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  LIGHTNING BONUS ROUNDS ARE NOW GOINGThe main round closed on Saturday November 17th, but it's not too late to participate! You can still exchange trad games gifts by signing up for a bonus round. Read on for details! Denizens of the obscure Trad Games subforum, rejoice: It's time again for our annual gift-exchange tradition, Trad Games Secret Santa! This year I couldn't think of a good theme so you get skeletons.  Rules Quick-Reference See below for the full explanation of the rules; this is just a quick rundown: 1. Announce your intention to participate in this here thread. Include gift preferences, your general location, and your solemn vow. 2. Send an e-mail to me at tgsecretsanta@gmail.com with your mailing address, SA username, whether or not you'll ship internationally, and any important info. 3. Receive and read your confirmation email, which arrives within a couple of days. 4. Check your inbox on Saturday, November 17th for your Santee Assignment. 5. Find your Santee's sign-up post in this thread, and read their gift preferences, if any. 6. Send a gift to your Santee. Mail it no later than December 14th, AND ensure it will arrive no later than December 18th. MAKE A POST when you send your gift! 7. Post in the thread when you receive a gift (whether you open it or not). If you're not sure if it's a TGSS gift, then open it, don't wait till xmas. I need to know you got your thing, and so does your Santa! 8. When you open your gift, post what you got! Take pictures if you can. 9. If you get a lovely gift, or nothing arrives, email tgsecretsanta@gmail.com so I can fix it. 10. Stick around in the thread till it's closed, or at least until mid-January. There might be a follow-up thing you need to do, or a question to answer, or de-grinching to do, or a survey or something. OK on to all the  What's Trad Games Secret Santa? It's an anonymized gift exchange for the goons who hang out in the Trad Games subforum. Goons sign up to trade presents with other goons. I handle the anonymization of assignments, sending your personal information to a total stranger, who will then mail you a gift. Similarly, I'll send someone else's info to you, and you have to send them a gift. Fun! How do I do it? Read all the STEP BY STEP RULES in this post (scroll down) and follow them carefully. If you have problems with reading comprehension maybe read it twice or have an adult read it to you. There's ten whole rules and you have to obey them and follow instructions. Each of the rules has a reason behind it so don't skip them. So I am going to buy something for someone? Yes. You have to get a gift for a Trad Games goon. Ideally your gift should be picked out specifically for the goon you're assigned. Since this is the Trad Games forum, we're generally focused on games-related stuff, but you kind of have free reign so it doesn't necessarily have to be a game gift... but it probably should, unless you're sure your non-game gift will delight your target Santee. Signing up for this is a financial obligation. It is not okay to sign up and then disappear, because someone will send you a present, and then whoever your assignment is, gets grinched. Please take a moment to think seriously about this before you just mash the Reply button.  How much does it cost? US$30 (or its approximate equivalent in Foreign Money), plus shipping. You don't deduct shipping from the gift dollar guideline amount because it's not your Santee's fault he lives in Tuvalu and he shouldn't have to have a worse gift just because you're 8000 miles away. What if my Santee lives in an Exotic Foreign Land like Australia, the Lesser Antilles, or Amsterdam? I try to match goons to other goons that are in nearby countries. There are always a few gaps, though, so if you are willing to cover the extra cost of international shipping, then you can say so and I will randomly choose from among the volunteers where needed. If you do get matched up with a Foreign Goon, remember that you can often order directly from an online retailer in their country instead of paying international shipping. If you don't want to get matched with a foreign goon, say so in your sign-up email.  I can't afford $30 plus shipping! If $30 plus shipping is genuinely a hardship for you, you might be too poor to be buying presents for strangers on the internet. You can make something, but your made thing has to have a value to your Santee of at least $30. Plus you still absolutely have to ship it on time. I try to keep international shipping routes short, but if it's too expensive for you, you can either tell me not to match you with a foreign goon, or, order something online from within the target country. This Year's Deadlines – NOTE DEADLINES HAVE CHANGED Some time on Saturday, November 17th, (which is the weekend before Thanksgiving in the US) I will make assignments and email them out. You will then have until A WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS which is approximately, Tuesday, December 18th to get your gift delivered to your Secret Santee. To meet that deadline, I am asking that all gifts be mailed by December 14th. It will be up to you to decide if you want to get your gift sent on time using a cheap shipping option, or wait until the last minute and then get your gift sent on time using an expensive shipping option. The final is so early because too many goons have missed it every year. You're still getting nearly four weeks of time to get your gift sent, which is plenty. What if I forget? Don't forget. Bookmark this thread. Something Awful provides a fancy bookmarking feature just for you! Click on your Control Panel link to see your bookmarked threads. Maybe also set up an alarm clock in your calendar app or something? I may send out email to check in with people who are worrying me with their absence but you should not rely on that. If you are the kind of person who gets excited about things and then blows them off and forgets about them the next day, then this gig is not for you. Don't sign up. You can of course make things easier on yourself by just buying something and shipping it immediately after you get your assignment. What if I don't get a present because my Secret Santa is an rear end in a top hat? This is called “being Grinched.” If you get Grinched, like an old-west Sheriff I will round up a posse of de-Grinchers and together we will cover for the rear end in a top hat out of the goodness of our hearts. You will get a