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Creatures Caves Secret Santa | |
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 Sanely Insane
RisenAngel
     Manager

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12/9/2013 | 1 |
After a poll determined that the number of people interested in a Secret Santa greatly outnumbered the people who weren't, I decided that it's at least worth a shot.
For those of you who don't know what this is about, the basics of a Secret Santa is that a person is told to give a gift to another person...without that other person knowing. So when the person actually gets their gift, it winds up being quite the (hopefully pleasant) surprise.
How would the gifts work in a Creatures Caves Secret Santa? Here's some ideas:
*Creatchi Items for other Creatchi players. While items are not that hard to get, sometimes people are just not active enough to get a constant supply. So why not drop a bunch of items on them this Christmas?
*An interesting Creature from your world. Who wouldn't like a kooky norn to liven up their gene pools?
*Artwork. Maybe your giftee happens to be a fan of Grendels, so not why draw them a picture of grendels doing what they do? Or even better, what if your giftee is a developer whose works could use some fanart?
*Agents: If you're an agent engineer, there's probably more than a few people who would appreciate a special agent made just for them.
*Genetic Breeds: A full breed is a rather tall order, but genetic breeds can be just as interesting and don't take nearly as long. If you're a skilled geneticist, why not give your giftee some new
blood?
*None of these sound appealing to you? Maybe you can come up with something unique that'll knock your giftee's socks off.
Sound fun to you? Good, good! Just keep these things in mind:
*Try to put some effort into your gifts. If your giftee really wanted an ordinary ChiChi Norn from Muco, he or she could lay one himself or herself. Likewise, if you decide to draw some art, make sure it actually looks nice. Agents and genetic breeds should also look nice and work as they're intended to without any bugs.
*Ideally, your gift should be something that you can make by yourself. However, if you really have no other options then I'm not completely opposed to collaborations.
*Make sure you can actually get a gift ready in time before choosing to participate. If you PM me saying you're going to participate and then your giftee never gets anything from you, then not only will your giftee be disappointed, I will be as well.
With that out of the way, let's move to Phase 1: Sign-ups. As of now, the planned last day for signups is Friday, December 13. This isn't a set-in stone date; I know many of you are likely going to be busy (heck, I am), so I'm not above doing an extension if need be.
If you wish to participate:
Do NOT post in this topic. For the sake of keeping this as anonymous as possible, PM me.
I also happen to be in need of a fellow manager to assist me in such things as assigning partners and making sure the participants are, well, participating. If you think you're up to the task, feel free to PM me about it as well.
Number of participants: 9
Sign-ups are now closed, and we've moved on to Phase 2: Making the gifts. All the participants should have their partners by the end of today, and then you can get started. More details are in the PMs I will send you.
Questions? Feel free to ask them in this topic. Otherwise, let's see if we can spice things up with a little holiday cheer!
~ The Realm ~
Risen Angel's Creatures Blog
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 Wee Scrivener
Trell
    

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12/9/2013 | |
What's the date for completing gifts? ![[nblush] [nblush]](/images/smilies/emot_blush.gif)
Trell
"Holy crap in a casket!" |
 Sanely Insane
RisenAngel
     Manager

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12/9/2013 | |
I was saving that until sign-ups were complete, but I guess I'll say it now: Gifts need to be completed by Christmas Day (Wednesday, December 25).
~ The Realm ~
Risen Angel's Creatures Blog
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 Tea Queen
Laura
    

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12/10/2013 | |
This sounds like fun and a great way to get into the festive spirit! Hopefully I can rustle something up by Christmas Day; should be plenty of time. ![[nsanta] [nsanta]](/images/smilies/emot_santa.gif) |

LoverIan
    
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12/10/2013 | |
You can count me in!
beep |
 Sanely Insane
RisenAngel
     Manager

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12/10/2013 | |
I feel the need to repeat myself here, since it seems to be getting missed:
Don't post in this topic if you want to join. PM me instead!
If you DON'T PM me, I will not count you.
Thank you.
~ The Realm ~
Risen Angel's Creatures Blog
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 Tea Queen
Laura
    

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12/11/2013 | |
Thanks for making that clear, Grendel Man. I think people are just excited about joining in and are expressing an interest, though. You don't want to put people off from taking part after all!  |

KikoTehEevee


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12/11/2013 | |
I'm sorry (im late getting cued into this =A=) I wanna do the secret santa also, but how do I know who my giftee is? |
 Sanely Insane
RisenAngel
     Manager

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12/11/2013 | |
At the end of Friday (or whatever the deadline day winds up being), I'll use a random number generator (or some sort of program) to pair up the participants. I'll message you once you've been assigned a partner.
~ The Realm ~
Risen Angel's Creatures Blog
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Slohse
 
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12/11/2013 | |
Might need a really good coder for my agent.
![[nsleepy] [nsleepy]](/images/smilies/emot_sleepy.gif) |

LoverIan
    
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12/11/2013 | |
mlohse wrote: Might need a really good coder for my agent.
How do you know that when you don't know your partner?
Wouldn't you prefer to know what your partner likes, and adapt to their preferences for the gift you give?
beep |

Slohse
 
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12/11/2013 | |
hmm... I meant, I can't tell a line of code from random nonsence if it walked up and gave me it's autobiography.
![[nsleepy] [nsleepy]](/images/smilies/emot_sleepy.gif) |
 Sanely Insane
RisenAngel
     Manager

