HF Secret Santa 2013: THE SECRETEST SANTA

This is the fifth annual Halforums Secret Santa. Previous years were crazy fun:2012 Secret Santa, 2011 Secret Santa, 2010 Secret Santa, 2009 Secret Santa

IF YOU PARTICIPATE YOU MUST OCCASIONALLY CHECK THIS THREAD, PARTICULARLY THIS POST, FOR UPDATES.

Sign up is closed. Assignments will be made this weekend.

Bowielee
Sparhawk
Chad Sexington
Gusto
evilmike
Shawnacy
figmentPez
klew
Emrys
Cajungal
hylian
BErt
Shakey
PatrThom
Bubble181
Covar
Dirona
Officer_Charon
Tress
Tinwhistler
Jay
Dei
Terrik
Phil
Littlesin


You will have your assignment this weekend. You will be expected to send a gift via email or mail by Friday December 13th.

It's a shortened 1 week sign up, two weeks to send secret santa this year. There is no extra time after the 13th for gift sending - you must send it by the 13th of December.

What is it?
Just what it sounds like. It's a Secret Santa between your fellow halforumites. Everyone who signs up will be randomly assigned another participant. You are then tasked to buy that person a gift. As a recipient, you should leave a few hints in a post to this thread as to what sort of interests you have.

Rules and Info
  • International people are allowed. If you would prefer not to get an international person, indicate so when you sign up. It may be the case that if you restrict your choice to local shipping then matching might not work out and you may be left out - I'll let you know once the matching is complete if that's the case. So far we've always been able to match everyone that wanted to participate and meet their shipping requirements.
    -International Shipping Links: USPS, Customs Forms
    -Tips for shipping in and out of Canada
    -Remember to allow extra shipping time when shipping outside of your home country
  • To sign up fill out this form:
    http://semiaxis.com/hf/
  • Who can sign up?
    To keep things fair, only those with a join date earlier than April 15, 2013 and more than a handful of posts will be allowed to participate for obvious reasons. If you would like to participate and don't fall under the requirements then you will just have to wait until next year. The final say of who can join this activity will be entirely up to Dave so there may be exceptions, but the final word is final. Don't complain if special dispensation is not made for you. This goes for those who may be disincluded as well.
  • The deadline for signing up will be November 26th. After that day, Santas will be randomly assigned by computer. You will be sent an email or PM shortly after with the information of whom you will be drawing a gift for.
  • Recommended gift value is $5-20. Feel free to spend as much as you want, just be aware that the more you spend, the less likely you will receive a gift of equal value. Also, homemade/handmade gifts are allowed, and even encouraged (no homemade food please).
  • ABSOLUTE FINAL DEADLINE FOR GIFTS SENT IS DECEMBER 13th! PEOPLE WHO DO NOT SEND GIFTS BY DECEMBER 13th WILL BE SUSPENDED BY THEIR BIG TOES AND LEFT TO DRY OUT IN THE COLD, DRY MICHIGAN WINTER. NO EXCEPTIONS. If you are not CERTAIN you will be able to send a gift, then don't sign up.
  • Do not complain about your gift, conversely, try to send something you think the other person will like.
  • You MUST post pictures of your gift when you receive it. No exceptions.
  • UNLESS SPECIFIED AS SOMETHING THEY WOULD LIKE, PLEASE DO NOT SEND NSFW OR ALCOHOLIC GIFTS. Please note that many states/nations have rules about shipping alcohol, so when in doubt, choose another gift.
  • CAN I SHIP SOMETHING STRAIGHT FROM AMAZON OR SOMETHING?
    Yes you can, and it's a good idea to shop at your person's home country's Amazon site (www.amazon.ca for instance) if you want to save a bit on shipping.
  • SHIP WELL IN ADVANCE
    Get your act together NOW and ship your stuff by Dec 13th to make sure it arrives before the crazy Christmas rush that always happens at the latter half of December.
 
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I really wish I could participate, but without steady employment and money being as tight as it is, I'm not sure I'll be able to get my family any gifts, much less random internet peeps. I loved last years, though, and I'll make it up to whoever gets me next year.
 
I'm in even if I have to prostitute myself on a street corner.

You could be on to something here---you can guarantee your participation and it can double as your secret Santa gift.

Dave is going to be under my Christmas tree this year.
 

figmentPez

Staff member
I've had too much fun the last couple years to miss out.

Heck, I've used some of the gifts I've gotten, from both years I've participated, within the last couple days.
 
A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES!!!!

I think it's high time that I participate in this here dog and pony show. I've been really good with my money this year, so I figure I can afford to participate.

Also anything I get would be ordered through a web site, so shipping outside the country may be problematic, but I think Canada would be OK.
 
Some fun info while you are all waiting for this to start:

This will be the fifth annual Halforums secret Santa. Over the past four years 52 people have participated in one or more of these. 8 people have participated all four years, 7 people participated in three of the four years, and 10 people participated in two of the four years.

In three of those four years we had exactly 27 participants. In 2010 only 19 people participated, with many bowing out due to financial issues.
 
Fixed that for ya. :p

I...think I might be in this year.
Like your prom night?

Some fun info while you are all waiting for this to start:

This will be the fifth annual Halforums secret Santa. Over the past four years 52 people have participated in one or more of these. 8 people have participated all four years, 7 people participated in three of the four years, and 10 people participated in two of the four years.

In three of those four years we had exactly 27 participants. In 2010 only 19 people participated, with many bowing out due to financial issues.
The hug is because I love these kinds of statistics. I think I'm the only loser who routinely checks the activity log on my 3DS.
 
Naturally, I will endeavor to be in this year as well. *grins* This is always a fun time, and I love seeing various folk's reactions to their gifts.
 

North_Ranger

Staff member
You have to be careful, though... This kind of behaviour has its side effects. Last year and the year before it was the whole communoity coming together to help those who had had a very bad year (gonna start playin' GTAV soon, so thank you ^_^). And beyond such communal efforts, there's been a sharp increase in RAKs - Random Acts of Kindness.

Why, just today I received a strange package from Amazon. I thought it was my Ciaphas Cain omnibus, so you can just imagine how surprised I was when I found the gift-wrapped package to contain The Witch Watch by Shamus Young, with an accompanying note saying the sender had found it interesting and wanted to share it with me. This person* also requested that I "continue being myself". This can only mean a security breach, as only a handful of people knew of my plan to reinvent myself as a goat farmer in the Hebrides.

With this new Secret Santa drive, I have no doubt we will continue to see many more RAKs.

*
thank you, @Bubble181 :) You are awesome.
 
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