present no matter what. And Grinches get Stitches. There are consequences. It's already after the deadline! Does that mean I can't participate? You are in luck! After the first deadline, we run LIGHTNING BONUS ROUNDS!. Beginning November 18th, and continuing until roughly December 9th, we will have one or more extra bonus rounds. It works like this: you use exactly the same process to sign up. I collect names until either I have at least 8, or, a whole week has passed AND I have at least 3, whichever comes first. So each LIGHTNING BONUS ROUND will have from three to eight goons. Then I do a mini-gift-round assignment. You immediately fire off a Trad Games Present at your Santee, and they do the same! And the instant one LIGHTNING BONUS ROUND ends, the next one begins. Since the pool of participants will be very small, the odds that multiple goons will have to ship internationally go up, though, so keep that in mind. You can participate in as many rounds as you want. Last year, there was only 1 round, so don't wait if you're ready to participate. BONUS ROUNDS HAVE STARTED!!! I'm rich and/or greedy. Can I send two gifts? gently caress yes you can! Just let me know in your email (step 2) how many gifts you want to send and receive, and I'll make it happen. Each gift still has to meet all the standard requirements. I only want specific kinds of stuff That's fine. Just put your requests in your post when you sign up. There's no 100% guarantee, but really that's just like Christmas at home, isn't it? The worst case scenario is you get some $30 Thing that wasn't exactly what you wanted. That's not such a big deal.  who wouldn't want this skull dice set? I might get something I already have! That's true. There's only one way to avoid this for sure, and that's by posting what you've already got. You can use boardgamegeek for that, or just make a list, or be more specific about what you do want. There's still a chance you get a duplicate of something you have, though. I can't think of a way to avoid it completely, so you need to be ready for this to possibly happen. I'm sorry.  seriously though everyone has catan, don't get someone catan What if I never post in Trad Games? You're welcome too. If you have an SA account in good standing that existed before I posted this post, you're eligible to participate. Welcome to the club! Probably you'll get something TG related, though. Or a dong. If you have a brand new SA account registered after this post was posted, then I'm worried about you. Let's have a chat and figure out if you're trustworthy. The Shitlist of Shame These goons hosed up enough to get called out: The General. It's been eight years now but he managed to Grinch goons two years in a row. His only excuse was that basically he was too lazy to go buy a thing and mail it. He is not allowed to participate in TGSS. Arrgytehpirate. In 2011, this guy never managed to follow instructions, insisting on using PMs instead of emails. I let that slide but then he took forever to respond. Finally he sent me a photo of a package he was supposedly sending out but it never arrived. Weeks later he supposedly got it returned in the mail but his santee, who had also participated in a lightning round, had received a gift from his other santa so the address was definitely fine. Arrgytehpirate was the epitome of disinterested and disconnected half-assedness. Don't be like him. NutritiousSnack. NutritiousSnack doubled down on TGSS in 2013. His main round Santee finally got his gift on January 13th, and his Bonus Round santee finally got his gift on February 2nd. One major shipping snafu might be an honest mistake; two is a pattern. NutritiousSnack was also difficult to get ahold of, with days or weeks going by between responses. Being multiple months late with your gifts is bad, and being slack about communicating when your stuff has gone missing is worse. NutritiousSnack was on probation in 2014, but now he can participate if he wants. Demonstrating reform could get him off this list! MySwan in 2015 sent his santee a pair of socks, and something on DTRPG. He didn't follow up for ages, and when he did, he let things slide a lot. He was hard to contact, and in the end I don't think the DTRPG thing was ever worked out. He's allowed to come back after being on probation in 2016, but he'll need to still make amends. EatinCake in 2015 claimed to have made a handmade gift, claimed to have forgotten to send it before going on vacation, claimed he would send things on the 4th, and nothing ever arrived. He was very unresponsive via email, and eventually his Santee had to be degrinched. NovaLion screwed up in 2013: posted overseas, he got deployed, didn't respond to emails for weeks, made excuses, promised delivery, and then disappeared again. Long after his Santee was de-grinched, his gifts arrived in March 2014. NovaLion was suspended: but then he came back and made amends, apologizing and making a charitable donation, so he was permitted to participate again. Unfortunately, in 2016, NovaLion relapsed: his main round gift went fine, but his bonus round gift never arrived, he did not respond to emails about it during the week after xmas, and had to be de-grinched again. NovaLion is permanently banned from participation in TGSS. 2017 was Grinch-Free!!! Redemption is possible for those who are willing to make amends... but not for severe transgressions or repeat offenders. FULL STEP BY STEP RULESThese are step-by-step instructions in full. Just do all of them, in order. 1. Announce your intention to participate in this here thread. Put the following information in BOLD so it's easy to see: Your Gift Preferences. This means describe things and categories of things you'd love to receive. This is mandatory. You can be specific but it's better to be general. E.g., “I'd love a blueray movie” or “I need tabletop wargaming scenery” or “I'd like the hardback Kings of War 2nd Edition Rulebook.” You can also specify things you don't want, like “I have enough dice thanks” or “I hate animes” or “Do not give money to Games Workshop” or whatever. The more help you give your Secret Santa, the higher the likelihood you will get something that you will actually like. If you just put “I'd love anything at all,” be prepared to receive anything, up to and including Dongs. You might receive something you already own, especially if seems related to your post history. If you don't want a duplicate of a game you already have, you need to tell your Santa that you have that game. Your