this thread mention a lack of posting by their santa. What do you people consider a low amount of posting?
Out of interest I seem to have seen nearly half the people in this thread mention a lack of posting by their santa. What do you people consider a low amount of posting?
Less moaning, more festive spirit. If you don't have many posts to go on then you'll just have to go with instinct on generally cool stuff. It's not the end of the world. I fear some of the griping may isolate the less active members of the forum and I don't want us getting too exclusive and cliquey.
Kids (a very relative term here) might need to remember that grownups might not have as much forum browsing time as they used to!
Guys, everytime someone complains about having an overseas santee it breaks my heart. ;_;
Your overseas santee is probably gonna have to ship overseas too, you know.
I shipped a box of love and goodies to our dear Lewie P's Mummy last year, and it was a Brazil => UK thing. I did it with a LOT of christmas cheer in my heart, and it was more than worth it.
So, Santa, here's some info for ya (updated ever so slightly from my entry PM):
Stuff I like in no particular order:
- Japanese widgets, I'm always up for some interesting nicnack/statue, etc. Bonus points if it is Square Enix/Capcom related!
- I'll always find time to read a nice comic compilation. I already have Death of Superman, Doomsday, Marvel vs. DC, Kingdom Come, Marvel Mangaverse 1 & 2 and New Mangaverse, House of M, and Crisis on Somethingorother (Superman punching reality). I hear there are some great batman ones, and what I've read of Sandman was awesome, but I'm open to whatever.
- Steam games are always appreciated, ForceVoid is my handle there as well.
- Warmachine - I could use some Minions, I'm looking to start with one of the new 'gator 'locks at some point. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, no worries ;-P
- I hear the new Castlevania game is pretty boss...
- I enjoy reading fantasy novels set in the "modern" day. I enjoyed the Nightwatch series quite a lot. I've heard good things about these Dresden Files...
- I'm a sucker for just about anything Mythos (Lovecraft, etc.) related.
General comments:
Consoles - Wii, PS3, DS, PSP, Gaming PC
Out of interest I seem to have seen nearly half the people in this thread mention a lack of posting by their santa. What do you people consider a low amount of posting?
Posting mainly in one thread.
That's me! Sort of.
I used to post in other threads a bunch, sporadically... Now that the holidays are here, this is where I spend most of my PA time. I love the MineCraft thread, but it moves to damn fast for someone who works 10 hour days... I will make an effort to "poast moar" because I really want to be active again. To heck with sleeping!
I spent an hour in photoshop on my Santee's gift last night. It was good times and felt good.
Another hour or so and it should be ready for PHASE 2.
I also am shocked at how quickly people are sending things out. I'm sorry, Santee, but I'm planning on shipping around December 10th, as you're not across the country and it should land in your lap on or around December 15-20th, maximizing festive cheer.
mxmarks on
PSN: mxmarks - WiiU: mxmarks - twitter: @ MikesPS4 - twitch.tv/mxmarks - "Yes, mxmarks is the King of Queens" - Unbreakable Vow
If you search for my name on Google, I'm pretty much the entire first page of hits, except that weird Japanese site. I USED to own that site, only I let it lapse years ago. For some reason it's still associated with my name, which is ODD.
Guys, everytime someone complains about having an overseas santee it breaks my heart. ;_;
Your overseas santee is probably gonna have to ship overseas too, you know.
I shipped a box of love and goodies to our dear Lewie P's Mummy last year, and it was a Brazil => UK thing. I did it with a LOT of christmas cheer in my heart, and it was more than worth it.
Non-americans have feelings too
All complaints are with the santee's well-being in mind. Every cent spent on shipping is a cent not spent on gifts.
How could you not buy Scott Pilgrim? Some things are beyond the willpower of mere mortals.
SEX BOB-OMB!
My roommate and I went out and each bought a copy, with the understanding that a reserve copy would let one of us watch the movie if the other one was already 20 minutes into and didn't feel like starting over.
Hey Santa, I'm sure you can hunt me down just fine. But just in case the book of faces has let you down, or my posting history is too slim...
I love beer! I brew my own, and love that too. I also bake, so yeast is like my best friend forever.
My gaming time has gone super down hill, I generally play Blizzard games with my wife.
Love me some zombies.
Books on any subject are perfectly acceptable.
Guys, everytime someone complains about having an overseas santee it breaks my heart. ;_;
Your overseas santee is probably gonna have to ship overseas too, you know.
