Giftsplosion 2014: The Percy Jackson of Christmas Events

Giftsplosion: the Timely Woe of Outdated, Useless Gifts

Hello readers, RayMan36 here with what we've all been waiting for: disappointment. Yes, I'm here to talk about the overly-impossible gift hunt, and maybe what would come out of these presents from the depths unknown, which all of you certainly bought.

DISCLAIMER: You have been juggling a broken teacup with a milkshake straw in your sock while dancing to the Canadian national anthem, all with your iron man costume in your baby pool on your 8th birthday party only if it was July 20th and it was a full moon. Otherwise, just pay me $40,000.

64-Bit Gift of Roblox News!

Happy New Year everyone! As my gift-giving season comes to a close, I'd like to give out one more special gift as a way of showing my appreciation to the fans and Roblox News staff. 

A huge thank you is owed to the fans for supporting the blog for yet another year! In 2013 we smashed our pageview records are closing in on one million (we are currently at 950,000)! A massive thank you is also owed to the staff at Roblox News who have been tirelessly producing quality articles for everyone to read and enjoy! Our top articles this year have racked up thousands upon thousands of views, which is a great achievement for us. 

So, please take this gift to commemorate another great year of blogging! The Roblox News gift boxes are somewhat collectable as I release one every year - owning the gifts shows to others when you first started following the blog, giving you some form of bragging rights. 

Sparkly

Thanks for reading and Happy Near Year! 

-Arbirator 

Editor of Roblox News

The Festive Gift of Christmas Spirit!

Merry Christmas to all you avid ROBLOXians out there from myself (Arbirator), IBarrageI, Flingi2 and the rest of the Roblox News team! I hope you all received the gifts you wanted underneath your Christmas trees and looking to spend your money on ROBLOX gamecards and on the Steam sale! As it is the 25th December, I thought it was appropriate to release a freebie gift (as part of my series) that celebrates the date and basks in the Christmas festivities.

The Festive Gift of Christmas Spirit will be free for all players on the 25th December (and possibly through to the 26th, depending on how generous I'm feeling). The thumbnail hasn't loaded as of writing this post, so here is an in-game screenshot of what you are bagging in your virtual inventory:

So, feel free to take a copy and make sure you keep having a very merry Christmas! Look out for more Roblox News gifts towards the end of the month and into the New Year! 

Thanks for reading!

-Arbirator

Editor of Roblox News 

Good Christmas Finds!

Rayman36 here, with my two front teeth. Anyway, I thought ROBLOX did a really nice job with some of the regular hats (on-sale for robux, maybe timed). I've got a list (I have checked it twice) of great and cheap impulse buys this year. I've made this list mostly because I have 250,000 tickets because of a hopeful TC profit, but the rates are too high. I've been living like a bum in Chicago, roblox-wise.

V: Christmas Fedora

I like this because of its fedora-ness. On every major event, on ROBLOX  or globally, ROBLOX releases a fedora. This is no exception, but it is higher on the list of other fedoras because the holly, colors, and considerably low price makes this a great addition for any neckbeard to wear.

IV: Penguin Advisor

  The main reason this is on the list is its price and originality. The hat's cheap, and is a nice shoulder pet for the holidays. I also liked Skating penguin for its originality and sort of low price.

III: Reindeer Cap/ Santa Bear

These may not look the best, but they are super cheap for the price of 10 tickets.

II: Holiday Crown

Three pluses: price (25 Robux), look, and originality. There aren't many crowns out there,  but most are 1000 robux. This is an  original Cesar-type crown for really cheap.

I: ROBLOX Stocking/Santa's Holly Hat

These hats were ROBLOX showing their holiday cheer.The hat looks well enough, but the price is phenomenal.

I guess that's it for today. Agree with me? Want to come at me with an angry mob of villagers armed with flame- encrusted pitchforks? Rant or simply comment down below!

-RayMan36

Giftsplosion 2013 Interview with IBarrageI!

Merry Christmas to all Roblox News readers out there! This Christmas Eve I bring you a giftsplosion themed interview with Roblox News' very own assistant editor: IBarrageI. In the interview we cover his views on the gift items and the achievements to earn them. We talk prices, accessibility and creativity of the 2013 Giftsplosion and give our overall impressions of the Christmas event.