General Location. You'll be telling me your mailing address via e-mail anyway, but goons like to know where in the world all the other goons are. It's funner that way. You can say things like “Chicago” or “Wisconsin” or “Australia,” however specific or general you feel like being. Your Solemn Vow that you will keep up with the thread, send a gift on time, and will post in the thread when you get your present and tell us all what you got and who sent it to you. 2. Send an e-mail to me at tgsecretsanta@gmail.com containing the following information: “Secret Santa Sign Up” or similar in the subject line so I can be sure you're not a computer program trying to sell penis pills. Your REAL NAME AND MAILING ADDRESS. This is important because someone is going to mail things to you and they need to know how. If someone mails a thing to this name and address and you don't get it because you moved or it's not a real address or the postal carrier refused to deliver a package addressed to “CockDragon1986” or something, that's your fault and you will have self-Grinched which is the most embarrassing thing ever. Your Something Awful login name. It should be obvious why I need this. Your willingness or unwillingness to ship internationally. Please be specific if you have restrictions. For example, if you're only willing to ship within North America, please say so. Remember, shipping costs are in addition to the $30 gift guideline. Anything else of importance. Special information might include a list of your mortal enemies which I had better not match you with, a date after which you will be at a different address, your allergy to cheese, or whatever. I promise not to match you (as Santa or Santee) with anyone you don't want to be matched with, and I will pass along any messages to your Santa or Santee that you need passed along. You can also ask questions timidly in this email instead of boldly in the thread, if you prefer. 3. Check for a confirmation email from tgsecretsanta@gmail.com Everyone who signs up will get a confirmation email within a short amount of time (usually within a day or two). If you don't get one, check your spam filters and then PM me, send another e-mail, or post in the thread and I'll troubleshoot the issue. Your confirmation email is sent at the same time that I put you on the Official Spreadsheet of Cheer, so it's important. It verifies you're signed up, and verifies that you're able to receive important correspondence from me. 4. Wait until Saturday, November 17th and then check your inbox. That is the day I will close registration for the main round, and assign names using a secret method. It's also the beginning of a holiday week for most goons in the US, and also various holiday promotions have usually gotten going by then so maybe you can get an online discount. I will post in the thread as I get these assignments out. You must keep your Santee's personal information secret and private. Don't post or forward or copy their real name, other fake name(s), address, or email address in the thread or anywhere else. Don't try to go visit your Santee, that's creepy. This is important. Respect your Santee's privacy. 5. Check the thread, find your Santee's first post, and read up on their greedy demands. And then buy them a present and mail it. The Officially Recommended Spending Amount is US$30. It is OK to spend a bit more than that if you feel generous. It is OK to spend slightly less than that if you have the perfect thing which costs $28.95, or whatever. But it is not OK to Grinch your Santee by sending them a used paperback book and $8 of baseball cards. The only truly universal gifts are love and money. For everything else, it's best to at least try to determine whether your amazing gift idea would actually be delightful to your Santee. Many people like to leave their options wide open and you can feel free to send whatever you like to them. Others have a more focused domain of Trad Gaming they enjoy, and it's best to try and fit your present into that domain if you can. If you get stuck on gift ideas, send an email to tgsecretsanta@gmail.com and I will help you out. I can ask your Santee questions while preserving the veneer of anonymity, and I also am full of great ideas for the difficult-to-shop-for. Also, we may have Santees under the legal age for drinking, or who don't drink, so you must check with me before sending alcoholic beverages to your Santee. Some people have food allergies, too. Don't send food without checking. Sometimes you have a thing that you already own that you want to send, that's OK too, just try and figure out what that thing would be worth, roughly (in its present used condition of course), and make sure your giftee is delighted by your largesse instead of saddened by your cheapness. Regarding handmade gifts: A lot of us really enjoy the personal touch of a handmade gift, so this might be a great idea. But there are hazards. If you haven't already made your gift, be sure you'll have plenty of time. The estimate of value of the thing you made isn't “what I'd probably sell it for if I sold this,” it's “what my giftee would probably pay for it if they bought it from anyone else.” For example, it takes a huge amount of time to knit a pair of socks; but socks are still only worth a couple dollars to most people, even if you sell your handmade socks for $25. If your giftee asked for a Dice Pouch, it's likely they're thinking of a typical dice pouch which usually costs like ten bucks. So if you make one yourself, maybe you better fill it with some cool dice as well? Use your best judgment and run your plans past me if you have any doubt.  Regarding ebooks and Print-On-Demand services. PDFs and eBook versions of gaming products are very hit-or-miss, and so are POD services. Some of us love them, some of us hate them. I'd like you to please be certain that your giftee loves them before you send one. Check their post and if they don't mention it, contact me and I can confirm with them whether an ebook or printed-on-demand book is a wonderful or horrible thing. We need to confirm your e-delivery was e-delivered promptly because your Santee probably isn't expecting it. DTRPG has hosed up someone's order more than once, for example, so seriously: DTRPG and other e-delivered gifts require special attention and handling. 