The CAG Wii VC Secret Santa Project ~~ Sign ups closed. Behind-the-scenes-stuff now!

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[quote name='daroga']Wow, a lot of talk here. Good deal. :)

First of all, those rules are not final, so if you think any of them should be changed, let me know. (Zen, what do you think about them as I drafted them?)

Secondly, we will provide lists of games we already own. Through that list, you might get an idea of the types of games your person enjoys. As a gift giver, I certainly want to get someone something they'll like and enjoy. I think setting up genre do's and don'ts would be good. If there's a assumed AAA title that you don't care for (say, if you don't like Ocarina of Time), I'd maybe just include that in "games I own" so it doesn't sound as pretentious and you don't get people buying it for you because you need to like the same things they do (not that that ever happens on the Internet or especially on CAG, but you know... ;) ).

There will be exceptions made to those who don't meet requirements, but it will be to the sole discretion of Zen and myself.

I don't think limiting a list based on review scores is a viable way to go. I think most of us understand what games are absolute crap. At the same time, I'd hope we're not all so petty as to say "BUT I SPENT XXXX points and only got XX points back!" This is a gift folks. You don't give it to get something in return, you give it to make someone else happy. :)

Anyway, yes. Any thoughts on how the rules might be revised?[/quote]
I think the draft requirements you came up with are pretty spot on and I'm quite happy with them. I still think we should make an exception for certain CAG members who don't have the iTrader rating you've listed as minimum. It could be a case by case basis and it should be expected that the CAG members who don't meet the minimum requirement should forward their gifts first. This way we minimize the hanky panky.

Regarding how much to spend - Basically I would try to get it be as close to the amount the other person spent to be fair. I don't want people to feel like they're getting ripped off. Like if you sent me Super Mario Bros., The Lost Levels, and The Legend of Zelda. That would be $15/1500 points. But if I sent you Mario Kart 64 and Bomberman '93, and that would be $16/1600 points, I wouldn't mind having spent the extra dollar. But if someone buys another person a N64 game and only gets a NES game in return, I would feel that the person deserved 2 NES games to even out how much he spent.

On the topic of reviews, I think they're helpful in that they help guide us to games that we may not normally be aware of or take another look at. I also wanted to get the list out so people could start considering what they would want to give out as gifts. There were a lot of games for the TG-16 that even I haven't heard of and didn't realize were out until I started looking through IGN's review database.
 
[quote name='daroga']Wow, a lot of talk here. Good deal. :)

First of all, those rules are not final, so if you think any of them should be changed, let me know. (Zen, what do you think about them as I drafted them?)[/quote]

iTrader rating should be able to be substituted with other stuff. (maybe even stackable, I got 1 rating here, 1 at ebay, and I think some other stuff too. That still leaves me about 11 short:lol:) But lower feedback sends first IMO.
 
Remember, these aren't trades though. If I'm Zen's secret Santa (I *always* type "Satan" first), he won't be mine because that would ruin all of the surprise. It's more of a chain than pairs. I think I was a little unclear before.

Should we make it like at least 800 but a max of 1600? I'm hesitant to assign a minimum just because I know for some people $8 is nothing, where for some (depending on age/income), $8 could be huge given other financial responsibilities during the holidays.

I think Zen and I will work on exceptions to the rules on a case-by-case basis. If you want to bring other feedback from elsewhere into play, that's cool. Just know that if you don't meet the listed requirements, it's not a for-sure that you're in. Likewise, we reserve the right to can anyone we deem might be problem. You're at the mercy of total subjective opinion, but we'll do our best to make this a fair, fun thing :)

Keep the thoughts coming. We're reading them all and taking them all into consideration.
 
[quote name='daroga']Remember, these aren't trades though. If I'm Zen's secret Santa (I *always* type "Satan" first), he won't be mine because that would ruin all of the surprise. It's more of a chain than pairs. I think I was a little unclear before.

Should we make it like at least 800 but a max of 1600? I'm hesitant to assign a minimum just because I know for some people $8 is nothing, where for some (depending on age/income), $8 could be huge given other financial responsibilities during the holidays.[/quote]

Perhaps we should say that they should try to meet the 1600 point mark as best they can with the games they pick?
 
[quote name='Zen Davis']Perhaps we should say that they should try to meet the 1600 point mark as best they can with the games they pick?[/quote]Perhaps. Think the cap should be lowered to the most expensive game available at 1200 points? I just don't want people feeling like they're being forced to give a ton but at the same time, I'd like there to be room for people to be generous.

Anyone have experience running a real Secret Santa at work/with family? Any suggestions on how to do it?
 
Daroga hit it on the head when he mentioned that the person you're buying for won't necessarily be the one buying for you. I think it's pretty petty to complain about not being "equal". It's Christmas, and it's out of goodwill - take it as that, and nothing more.

No one said you had to spend 1600 points. Let's be reasonable - a free game is a free game, and I'd like to think we all know what's not worth your points.

If there's really games you don't want, put them in your "I already have this" list. No one's going to know the difference, and it guarantees you won't get it. No whining.
 
[quote name='JJSP']Daroga hit it on the head when he mentioned that the person you're buying for won't necessarily be the one buying for you. I think it's pretty petty to complain about not being "equal". It's Christmas, and it's out of goodwill - take it as that, and nothing more.

No one said you had to spend 1600 points. Let's be reasonable - a free game is a free game, and I'd like to think we all know what's not worth your points.

If there's really games you don't want, put them in your "I already have this" list. No one's going to know the difference, and it guarantees you won't get it. No whining.[/quote]This is exactly my thoughts, stated more forcefully that I was willing to put it. We can still talk about it, but personally, if I buy someone an N64 game and an NES game and I get an NES game only in return, I'm not gonna be upset. I'd hope we're all mature enough to a) not try to be as cheap as possible with gifts and b) to not play the uncontent whiny putz because someone spent less on you than you spent on them.

The balance between fair and gracious is a hard one to meet sometime. ;)
 
[quote name='daroga']This is exactly my thoughts, stated more forcefully that I was willing to put it. We can still talk about it, but personally, if I buy someone an N64 game and an NES game and I get an NES game only in return, I'm not gonna be upset. I'd hope we're all mature enough to a) not try to be as cheap as possible with gifts and b) to not play the uncontent whiny putz because someone spent less on you than you spent on them.

The balance between fair and gracious is a hard one to meet sometime. ;)[/QUOTE]
Well, I wasn't trying to be forceful. :oops:

Let's just make this as easy as we can on Zen and Daroga.
 
I say no minimum and no maximum and no "Do not want" lists (I'm assuming Nintendo will already have something in place to block you from buying someone a VC game they've already got). If you get a crappy game, then it sucks to be you - that's what Secret Santas are all about (hopefully, we here at CAG, wouldn't give each other crappy games though). This way, perhaps, someone might get a game (and play it) when, normally, it isn't something they'd consider touching... (Whomever I get is so getting Elevator Action (NES))

Basically, daroga can make up a list (in some kind of random order). Then, he'll tell the first person on that list to buy for the second. The second to buy for the third, etc., etc... on down the list. Of course, the last person would buy for the first.

If you don't meet the minimum requirements (whatever they end up being), then perhaps something should be done along the lines of two participating (and qualifying) members of the CAG community will vouch for you, then you're in.

My two cents.
 
I don't think we need to worry so much about minimum costs. It's an entirely voluntary activity. The absolute minimum to be involved in the process is 500 points, which I think is fine, and if you're interesting in giving someone 2000 points worth of games when you know that it's possible you'll only get a 500 point game in return, that's up to you. But obviously, we can debate this as needed.

In addition, I'm up for exclusive conditions for participation. i.e. 15 iTrader rating OR 1 year membership, something along those lines. The voucher idea from UncleBob is also worth considering.
 
I think the easiest way to go about this is for us all to make a list of about 5 games we would like, then the person can then choose which one of those 5 to send.

Having a universal list of "accepted games" and all that just seems overly complicated.

Also, why not just set a minimum of 1000 points? This way, someone can't just load up thier wishlist with all N64 games, and then buy someone a 500 point NES game, they would have to buy 'em two.
 
Despite my current uneligibility, I'd like to chime in:

1. Secret Santa is a risk-taking enterprise and the lists here are take away from that. To keep the surprise bit, I'm not even posting my wish lists in that other thread until the Secret Santa's completion (or a notice that I won't be participating after all).

2. I'm quite happy that you're not going with pairs, again, keeps it all fresh.

3. You know what I really hated while getting my first degree? Statistics. We should have some, though, would be interesting to see which games on the VC are given more than others.

4. Whoever gets me is lucky as hell, since I never owned SNES, N64, or TurboGfx16. And I wouldn't even have ever had an NES if it wasn't for my wife - I'm a( PC Gamer convert. :)

This idea owns, and I thank daroga and Zen for rocking this with style. You both get my SHAFT of the Week awards.


(Who's the black private dick
That's a sex machine to all the chicks?
SHAFT!
Ya damn right!)
 
