Complain because an item would be less than, say, 10,000 sp, I think is not justified, but that's my opinion. That does not think the same as complaining about a bunch of sporks.

And always espect get other items like recovering from a similar value if you've given yourself is also not realistic. Of course not.

I am generally not so for new and more archievements and I'm also not fond of rating systems. In many ways, it's just going to play.

Don't change mm It's 24hrs, sending a bunch of stuff isn't ready in spirit.... like no one told you to send high priced crap at the get go, if they aren't an active or expensive mm send a few lumi spirited items and save your hoard for another day. Please don't mess with something that's not broke. By the end of lumi I usually get one or two major gifters and I think that's the fun, never knowing how the gifting process will go

One thing I would love added - a text option that lets your MM know they got you a WL item! It always makes me squee when a MM gets one of mine because I feel pretty bad when I get sent stuff I don't want/need and gift it on the next day to a new MM.

I think 's idea is great, but I would also like to suggest being able to put maybe 3 words or categories of items that you enjoy, e.g. "beanbags" "plushies" "wearables" etc. The real secret santas / etc i've participated in all have this, and it could be made broad enough to not be asking for specific things (because then that would ruin the spirit of MM).

I like the idea of a tier based system, To improve on that though, Let's say we could only be partnered with someone who chose the same tier that day. That would make it fair because then one person wouldn't be able to send out low tier stuff and wind up benefiting from a high tier partner. It would be items of equal value instead.

Don't like the scoring idea,Don't like idea of achievements or gaining prizes, Do support a ban/suspension if people aren't willing to participate or at the very least a re-partnering button but let's say for example you would still keep a partner for 24 hours but you have the option of 1 reset per day if you get a partner who isn't working for you and if you re-partner then whatever time is left for that 24 hour period is what you have that person as a partner for.

More messages would be nice too :D Like being able to ask if someone is female or male or if they prefer female/male items maybe.

I would like tiers as well as something like a reset for when when your MM is inactive for a long period. Every day now I've connected with someone, sent the first gift, and received nothing back. :(

I think a guide to how to score would help too. 5- excellent, great items, responsive, friendly- personally I'd include something on the values of the items included, but I'm not sure that's appropriate. 1- very poor, didn't send items, only sent very few very low value items {like random prizes, or major drills items...}

Or something along that line.

I'd be worried that even if there was a scoring guide, well, everyone has different standards and ways they rate anything. I'm one of those people who can't give anyone a low score in anything.

I feel like the tiering system might be a better option, but I seem to be in the minority in that.

Maybe you could choose, instead of tiers, a set limit between X amount and X amount and you need to send things within that area? I'm holding a Secret Holiday Faerie where there are two different sections - 250k-500k and 2 mill-5 mill. Maybe there could be certain sP categories like that? Or I dunno...

I like the idea of rating though, too. I also feel as though people that don't reciprocate should be given a warning after 3 offenses as they'd be entering something just to get items which is, in a way, scamming people out of items, really. Warnings aren't very much in the spirit of things, but neither is just entering something just to take x_x

It's hard to try and fix these kinds of things...

It would be nice to be able to reset a few times like maybe 3 because its fun to give to many people :D and plus if you get a mm who isn't participating you can leave and rejoin!

I honestly don't know if it can be coded in time or if it would be too much trouble but have it where you send an item into MM and it sit there till the other side sends an item (only if they send an item) and if the item is still there by reset it reverts back to you? Like I said I don't even know if its possible but it would be a neat idea.

I think having a reset option if your MM is not active after a certain time would be the best way to go. Maybe if we had x number of resets for the duration of the month, that way people wouldn't just keep resetting simply because they were greedy and wanted more.

I think that tiers and scoring both have their issues. As many have mentioned, scoring is very subjective, and someone could be sending nice things and still get a low score. I think the only way this could work is if people who sent no presents automatically received a 0, and they could be banned for a day, or having, say 3 days of 1s getting a warning and if they get another low score, then they would be banned for a day or paired with someone else who got 4 low scores in a row.