6. Send a gift to your Santee in a timely manner Every shipping company is heavily impacted by the holiday shopping season. Volumes rise every day as you get closer to Christmas day. The sooner you get something shipped, the less likely it is to be delayed. Retailers may also run out of stock. If you procrastinate and delay, you are still on the hook for on-time delivery, and that may mean having to select a more expensive shipping option. It's OK to take a few days or even a couple weeks if you need it to get your awesome present together, but keep your eye on the calendar and don't screw yourself over by waiting too long! I mean it. EVERY YEAR WITHOUT FAIL I have a handful of goons who wait till the last day or so and then complain about the cost, or – worse – simply decide they can't afford expedited shipping and their Santee doesn't get their gift until after Christmas. That is not OK. If you can't afford like $100 for overnight shipping, then please don't procrastinate! If you purchase a gift online, please confirm with the retailer that the item is actually in stock. Check and make sure it's shipped, not just “ordered.” Get a tracking number and check it every day. You can send me your tracking number if you want, but it's up to you to monitor it and see that your gift got delivered. I can't monitor 100+ tracking numbers. Let me know right away if there's a problem or delay. If a gift receipt is an option, please get one. I know it's not always available, but it's best to make sure that if your Santee already has one of what you got him or her, he can return the new thing and/or exchange it for something else that is great. This isn't a rule, just a preference. POST INDICATING YOUR PRESENT HAS BEEN MAILED BY NO LATER THAN Friday, DECEMBER 14th, 2018. Your gift has to be delivered by Tuesday, December 18th. To help meet that deadline, I am asking that all gifts be mailed by December 14th. Keep in mind that four days for delivery is quite unlikely unless you paid a lot for three-day express delivery, so the 14th is a drop-dead date, not a good target date to blithely wait for. If you have some genuine excuse like “I am trapped in a blizzard” or “my house burned down and I can't afford a stamp” or “the vendor promised to mail it but I have discovered they were filthy liars,” that's OK, come post about it in the thread or send me an e-mail or ask your Red Cross coordinator at the disaster relief shelter to send me an e-mail. In this modern world there are very few legit excuses for being unable to communicate for several weeks. And you can avoid this altogether by just shipping a gift within a few days of getting your Santee assignment. Military goons: if you might possibly be deployed, you should let me know in advance, and also maybe ask a friend or family member in advance to arrange to ship something if you haven't done so in time, and to at least email me when your gift arrives. Being deployed is not an acceptable excuse for failing to get a gift to your Santee or going AWOL on communications from me. If you can't deal with this amount of contingency planning, you should not participate. Overseas shippers: if you are shipping something overseas, realistically you should give it at least two weeks for shipping. Stuff can randomly get stuck in customs for a long time! 7. Post in the thread when you receive a gift You can open it right away or you can wait till your preferred present-opening moment and open it then. Regardless, you need to post in the thread as soon as your gift has arrived. If you get a box and you're not sure if it's your Secret Santa gift, then you need to open it and find out. If you are a double or triple-gifter, you need to open the gift so we know which Santa's gift you got. This way your anxious Santa knows you got your present, and I can register that they have fulfilled their duty by putting a symbol into a box on a spreadsheet, which I loving love doing, you don't even know. Please don't blow this off. Every year a few people dutifully send their gifts, and then disappear from the thread, and we are left with no easy way to confirm that they also received what they were supposed to. That's not being a Grinch, but it is a source of anxiety for your Santa and for me and that's not very nice. 8. Post what you got! Whenever you get around to opening your gift, please let us know what you got. Take a picture! You should also say thank you and describe your joy. Half the fun of giving a gift is experiencing your Santee's pleasure. THIS IS AN ACTUAL RULE, NOT JUST A SUGGESTION. Saying “thank you” is the socially expected response to a gift, OK?. Some participants never bother and that's rude. 9. If you got a lovely gift, or didn't get a gift, send me an email immediately. Email me at tgsecretsanta@gmail.com if you get something lousy. That doesn't just mean you got a nice approximately $30 thing that you didn't especially want: unless you specifically said “I don't want RPGs” you can't really complain that you got an RPG. But, you do need to let me know if your Santa has not lived up to the spirit and intent of the rules, OR – and this has actually happened – if your Santa was victimized by a shady retailer who has ripped both you and your Santa off.  this seems very sub-par 10. Please stick around in the thread until a week or two into January, or until I close the thread, whichever comes first There are usually last-minute hiccups and if someone gets Grinched, I'll be asking for volunteer de-grinchers. This is likely to happen in January, if it happens. Even if you don't want to be a de-Grincher, you can still participate in the tarring and feathering, and that's not something to miss out on. Plus people sometimes get stuff a little late, like when they go back home from their holiday travel or whatever, and it sucks when they have nobody to share their fun with when they open their gift. TGSS Mailing List Would you like to receive a reminder of TG Secret Santa next year? Send an email to tgsecretsanta@gmail.com and ask to be added to the official TGSS Mailing List. I will use this list to send out a heads-up each year when I post the new TGSS thread. I won't sell or share the list with anyone, and I will use BCC: so you won't be sharing your email address with the other goons on the list, either. Of course you can also remove yourself from the list at any time, just send me a request and I'll take you off.  