I shipped a box of love and goodies to our dear Lewie P's Mummy last year, and it was a Brazil => UK thing. I did it with a LOT of christmas cheer in my heart, and it was more than worth it.
Non-americans have feelings too
Getting someone overseas may suck for shipping, but you're bringing extra joy to them. I had an overseas santa last year and I got treats I had never even heard of let alone tried. Also, I was introduced to kinder eggs, which if you haven't learned by now are awesome. So it's extra special to get a santa from overseas. Be sure to include candy and treats that they probably don't have access to where they live. Maybe it's just me, but I think getting candy from another country is awesome.
I was almost a little let down when I got a UK santee last year. My british sweets were nothing special to him!
All brits still appreciate kinder eggs. I'm wondering if non-british Santees will appreciate a jar of Marmite :twisted:
Why wouldn't they!??
Do you get it over it in the states?
No, but we used to get it in Germany. It's amazing!
We don't have marmite over here, or at least it's not widely available.
Also, the stuff is FOUL if you haven't grown up eating it.
Although when I did study abroad in Oxford in 2005, we played a great joke on a friend by telling her that it was chocolate spread and she slathered it on. I've never seen someone reach for their drink so fast.
Cameron_Talley on
Switch Friend Code: SW-4598-4278-8875
3DS Friend Code: 0404-6826-4588 PM if you add.
We are so alike it's scary. We could hang out and I think it would be cool. You are a pretty rockin dude, and I have everything planned out for what I am buying you. Now I actually just have to buy it.
So, I learned to stalk this year and you were a pretty good target. It was pretty easy to find your facebook, and of course those other links. I pretty much have a nice box planed but I don't get paid again until Thanksgiving Day, so I'm not going to start putting it together until then.
Thankfully you're one the same side of the country as me, so it shouldn't be so bad. I hope I can make an awesome enough package that you have fun opening the whole thing. I swear at the heart of the package will be something you actually like.
I was happy that, when I finally asked for hints from Hypatia, I was spot on with my gift ideas. You were very much fun to have as a Santee. Even the wife thinks this is fun, and she always refers to my PA brethern as, "my boyfriends."
Posts
Secret Santa used Christmas Spirit on AaronKI's Wallet. It's Super Effective!
Edit: All main gifts bought, I think. Now I move on to the "stocking stuffers" and package presentation.
And this works really, really well... If your santee posts on these forums or has social networking sites.
.. yeah. That sucks.
Nothing with the forum handle on other sites? Real name? Shitty.
Deal.
She's much obliged.
3DS Friend Code: 0404-6826-4588 PM if you add.
Some people have been thinking all year!
My main interest lays in music. my last.fm is fairly reflective of my tastes. I collect and listen to vinyl, just created a Discog which is pretty near to my whole collection. There's also a wantlist on there if you'd like me to take all the fun out of it for you.
I also play/write music...guitar, piano, harmonica mainly. So any cool stuff like that is cool.
Reading is always a good time, have a pretty large collection of books. Always looking for something new and interesting. I'll try putting together a Shelfari to give you an idea of my taste. Recently got really into Ralph Waldo Emerson. Looking to broaden my collection of Classics. Awesome poetry is always welcome.
Other interests: personal fitness, cooking. (I'm asking my family for the P90X program and a Juicer)
Overall, I'm on a huge self improvement kick these days. So anything that you think would make me a better or more well rounded or happier person...I'm all for it.
Edit: Or just ignore all of this and do whatever you want.
And...none of the Google results of my name are me.
Take some time to tailor your gift to your Santee then!
Not a very active poster...
Also the gag gift I got a couple weeks ago may not even be applicable now!
EDIT: oops I mean Santee not Santa. Also this is not an elaborate plot to work out my santa by analysing comments on posting times
I want to know more PA people on Twitter.
It's the time between their posts. Some people just forget that PA exists for months at a time.
I've slapped together an Amazon wishlist, if you're desperate (and I'll keep adding things to it as time goes on), which you can find here!
My shirt size is XXL, if such things are in your range of ideas.
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
Maybe I post a lot, but I consider it low when someone has less than 1 post/day for the last year. The "find all posts by user" thingy shows 250 posts, so if the last page shows posts not from this year, I don't think they've posted that much.
Some of us mainly post during the holiday season >_>
What?
Posting mainly in one thread.
That's me! Sort of.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
Kids (a very relative term here) might need to remember that grownups might not have as much forum browsing time as they used to!
