MAL Secret Santa 2014

Frequent Questions

Ho-ho-hooray for Christmas events~
Hopefully everyone, both newcomers and those who participated last time, will enjoy the event! Please be kind to the elves!
So unfair that I won't be able to participate ;_;

Looks like fun! I didn't get a chance to participate last year but hopefully I can get in this time.

I'd like to help out if I could please~ I can PM Santas and see how they're doing; give them advice where needed and distribute the gifts. Please let me know if I'm accepted or not, thank you ^^

Its awesome this is happening again!.. Loved my prize from last year. Wonder what im getting this year.

I can help with the second event. since i already signed up for the first one.

I know it sounds greedy, though can you request for more than one image? I was thinking about an Avi and Profile Picture.

now now everyone, you can line up to give me my present

This should be fun

Kay....bend over.

I wonder if I should get involved this time?...

Toss a coin.

Oooooh, I love leaving life or death decisions to the chance flip of currency!

Ooh.

I'll volunteer to PM Santas and/or give advice and distribute gifts. ^^

Hey, I would like to help matching up the people for Secret Santa and maybe distributing gifts!

It was fun to help out last year and I enjoyed my presents from last year too.
Hope to be of use this year and I did get better at photoshop, so hopefully I can please some people ^^!

Seems like the best chance to show my awesome drawing skills :P

A lucky person will receive the best stick figure ever!

In that secret santa thing, do people know who they got the gift from? Or do they just receive it without knowing? This may be a silly question.

I have one question:
Can I sign up to receive both manga and anime recommendations but only give out anime recs? I've never read manga before so I can't give recs, but I would like to start reading some.

Going for all three over here~ :3 Overhype at the new Review Secret Santa addition!

yaay, nice to see this return! c: i'll participate in the image and anime rec ones, just like last year~

People don't know at first, but it will be revealed to them eventually - around December 30 in this case.

I think I can help out too :) I can PM Santas and distribute gifts, but if you guys are in need of people to match up Santas I could do that too/instead.

Time to put my amazing paint skills into work to make someone happy....maybe

I want to be someone who helps lost santas, I'm a nice elf and this job was what I was always meant to have

turns out that sadly I'll be too busy to help, Will still be participating both secret santas though

Woah! That time of the year again...

I will help like last year :)

I'm going to ask a noobie question but
Could I make an request for an pic?

I joined MAL about 4 months ago so I don't know anything about a event being held on MAL each year.

Hey!

If you would like to be a part of the image-focused Secret Santa event, make sure to make a post over here and fill out the form shared in the starting/opening post by Kineta. Do note, however, that if you join, you will be obligated to prepare an image for the person you get some time in the future as well, meaning that it's not only requesting, but sharing as well.

If, however, what you are looking for is purely requesting an image of a desired type, then taking a look at some threads that focus on that in the Creative Corner forum board is advised. :)

Wow this is a cool idea

i'll participate in the image Event #1

I wouldn't mind exchanging a gift!

Santa's coming to MAL~

This looks like fun actually. Holiday spirits are also refreshing.

Great way to get involved into the spirit, might try to

Sounds fun, I'm in!

I wouldn't mind helping out by giving pointers to stuck Santas!

I'm in this should be hood

How can I participate in this event :(? Do I have to send a message to someone?? Please someone tell me :C

Yay, I'm excited that this is back!

its also the first 2 threads you'll see in the CD board

Should we update our entry if we complete more anime/manga before the sign-up deadline?

If by updating the entry you are referring to the quantity of the series completed as shared in your post, it truly won't be necessary. The number itself was meant to stand as an approximate thing anyway. The way I see it, it's there for two things alone: the user being able to be put in a specific "power level" group as made up through the event, plus the Secret Santa getting the general idea of how many entries will they have to check out in order to get the idea and recommend something based from that. Although the former and the latter pretty much go hand in hand by which the latter gets eliminated, since users of similar level will be combined anyway.

Bottom line is, it all lies in an approximate quantity value which I highly doubt could be changed enough to stand as a different power level in such a short time. So, yeah, keep it as it is. :P

Well this looks like fun.

quick question

why is inferno cop classified as troll anime for the recs? I'd genuinely think about recommending that if it actually fit someones criteria, plus I think if inferno cop is added to the "ruled out" (even though it isn't exactly troll, is it?) so should pupa.

seriously

still don't get it quite well

maybe when my pics are that amazing... *sigh*

It's because the anime hardly takes itself seriously.
The anime is fun and comical but it's comical because of the way it presents itself rather than going for normal types of humor.
Also, although you may not think it's a troll anime to receive as a gift, others may feel that way. It's best to say that if a person feels a certain series is a troll series (Assuming they aren't calling every series a troll series), the series shouldn't be given out as a gift. If you have the slightest thought that the gift you are given can be seen a troll gift, change the gift.

If you feel like Pupa is a troll gift (which I do as well), the secret santas can ask users who sent in a recommendation of Pupa to change to a more serious gift.

I do see what you mean. Basically, the three titles listed were not meant as the only ones that are on the blacklist, but rather stand as examples of what a "troll" recommendation is. The highlight is not on them in specific and they are not where the line is drawn. Therefore, on short, rather than focusing on those three titles alone, try to collect a few recommendations that would be like them and scratch them. As soon as you might feel that it is of similar essence, try something else.

The OP could be edited to include a part "and such series/and alike" or something, but then again, you were supposed to focus on the bold green text over what follows. The titles follow, which are just an example and a back-up of what's written in green. Then again, I don't think it has to be exactly specified and a list written of what's not good to be seen. You can judge from the examples shared and use common sense. :P

This was actually answered in last year's thread:

Those series are ruled out as troll recs for people who say "Yes, I wouldn't mind a troll rec". If you say you wouldn't mind a troll rec and someone gives you Boku no Pico, they probably took a whole 2 seconds to think of it and they probably didn't actually spend time on a gift for you. We didn't say "no one can rec series X", we said "if you going to rec a troll rec, think of something better than ...".

I hope this makes sense.

As for the forum sets, I'll get back about that as soon as I have a few more moments.

It looks fun but do I need to make an image for the other user if I ask for one?

Yeah, you give one and receive one. What sort of image would the receiver want in specific will be learned after you are assigned one and linked to their post. You can also include personal preferences through the form in the Image Secret Santa thread, where you also register for the image-focused event.

Edit: Forgot to link. :3

To Zelot:



To Subpyro:



To Kineta:



purposely spoilered them so people wouldn't have to see a big wall of text

Yaaay, I'm signing up! Fun times as an Elf last year (even though I screwed things up a couple of times lol) and a great way to get connected with this creative community. Offering my services with deliveries and PMing Santas if needed, as I may not have time to help with other things~

The bottom line of my post and the point I tried to come across is that even though a user would state that they are okay with receiving a troll recommendation, try to avoid it. That way, there is no dilemma, right? ;)