Viewing post #1051716 by molanic

I'm probably not doing a very good job of putting into words what my idea was. The whole swap would still take a week or whatever the time frame is set to, so there would still be the chatting aspect, adding new items, picking new things, reordering wishes, etc. People that are able to, would even be present right when new tickets are issued each day to see who gets what in real time. The only part that would actually be automated is clicking to spend those tickets right when they become available each day. After that initial frenzy, remaining tickets could still be leisurely spent before the next ticket disbursement. Considering how many unspent tickets there were in our swap it would only really make a difference in allocating the more limited seeds in those first few days when tickets are fewer. The conflicts would be handled on a fair rotation, so that the most limited and desirable seeds don't always go to whoever can be at their computer clicking the fastest. I realize it is probably an overly complicated system to implement, especially if no one is interested. That is why I was just throwing it out there as a possible idea, and not really a complaint or request. Hopefully, I was able to explain my thinking a little better, so I don't sound like a total loon.

I agree the current system sounds more complicated than it actually is when we talk about it. But, once you join and get going it is really simple to use and efficient! I have done quite a few group swaps. Some are totally random, some themed, some wish list types, and now this choose your own type. The totally random ones give you some surprises, but also a lot of seeds that you can't use and have to re-home. The wish list swaps can not only fill your wishes, but also give you some surprises that are very targeted to your interests. I think they are the most work for all involved though. Our current host on the "What's Left on My Wish List Swap", checks every incoming packet against our wish lists to make sure it is a match. Then she redistributes duplicates and tries to make sure we get at least as many packets back as we send it. Plus, now she is dealing with redistributing packets sent in for people that have vanished from the swap with no explanation. That has got to be a tremendous amount of work for 20+ participants!