G&T Secret Santa 2013:...and to all a good night.

Hypatia

Sign-ups are now CLOSED!

What is this?

It's pretty much Secret Santa, except with partial strangers.

You sign up, you buy a forumer a gift, you get a gift, you post your gift on the thread, we all experience the joy that comes from getting gifts from strangers that are probably better than the gifts your own family gets you.


After Signing Up

(1) Find your name in the spoilered list below. If it is not there within 24 hours, then we have a problem! PM me as soon as you can!
(2) Wait for a PM from me providing your Santee's information. If you do not receive one by 11/3 at the latest, then (again) we have a problem! PM me as soon as you can!
(3) Forum stalk your Santee! Do not ACTUALLY stalk him! This is as far as I know illegal and I will testify against you in a court of law.
(4) Buy your Santee a present! The goal here is to make your Santee as happy as possible! Challenge yourself to find out what s/he likes and send an appropriate gift of happiness (minimum $25, this minimum does not include shipping)! *There is no maximum spending limit*
(5) Ship your present to your Santee! Double, triple and quadruple check the address, and make sure your package has a return address! The deadline for shipping the gift is December 31, 2013! ***Make sure you get some kind of a confirmation or proof that you shipped your package (e.g., tracking number, proof of receipt, etc.)!*** If you have no proof and your Santee does not receive anything, we have no choice but to assume you are a deadbeat!
(6) Receive a gift from your very own Santa!
(7) PM ME WHEN YOU HAVE RECEIVED YOUR GIFT
(8) Post pictures of your haul! The more pictures, the better! See previous years on the gift wall for examples of good picture posts! getdropbox.com, imageshack.us, photobucket.com, and flickr.com all provide free picture hosting so you have no excuse THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL If you receive an electronic gift, post a screenshot of yourself playing the game or a picture of receiving it on Steam/etc. Don't be that guy who makes your Santa feel crappy and like their gift fell into a black hole.

Shipping Tips

HOLY SHIT I GOT SOMEONE FROM A DIFFERENT COUNTRY

ZackSchilling wrote: »

There should be a section in the OP called:

Q: How I ship outside US of A
A: United States Postal Service (USPS)

Really, it's the best if you're looking to not pay $60 for shipping. The proper customs forms are on the website, the post office has the proper plastic window guys to put the forms on the boxes. The package will get there and you won't have to sell your organs.

liquidlogan wrote: »

By the way, if you are sending a gift from the US to another country, if you mark on the package that it is a "gift," your receiver avoids paying taxes on stuff when it arrives. This is the case for a lot of the stuff that I have bought from Asia. Nothing is more annoying than having to pay for your gift.

These people speak truth! (and thanks to whomever else provided this info) Be sure and use USPS and be sure and MARK IT AS A GIFT!

Can I ship something straight from Amazon or something?
Yes you can, and it's a good idea to shop at the Santee's home country's Amazon site (www.amazon.ca for instance) if you want to save a bit on shipping. Be sure and provide a note upon checkout saying who you are, though!

BE SURE AND SHIP WELL IN ADVANCE
Get your act together NOW and try and ship your stuff by Dec 10th or so to make sure it arrives before the crazy Christmas rush that always happens at the latter half of December.

Shopping Tips
Not sure if you're getting something in the right size? Need to warn your Santee to expect something? Getting anxious about whether or not they received their stuff? Use a proxy to contact your Santee! You can PM Proxy the Elf or Hypatia to pass along messages. Please include who the message is for and the exact message you'd like to have passed on (it will probably be copied and pasted) and we will copy and paste the reply back to you. Please note: some people have specifically requested that you use one or the other of us, if such a request has been made that information will be included in your assignment.

Interesting Shops:
www.thinkgeek.com - general geeky stuff. Shipping can be high so be sure and shop around. Google for discount coupons.
www.play-asia.com - junk from Japan. Nearly everyone likes the little toys they have. Google for discount coupons.
www.buy.com - one of the best places to get used games, books and DVDs.
www.coolstuffinc.com - for heavily discounted board or card games.
www.bigbadtoystore.com - the absolute best place to get action figures.

Things to Note:
360 points are not cross-country compatible.
Most consoles are region restricted. The Nintendo DS is a notable exception to this, though.
If you need someone to contact your Santee for you to pass on a message or to ask questions, you can PM Proxy the Elf or Hypatia.

Stalking / General Shopping Help:
If your Santee has a unique forum handle, be sure and Google it. You never know where else s/he might post.
Keep an eye on the systems he owns if you're thinking of buying a game.
If your Santee has a PS3, don't forget it can play Blu-Ray movies.
If your Santee has a XBox Gamer ID, it's not hard to figure out what games he has / likes.
Be creative! We have lives other than video games! Is your Santee taking up an instrument? Does he want to start painting? Does he like tabletop games? Does he seem to like cars? This is your chance to get an interesting gift they hadn't thought of, yet!
Does your Santee have a favorite game, ever? Consider something related to that! Toys, old complete copies, art books, etc. are always fun.
Do you have something in your city / state / country that your Santee doesn't have access to?
Interesting candies, foods, posters / prints, and other various knick-knacks make for good box-stuffers.
If your Santee has a unique name, you never know what you'll find out by Googling him or her! They might have a twitter account or something!

