Secret Santa Survey (2021)

[AnnaSartin]

For those who participated in Anime-Planet's annual Secret Santa event this year, please consider filling out our survey!

Spoiler: Survey Questions

1. This year we came up with a new matching system to better pair people with appropriate Santas/recipients. Did you find it easier or harder to choose recs for your recipient this year compared to last year? (Or if this is your first year playing, did you find it easy or difficult to make recs for your recipient?)

2. Do you enjoy having a large event with more players, or do you prefer a smaller group for Secret Santa? Please tell us why.

3. Last year we used the notification system to let the entire site know about the event. As a result, we had several hundred people join the event but many of them seemed to quickly lose interest and bailed on the game. This caused trouble for both players and the elf team. This year we did not use the notification system and instead hosted a smaller game of less than a hundred participants, but this kept people who are new to the site from learning that our Secret Santa event exists. Do you think we should make an announcement next year? And if we decide to make one, how do you feel we should do it? (site notification, social media, discord, forum post, private messages to returning players, etc.?)

4. Do you have any comments, ideas, or other remarks to add regarding your feelings about the Secret Santa event overall?

Thanks to everyone in advance for letting us know how you feel so Santa and the Anime-Planet crew can make the game even better!

 

[OkamiHime95]

1) Compared to the past few years I've played, this year was the easiest for me in regards of choosing things for my recipient, and was the first year that my recipient enjoyed all their gifts! So, thank you Santa and the elf team!

2) Much prefer a smaller group for Secret Santa, especially since last year's fiasco, and back in 2019, my recipient never showed up again after playing... :\ It would certainly be less hectic with a smaller group.

3) I think Forum posts and/or private messages for returning players would be best, since I hate Discord and don't use it anymore. Therefore, announcing only on Discord would personally suck for me.

4) Nothing except for I hope to play again next year! :D

 

[Rascal]

1. This year I found it the hardest of any other to find picks, but that might have been only because my recipient was quite particular.
2. smaller group, definitely. people actually participate after recs are sent out now.
3. i think doing an announcement on discord would be fine but other than that, a sitewide notification is a bad idea unless you're also going to send one out when signup starts, then message all participants when people get their recipients, and again when picks are sent out, just to keep people engaged.
4. this year was great!

 

[KathyKatz]

1. I think it was about the same when it came to how hard it was to find recs for my recipient, however I did prefer this matching system as to the full on randomizer of last year.

2. Smaller Group as there is more people participating, unlike last year when a lot of the players ditched.

3. I feel forum post and private message to returning players. I feel both site notification and discord will bring a lot of people that are very likely to bail causing trouble for both players and elf team.

4. I had fun playing Secret santa this year! Hoping that we can find a way to allow new players to find the thread without bringing a lot of people that just bail last minute.

 

[Hayane]

1- It was difficult this year compared to last few times I participated due to my recipient "unique" list this year kekw which made it harder for me to find their taste at all.

2- Smaller as it allows us to interact easier since a bigger group caused chaos in the thread last few years.

3- Actually, I started being active in forums because of that 1 Secret Santa event (2 or 3 years ago? I don't remember) so having a site-wide notification could indeed have its cons and pros. Maybe have a different event for the whole site to let member know there is actually a forum? I didn't realize that til SS

4- This year was satisfying since we were smaller and hence more active.

 

[JamesSofort]

1- This year I found it well balanced in terms of choosing recs, this is the second time I'm participating in the event and I think it was about the same.

2-I prefer a smaller group playing, you can actually read all comments those playing make and if the participants are mostly people who has participated before there are less chances of ditchi g the event.

3-I don't think it would be necessary to make a global announcement. Users active in the forum or participants of other years would find the event post easily.

4-If the event could start a bit earlier (1/2 weeks) would be nice.

 

[rekindled]

1) I found it very easy to pick for the person I was paired with. There was quite a bit of overlap in our list which gave me what I felt was a pretty good indicator on their taste. It was easier than last year, but the person I was paired with last year didn't use the rating system and instead marked everything 5/5. Even though they had seen hundreds of shows this made picking for them much more difficult.

2) It doesn't necessarily matter how large it is to me as it being larger does have upsides. The downside to it getting larger though is that inactivity increases along with it. If a way could be devised to avoid that in some way then I'd be all for it. Until then though I do think keeping it on the smaller side of things which minimizes the inactivity is better.

3) There is already a site-news role one can join on discord. I think doing a notification via that or perhaps even setting up a role specifically for secret santa would be fine. Site wide notifications have already demonstrably failed, so don't see any reason to re-visit those without some other kind of change that is beyond me. Private messaging to returning players who actually participated could work as well.