 Note: apologies for the gaps between audio at various points in the video - I'm not used to the editing of several pieces of audio and meshing them together, it will be improved for the next audio interview. So sit back and relax, and check out the interview below. It's a podcast basically, so you can listen to it whilst doing other things on the internet.




Thanks for watching, listening and reading! 

Thanks to IBarrageI for taking part!

-Arbirator
Editor of Roblox News 

Interview with DailyBasis

Christmas interview with DailyBasis!

Greetings to all ROBLOXians, here is a Christmas Interview from Prolixen, my first interview for Roblox News! In a server of Starbucks I managed to interview DailyBasis the millionaire Robloxian!

1) How many gifts did you obtain this year, and of them all how many were bought and how many were achieved?

I got 5, 3 were bought and 2 were achieved.

2) Did you get more gifts this year than in the Giftsplosion of 2012?

No, I got 9 in the 2012 Giftsplosion.

3) What is your opinion on the gifts this year, were they too pricey or of a bad quality? Why?

They were too pricey and bad quality. For starters, I bought a 10k gift to be awarded with a poor retexture of a 1k hat. Mainly though, I just disliked most of them. 

4) Which was your favourite gift, and which was your least favourite?

Eh....Probably the gift that gave the golden shades, they match my necklace and fedora. The least favourite, hmm....The Merrywrath Gift, it is ugly and was too pricey. 

5) What Christmas items from previous years would you like to see back on-sale this year?

Both the items I would like to see back on-sale were from 2010, the Igloo of Solitude (TBC) and the Snowball Machine Gun (OBC). Although, if they went back on-sale I would want them to be selling for everyone not just TBC/OBC, although they would stay at their original prices.

6) In your opinion, were the gifts this year easier to get or harder to get and why?

Harder. Hard achievement with little hints and very expensive.

7) What's your favourite part of Christmas?
Hmm, getting the decorations set up.

8) If next year you could decide how people obtain a gift, what would you do?

An idea for a gift? Uh...Perhaps a gift that a bunch of Knockouts or Wipeouts was needed, say 100,000 Knockouts.

9) Do you think, that overall, the gift requirements were fair this year?
They were fair, but hard. Poor hints.

10) What gift box design is your favourite this year?
DevEx Gift. I like black gifts, makes it look mysterious.

Thanks for reading Robloxians! 

-Prolixen

Roblox News Festivities: Giftplosion, Site Logo, Group Logo

Image kindly provided by Sporeman15

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all you ROBLOXians out there! This month has already been a blast; with the successful ROBLOX 2013 Giftsplosion, the excellent gamecard items and of course the stylish seasonal themed items (both new and old) available in the catalog. The Siege of Quebec added an extra surprise to budding ROBLOX gamers and even rewarded the vigilant among them with cool virtual hats. Roblox News has joined in with the Christmas cheer and has festivities of its own to bring to the blocky table.

Roblox News Giftsplosion 2013 

May I present to you the Roblox News 2013 Giftsplosion - an annual seasonal event where I (Arbirator) release a set of gifts (in model format) which I make available at specific points between now and the end of the month. In previous year's I have released gift boxes with encoded descriptions, that when deciphered reveal the exact time they will be put on sale on the catalog. Some I release as freebies, but some are more cryptic as mentioned above. On top of the puzzling gifts, I release a Roblox News themed gift to celebrate the achievements of the blog in that calendar year and as a special thanks to the thousands of fans that support the blog on a daily basis. Without the readers, this blog would never have reached this far. These boxes are regarded by myself as quite collectable and serve as a staple as to when a reader started following the blog.

Three of the gift boxes have already been uploaded to my models, with keen gift collectors already owning one of them. The uploaded gift models are as follows:

Bedazzling Orange Retro Gift 

"Bedazzling is the design, but in what respect is it retro?"  This gift was available on two separate Retro Hours. From 10:30-11:30 AM Central on the 16th December and from 4:00-5:00 PM Central on the 18th December. It will be opening soon!

Beautifully Vibrant Gift of Bubbles

"I'm forever blowing bubbles Pretty bubbles in the air They fly so high, nearly reach the sky Then like my dreams they fade and die". I'll give you a clue with this one; it's to with blurbs, well, one blurb in particular...