Steam Gifting FAQ! by AaronKI

Q) How does sending a gift by e-mail work?
A) The e-mail that Steam sends contains a button with an activation URL. (the one that says "Yes, I have Steam" in the first picture below)

A snippet of the e-mail that steam sends.

A screenshot of the window that pops up in steam after the activation URL is opened. If the recipient clicks "Accept", they're given the option to either add it to their library or add it to their inventory.

Q) So.. if the e-mail just contains a URL, can I e-mail the gift to myself, copy the URL, and send it to my Santee another way?
A) Absolutely. You can send the URL via proxy or even send it in the mail. Just be aware of the possibility that your Santee might buy the game in a sale before they get the URL!

Q) Does my Santee need a Steam account to receive a Steam gift?
A) Nope! If they click the "No, I do not have Steam" button it will send them to a registration form.

Q) Do I need to e-mail the gift to the same address that my Santee's Steam account was created with?
A) Nope!

Q) Will sending a Steam gift reveal my identity?
A) Yes. Your Santee will see your Steam community name and the e-mail address that your account was registered with. Even if your change your community profile name, they can look at the previous names you've used.

Q) How can I send a Steam gift anonymously?
A) The only way to do this is to register a brand new Steam account with an e-mail address that can't be traced back to you. Remember to remove your credit card info before you let the account rot! To do this, go to the Account tab in the settings and click "view account history."

Q) Help! The e-mail with the activation code has gone missing! And/or my Santee already owns the game I gifted!
A) Open your Steam Inventory (Games > Manage Gifts and Guest Passes). You can re-send the gift from there. If they already own the game you sent, you can send it to someone else or keep it for yourself.

Veteran Info

If this is not your first rodeo, things to note that have changed:
- If you did not post pictures/a post in the thread last year, you are going to have to explain to me what you are going to do differently this year about posting when you receive a gift. It is not ok to let someone down after they've gone through the trouble of gifting you.



Keeping Track of the Joy!

This year's gift wall
Twitter feed to get up to the date info on who's getting added to the gift wall


Past Highlights

Last year's thread
Last year's gift wall (2012)
Gift Wall from 2011
Gift Wall from 2010
Gift wall from 2009
Gift wall from 2008

Confirmed Participants!
Total: 109

AbsoluteZero
Ah_Pook
Aioua
Allforce
Anarchy
anoffday
AnteCantelope
ArcSyn
Arikado
Asiina
Bear is Driving
belligerent
Beltaine
Big Classy
Blackbeard7
Bursar
Cameron_Talley
Chen
chocobolicious
cj iwakura
cloudeagle
cooljammer00
Custom Special
Dac Vin
darunia106
deveric
DiannaoChong
dougyfresh
Draysoth
Dusda
Dyvion
El Mucho
Elin
elkatas
Elvenshae
Entriech
EvilBadman
Farangu
Fig-D
Forar
Frem
Goldeneye007
grim123
Grove
Handkor
Hypatia
Icemopper
iMatt
Imperfect
initiatefailure
Jam Warrior
jclast
Judge-Z
Kendrik
Ketar
Khez
Kias
Kipling
Kirbith
Kirindal
Kyougu
LewieP's Mummy
Lindsey Lohan
Lost
Madpoet
Maguano
ManetherenWolf
mare_imbrium
Maz-
Mechanical
mere_immortal
Mighty
minirhyder
Nackmatholn
never-ending-reign
noir_blood
PA Jamie
PoultryGeist
Radiation
redfield85
RisenPhoenix
Robert Khoo
Rorus Raz
Schide
ScudMuffin
see317
Shadowane
Shady3011
SirUltimos
SniperGuy
spookymuffin
Stormwatcher
strebalicious
Sunstrand
SwashbucklerXX
TeeMan
testsubject23
The_Spaniard
thejaxx
TheOtherHorseman
THEPAIN73
TheRoadVirus
TheScruple
Turkey
Two Headed Boy
UnbreakableVow
urahonky
vegeta_666
Zaghreb

Mr_Grinch

Holy crap, it's the most wonderful time of the year...already?!

Big Classy

I may be passing on it this year. Home stuff is killing us. There's always next year?

urahonky

Let's do this!

mere_immortal

I nearly audibly squealed at work when I saw this thread, I bloody love PA Secret Santa.

Signed up!

Mr_Grinch

Big Classy wrote: »

I may be passing on it this year. Home stuff is killing us. There's always next year?

I think my secret santa gift from you last year can quite happily carry over in to this year, so you're excused

Elin

Big Classy wrote: »

I may be passing on it this year. Home stuff is killing us. There's always next year?

Sorry Isy, home stuff always comes first but it still sucks.

cooljammer00

I'm on a bus so I cannot appear visibly excited for fear of looking like a freak, but I will be pming soon

shadowane

PM'ed. Even used the same conversation as last year because I barely get any PMs.

