Christmas Lists

[Whaleyland]

So, every year I make a Christmas list of things I want, mostly because my mom still likes to have one (she requested one annually for about twenty years). For the longest time, I hardly got anything on my list, but as we have grown apart she has followed it more regularly and now I can generally expect at least the top things on my list.

Now, here's the hitch: every year I send the list to my girlfriend first so she can take off anything she may want to get me. That way it avoids duplications and whatnot which used to occur frequently between my grandmother, aunt and mom. It also stops me from buying any of the items until after Christmas (if I buy them at all). I assumed nothing changed this year and so I just completed my list and sent it to my girlfriend. Her response today was a bit unusual. She's been reading a lot of books lately about the materialism of weddings and whatnot, being the feminist she is, and she has hinted strongly of late that she doesn't entirely like the concept of wedding gifts because they imply an expectation toward materialism. Wedding registries especially have been called out. When she received my list this afternoon, she immediately saw it as a "Christmas registry", despite the fact that I am in no way expecting to receive most of the items on the list.

Things got worse later in the day. She targeted my requests for Dominion: Prosperity and Dominion: Alchemy specifically. I just purchased (using free Amazon credits) Dominion: Intrigue and have only played it three times, with mostly mixed decks with my base and Seaside games. Christmas is still months away and I've only heard good things about Prosperity. Alchemy is a bit more of a cheap buy/completist wish but I do genuinely want it too. My girlfriend saw both as greedy wishes from a lack of contentment with my current expansions. The oddest thing is that earlier this year, we agreed to mostly invest in expansions to games we own rather than new games to simplify our game choices and the time it takes to teach friends new games.

So let me ask you, the people of Carc Central:
• Is it wrong to ask for expansions to games when you have yet to thoroughly enjoy the expansions you already have?
• Is making a Christmas List that is exhaustive of things you want greedy or just allowing the gift-givers variety in their gift choices?

Foreseeable problems:
• I've got a Carcassonne: Die Pest and Agricola: The Goodies Expansion on pre-order.
• I plan to buy my girlfriend either Alhambra Big Box (which has all its expansions), or Zooloretto or Aquaretto (which doesn't come with any expansions, but has a number of them available) for Christmas.

Any help or opinions on these matters, my endearing public?

[Bixby]

• Is it wrong to ask for expansions to games when you have yet to thoroughly enjoy the expansions you already have?

My collection on BGG is currently just under 600 games/expansions, so I could hardly in good faith pronounce what you are asking as wrong. I struggle with getting games to the table with the frequency I want, but it is all in the perception of value. Boardgames are my number 1 hobby. Part of the enjoyment is reading the rules, exploring the strategy, playing with variants, etc. So even if I do not get a game played with a high level of frequency, I still derive lots of enjoyment from the game. I would rather spend $40 on a game I may not get to play than see 4 movies at a theatre. My ultimate goal is to play games face to face with friends, but there is much enjoyment in exploring games and their components as well. I suspect everyone has widely varied opinions on this; just thought I would share mine. If something brings you joy, and you can afford it; buy it.

• Is making a Christmas List that is exhaustive of things you want greedy or just allowing the gift-givers variety in their gift choices?

I like the gift list idea. It assists in stemming materialism in so far as only items that will be appreciated and kept will be purchased. Nothing worse than accumulating a number of items through your life that you do not really want. We have taken a sliightly different approach for Christmas and other holidays. We tend not to exchange gits unless they are hand made. We will bake goods for one another, we make calendars with family photos, videos of cherished photos or memories, homemade jams, etc. Our family pools the money we would have spent on gifts and uses it to assist others. We have done that for a few years now and we feel that it reflects our values and view of materialism during the holidays. Here is our lender profile if you would like to learn more: http://www.kiva.org/lender/RobertLewisons

• I plan to buy my girlfriend either Alhambra Big Box (which has all its expansions), or Zooloretto or Aquaretto (which doesn't come with any expansions, but has a number of them available) for Christmas.

I strongly reccomend Alhambra Big Box over the Zooloretto series based on my personal experience and taste.


Good luck and let us know how you proceed. I just posted our thoughts as an alternate perspective. I hope nobody takes it as a decree on how we think others should approach this.

Namaste,
Bixby

[Whaleyland]

Thanks Bixby, it was appreciated. And I actually forgot for a moment how many games other people have. I've seen thousands behind some video reviewers on BGG. Also, my girlfriend absolutely loves animals of all types. She cries during any movie that has an animal suffering (which means most Disney movies). The Zoo and Sea World were some of her favorite places to visit when we lived in San Diego. Would that change your perspective regarding Zooloretto/Aquaretto? Why wouldn't you recommend them?

[Bixby]

I think Zooloretto is a fine game.

My comments stemmed more out of a value comparison between Zooloretto and Alhambra. Between the two, I would really recommend Alhambra for replayability and enjoyment. I think both are good games.

I question the value of a number of the expansions to Zooloretto. I think the base game is enjoyable and some of the expansions may be worth it, some of the expansions I have seen are a bit thin on the value.

Do you know anyone with both games that you could get to show you? A local game club or game store perhaps. You should try both and decide for yourself based on your own enjoyment and perception of what you think your girlfriend would enjoy.

Good luck & happy gaming.