4) This was a good year on both the receiving end and giving end for me. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[Starletka]

1. I'd say this was probably the most challenging year to choose the right gifts (I like this system better, though)

2. smaller is better, since in big groups a lot of the participants don't show up, plus it's easier to keep track of the others' progress, and it gets less chaotic overall

3. it's definitely better to advertise the game for people who actually visit the forums rather than full-site announcements

4. it's a really fun tradition, so I hope it continues in the following years

 

[Max4444]

1. This year was easier, last year my recipient asked for manga/light novels and I don't read a lot of those so it was hard to pick something. This year my recipient wanted anime so it was easier, though I think the taste of my recipient is different from mine.

2. I don't have a preference either way.

3. An announcement like last year seems like a bad idea, but I don't have any ideas for how to do an announcement that wouldn't end with a lot of people bailing.

4. It's very fun.

 

[tigian]

1. I didn't notice a change in difficulty.
2. a group where the people who enlist actually participate, if that means the group being smaller I'm okay with that.
3. I think an announcement in Discord, Forum,and social media should definitely be made, regarding a site notifications I have mixed feelings since it atracts a lot of people who will not participate... So maybe it could be something like the site banner having information about it or the home page having a block with it... That way maybe only the more regular people would notice it and try it.
4.I am enjoying it a lot like last year!!
an idea aside from the difficulty of spreading the word, I think since there are always interested people that arrive late, or that their santa doesn't work, it could be created like a place where everybody could just dump recommendations to be sent right away for those people or create the possibility of people who feel confident to be a secret santa of more than one person to enlist with that category, making it so that if there was a person without gifts the elfs would only send that information to the available people and they would prepare a batch of recs.
Also in the initial questionnaire to enroll there should be a question of how much time the person will be able to watch the recs.

Thanks a lot!

 

[0jamaRainbow]

1) yes I did find it easier though this is my second year participating so I was more confident in picking out series. I did feel like the person I gave gifts too and I had similar enough tastes in anime/manga to the degree that I can (hopefully fingers crossed) say that I think they'll enjoy them

2) well I do like it when there is a sizable amount but prefer it when each member actually respond, I understand somethings may pop up which distracts people but thats less likely when the group is smaller

3) well i'm sorta bad at technology ^^; I understand not wanting to use a site notification cause the bailers can make things awkward for our lovely elf team... personally i think private messaging people who are recurring is a good option

4) so as I said before I've only been in this two years now but both years i've had a fair few subbed only anime despite me requesting dubbed, and i know my lovely santa's try to pick some really good shows for me but i literally can't watch subbed anime so i feel really bad every time it happens, Its not that i don't like subs or anything i'm really happy a lot of people can enjoy their anime subbed but I have a condition called dyspraxia that makes it really really challenging to focus on the moving image, subtitles and listening to the audio. personally I would really appreciate adding a "would you like dubbed or subbed" part to the entry submission. other then that every thing is wonderful ^^

 

[Qplayer]

1. It was easier than last year to make recommendations this year, although last year I did enjoy the challenge of making recommendations for someone who had seen a lot more shows than me. Some sort of matchmaking system would probably create a more consistent experience though so I think it's a good thing.

2. Small group is good. It's easier to keep track of the conversations that are going on and who was recommended what. Part of the fun is tracking the individual journeys of people watching their recommendations so that'd be harder with a larger group.

3. Not having a sitewide notification was undoubtably a net positive. I'm grateful that you messaged players from last year, even though it's probably the most work. I'm biased, but I think a Discord annoucement of some sort would be nice, since there aren't as many people regularly active in Discord as the site and it'll catch a lot of the people who participated but aren't as active on the forum (e.g. me). I'll be sure to try and keep a lookout for when the next one is posted so that you won't have to remind me.

4. I felt a little bad that many of the people who were active in the thread were trying to watch all 3 recommendations and I didn't make it clear that I was only going to watch 1. I would have planned things differently if I had wanted to try and watch all 3. That might be just something I'll change in my request post for next time so that my Santa isn't left somewhat disappointed I only watched one of their shows.

 

[starrx]

1. it was very easy to choose picks this year and a lot of fun putting thought into it, no different from the year before though !!
2. probably a smaller group, last year i gave my recs and my person didnt participate so i was pretty disappointed
3. definitely remind the people who have participated in the past, i was looking forward to it (my second year!!) and i wouldnt have knew you were doing it if you didnt comment on my profile !! for finding new people, if you dont want to announce sitewide again i think you could post a forum so only the people actively looking to participate in things would find it
4. only comment is thank you for doing this i have fun:))

 

[Max20Ro]

1. This is my second year participating. First time I made it hard myself to choose my recs because of too much overthinking. This year I just was a little bit more familiar with the sentiment so I did it easier than last year. In the end my ability to choose my recs has no connection with the matching system.