The Wonder Gift 

"Creating content admired by the community. You are a wonder". Ok, I'll admit it, this one is going to be pretty exclusive, but hey, that's life. 

More gifts are to come, including the collectable yearly RN themed gift - so look out for that!

Festive Site Logo and Group Logo

By TheInnovative

To bring about the Christmas cheer we have decided to make use of two themed logos to accompany our blog and our official group over on ROBLOX. The site logo was created by our very own Catalog Analyst: TheInnovative (previously known as Chubbs21). I particularly liked his design choice of the piled ROBLOX gifts from 2012 with different sizes to reflect the reality of Christmas items buried beneath the tree. I loved the addition of Santa and an Elf which really reflects the Christmas cheer and plays on the traditional mindset we have of the holiday. The old style background and font really cemented this traditional feeling, completing the RN Christmas site logo.

By Chris7198

The group logo on the other hand was created by long time fan of the blog: CYNICALCHRIS. Chris managed to captivate the feel of our default group logo (devised by none other than Assistant Editor IBarrageI) whilst adding a traditional Christmas theme. The blend of the snowman, elf and Santa Claus really presents the seasonal theme well, with players easily identifying its purpose. I also applaud the font style in which it captures a more seasonal theme than our default logo, with a more 'fun' look to it that you might seen on promotional Christmas material.


 Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas!

 -Arbirator
 Editor of Roblox News

Interview with EmeraldRooster!

Season's greetings ROBLOXians! Today I bring you the second gift interview of the holidays. I managed to catch up with ROBLOX forumer EmeraldRooster who was more than willing to answer a few questions! 

1) How many gifts did you obtain this year? Are you pleased with this figure?
I obtained 8 gifts. I am pleased since in previous years it was harder for people to obtain gifts.

2) Of these gifts, how many did you earn and how many did you purchase?
I earned 7 and purchased 1.

3) What is your view on the gift prices this year? 
I thought most of the gifts were reasonably priced.

4) Of the gift items released this year, which is your favourite? Why?
My favorite is probably the sparkle coal. I am a gear collector myself and most of the items that come out of gifts are hats and not gear.

Hat Review: Dominus Aureus

Let me first just take a chance to say, I WAS RIGHT. Yeah. My guesser for the Dev Ex Gift was right, they made it too obvious. Okay, so, the gift that was awarded for people who used Developers Exchange or bought the gift for 50,000 R$ opened to reveal...

Dominus Aureus 

(shocker!)

Okay, let me just take this chance to point out a few things:

1. This is an updated texture. The texture when it first came out had some AWFUL stripe on the back of the hood that made the dominus look like a folded pancake.

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2. As the most recent dominus, Dominus Vespertilio, this dominus has a new mesh, which is a lot better than the vespertilio mesh. I'm a fan of the chrome-looking features, I must say.

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3. 259 people own this. Eh, not too bad. It's rarer than a lot of other big gifts, but still, not very rare. But hey, it's not like 1.63 million people have it like that Gandolf thing.

Okay, review time.

Mesh: Eh. The new mesh is alright. I love the pointed features, but the hood itself comes to a point at the end. Eww. The button things that I honestly have no idea what their proper name is are similar to the others, but a bit better to fit with the rest of the mesh. The opening of the hood is also different than the opening of the hood on all the other dominuses.. er, domini? What's the plural of dominus? I think it's domini. 8/10

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Texture: Even more.. Eh. Before the updated texture, this texture was awful. Now, it's better. It's gold, it's shiny, it's darker gold at areas, it's... okay. It could be better. I don't know how, but it could be better. Brighteyes, figure out what's missing, because something is missing. 7/10

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Price/Requirement/Whatever: Okay so there are like 4 different possible prices for this dominus. 50,000 R$, 100,000 R$, 250,000 R$, and 500,000 R$. The prices that aren't 50,000 R$ would get you that price divided by 1000 in dollars ($). If you bought it for 50,000 R$, well, you get nothing in return but a gift that looks like a void of candy canes and flowers, along with a golden dominus with a 7.5/10 grade in the appearance. Yippee. Okay, so if you earned this, it's great, if you didn't, it's probably still kind of great seeing as how it's most likely going to make profit whenever it goes limited. 9/10

Overall: 8/10

And that wraps of my review of Dominus duplex subcinericius - er, Dominus Aureus.