After sleeping on it...

I'm leaning toward nixing both minimum and maximum point values and putting in a suggested range of 1000-2000 points. Thoughts?

Until we're certain there's no possible way to accidently buy someone a game they already have and have the points be lost, we will have a "what I own" list. I think a genres I like and genres I don't like list will be helpful all around because, as a giver, I want to make sure that the game(s) I give will be enjoyed by everyone. As a counter to having a wishlist of specific games, part of the fun of the VC is having access to games you never played back in the day. This might be a fun way to discover some games that you're not sure you'd have liked and so thus were unwilling to spend the points for.

I think to "complete" everything, we'll have each person PM us when they sent as gifts. This is not to make judgments about how generous or stingy you've been. Like MC said above, I think it'll be fun to have some stats after it's all done about what systems and specific games were given most often. I might even make charts, if you're nice that is. And if I can learn how to use Open Office's version of Excel. ;)

Anyone have any thoughts on how to handle the friend codes? I'm assuming that it's going to have to be two way to get the transfer to work. We could, in the PM notifying you of who you should buy for, have a list of 4 codes you should have added in your system. That would preserve some of the surprise while not requiring you to have to add 14,000 people just to participate in this.
 
[quote name='UncleBob']I say no minimum and no maximum and no "Do not want" lists (I'm assuming Nintendo will already have something in place to block you from buying someone a VC game they've already got).[/quote] Do you have any idea how much nintendo has milked the SMB nes/snes games? I have all of them, and none are in their original form. Plus there's the classic NES series, E-reader cards, Animal Crossing...

[quote name='daroga']
Anyone have any thoughts on how to handle the friend codes? I'm assuming that it's going to have to be two way to get the transfer to work. We could, in the PM notifying you of who you should buy for, have a list of 4 codes you should have added in your system. That would preserve some of the surprise while not requiring you to have to add 14,000 people just to participate in this.[/quote]
Never would have thought of that, nice.
 
[quote name='daroga']
Anyone have any thoughts on how to handle the friend codes? I'm assuming that it's going to have to be two way to get the transfer to work. We could, in the PM notifying you of who you should buy for, have a list of 4 codes you should have added in your system. That would preserve some of the surprise while not requiring you to have to add 14,000 people just to participate in this.[/quote]

Never would have thought of that, nice.
 
About friend codes, I say after we have a deadline..we have everyone who has participated..EVERYONE needs to add EVERYONE on the participating list.

And thus, be told who you need to send your gift to.
 
[quote name='Doomed']Do you have any idea how much nintendo has milked the SMB nes/snes games? I have all of them, and none are in their original form. Plus there's the classic NES series, E-reader cards, Animal Crossing...[/QUOTE]

That's just part of the risk you'd have to take on. At least, if it's a game you have multiple times, then it's something you like. ;)

[quote name='lilboo']About friend codes, I say after we have a deadline..we have everyone who has participated..EVERYONE needs to add EVERYONE on the participating list.[/QUOTE]

No thanks. My Wii list is already filled up with tons of people I never talk to. If I want to send messages to other CAGs, I'll do it here.
 
[quote name='daroga']After sleeping on it...

I'm leaning toward nixing both minimum and maximum point values and putting in a suggested range of 1000-2000 points. Thoughts?

Until we're certain there's no possible way to accidently buy someone a game they already have and have the points be lost, we will have a "what I own" list. I think a genres I like and genres I don't like list will be helpful all around because, as a giver, I want to make sure that the game(s) I give will be enjoyed by everyone. As a counter to having a wishlist of specific games, part of the fun of the VC is having access to games you never played back in the day. This might be a fun way to discover some games that you're not sure you'd have liked and so thus were unwilling to spend the points for.

I think to "complete" everything, we'll have each person PM us when they sent as gifts. This is not to make judgments about how generous or stingy you've been. Like MC said above, I think it'll be fun to have some stats after it's all done about what systems and specific games were given most often. I might even make charts, if you're nice that is. And if I can learn how to use Open Office's version of Excel. ;)

Anyone have any thoughts on how to handle the friend codes? I'm assuming that it's going to have to be two way to get the transfer to work. We could, in the PM notifying you of who you should buy for, have a list of 4 codes you should have added in your system. That would preserve some of the surprise while not requiring you to have to add 14,000 people just to participate in this.[/quote]
I think everyone who is eligible and interested should PM their codes to Daroga and me and we could keep a personal database on our computers to keep everyone secret. This way Daroga and I can basically have a list to work with and what not. Once we've setup who sends what, I agree that we PM people with 4 codes and keep the surprise in tact.