Disclaimers This is the fine print. Nobody told me to put it here, but I'm anal about these kinds of things. Participation in this event is voluntary. I am not affiliated or associated with Something Awful LLC, Rich “Lowtax” Kyanka, or any of its affiliates, sponsors, advertisers, subsidiaries, associates, officers, enlisted men, serfs, or holdings (hereafter referred to collectively as SomethingAwful). This event is in no way endorsed or supported by any of the above. If you get ripped off by another goon, neither SomethingAwful, nor I, can promise you relief. Nobody's insurance is covering this. Any supportive or punitive action taken by SomethingAwful or its moderators or administrators, including stickying threads and punishing bad goons, is purely voluntary and ad-hoc and is not a promise or representation that SomethingAwful is actually responsible or required to take such action, nor a promise or representation that it will act in a similar manner in the future, present, or past. I promise to take reasonable and prudent steps to keep your personal information confidential. It is secured by the use of a reasonably obscure password on the tgsecretsanta@gmail.com gmail account. I also copy some of your personal information, including your real name and email address, to my Spreadsheet of Cheer which is stored on a reasonably secure computer behind a firewall. However, participation requires that I send your personal information to another person, and I cannot ensure that that person will do the right thing and keep your info private. Obviously anyone who shares or abuses your private information is an rear end in a top hat and if I find out he or she did that and can confirm it then he or she goes right on the poo poo list immediately and forever, and I will also tell on them. But you must agree not hold me or SomethingAwful financially, legally, ethically, or spiritually responsible if that happens. It'll be between you and the rear end in a top hat, basically. Participating means you agree to these rules. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 08:21 on Nov 18, 2018 |
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Nov 10, 2018 19:42
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First post reserved, just in case.
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Nov 10, 2018 19:43
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Dear secret santa, this year I have been a good boy. Gift Preferences: I haven't played an RPG in years, and I have been ignoring my tabletop wargaming miniatures etc., but lately I have been playing boardgames more. My brother and I have been playing a lot of Thunderstone Quest. I think my boardgamegeek collection is pretty well up to date. I particularly like co-op and 2-player games right now. I am also getting into woodworking, and I have been doing some papercrafting and general modeling. I have more than enough dice. I like food, books, movies, music, SF and fantasy stuff, booze, and this is my steam wishlist. I will try to add more stuff to this later! SA trad games superstar poster Aldantefax knows me in person and might could also recommend things. Things I don't care for include anime and horror. I am OK with PDF but have a slight preference for nicely printed things. POD is OK. General Location: Bay Area, California Solemn Vow: I will not Grinch, nor falter in my TGSS duties. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 05:35 on Nov 18, 2018 |
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Nov 10, 2018 20:09
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I've caught up with the thread on confirmation emails. No email received yet from Humbug Scoolbus or SirFozzie.
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Nov 11, 2018 04:55
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Got it and replied, thanks!
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Nov 11, 2018 05:13
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:I PMed you with a good email. I got your PM, and replied; what's missing is an email from you. If you sent one, it didn't get to the tgsecretsanta@gmail.com inbox, nor its spam folder. e. We've got it worked out now, thanks! Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 07:20 on Nov 12, 2018 |
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Nov 12, 2018 06:19
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Caught up with emails, except no email yet from Ettin. Today was a holiday in the US - I'm hoping a lot more people see this thread tomorrow (tuesday)! Please do politely spread the word, but don't spam up TG threads with more than one nice post mentioning it's secret santa time. I've noticed most TG denizens kind of stick to their bookmarked threads, so people may not notice this one even though it's stickied (thanks Ettin!).
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Nov 13, 2018 07:23
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Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:I'm totally going to forget about this so PM me if it comes to it, but yeah, I'll do this as well. djfooboo posted:Put me in as an un-Grincher if necessary. I have no need for more TG stuff, but would love to give if somebody gets dicked over. Thanks to both of you for volunteering! But, the way it works now is we wait till there's a grinch, and then I make a call for volunteers and pick randomly from among them. This works better for me (I don't have to track anything unless something bad happens), and also ensures that all of the de-grinch volunteers are people currently watching the thread, as and when it happens (typically late december or early january). Last year we had zero grinches, so let's cross our fingers and assume the best, again! e. Replies to everyone are out. Still no email from our overlord, Ettin. I wonder if he read the rules? 
Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 05:24 on Nov 14, 2018 |
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Nov 14, 2018 05:20
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Latest batch of sign-ups are processed! We are at 23 participants so far, with less than three days left for folks to sign up for the main round. Last year the main round was 58 gifts (which included a handful of double-uppers) so I hope we get a nice flood of people in the next couple days. But if not, no worries... everyone still gets the same amount of presents!
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Nov 15, 2018 06:35
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I'm all caught up! Including Ettin. But not AnAnonymousIdiot, but they only just posted. We're up to 28 goons so far. I'd love to pull a few more in before the deadline if possible. That would be merrier.
