HGG Community Forums

-Don't wait until the last possible moment
-Communicate with your recipient. If you are only sending a small number of things, or sending things late let them know that. Make sure they don't feel like you forgot them.

On the flip side, getting a single gift and nothing else with limited communication also feels icky to most people. Even if the horse is expensive.

In general "communicate with your people" seems to be a big one. Low communication seems to cause the most issues. I think some times people send gifts and then don't communicate anything bout them so the recipient doesn't always understand what they were sent or why it is valuable.

Another thought when spending GMTs is the result is important too. If the GMT was a pointless spend like turning a 2500 hb black horse into a 2500 hb blue roan horse I don't think it's added 125,000 hbs worth of value to the gift. Spending 2.5 million in gmts to make a plain buckskin isn't giving a gift worth 2.5 million.

I guess we should specify that you should give gifts whose VALUE is the amount listed. Not necessarily what you spent because there is often a lot of confusion on that point for people. You might be given a horse worth a million hbs to gift and that value is what counts more than the hbs you did not spend.

Thought and effort very much count. We are agreeing completely on that point.

Also , I find "stalking" the giftee's barn is a lot of help.. if you notice something like their main stallion is aging out.. you can send a note to them through the portal now to ask if they are changing a goal or if they need/want a replacement Boy.. sometines you just forget until you open the pasture and Poof no more Daddy horse! There are things an outside eye looking in catches sometimes when you are so busy cleaning your stalls and checking tack lol

Just out of curiosity, how many Auditors are there ? Are they different for each server or the same? Are any Players included? @Ammit

Something I've noticed that always counts as an extra nice touch, is to add notes as Ammit says. I've also changed names and sent horses at specific times to send a message, sometimes just a pick me up if I've noticed by forum posts that the recipient is having a hard time, sometimes just a fun message to get the holiday spirit jumping. Opening a barn and seeing a message on a new horse has always excited me no end so I try to pass that on, be it in the horses name or in their owner notes. Dont feel like you personally have to come up with a special message for each horse either. Give credit when available, but songs and poems are special touches that can be added to the owners notes, either themed based such as the holiday/summer or something that matches the name you give the horse. Covering a horse with a sheet can also feel like opening a present on Christmas morning so I tend to do that as well.

It always SUCKS when people don't give thanks. Communication is key to everyone having a nice exchange.

The dreaded "I like everything" :))

I think this year I need to do some work on the messaging system.

Use the search engine to find a horse that might be perfect for your recipient, and then contact the owner of the horse privately to see if they are willing to sell the horse, or to do straws/eggs for Gift Exchange. They may regretfully decline for a number of reasons, but I can guarantee they will be flattered to be asked.

Pay attention to people's hard lines on things -for instance, if someone doesn't use unevenly bred horses at all, it doesn't matter how close to their request that horse is. A horse doesn't have to match every detail, but if it has a deal breaker then they probably won't use it. And also, especially if gifting a more advanced member, don't feel bad if you don't meet EVERY point on their request - a horse that is close that they can GMT a bit further is still nice to have and saves a lot of money/GMTs

Don't be afraid to ask for help - most people, especially bigger barns will be more than happy to work with your price points to get a special gift and offer cheap straws & eggs.

Be specific and give options, and don't think you have to buy EVERYTHING on someone's wishlist, some people list a lot of things to give you room to shop, not because they expect everything they mention.

Be specific and I really like when someone asks for a "special" item that can be the big gift at the end. Not that a big gift is required, but it's fun to save something special for the final.

If eras, evenly bred horses or specific generations/paper/PT levels matter to you, list these and also if you're gifted lists these pay attention to them.

If you're level 3 in particular ask for something extravagant and fancy so I can have fun creating it LOL

If you want something really rare in the game, don't be afraid to ask but also give other options in case it's just not findable

If you're confused about a request, ask an older member through a message. People are usually super helpful and friendly.

And again, be specific and give details in your requests! And note if you use straws, eggs, embryos or if you prefer not to get them.

Also, I can't imagine how sad it would be if someone sold gifted horses right away. Don't do that. If they just don't fit you can always keep them as shown horses. Also don't be offended if someone adds some GMTs to a gift horse to make it even more perfect for them.

What @Humboldt 110%, specially now that we can buy publicly listed straws and eggs, and they don't reset on the 1st like our Stallions standing for stud.

I could use some help coming up with a list of these that are appropriate to ask for by level.

What's OK to ask for at Level 1 versus 2? Obviously, anything goes at 3 but the line between 1 and 2 is less clear.

What are some common things people ask for in the gift exchange that a new member might need to be explained?

I got the first pass done. Haystack and I are working on figuring out how we want to host this thing. If you see things that need clarification or additional things that need added let me know.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tihC2NnWBiTy5Unx39nViUTyVQZHpg-cKRte3NimKI8/edit?usp=sharing

I am not adding images at this time. That can happen once I figure out what is going on with a wiki for this thing.

Yes it is supposed to be there.