2. Having a large group it's pretty hard because it means more work for Santa, but also increase of the risk for people to not respect the event. My Santa last year went missing after they gave me my recs - which I loved - but i would've liked to thank them personally for their picks.
But also a little group may feel a little bit exclusive (if it was like that last year maybe I would not have courage to enter) and not so open to members like myself who is not active on the forum outside of this event or new members.
I think I will go for a smaller group, but with enough advertise too feel open for anyone.

3. Hmm this is a very hard question. Maybe skip the site announcement and go for forum and social media ones? Also I loved getting a personal message this year - even if I already joined when I got it. Also putting a message in the past year's event seems to be good - I joined right after I saw a notification from the last event, but this works just on people like me who use forum just for this thing.

4. At first I was scared to join, but now I love it. I just feel bad for people who receive my picks because I am so bad at this ahaha. Also lots of love to all these people who makes this event possible.

 

[nyanlu]

1. I definitely found it harder this year compared to last year. The person I got this year had a lot of dropped shows and I couldn't really grasp what they liked and what they didn't like so it was a bit of a challenge and they ended up watching only one show despite asking for "upwards of ten - five anime and five whatever else" so that was a bit upsetting tbh. Last year I kind of lucked out because we had similar "tags I don't want" and preferences so it was easier.

2. I don't mind either way. In smaller groups, people usually already know each other and know what the other might or might not enjoy. Bigger events, while more challenging, let you broaden your horizons when it comes to people, people's preferences and shows (ie. you get to know different people and shows/mangas you may have never heard of)

3. Personally, I rarely use social media or discord so if the announcement were to be made only there, I'd no doubt miss it and it's the event I'm looking forward to so that'd suck. A forum post and a private message or a comment to returning players seem like a good alternative to a site notification.

4. I like this idea:

I think since there are always interested people that arrive late, or that their santa doesn't work, it could be created like a place where everybody could just dump recommendations to be sent right away for those people or create the possibility of people who feel confident to be a secret santa of more than one person to enlist with that category, making it so that if there was a person without gifts the elfs would only send that information to the available people and they would prepare a batch of recs.

 

[positiv2]

1) It was more difficult for me this year. It was mostly due to the specific person I got and the request they made, though the fact that the recipient I got this year had way more anime than the one I got last year played a role, but I assume it makes participation easier for people with only few completed anime.

2) Can't really say one was better than the other. More people made the thread more lively, but fewer people made this feel cosier.

3) Probably site notification, but ahead of the signups opening so that people who would forget about the event will forget before signing up. Alternatively, commenting on last year's participants' profiles, though a bit earlier than this year (I almost missed this event ). I don't use social media, discord, or forums much, so I would miss it with the other options for sure.

4) Well done this year, and the last year as well

 

[Thrawn]

1) I didn't notice a thing as I am always perfect in giving god-tier recs to my recipient.

2) Smaller, those goons that don't rec or even respond can to to hell. I mean- Go... to... hello operator. With a smaller bunch, we get more quality responses, more recs, more... like, it's more intimate when it's someone that you probably know from the forum or something. Ironic coming from a guy whose watching his first pick for SS but you know me, you expect me, and yeah.

3) Forum only, get those non-forum peasants outta here as they are probably the ones who don't even check after sign-ups like the commies they are.

4) I'll SATSUGAI for this tradition.

 

[FoodLife]

1. It was a bit harder than last year bcos my recipient didn't really specify what they want so I just went eeny meany miny mo
2. Im 50/50 on this but i guess i lean towards more the smaller event since my recipient last year bailed on me
3. Site notifs are nice since that's the one that made me join the event last year
4.

 

[Lisebell]

1)The difficulty didn't really change for me; I spend forever comparing the things we've watched to try and get a handle on what anime we may both like for my recs.

2)I feel like this year with the smaller group my Santa paid more attention to my requests, and I got some really enjoyable recs this year.

3) If @AnnaSartin hadn't reminded me that secret Santa was on this year, I would have missed it. I definitely need a reminder of some sort, but I'm not really big on socials or discord, and I'd miss it if it was only posted there.

4) I had fun, I'll be back for this event next year. Thanks for all the organising!

 

[thunder7]

1. It was about the same for me. I had the most trouble recommending manga since I haven't read many.

2. Honestly, I don't mind either way. Whatever makes the most sense and is the most fun for everyone is what I feel is best.

3. I was a bit worried that I was going to miss the event this year, since I don't look at the forums much and was waiting for a notification. I personally would like an announcement since I don't want to miss the event, so perhaps doing a private message for returning players would work best.

4. I'm always a bit worried to give recommendations to people since I'm not good at giving recommendations in general, but I had a lot of fun, and hope to be joining again next year.