~pbjms~

Interview with jojods1125!

Today I bring you the first in a series of user interviews which will focus on the views of the community towards the 2013 ROBLOX gifts! In this interview we talk to jojods1125, an experienced gift collector who has spanned three giftsplosions. 


1) How many gifts did you obtain this year? How did this compare to 2012's Giftsplosion? 
 I obtained 11/13 gifts this year. The ones that I missed were the sound gift and DevEx gift. Last year I got all of the gifts excluding the "Big One", so I would say it's about the same.

2) How many of these gifts did you earn and how many did you purchase?
 Of the eleven gifts I got, I only bought the Approval gift. All of the rest I earned.

3) What is your opinion on the gift prizes this year?
 The prizes this year are pretty cool. I like how some of them (so far) aren't technically Christmas-related, so I'm able to wear them all year round. 

4) Out of all the gift items released so far, what is your favourite? Why? 
 Out of the ones I earned, I would have to say it's a tie between The Wisest Wizard and the Stylish ROBLOX Scarf. The Wisest Wizard is basically a Gandalf hat, and I love any hats that are based on books. I like the StylishScarf because it's good for more than Christmas. The gray color goes with many winter clothes, and I'm a sucker for anything with the ROBLOX R on it. For the ones that I didn't earn, it would have to be the Musica Infenus Dominator. I'm really glad that ROBLOX continued the Dominus Headphones series, and MID looks a lot better compared to Musica Dominator.

5) Which gift item do you think was most worth its price tag? 
As I said before, I'm overjoyed that ROBLOX made another Dominus Headphones. I always assumed that if they were to make another one, it would be worth at least 10k, and it would definitely not come out of a gift. Considering the fact that it was only 5k robux, or 1,250 if you earned it, it was totally worth the price.

6) What was your favourite gift to earn this year? Why?

 I would have to say either the Achievements of the Populace. The badges weren't too hard to earn, yet some weren't too easy. It was an almost perfect mix of difficulty, and the prize inside was worth it.

7) Which is gift box design is your favourite? Why? 
The Eventful Gift, by far. I love the mix of the different shades of blue and the various Christmas symbols on it.

8) In your opinion, were the Giftsplosion achievements this year fair? Why?  
Well, it depends on your definition of "fair." If you believe people who earned the robux needed to get the DevEx gift deserved something, or if you think people who spent multiple hours in TWH deserve another prize, then it's fair. But if you think people, no matter the join date, deserve a shot at the gifts, then no, it's not fair. As for me, I believe that if you put in the hard work to get the robux or badges needed to get those gifts, then you deserve something for it.

9) If you were to devise a gift achievement for next year's giftsplosion, what would it be? 
 Usually, the gifts are based on features that were added in the previous year, and since Universes are coming out soon, maybe for making a Universe? It would be a simple gift to earn, and anyone who actively builds should earn it. Yeah, I think that'd be a good gift achievement.

10) If you were to design a gift box texture for next year's giftsplosion, what would it look like? Just for the sake of staying constant, I'll think of a texture for a Universe Gift box. Maybe something futuristic, like along the lines of the iEgg? I think that would be a nice gift for any sci-fi fans on ROBLOX.


Thanks for reading!

-Arbirator
Editor of Roblox News

Christmas Gifts: Overview

Yes, it's that time once again to go over all of the gifts and what actually came out of them, this time for Christmas! For those that actually do remember I did one for the Halloween gifts this year, and shall be doing it for the Christmas gifts since they're both.. gifts. Anyway, let's start!

Well Outfitted Gift of Style                                                                 Stylish ROBLOX Scarf

Being the first gift people were expecting something pretty "meh" but this scarf is good, could be better though since it's a bit.. flat compared to the others.

      Gift of Passage                                                                           The Wisest Wizard

Fun fact, the hat that came out of this gift was leaked for quite a while. But back on topic, it's pretty good for how easy and cheap the gift was.