As far as tiers go, some people can't afford super expensive gifts, but its nice when they occasionally have the chance to get more expensive items. If we have a tier system, the poorer users would never have a chance to get nicer items. If a MM isn't active, the other person doesn't HAVE to continue sending expensive gifts. I think the problem is that people automatically expect to get expensive items, when that's not the purpose of the season- people shouldn't be greedy and should be happy giving.

I'm all for having an achievement for the gifters who send more than, say, 1 million on MM gifts on a regular basis or for sending the most expensive gifts on a given day. That way people aren't rewarded for simply sending 100s of junk items, but people can still be rewarded for giving nice gifts even if they don't get quite as much in return.

I was thinking about having some kind of fee or deposit you could get back if you were active. Might rule out some those who enter just for getting stuff with no intention to give anything. Paired with excluding very common/mundane items, it could maybe work?

I really don't like the idea of ranking other MMs, because it'll get ugly fast (ex: they gave me cheaper stuff every time, 1 star).

I also, frankly, don't think it should change much if at all. Look at how terribly the wishing tree (or whatever it was called) went over-- that forced people to give to others and most people either took advantage of it (grabbed cheap wishes and asked for godlies), or complained the entire time about having to spend money on people just to make their own wishes.

So unless there were very specific item price brackets (1-2m, 2-3m, etc) the exact same thing is going to happen as it did with the tree.

Yeah it'd be nice if the other person had to send one thing but there's a chance they could just send a simple 1 sP item and we're in the same boat again.

Some alternative thoughts:

1. You don't get one mm for 24 hours. You sign up for the day, and each time you send a gift you're moved to the next mm-- if the person who was tasked with you doesn't send one back? Then you move on, you get assigned to a new person (and someone new gets assigned to you) and the first MM can't get re-assigned until they gift you.

So essentially if you're active you keep playing MM all day with other active people and those who don't send anything get 1 free thing then are out of the queue unless they gift back.

"But Andrea, I want to gift expensive stuff and I can't do that with a one shot! "

Yeah you can. This is about giving not receiving, that is the whole point, no? If all you want to do is get expensive stuff back see how bad the tree failed because frankly people PROVED with it they wanted expensive stuff for basically nothing (obviously that isn't the majority of people, but it doesn't take many apples to ruin the whole batch).

Doing it this way also cuts down on hurt feels when it's a group of people instead of just one on one for 24 hours (ex: my mm today was awful) and ups the chance of exchanging gifts with more people.

2. Combine the overly unused Presents option with MM?

It could be changed to have certain set sP amounts (5k, 25k, 50k, and maybe like 1m? The highest could pull retired luminaire items, super rares, chances at SubQ items, chances at potions, maybe even a small chance to get a small amount of csc (10-25?), etc). You could join MM based on one of those handful of price ranges and to join you have to send at least 1 item to successfully join.

"Couldn't we just do that anyway-- send 1 item to join?"

Sure, but people can send 1 sP items/random items/snow fairies just to join-- and that wouldn't necessarily mean the person who sent that was just going to send junk (they could just not want to get burned), or it could mean that was all they intended to send. If there was set price ranges, you'd know that you'd get at least one thing from that price range and if you got an active partner you could potentially have a lot of fun.

Bonus points for an sP sink ;)

3. Bring the the tree back with criteria this time.

Personally, I had a lot of fun with the giving/wishing/?? tree last time it was active. I got rid of a fair amount of pricier items (old collections, scrolls, doubles of event challenger weapons, etc) that I had stored away and in return I got a handful of equal value items I really wanted that hopefully came from others in the same situation (these things cost a lot but don't really sell and idk I might need it one day so I'll probably hold onto it forever).

I know a lot of folks didn't have fun with it, though, and I do think a lot of that came from the fact that there were achievements for giving (and not any for receiving until the bitter end). I wouldn't want to see achievements come back for the tree, by any means (if anything, having your wishes granted maybe), but I think if there were criteria for participating it could equally be a good thing?

No free wishes, but at the start of the day NPCs could ask for 100 or so random things (ranging from price, up to maybe 500k idk), and that's how it starts. Once you grant one you could in turn ask for something within a set amount of the wish you granted (if that's doable-- something like the previous item's average price was 500k so you could ask for something item with the average price of up to 1m). So the day could start lower and end with people who like to go nuts.

If that's not doable, then just price caps, no items can be asked for over the average price of X-- we don't want to be greedy now, this isn't the season for that after all!

