Curse

Zappa · May 27, 2007, 01:08 PM // 13:08

Yes! After the announcement of the American Sweepstakes, the European version is here! I'm going to run and sign... oh wait.

Quote:

5) ELIGIBILITY: This sweepstakes is open only to legal residents of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, (...)

Thank you, once again!

onerabbit · May 27, 2007, 01:12 PM // 13:12

so whats a sweeptake?

fenix · May 27, 2007, 01:15 PM // 13:15

WTB Australasian Sweepstakes please

Amon Warrior · May 27, 2007, 01:19 PM // 13:19

Tough break Zappa. And Portugal is right next to Spain.
Sweepstakes only for rich countries, eh?

I mean, there shouldn't be much of a problem to send a lousy prize to any EU or schengen countries (such is the case of Switzerland)

I thought ANet was better than this...

Amon Warrior · May 27, 2007, 01:22 PM // 13:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by onerabbit

so whats a sweeptake?

A lottery in which winners are randomly selected, often used to induce purchase of a product.

At least that's the explanation from Google. Type "define" followed by the word you're looking for.

TiNkLeR · May 27, 2007, 01:31 PM // 13:31

portugal cant participate... whats up with that?

Hengis · May 27, 2007, 01:35 PM // 13:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amon Warrior

A lottery in which winners are randomly selected, often used to induce purchase of a product.

At least that's the explanation from Google. Type "define" followed by the word you're looking for.

The European "Sweepstake" isn't actually a sweepstake. It is just a competition, as the winners are not randomly selected.

To win you have to guess the number of people who enter the competition and the closest to the actual number win the prizes.

Incidently, the word "sweepstake" has a slightly different meaning depending on which side of the Atlantic you are on.

The US version implies a randomly chosen winner of a prize, usually used as a promotional or marketing tool by a company. In The UK this would usually be called a "Prize Draw"

The British version of a sweepstake is a usually some kind of competition where the prize is funded from the cost of entering.

For example, we often have a Grand National Sweepstake, where people pay say £2 to pick a random horse in the annual Grand National horse race, and the people who pick the first to fourth placed horses win a prize that is made up of all the entry costs. There is no profit made by the organiser as all the money is given to the winners.

Aussie Boy · May 27, 2007, 01:38 PM // 13:38

Yeah why ain't Oz included.

Zappa · May 27, 2007, 01:46 PM // 13:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amon Warrior

Tough break Zappa. And Portugal is right next to Spain.
Sweepstakes only for rich countries, eh?

I mean, there shouldn't be much of a problem to send a lousy prize to any EU or schengen countries (such is the case of Switzerland)

I thought ANet was better than this...

Yeah, seems so... :/

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hengis Stone

The European "Sweepstake" isn't actually a sweepstake. It is just a competition, as the winners are not randomly selected.

Yes, he's right. In the American version you only entered personal details to enter, while in the British-Swiss-Swedish-Spanish-Norwegian-Dutch-Italian-German-French-Danish-Belgian-Austrian version of the promotion, a correct answer to a question is needed to enter.

Elena · May 27, 2007, 01:48 PM // 13:48

winning this would be nice then i can finally throw my old worn out rustheap and get a real gaming rig ^^ i can hope hehe feel sorry for you country's left out

*hugs*

Amon Warrior · May 27, 2007, 02:07 PM // 14:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zappa

Yes, he's right. In the American version you only entered personal details to enter, while in the British-Swiss-Swedish-Spanish-Norwegian-Dutch-Italian-German-French-Danish-Belgian-Austrian version of the promotion, a correct answer to a question is needed to enter.

Talking about misleading and biased...

This competition is a disservice to ANet.

It's a poorly made patchwork to Europe over the Sweepstakes in the US.

Diddy bow · May 27, 2007, 02:20 PM // 14:20

i entered even though i dont have the slightest clue how many will enter this

filouzophe · May 27, 2007, 06:32 PM // 18:32

Just signed up and on the form you can choose all (well it looked like all) European countries including Portugal. This seems to contradict the rules but it might still work.