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Nov 16, 2018 07:16
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I'm caught up again! We have 36 goons signed up to exchange 39 presents. Just a note: I intend to wait fairly late tomorrow before processing the list and sending out everyone's Santees, and there's a chance I'll wind up doing it Sunday instead, because I may have an engagement Saturday evening. If so, please don't panic. 
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Nov 17, 2018 08:50
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IT HAS BEGUN Alright folks, I'm cutting off sign-ups for the main round now! I will be sending out emails with Santee assignments for the next hour or two. Of course, anyone can still sign up, because we'll be starting the first LIGHTNING BONUS ROUND momentarily - I'll post instructions when that kicks off.
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Nov 18, 2018 05:36
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Alright kids now it's time for LIGHTNING BONUS ROUNDS! Lightning bonus rounds are how you take part in the Trad Games Secret Santa thing after the deadline for the main round is passed. It's also how you can be greedy and exchange more than one present with your fellow goons! Beginning today (November 17th), and continuing until no later than December 10th, we will have a series of extra bonus rounds and YOU can participate. The LIGHTNING BONUS ROUNDS work a lot like the main round. All of the rules apply except for the deadline for application. Re-read the rules in the OP just in case you forgot them. OK so to sign up I post in the thread and send you an email? Correct. You must do this even if you participated in the main round. Post in the thread. If you already participated in the main round you can link to your original post or just quote it to show your gift preferences. You must send an email to tgsecretsanta@gmail.com as well; if you already sent one this year I don't need your address again, but I do need another email regardless. My response to that email is your only confirmation that you've successfully signed up. What then? I will end each LIGHTNING BONUS ROUND according to whichever of the following things happens first:
Once each round closes I'll randomize the participants in the round and you all exchange gifts. You immediately fire off a Trad Games Present at your Santee, and they do the same! And of course the instant one LIGHTNING BONUS ROUND ends, the next one begins. What about international shipping? You can still tell me you prefer not to ship internationally – if it's impossible for you, let me know and I'll try to make sure that doesn't happen. But if you live outside the US it's probably required to ship internationally. Bear in mind that you can always buy something online from a store that operates in your target country and thereby avoid expensive shipping costs. (You might have to pay a currency exchange fee but that is typically much less money.) If I get a pool that contains nobody else in your country, I will contact you to check if you'd rather sit out to the next round. It's better though if LIGHTNING BONUS ROUND participants can all ship internationally. Remember, you can always just order something online from the destination country: you usually just need a credit card. So then what's the shipping deadline? Of course, as we close in on Christmas day, you will have less and less time in which to accomplish purchase, shipping, and delivery. You'll have to pick an appropriate delivery option and be certain whatever you're buying is either in your hands, or definitely in stock at the retailer of your choice. You are still supposed to ship your item absolutely no later than December 15th AND get your gift delivered to your Secret Santee by December 19th! This is part of the challenge! But it probably means that you won't have time to make a hand-made gift or wait for something that is out of stock to get restocked. Strongly consider ordering online from a major retailer with a strong reputation for shipping things immediately. Will I get matched with someone I've gifted or been gifted by before? Possibly. For the main round I do my absolute best to avoid this, including making people ship internationally to avoid a previous match. But with limited goons, it's possible that the only way to be polite to the no-international-please people is to match you with someone you've gifted before. As always, you can give me a list of your mortal enemies and I won't match you with someone you despise. ROUND ONE BEGINS NOW GO!
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Nov 18, 2018 08:18
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All statuses updated, and correspondences replied-to, hopefully!
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Nov 19, 2018 06:16
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Gifts being delivered Nov 19th might be a record, some of you guys are totally on it! I haven't even ordered mine yet!
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Nov 21, 2018 06:33
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A box from my Santa has arrived! I haven't opened it yet - I'll get to that this evening.
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Nov 21, 2018 22:04
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Rhjamiz posted:Gift away! The current lightning round has enough members that it will kick off this Saturday night or Sunday morning. But, I'll start another round after that, which will run to the 2nd. You can join the current round just to be sure, since there's no guarantee a second round will fill: and it's fine to wait till the 6th to mail a present. Either way, of course, all gifts from all rounds need to be shipped no later than December 14th, and must arrive no later than December 18th. (If you wait till the 14th to ship, you'll have to use a premium option to possibly have it arrive by the 18th). I think you should be OK shipping on the 6th, regardless.
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Nov 22, 2018 05:02
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A box! Sophia showed up to assist with box opening.  Little bottles, in styrofoam packaging? From something called Liquorama!  It's gin!  Three varieties of St. George Gin, a local-to-me distillery that I particularly enjoy.  And a lovely note!  Thanks, Chekans 3 16! As it happens, I have purchased gin from this distillery before, but none of these three varieties. I will have to fight to keep my wife out of them - she's a fan of gin & tonics, but she can use her own drat gin for that, there's plenty. This is too good for mixers, it'll be my sippin' gin. I like to drink it neat, or sometimes with one ice cube. I can't wait to try it out! Actually I can and must wait, because I hurt my back and am on some painkillers, but I will let you know when I try it probably in a few days.