Gift of The Little Seed                                                                       Holiday Branchlers

A pretty common gift as far as I know, considering how many people actually bought the seed. This is a nice payoff I think, even if they aren't exactly "antlers" like many have wanted.

Admit One Gift                                                                                   Gold Flash Shades

Welp, I must admit I'm slightly jealous for those that got this gift. For only 1,500 a re-texture of the green flash shades is quite... surprising.




Eventful Gift                                                                                 Eventful ROBLOX Top Hat


The prize for this gift was actually leaked some time before the gift actually opened, but the texture was a little lighter, as far as I know. Good enough for what is a BLOXcon related gift.

Achievements of the Populace                                                                     Snowbot 

I'm honestly indifferent to this, a lot of people seem to like it, but it's not my thing. Oh well, to each their own. Still a good prize for those who earned it.

Festive Gift of Impossibility                                                                     Merrywrath

For 10k this one seemed a little steep, even if I like what they did for the idea behind this hat. Either way, it's pretty creative even if the texture isn't the greatest in some places. Good for those who got it for free.

Gift of Approval                                                                                     Festive Swordpack

A nice, cheap item, for a nice, cheap gift. This is fairly nice looking for a re-invented mesh and I think it'll go nicely with those who like to use sword packs.

Sound as a Bell Gift                                                                 Musica Infernus Dominator                           

I can't be the only one who was a little mad when this came out, right? Anyway, I like it. It's a worthy successor to the first of what is probably a new series of hats. (even if the 5 sounds requirement was a bit dumb..)

Double Double Gift of Trouble                                                       Gingerbread Headrow

Double gift, double item. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit sick of headrows being reused quite often now but all things aside it's one of the better looking headrows.





Bewitching Gift of Santa                                                            BLOXikin #32 Santa Claus

 

Okay, okay, they did a good job on the detail and all but charging 3.1k to the people who bought the gift was a bit much for another BLOXikin. I'm not sure honestly.





Muneris Aureus Dev Ex                                                                           Dominus Aureus

Ah, yes. Hopefully what is the final, final entry into the "Dominus" series of hats. Either way, good on those that got it for free and are satisfied with their purchase. The texture and mesh could use some work, though.




The Unluckiest Gift                                                                               Sparkle Time Coal

Released at an hour when most people were at school, this is probably the most "unfair" gift, or unluckiest if you want to go with the theme. What it contained though, is essentially a reskinned,
sparkling war rock that is better than the original. Not bad, I think.



Well, that about wraps this up. Maybe they'll learn from their mistakes this year to make the next one even better, good on you ROBLOX.

And as always, Happy Holidays.

Hat Review: The Wisest Wizard

Hello, pbjms here. After my long spree of Gift Guessers, Arbirator brutally forced me to write an actual hat review. So, I'm here to review one of my favorite gift prizes so far this year. It is the prize that tought me a very important lesson: When to pass. And that prize is, Gandal- er, The Wisest Wizard.

Oops, wrong picture, sorry.

There we go.

Okay. Time to recap.

During this year's Giftsplosion, a gift called the Gift of Passage was created. Many users thought it involved buying paid access to a place, others thought it was for buying a gamepass. Turns out, it was for buying a gamepass. So, if you didn't own a gamepass (thus you didn't earn the gift), you were stuck buying it for 100 Robux. It sold for a few days, eventually selling a total of 678 copies. If you think that's really rare, then you don't know just how many people own a gamepass. I'd say well over 200,000 people, seeing as how my alt, pbjms218, got the gift and didn't even own a gamepass at the time. Time-traveling to the future, this gift is opened on December 10th. Inside of it was The Wisest Wizard.

9/10 

Okay, moving on to the review.

Price: So, this hat was originally 100 Robux, but had many free copies given out. By the look of it, it was definitely worth it if you bought it, and if you got it for free, then you got an extra treat along with whatever gamepass got you this gift. 

10/10.

Appearance: This hat is the casual wizard hat that you can get from many, many other items. It comes with a bonus though. A nice, long, flowing beard that looks like it's made from cardboard. It's like, completely flat. Although it does make a nice Santa beard, the beard really doesn't really improve the look of this hat, as the wizard hat is actually really nice. 

8/10

Overall: 9/10

Thanks for reading!

~pbjms~