Personally whoever gets me is probably going to get about 1500/1600 points worth of games.

We should get Wombat and CheapyD in on this... if they own a Wii. ;)
 
i just read that it will show what games the other guy has when you are trying buy something. I am willing to be a secret santa
 
[quote name='panasonic']how will we know we aren't buying someone a game they already have? I am willing to be a secret santa[/quote]

Perhaps along with the PM that contains their friend code, they can include a list of the games the already own? We could forward that list to the secret santa to help in their choosing of a game or two.
 
[quote name='Zen Davis']Perhaps along with the PM that contains their friend code, they can include a list of the games the already own? We could forward that list to the secret santa to help in their choosing of a game or two.[/quote]

updated my post :D it shouldn't be an issue anymore
 
[quote name='Zen Davis']We should get Wombat and CheapyD in on this... if they own a Wii. ;)[/quote]I already PMed Cheapy about it just to run it past him since I thought he should be aware of what we're trying to do. He's fully behind it and might front page it when we get everything set.

I like the idea of people vouching for those who don't meet the requirements. It would still be by our discretion, but that would certainly help I think.
 
[quote name='daroga']I already PMed Cheapy about it just to run it past him since I thought he should be aware of what we're trying to do. He's fully behind it and might front page it when we get everything set.

I like the idea of people vouching for those who don't meet the requirements. It would still be by our discretion, but that would certainly help I think.[/quote]

I could definately get vouched by a number of people. That would help a bunch.
 
[quote name='daroga']I already PMed Cheapy about it just to run it past him since I thought he should be aware of what we're trying to do. He's fully behind it and might front page it when we get everything set.

I like the idea of people vouching for those who don't meet the requirements. It would still be by our discretion, but that would certainly help I think.[/QUOTE]

How about lurkers with good eBay feedback? Could we let the feedback vouch for us?
 
Interested, but my iTrader of 1 says Hi. >_>

Dunno if people can vouch for me either.

This all still is interesting, though.
 
I guess I'll toss in my opinion, even though a few of the ideas have already been iterated.

Own/Do Not Want List - I think this is fair for several reasons: For "owned" games, it's simple enough. Either I already own it on the VC, or by some other means (original system, port, ect.). As far as do not want lists, I can see a reasoning for this as well. I may dislike a certain game from previous played experience, or a roommate/friend/whatever already owns it. Obviously, the "do not want" list is totally honor based, and should not be very long, i.e it should not be eliminating every single game that you do not want just so you can snag the games you know you do want. What's the point of a surprise in that instance? Maybe a limit can be on order once a master list is in place (pick 3 games to exclude for your personal list).

Non-iTraders/Newer CAGs - This might be more difficult to manage, considering that the games won't be true "trades" like I first understood. I agree wholeheartedly with the lower trader sends first. Not everyone likes to trade their games away (I have sold probably fewer than 5 of my games in my whole lifetime), so something else needs to be made available to those who don't qualify under this requirement. Maybe let Ebay feedback count as well, or other CAGs with high iTrader vouch for others as has been mentioned.

Price Range - Range should be reasonable, I'd say within $10-15. That allows room for plenty of different combinations. It ensures that one person doesn't send out a N64 game only to receive an NES game. Secret Santa is usually like that, a set dollar amount is usually selected so that no one is unfairly receiving something that is worth nothing. I feel the same ideal should be kept here. I know it's all in the spirit of things, but no one wants to receive just one NES game when they our sending out games with higher point values. I certainly won't mind a few dollars difference if everyone is within the required range.
 
Some of these "limitations" defeat the purpose of a secret santa exchange. At this point if you're concerned about points/which game you get etc. you should probably just buy the damn game yourself.
 
[quote name='daroga']I can't help but think of that episode of The Office. No one buy anyone else an iPod, ok? ;)[/quote]
Ha, that's what I thought of too.
 
i doubt someone can send a gift if we don't have them on our friendslist already so we would have to add everyones friends code right?
 
[quote name='panasonic']i doubt someone can send a gift if we don't have them on our friendslist already so we would have to add everyones friends code right?[/quote]We'll get you a list of 4 to make sure to add, to maintain secrecy without having to add everyone.
 
[quote name='daroga']I can't help but think of that episode of The Office. No one buy anyone else an iPod, ok? ;)[/quote]

I thought of it first!

Hey, I love you a homemade oven mitt's worth. :lol:

Hey, I love you a NES Pac-Man's worth. :D
 
I would love to participate, but I guess I can't because I don't trade. Oh well, sounds like fun.