I agree about the Achievements being a bad idea, considering its the season of giving to others, not being bribed to do it? And some want the Achievements and shouldn't have to join MM to get them. But def agree with many others that a strike system should be in place. If someone doesn't participate after a few times, they shouldn't be able to rejoin MM for the year. But disagree with a rating system, because like many have said, people could rate just based on liking the gifts they were given. The tier system is a good idea, giving people the option to go by SP levels, or any amount at all.

Aside from "bribing" players to participate in MM with achievements, I also think it'll only encourage more item dumps. Frankly, I would rather receive a simple "thank you" note with a flower than get all the daily quest leftovers my MM had in their inventory. If we have an achievement to send the most gifts, I would most likely never participate again for that very reason.

This strikes me as the best first steps to changing MM::

The idea needs some tweaks, but it lets the active players engage with one another and keeps the fun going instead of waiting around for the next day to get to do it again. Nothing is more disheartening than getting no response from your MM. I do not believe it is greedy to want a reply - a thank you or acknowledgement.

Yeah - okay - some people are in it for the exchange, they want gifts of similar value. A tier system might combat that, but mostly it'll just leave a lot of people out, especially newbies who don't have the same kinds of funds to throw around GA medals and multi-million costing items. Stars also seem like a poor idea because of the aforementioned desire that some folks have of needing to get the same monetary value back. I also find it hard to believe that a troll who is just in it for items without reciprocating would not vote with one star just to be a pain. To easy to abuse both those systems.

Honestly, MM is really fun some days and others not. That is just how it is and I have to get over it if I chose to participate. It is part of the risk at this point.

I definitely think there should be some in-built mechanism that bans people who have not participated period (as in, no items sent) for a specific time period (3, 5, or 7 days?).

I know this board was started quite a while ago... but I wanted to give my feedback.

I enjoy MM...most days, but that is part of the fun/risk :D I don't think much should change initially at all. I think that if any change is made... it should be a minor one at first.

1. I like the idea of the withdraw button, as previously mentioned, possibly being the first change. Specifically for people who sign up, don't get partnered and real life decides to happen... then they have an escape clause :). Maybe that in itself would cut down on SOME of the absent gifters.
2. Collateral? Maybe a pay (in sp, tokens, shop points, etc.) to participate? If you end up giving gifts, you get your money or whatever back... if you don't give a gift, that money or whatever goes to your MM in some way shape or form. Giving beyond the collateral is your choice.

Whatever change is made, I hope it is small. People freak out if too much changes at once. Thanks for your time... :D

My issue is sometimes I join and something comes up, have to leave for work, need to go to the store, etc. In that case I do leave a message that I will be back soon and when I return I do send another item to let them know I came back.

However, I do see how that would not seem fair to some, so maybe a timer option? Say, for example, you haven't been active for 2 hours, then you'd be partnered with another user?

Thank you for asking our opinions. :)

Just curious if there is going to be a new version of MM implemented...?

The only flaw with mysterious melody is the obvious disconnect between a lot of people's outward expression's of the love of the gift of giving and enjoyment of generosity, and the inward feelings of, well, greed. Without exception, you should not be signing up for this with the expectation to receive ANYTHING in return. People say they don't but they certainly do WANT something, and those that do get something want at least something with thought, and those that get something with thought want something of value, etc etc. It's how the complaints go every year. Everybody expects something comparable out of it with what they put into it. That's not the point of giving gifts, that's the point of bartering/trading etc.

I would like to think though, that there is a significant silent portion who are content with the spirit of giving from the MM system.

Any type of categorized MM, would certainly take away from a large portion of one of the M's.

This all comes from someone who doesn't take part in the system. I'd much rather trade an item you want for an item I want through the trading post where it's meant to be done.

[edit] A reasonable idea, which should maintain the spirit of giving, is requiring a qualifying event. Something random anonymous gifting of an item with a certain minimum shop value, or just using the insert sp output random item with X price (which I hate because randomly generating items like that is NOT a good idea). This would potentially disqualify who MM-er's should really be wanting to gift to, and in some cases, likely the people who aren't gifting back amazingly now, the ones who are in real subeta need of subeta things.