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It's not simply tradition, it's part of the community's culture. We're one of the few SE sites known for actually liking fun™. Let's keep it that way. Let the Winterbash games commence!
May the odds be ever in your favor.
21
WEAR TEH HATZ!
I think we should participate, it is kind of a tradition.
19
Yes. I think it's absolutely fantastic.
Also, we need to propose this as a hat:
17
Do we really need to ask?
Of course we should!!
17
YES. I want a hat!
[Obligatory text to reach the minimum answer length.]
16
ho-ho-ho
Yes, I think we definitely should. It encourages participation and might get some of our more inactive reviewers (myself included) to do more reviews :-)
15
On the plus side...
It will be a massive boost on the fun level. Gamification on steroids.
On the negative side...
Uhm, is there a negative side? No, there isn't, BRING IT ON!
13
Me wants. Sign us up NOW!
We need hatz. Winter is cold and boring.
12
According to the mod email that was just sent out, no further action is necessary for opting in for Winter Bash this year:
If you want in, you don't need to do anything; that's the default this year, due to overwhelming positive response in previous years.
Also, the event will run from December 14th to January 3rd.
12
Winter Bash is supposed to be fun, and I really don't want to kill it. But Winter Bash 2015 lasts for 3 weeks, and poor quality content that may slip through during this time might remain with us for years. A bit like a hangover after a fun party, except that it lasts much longer. I wouldn't want our site to be judged by sub-par content that came from greed ...
11
Hats are fun!
But low quality posts, and off-topic mischief are not.
Here's a list of the common hats that may cause mischief and how to spot it:
Timey Wimey: this hat is received by editing old posts, so you may find users making pointless edits just to get it, if you see some that look suspect, feel free to roll it back / flag.
Thalia & Melpomeme: ...
10
The same way you try to combat any other inaccuracy on the Internet: more eyeballs. If you see something that isn't right, write a comment or point it out in chat. If something seriously bad is happening, flag it for moderator attention.
9
YES! Because HATS!
Oh, and also because we like Fun™ around here.
9
8
Yes, the moderators have received this email. We are also the ones who must sign this site up for Winter Bash, but only if the collective community opts in. In addition, individual users who don't want to participate can opt out. This event is entirely optional for everyone.
So, please give your vote to help us decide on this. The deadline for signing ...
6
Don't forget to join us in chat where if you 'star' enough messages you can participate in (and evaluate) the wrestling of the big guys (Sumo Judge)!!!
6
On the plus side...
A massive boost on the fun level. Gamification on steroids.
On the negative side...
Uhm, is there a negative side? No there isn't, BRING ON THEM HATS!
5
16th DECEMBER
Before WinterBash
During WinterBash
After Winterbash
Bob is sad, he lovz hat!
5
Uhm... premature?
Do you know something that the rest of us don't? Are you sure that we need to "sign up"?
My expectation is that WinterBash is now a "default" thing, and that individuals get to opt-out if they don't want to see it.
So, is there some place where there's an announcement, or are you just guessing?
5
We could... mass-downvote anyone that isn't wearing a hat...
Nah. Seriously, some hats are easy to get - you can get a [not-so-]secret hat (HairBoat) on Code Review, by commenting on this post.
5
To be honest, in my head I automatically replaced "rep cap" with "reach 200", like the Epic/Legendary/Mortarboard work. But you're right, they didn't write 200. I guess it's a wording issue, the behavior is as expected.
What I didn't expect, was to get the hat even without actually hitting 200:
I still haven't reached 200 today btw. As far as I know this ...
4
Help clean up the site. Editing (even suggested edits that get approved) 5 old posts will get you a Tardis! But shhhhh that's a (not so) secret hat.
4
I think hats are stupid and do not want my auto-generated avatar to have one. However, last year's FAQ explains hat you can get rid of them with a click. Assuming that is still valid, I vote for signing up since that allows everyone to chose for themselves whereas not participating excludes the silly hat lovers for no reason.
2
"Business in the front, Party in the back" is a good way to go... Just be fair and vote the poor guy back up again. D̷o̷e̷s̷ ̷i̷t̷ ̷l̷o̷o̷k̷ ̷l̷i̷k̷e̷ ̷I̷ ̷v̷o̷l̷u̷n̷t̷e̷e̷r̷i̷n̷g̷?̷
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible