:

: Greetings, Friends!
: It’s that time of year again! Time to gather around friends and family, stuff
: our bellies full of food and laughter, and most importantly try to forget
: about how cold and miserable it is outside. What better way to help
: ring-in the upcoming holiday season than with the return of the HBO Secret
: Santa... thing (with a twist, now includes 100% more DBO)! Not only does
: this help reinforce the bonds that we've forged over the years, but it
: also gives us the opportunity to learn more about each other and even
: provide some laughs and entertainment along the way.

: How It Will Work
: We will try to adhere to the rules of the traditional Secret Santa as much
: as possible; however since the population of these forums is made up of
: creatures from every corner of the Sol system, a few modifications are
: going to be in place. Here are the Rules: The most important rule is to
: keep the secret of who you're sending your gift to. I know that
: everybody dislikes Honor rules in their custom games, but in this case
: it's a necessary evil.
: Each participant will be both a giftee (receiver) and a gifter (giver), but
: not necessarily to/from the same person.
: All digital gifts will be sent to me, acting as the neutral party to
: maintain secrecy. Just before December 25th, I will distribute the gifts
: out to their respective recipients.
: All physical gifts will be sent directly to the giftee, whose address will
: only be provided with permission and under strict confidentiality
: On or slightly before December 25th, I will start another thread
: "Secret Santa Results" where we can discuss and brag about the
: gifts that were received. This is also where the “guessing” should happen
: to try and figure out who your Santa was
: Bonus internets if the giftee can guess their gifter
: Spending money on physical gifts will make things harder on those involved
: and could cause delays; however it is entirely up to each gifter to decide
: what to give.
: The ideal gift is something personal, that you've created/tailored
: specifically to the likes/interests of the giftee.
: Finally, don’t forget to have fun with it !

: How To Sign Up
: Signing up is very simple, really. Here's what I need to make this work:
: 1) Your name and/or forum handle
: 2) Your e-mail address
: 3) A brief introductory statement.
: 4) Are you exclusive to HBO or DBO (in other words, do you only visit one or
: the other)? And if yes, then which?

: Very Important: I hope you noticed the #4 there this year, because it's
: important (and will continue to be important for the coming years). If
: someone is exclusive to HBO, I will ensure that they are not matched up
: with someone who is exclusive to DBO. As the populations diverge in the
: coming years (like after Destiny or Halo 5 is released), this will become
: more and more important.

: Also Note: The Intro section can be as simple as a few links to past forum
: posts, or a personal website/blog - or it can be a textual description of
: your likes and interests - or just something that you think would be cool
: to receive (keep it sensible, decent and realistic). Whatever you can put
: together that describes you , and will help the gifter create something
: that is personal and meaningful. Please try and limit this response to one
: paragraph.

: If you have any questions, or if you are afraid of what happens when you
: submit an entry, you can always contact me directly: JDQuack (at) gmail
: (dot) com. I’m here to help.

: You have two options for throwing your name in the ol' proverbial hat;
: however keep in mind - both methods require you to provide the vital
: information outlined above, so if you prefer some privacy, method 2 is for
: you: Method 1: Simply post a reply below expressing your interest and
: providing the info above
: Method 2: E-Mail me directly: JDQuack (at) gmail (dot) com, making sure to
: include everything that I've mentioned above

: Tentative Timeline
: Here's how it should break down: November 11th-29th: Sign-Ups
: November 30th: Participants receive the information for their respective
: giftees
: November 30th-December 23rd: Digital gifts submitted to JDQuack (at) gmail
: (dot) com, or physical gifts shipped to recipient (after arranging
: logistics through me).
: December 23rd or 24th: Gifts will be redistributed to respective recipients
: December 24th or 25th: Results thread posted to discuss gifts.

: You have until midnight PST for each of the above closing dates for
: submitting things, signing up, etc. And don’t worry, I’ll post reminders
: here (and email the participants for the critical reminders that shouldn’t
: be missed).

: The "or" dates will come down to how many people we have
: participating and how complicated the gifts are. I will try my best to
: adhere to the earlier dates, but it's up to the participants to follow the
: guidelines as best as possible.

: On the Subject of Gifts
: I know the bullet points above won’t be enough to explain the whole gifting
: part, so let me elaborate a bit here. There is no obligation to purchase
: a gift . The gifts can just be something that is relevant to the giftee's
: interests. You can create a video, or draw a picture - maybe just take a
: screenshot of the person’s Spartan and dress it up in MS Paint. Maybe
: record a fake podcast talking about how awesome that person is. The point
: is that we'll be sharing our gifts and talking about what we got over the
: holidays. It's a fun way to get to know each other better, and to just
: spread around that warm feeling of giving for the holidays.

: Note that the vast majority of gifts will be in digital form. This means that
: if you are an international HBO/DBOer (as in: not in the United States),
: you should NOT be afraid to sign up! If you are feeling generous and
: really want to spend money, then go right ahead. Just note: it will make
: things much simpler on everyone involved if your gift is something digital
: that can be emailed/downloaded, etc.

: If you still insist on giving a physical item, then we will arrange the
: details over e-mail. You can either ship directly to the giftee (in which
: case I will provide their home address to you as long as they are willing
: to email it to me), or you can ship it to me and I can forward it to
: maintain anonymity. I just want to reinforce that these details should be
: handled over email. I discourage anyone from sharing their home address on
: the forum. You might even want to obfuscate your e-mail address to ensure
: it doesn't get picked up by spam bots, like so: JDQuack (at) gmail (dot)
: com, etc.

: Oh, and a reminder about being naughty. I've learned that sometimes we have
: naughty Santas who do not send out any gifts. I will hold everyone's gifts
: until the deadline. If a Santa was naughty and did not send out a gift,
: they will not receive one either (unless their Santa insists that I
: still impart their gift upon their naughty giftee). Last year we luckily
: only had one naughty Santa (you know who you are, and you should be
: ashamed). Being naughty puts you on my own personal naughty list, and I
: will not only prevent you from entering any future events, but I will hold
: a personal grudge against you for eternity until you make up for your
: wrongs.

: Also, I’d like to remind you (just like the past 2 years--evidence below) I
: am NOT the Grinch who stole HBO/DBO Christmas, and I'm not trying to horde
: other people's presents. I am only acting as the middle man to maintain
: the secrecy of HBO/DBO Secret Santa. I realize many of you have no idea
: who I am, and wouldn't trust a stranger farther than you could throw them
: - so in that case, I'm sorry that I don't know you better, and nobody is
: forcing you to participate. Just remember, we'll be sharing our gifts here
: over the days of Christmas, and if somebody sees that their giftee didn't
: receive exactly what they sent to me, it will be glaringly obvious. You
: have permission to publicly humiliate me in such an event.

: 2012 Results
: 2011 Results

:
: A huge thanks to Hedgemony for the inspiration for the banner graphic. Also
: thanks to Louis Wu and all the other admins for keeping two tidy houses
: for this great *BO family to fart around in.