Adda

Someone needs to take it up a notch and gift a PS4 this year! No pressure.

cooljammer00

This is also a call to any lurkers to lurk less

DiannaoChong

Wooo I am super excited to get to stalking this year!

minirhyder

Yusss finally gonna participate in one of these.
Hooray for full time jobs and the resulting disposable incomes!

TychoCelchuuu

I don't like sending or receiving gifts but I love seeing the creative things that people send to each other each year. Thanks for running this!

Maz-

Last year was so much fun, I'm in!

Since I'll be home this time instead of being abroad like last year, I can hopefully be a bit more generous and / or send some cool local stuff.

Santa: A more detailed post with stuff I like / dislike / already own is coming sometime soon. Or I'll just edit this post.

Icemopper

Hell yes, I love this stuff. You all are always spectacular people. I know I haven't posted as much recently, but I have good excuses, and I'll let my Santa know those.

deveric

And I'm in!

deveric

I'll probably write up more about my favorite things later on when I get time, or you can browse my post history for this from last year since I haven't been as active over the last year.

SniperGuy

Fuck yeah! I saw D&Ds go up the other day, but this is the one I always do. And my favorite. Love this thing. On mobile but will sign up and post Santa info ASAP.

RisenPhoenix

Woo! I've had the best gifts year after year from the PA crew - super stoked to be doing it once again.

shadowane

I was given Diablo 3, a game I spent hours and hours and hours playing, last year. Plus some other great stuff.

Grove

Woo! Signed up...year 4!

Thanks for running this again. Every year has been great.

The Mantiz

cooljammer00 wrote: »

This is also a call to any lurkers to lurk less

I feel so bad every year, but lurkers gonna lurk man. :oops:

But I will say that if you find me posting in a thread, then that is a clear sign that I'm fucking obsessed with the subject of the thread :P

Aioua

Oh let's do this. I promise less fiendish puzzles this year.

Also, @Willeth: So, I just started running a DnD campaign for the first time. I'd been using they gorgeous dice that'd been sitting on my desk, but I couldn't remember when it was that I bought them. Then I saw my gift get post from last year, turns out you bought 'em for me. Thanks again!

anoffday

So excited. This made my Monday. PMing when I get home from work. I think this will be my 5th year.

edit: just remembered from looking at last year's gift wall that my santee never posted any pics so there's a big empty blank next to my name under santee. New santee don't be worried by this! I've never been a deadbeat and never will. In fact I'll have more Christmas spending money this year than previous years which is good news for your stocking!

TheOtherHorseman

My day has come

Elvenshae

Awesome! Last year was my first time doing this; I can't wait for a second bite at the apple!

Radiation

OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!
So excited!
Edit:
Man looking through the gift wall, I'm always like 'I could have given more'
Or should have. Sometimes I feel bad about what I gave. Which is weird because the wife chastises me each year for spending too much.

I think I married the Grinch.

cj iwakura

In as well. Almost forgot about this...

initiatefailure

oh god I've only been posting about FFXIV... I apologize in advance

ArcSyn

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I saw Hypatia post about this on Twitter and immediately got excited! I was just thinking about this last week and I couldn't wait for it to start again! This is my sixth year.

I'd post about my stuff, but I put whatever was necessary in my PM that will get sent out, and anything beyond that will be easily located in previous threads or if you dig into my signature or find me online. Can't make it too easy, now can I? Worst case, proxy me. I won't play hard to get with ideas if you're having that much trouble.

This reminds me though, I need to update/weed through my backlog and wish lists on various sites.

edit:
I've shared out (I think?) my Secret Santa albums on Photobucket. This is where you can find the "Gift Get" images often used each year, and I have a few hatted avatars in the "Secret Santa 2008" folder, and a couple in the others.
http://s4.photobucket.com/user/ArcSyn/library/Secret Santa

cooljammer00

initiatefailure wrote: »

oh god I've only been posting about FFXIV... I apologize in advance

Don't feel so bad.
Looking through previous gift walls, I gave my first Santee ever a subscription to The Old Republic.

Arikado

I've not been posting much on the PA forums since it is blocked at work now and posting via my phone is not ideal but I do read them.

Your best bet, Santa, would be to stalk my Twitter to get an idea.

Also, I think I have had a pretty good streak of nailing my gifts so I hope I can continue that trend.

Elin

I think the bulk of my posts this year were in the Animal Crossing thread. Well, and the Steam thread. Mmm video games.

minirhyder

So uh...I think I got a PM but then it disappeared. I swear I'm not crazy.

THEPAIN73

Oh wow.

Sent my PM!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CHRISTMAS!!!

Ready to be stalked!

Kirbith

Last year was my first year and I'm super excited to do it again!

I think it's appropriate that I'm currently playing through the Mass Effect trilogy, which my husband got a signed copy of as one of his secret santa presents last year.

Aioua

pm'd now.

ArcSyn

The 2011 Gift Wall link is broken. It should be http://santa.chargingwombat.com/2011

chocobolicious

I apparently did not get my name listed as Nitsua's santa in last years wall, which makes me sad, but I am so in this as soon as I get around to sending that PM.

This is probably the only reason I like the holiday anymore.

Mr_Grinch

Radiation wrote: »

I think I married the Grinch.

This is always the most awkward time of the year to have my username.