I may start another thread that's more open.
 
[quote name='MisterHand']I would love to participate, but I guess I can't because I don't trade. Oh well, sounds like fun.

I may start another thread that's more open.[/quote]

But if someone gets ripped off would you be willing to front the difference?
 
[quote name='MisterHand']Just because somebody doesn't participate in iTrader doesn't mean they're a dishonest person.[/quote]No, but some sort of restrictions have to be in place unless we're going to discriminate against anyone who joined in the last X days assuming anyone new is a dishonest person. Or discriminate against no one and be shocked when someone gets free games and takes off.

I've already proposed having join date OR (as opposed to AND) feedback qualifications, makes it so the long-time CAGs can get in, and makes it so the CAGs who may be newer but have shown themselves to be active members of the community will also qualify. And I'd say if people who meet neither can have two people who do qualify vouch for them, let 'em in.

Perhaps for those who have to be vouched for, daroga and Zen wait for them to send the games to their recipient before giving their name to whoever will be buying for them.
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']Some of these "limitations" defeat the purpose of a secret santa exchange. At this point if you're concerned about points/which game you get etc. you should probably just buy the damn game yourself.[/quote]
You have to put some limitations in place, otherwise you're perfectly fine buying someone lets say Ocarina of Time, and you in return getting NES Pinball?

The reason why I think we need to limit the maximum points, is that I'll feel really shitty getting someone a N64 game and then getting two in return and vice versa. I don't care if I get an NES game, but I don't want to undercut anyone else so to speak.

I don't see the big deal about having a list of games you're interested in, and then the person who will be sending the gift choose from those. It doesn't ruin the surprise, you can have a list of 10 if you want. You're still not knowing who will be sending it until they do, and etc. Plenty of surprise for everyone!
 
Having every player add every player would be really complicated. Since I'm sure Nintendo tells you who sent the gift, you may as well just tell people to add their secret santa and be done with it.
 
I would gladly pay you next Tuesday for a Hamburger today.

In if I get an exemption... Unless, anyone wanna do some quick trades? I have some extra Xbox DDR games (complete!).
 
[quote name='botticus']No, but some sort of restrictions have to be in place unless we're going to discriminate against anyone who joined in the last X days assuming anyone new is a dishonest person. Or discriminate against no one and be shocked when someone gets free games and takes off.

I've already proposed having join date OR (as opposed to AND) feedback qualifications, makes it so the long-time CAGs can get in, and makes it so the CAGs who may be newer but have shown themselves to be active members of the community will also qualify. And I'd say if people who meet neither can have two people who do qualify vouch for them, let 'em in.

Perhaps for those who have to be vouched for, daroga and Zen wait for them to send the games to their recipient before giving their name to whoever will be buying for them.[/QUOTE]

I agree with what you've said here. There are obviously some of us that have been around forever, and post here a ton, but don't trade on here. I would be more than willing to "send first" or get others to vouch for me. I think we just need to have a system in place (possibly another thread) for those of us in that boat, to not clog this thread with those complaints and requests.
 
I think we should either go by iTrader rating, and if not that then Join Date + eBay feedback.

And we don't have to be that strict, we know who is active on the boards and is trustworthy regardless of those two facts. I don't think anyone who is active and has been here for a while is going to make themselves look like jackass over a $10.00 dollar VC game.
 
[quote name='yukine']I think we should either go by iTrader rating, and if not that then Join Date + eBay feedback.

And we don't have to be that strict, we know who is active on the boards and is trustworthy regardless of those two facts. I don't think anyone who is active and has been here for a while is going to make themselves look like jackass over a $10.00 dollar VC game.[/quote]Very true. I think a lot of the people concerned over not qualifying would be allowed just through the discretion of daroga and Zen.
 
[quote name='botticus']Very true. I think a lot of the people concerned over not qualifying would be allowed just through the discretion of daroga and Zen.[/quote]Yeah, I can entertain the idea of doing a join date OR iTrader. There's obviously long time CAGs that I would trust on here to do the right thing, as well as more recent, but active, members. I'd rather put an external cap on it that we make exceptions letting people in rather than a free-for-all that we have to start telling people, "NO!"

If I can get this history test studying done (or "done") I'll try and revise some of the rules tonight and see what others think.
 
As far as the points go, I think a tight limit would be best. I would imagine something like saying 1500-1600 would be fair. Then everyone is getting a pretty equal deal, and there's a good combo of games to hit either of those totals (3 NES Games, 2 SNES games, a N64 and NES game).
 
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