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Nov 22, 2018 05:22
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Chekans 3 16 posted:Oh man, I don't drink so I know nothing about liquor but (thanks to some general advice from Aldantefax) looks like I hit a bullseye Well thanks! And really that's very generous of you, just the booze by itself seems like a pretty sweet & complete gift
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Nov 22, 2018 06:58
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I was doing second family thanksgiving with my in-laws today, so kicking off the lightning bonus round is delayed until tomorrow (sunday)!
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Nov 25, 2018 07:55
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Hi kids! OK I've caught up on the last two days' worth of emails, and am now processing the LIGHTNING BONUS ROUND 1 people. LIGHTNING BONUS ROUND 2 starts now! e. And all the ROUND 1 santee addresses have been sent. Check your inboxes, bonus rounders! Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 06:33 on Nov 26, 2018 |
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Nov 26, 2018 06:14
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Great to see the gifts streaming in and it's not even December yet! Around a dozen completed giftings so far. I'm caught up on emails and we are in an open bonus round with one goon signed up for it so far.
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Nov 29, 2018 08:20
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Another box arrived from my Santa, Chekans 3 16! The cats were having dinner, so feline box interest was at a nadir.  Blurry games!  Oh wait no, clear games! I got Santorini and a couple decks of Keyforge. Right on! Looks like a couple of cool fun games to try, perhaps accompanied by a glass of gin. Thanks, Checkans 3 16! You were extremely generous.
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Nov 30, 2018 05:59
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AnAnonymousIdiot posted:The Yule-Father remembered what day it is and is quickly at work. Two gifts are already on their way, and one more may join them real quick if we get lucky. If I understand right, you've sent gifts for #s 2 and 3, correct?
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Dec 3, 2018 01:34
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Hi everyone! Everything seems to be going well. I just wanted to mention we only have 2 goons signed up for LIGHTNING BONUS ROUND 2, which is one goon short of the triad needed to not just have it be a gift exchange, lol. If anyone was on the fence about it, one more goon and I can close that round and kick it off. Rhyos, PST, if nobody else signs up, I guess I could have you two exchange gifts! It would not be a surprise who is your Santa, but you'd still get a present and you wouldn't know what the present is till you get it!
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Dec 4, 2018 07:09
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Rid posted:Thanks - it really is a fun game! How many parcels, exactly? ibntumart posted:Not anymore it's not! Please let me throw my hat in the ring since I'm a dumb dummy that forgot about TGSS until too late the last several years. You're in! Did you used to have a different username on SA? I don't see you in any of my sheets, since 2010, maybe you did it before then! If so, welcome back! LIGHTNING BONUS ROUND 2 is closed! All participants should have Santee assignments in their inboxes now. Technically we're open for another bonus round, but I don't think we're likely to get signups and time is getting short now anyway. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Dec 5, 2018 |
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Dec 5, 2018 04:00
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Benedict posted:Leperflesh, my wife had a question. Shes not an SA goon but she was curious if she could participate via my account. I'd of course stand surety for her as far as grinching etc. Dont know if that has ever come up, figured id ask. Hm! Interesting idea. It's too late this year, of course, unless we get a few people eager for another lightning bonus round. One disadvantage would be that her Santa would have only the info you gave about her, no post history or familiarity from seeing her post here in TG. But I know we've sometimes had goons ask for and receive gifts for their children. This isn't that different. One possibility would be to have you and your wife be a team, and do 2x presents. You would be assigned two santas and two santees, and your santas could be requested to get things for both of you? 2-player games, that sort of thing? Then you and your wife could each pick out gifts for your two santees, however you wanted to divide them up. Think about it, and remind me next year when we're doing signups.
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Dec 5, 2018 20:21
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CovfefeCatCafe posted:Sorry I haven't followed up on my receiving of the package, but here it is to show that my Santa is not a grinch. I have already informed my Santa via secret communication tools found only in Asia (Line). I thought it was pretty funny that I wound up assigning you someone you knew... even though they're in a different country! I swear I was just trying to keep folks' shipping costs down.
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Dec 8, 2018 08:01
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Hi everyone! Just a reminder: you have TEN DAYS left to get presents delivered to your Trad Games Secret Santas! I have sent email reminders to everyone for whom I have no status like "ordered" or "shipped" or "delivered" or "received". Of course there's still time to get something sent, but 10 days is about the limit of what you can expect from normal ground delivery this close to christmas. If you delay further, you will wind up having to pay for a more expensive shipping option. Meanwhile, things are going very well! We have about 31 received gifts/gift collections received already, which is a good number out of the total of about 55 expected! There's also about 12 gifts/gift collections that have been ordered, or are in transit now.
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Dec 8, 2018 19:33
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Bruxism posted:Christmas miracle! My TG Secret Santa gift finally arrived! Whew! I'm glad it finally made it. I actually tried to get you another gift, but not all items on Amazon can be shipped to your address, for reasons unexplained by them. This one was available, though, and it looks cool! Swags posted:That's it! Here's hoping I can participate still. If not, Merry Christmas everyone! Aw, Swags! I'm glad to see you here again. We don't have anyone else signed up for the current round, and the previous round only had 3 goons in it, so I'd be kind of shocked if we still get one. Anyone that wants to volunteer should speak up right away, though! Perhaps with a relaxing of the delivery rules for this final round, it'd be possible: something like, delivery by new year's day? I don't want the thread to drag out, but I hate to see anyone not get to participate.