Your overseas santee is probably gonna have to ship overseas too, you know.
I shipped a box of love and goodies to our dear Lewie P's Mummy last year, and it was a Brazil => UK thing. I did it with a LOT of christmas cheer in my heart, and it was more than worth it.
Non-americans have feelings too
All brits still appreciate kinder eggs. I'm wondering if non-british Santees will appreciate a jar of Marmite :twisted:
I want to know more PA people on Twitter.
- Japanese widgets, I'm always up for some interesting nicnack/statue, etc. Bonus points if it is Square Enix/Capcom related!
- I'll always find time to read a nice comic compilation. I already have Death of Superman, Doomsday, Marvel vs. DC, Kingdom Come, Marvel Mangaverse 1 & 2 and New Mangaverse, House of M, and Crisis on Somethingorother (Superman punching reality). I hear there are some great batman ones, and what I've read of Sandman was awesome, but I'm open to whatever.
- Steam games are always appreciated, ForceVoid is my handle there as well.
- Warmachine - I could use some Minions, I'm looking to start with one of the new 'gator 'locks at some point. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, no worries ;-P
- I hear the new Castlevania game is pretty boss...
- I enjoy reading fantasy novels set in the "modern" day. I enjoyed the Nightwatch series quite a lot. I've heard good things about these Dresden Files...
- I'm a sucker for just about anything Mythos (Lovecraft, etc.) related.
General comments:
Consoles - Wii, PS3, DS, PSP, Gaming PC
I used to post in other threads a bunch, sporadically... Now that the holidays are here, this is where I spend most of my PA time. I love the MineCraft thread, but it moves to damn fast for someone who works 10 hour days... I will make an effort to "poast moar" because I really want to be active again. To heck with sleeping!
Another hour or so and it should be ready for PHASE 2.
I also am shocked at how quickly people are sending things out. I'm sorry, Santee, but I'm planning on shipping around December 10th, as you're not across the country and it should land in your lap on or around December 15-20th, maximizing festive cheer.
If you search for my name on Google, I'm pretty much the entire first page of hits, except that weird Japanese site. I USED to own that site, only I let it lapse years ago. For some reason it's still associated with my name, which is ODD.
I bought Scott Pilgrim on Blu Ray.
Hope this doesn't screw you over.
I am trying so hard to not buy things its crazy.
3DS FC: 5343-7720-0490
How could you not buy Scott Pilgrim? Some things are beyond the willpower of mere mortals.
SEX BOB-OMB!
All complaints are with the santee's well-being in mind. Every cent spent on shipping is a cent not spent on gifts.
My roommate and I went out and each bought a copy, with the understanding that a reserve copy would let one of us watch the movie if the other one was already 20 minutes into and didn't feel like starting over.
I am gonna agree with this.
It was only a matter of time.
I kept finding myself watching clips on Youtube and finally I said fuck it and went and bought it.
SPvsTW is an awesome flick. I mean damn.
3DS FC: 5343-7720-0490
My gaming time has gone super down hill, I generally play Blizzard games with my wife.
Love me some zombies.
Books on any subject are perfectly acceptable.
Why wouldn't they!??
Do you get it over it in the states?
I want to know more PA people on Twitter.
No, but we used to get it in Germany. It's amazing!
We don't have marmite over here, or at least it's not widely available.
Also, the stuff is FOUL if you haven't grown up eating it.
Although when I did study abroad in Oxford in 2005, we played a great joke on a friend by telling her that it was chocolate spread and she slathered it on. I've never seen someone reach for their drink so fast.
3DS Friend Code: 0404-6826-4588 PM if you add.
We are so alike it's scary. We could hang out and I think it would be cool. You are a pretty rockin dude, and I have everything planned out for what I am buying you. Now I actually just have to buy it.
P.S. You'll love it.
3DS FC: 5343-7720-0490
So, I learned to stalk this year and you were a pretty good target. It was pretty easy to find your facebook, and of course those other links. I pretty much have a nice box planed but I don't get paid again until Thanksgiving Day, so I'm not going to start putting it together until then.
Thankfully you're one the same side of the country as me, so it shouldn't be so bad. I hope I can make an awesome enough package that you have fun opening the whole thing. I swear at the heart of the package will be something you actually like.
I was happy that, when I finally asked for hints from Hypatia, I was spot on with my gift ideas. You were very much fun to have as a Santee. Even the wife thinks this is fun, and she always refers to my PA brethern as, "my boyfriends."