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12/11/2013 | |
Since we're on the subject: I would prefer it if your gift was something you are able to make by yourself, but I guess I'm not opposed to collaborations if you really have no other choice.
~ The Realm ~
Risen Angel's Creatures Blog
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Slohse
 
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12/11/2013 | |
yay! :3
![[nsleepy] [nsleepy]](/images/smilies/emot_sleepy.gif) |

LoverIan
    
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12/11/2013 | |
You could choose to make something else.
I was worried you had already decided exactly what to gift XD
beep |
 Sanely Insane
RisenAngel
     Manager

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12/12/2013 | |
It's presently ~1 day until the deadline for sign-ups hits. If you want to sign up but haven't already, now's the time to PM me and get yourself on the list!
*Has no idea how to handle an odd number of participants*
~ The Realm ~
Risen Angel's Creatures Blog
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Slohse
 
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12/12/2013 | |
Are you participating yourself?
![[nsleepy] [nsleepy]](/images/smilies/emot_sleepy.gif) |
 Sanely Insane
RisenAngel
     Manager

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12/12/2013 | |
As of now: no. I might be able to surprise someone, but since I know all the participants none of them are going to surprise me.
~ The Realm ~
Risen Angel's Creatures Blog
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 Air Guitarist
kezune
    

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12/12/2013 | |
You could always handle participants in a ring. Instead of assigning partners, you could assign people like so.
Assuming 5 people
Person 1 gives a gift to person 2.
person 2 gives a gift to person 3.
... etc.
Person 5 gives a gift to person 1.
And that last exchange closes the circle. Then it's also a mystery who's getting what from who.
Updated Rehosting Policy[/title] |
 Sanely Insane
RisenAngel
     Manager

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12/13/2013 | |
Well, today's the deadline, and I think everyone who wanted to sign up already did.
However, just in case anyone still wants to join at the last minute, I'll leave signups open until I get up in the morning (somewhere around 10 - 1 Eastern).
Once signups are closed, I'll start pairing people up.
~ The Realm ~
Risen Angel's Creatures Blog
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 Senior Wrangler
Nutter
    
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12/14/2013 | |
Not sure if I'm too late - feel free to add my name if you have an odd number of sign-ups already, but don't worry if not.  |
 Sanely Insane
RisenAngel
     Manager

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12/14/2013 | |
Sign-ups are now closed. Thanks to everyone who signed up! You should be receiving your partners shortly.
~ The Realm ~
Risen Angel's Creatures Blog
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 Sanely Insane
RisenAngel
     Manager

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12/14/2013 | |
One ton of screw-ups on my part later, and everyone should be assigned a partner now. Feel free to reply to the message I gave you if you have questions/need to correct me about something.
~ The Realm ~
Risen Angel's Creatures Blog
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 Chaotic Spriter
mea
  

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12/27/2013 | |
I wonder how successful this was?.... |
 Sanely Insane
RisenAngel
     Manager

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12/27/2013 | |
All of the participants have now sent out their gifts. With that, the Secret Santa is now over. Thanks for the support, everyone! I hope you're enjoying the gifts you got from one another.
Now that it's all said and done, does anyone have any thoughts on it? I would do an official-looking survey like Jessica makes for the CCSF, but honestly I have no idea what questions to put on the thing (and this way takes less work, anyway >> ).
Most importantly: Is this something worth becoming an annual event?
~ The Realm ~
Risen Angel's Creatures Blog
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Jessica
    

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12/28/2013 | |
My only suggestion for Secret Santa is to have signups take place well in advance. I know in another forum/game I'm a part of, we had Secret Santa in the following fashion:
- People posted their wishlists between Nov. 14 and Dec. 2
- Secret Santas were privately assigned on about Dec 3.
- Gifts had to be privately sent to the coordinators by Dec. 21
- Secret Santa gifts were posted by the coordinators on about Dec. 24
This also made all Secret Santas still secret in the end, unless they wanted to reveal themselves. It was also nice to see what everyone got! Not sure if that would work here, but I at least think that putting it together in November would help with participation rates. Sounds like this round worked pretty well, though! Hope everyone enjoyed their gifts!
Discover Albia |

KittyTikara
    

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12/28/2013 | |
I agreed with Jessica, I really needed more time to make my gift.
I loved the idea of Secret Santa, I love the gift I got, and I hope my giftie liked their gift. I just want more more time to actually make a gift. Also for the gifts to be given in secret, and for me to not know who made my gift. Knowing who sent my gift ruins a bit of the fun in my opinion.
The Mobula Ray - My Creatures blog |
 Wee Scrivener
Trell
    

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12/28/2013 | |
I concur; I ended up scrambling last minute to get mine finished. (Though part of that is likely from the fact that I've been sick for the past couple weeks.)
All in all though, it was a lot of fun. I'd definitely do it again next year. 
Trell
"Holy crap in a casket!" |

HavenHerbaven
   
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12/28/2013 | |
I think that a little more time world help I ended up making two gifts encase one wasn't ready in time because of testing. Lots of fun I would defiantly do it again. 
Herb
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trex45

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2/26/2014 | |
r54tgp
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