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Dec 10, 2018 17:14
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SirFozzie posted:Thanks, Let me know if I can follow up on this with ya (the description that was up when I purchased it made it look like it was orc miniatures for use in WH40K), it's an addon for the actual board game. Yup, woops! Heroes of Blackreach, the full boardgame is like $75. If JackMann can't make use of this expansion, maybe you guys can work together on a return/exchange or something. thegodofchuck posted:I got a package! quote:P.S. Still haven't heard back from FewtureMD if they indeed received part two and if SirFozzie got the physical Christmas Card in addition to the .pdfs. Let's handle this sort of followup via email - it's easier for me to maintain a thread of correspondence that way. ibntumart posted:What the heck, sign me up for this last lightning round! I understand the feeling of almost missing out.
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Dec 11, 2018 19:55
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OK we have three goons and I'm gonna close LIGHTNING BONUS ROUND 3 now! It's too late if you missed this last train, woo woo Emails with Santee assignments are sent! Go shop! Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Dec 12, 2018 |
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Dec 12, 2018 19:55
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Sion posted:Alas, I don't have pets, but I do have some cool metal dice now! Thanks, Santa! You should expect a second package, according to my spreadsheet.
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Dec 13, 2018 16:56
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d'awww my old buddy Swaggers deserves a christmas present
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Dec 13, 2018 17:50
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ibntumart posted:My Santee's gift has been ordered, but I very much doubt it will be here quite in time to make a Christmas deadline. But hey, miracles can happen! And anyway, won't it be nice to have a second mini-Christmas a day or three after the first one? Understood. This is for round 3, so, folks reading along: this lot got special dispensation to possibly be a little late, there's no rules-violating here.
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Dec 14, 2018 07:12
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thegodofchuck posted:A package! What's inside?? Did your Santa number themselves? If not, I'll need this shipment's santa to claim responsibility, here or via email please. ANNOUNCEMENT I am heading out of town this afternoon to attend a funeral and will not be back till saturday or sunday. I won't be answering TGSS emails during that time. I should be able to catch up to any issues on Sunday evening or possibly Monday, depending on how things go.
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Dec 14, 2018 22:23
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My best friend's dad passed away last week after several years of decline with Alzheimers. So we knew he would go eventually and it's a mercy, although my friend is still taking it very hard, he lost his mom a few years ago to cancer and his siblings are terrible people so now he's kind of alone, he was his dad's caretaker the last few years. I've known them since I was in 2nd grade, so I was close to the family. I'll be alright, but I worry about my friend.
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Dec 14, 2018 22:37
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Alright everyone, we're coming down to the deadline now, and most of the TG Secret Santa gifts have already been received! Here's a rundown of what my notes say about gift status. Please look for your Santee - the person assigned to you for you to get a gift - and verify the status, or let me know if I've got something wrong. MAIN ROUND pre:STATUS SANTEE Received 2/2 Zikan received No Pun Intended received ToyotaThong Received 2/2 Ephphatha Received 2/2 Hypnobeard Received 2/2 Humbug Scoolbus Received ½ Sion received CovfefeCatCafe received thespaceinvader received WereGoat received PST received Rhjamiz Received ½ (½ not yet shipped?) DigitalRaven received Loxbourne received potatocubed received Yvonmukluk received Loxbourne received Bruxism received occamsnailfile Verified delivered AnAnonymousIdiot 1 received Benedict received Auralsaurus Flex gifts dispatched AnAnonymousIdiot 2 Received 3/3 Maigius received LeSquide received (unopened) fr0id received Chekans 3 16 shipped “prepared for US Export”Atlas Hugged received berenzen shipping 16th JackMann Received 2/2 Leperflesh ordered w/option “before xmas” Ettin received jivjov received CaptainRat received That Old Tree received Reene shipped AnAnonymousIdiot 3 received SirFozzie received Cotton Candidasis received NTRabbit received Gau pre:LIGHTNING BONUS ROUND 1 received Rid Received ½ FewtureMD received SirFozzie received JackMann ordering dec 12th thegodofchuck 1 received thegodofchuck 2 received thegodofchuck 3 Delivered 3/3 Rhjamiz LIGHTNING BONUS ROUND 2 Received ½ ibntumart received Rhyos received PST LIGHTNING BONUS ROUND 3 possibly received? ibntumart ordered JackMann received Swags
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Dec 17, 2018 18:00
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potatocubed posted:I can verify that I have received a gift. Also that my santee has received theirs, because they posted in-thread. Yup that's what my sheet says, on both ends.
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Dec 17, 2018 23:21
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Atlas Hugged posted:I'm on holiday for the next week so won't be able to check for deliveries. I get home on Christmas Eve so let's hope for a miracle from Santa! I believe you said there's an office or something at your address that can accept deliveries, right? Hopefully the gods of international customs will bless and favor your inbound gift.
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Dec 21, 2018 01:29
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