Gaile Gray · May 27, 2007, 06:44 PM // 18:44

Just a little bit of background: Before we start a contest or sweepstakes, we get a legal review to make sure we're abiding by the law. (There are a lot of laws for contests and sweepstakes.) The legal reviews are time-consuming and can be very expensive. Now, in countries where we have legal counsel, we can obtain this review as part of the services that our legal counsel already provides. But in countries in which we don't have legal counsel, we're in the position of having to pay a significant amount of money to obtain that legal advice and, in some areas, we're also asked to pay money to the government for the privilege of offering free items to their citizens.

Now, it's just not practical to pay $100,000 or more for those global legal reviews. (And sadly, that amount is not an exaggeration!) We do what we can to obtain the broadest number of reviews and approvals, but in the end, there will be restrictions or we will blow the budget on the reviews and have nothing left for prizes.

Our partners at NCsoft Europe are the sponsors of the European "Return to Tyria" Sweepstakes. I am sure that they got reviews and approvals in as many countries as they were able to do so, just as we got as many as we could for the individual states and provinces of the US and Canada. (We have an exception as well, in the form of a province that is a common exception to such contests because the government requires waiting periods and fees.)

I would imagine the question in the European sweepstakes is part of the structure do to their legal reviews. Perhaps the question makes it possible to offer the sweepstakes in some or all of the countries, as opposed to a random drawing? I am truly unsure about this, but having been made aware of some laws concerning contests, this seems a possibility, anyway.

So Zappa, I'm really sorry about Portugal not being included. I know that NCE was working hard to include as many countries as possible. I hope that this explanation helps explain the situation.

Renegade26 · May 27, 2007, 07:09 PM // 19:09

I didnt realies the first question was important, and so my guess will be guessed by many others as well, because it is simple. So I cannot win tbh. Can I re enter again somehow?

summer_goth · May 27, 2007, 08:11 PM // 20:11

It really sucks living in a third world country...

Onarik Amrak · May 27, 2007, 08:11 PM // 20:11

But what about Australia and New Zealand?

Traveller · May 27, 2007, 08:18 PM // 20:18

A lot of Finnish gamers not included. Heck, few of the top PvP guilds are Finnish! Not that I even know what this is about, but I'd still like to be included!

crimsonfilms · May 27, 2007, 09:19 PM // 21:19

So much crying over an optional contest, done in good will I might add, by people who have no clue whatsoever about international laws and regulations.

So cry more - I'm sure your government will change the law just for you.

I'm sure there will be a lot of 'Sorry Anet, I was wrong for assuming bunch a stuff I have no idea about' in this thread after Gaile's post.

Zappa · May 27, 2007, 10:15 PM // 22:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by summer_goth

It really sucks living in a third world country...

I really hope you're saying that in a non sarcastic way, because, although I hate my stupid country and the stupid people in it, I have some pride. We're pretty inflated but still, not 3rd world. Yet...

I thank Gaile for the swift and convincing explanation and I feel I've complained to the wrong people, but then again, I know nothing. All I see is, every time there's a 'contest' of this kind, it's always directed to the same countries. Since you sell your game in many other places, I think you should be expecting this kind if reactions, even more when the players know they can actually make their message reach who they want it to reach.

I never knew about any law, here, that prohibited this kind of promotions, maybe I'm more ignorant than I thought I were? Are we that different from the rest of Europe? Well, legally at least. I always thought we had more in common with most of Europe than Switzerland, for example. However, it's just me thinking.

In the context of your reply, Mrs. Gaile, I don't think NCSoft even considered including portugal in the list. Why care about it, if they can start the contest right away, and have enough countries to promote it? The main Europe is covered, "lets move on to Asia now."
And if it costs them money, well, I can just sit and wait... Yes, makes me a bit sad, and I perfectly know that using my small right and privilege of expressing my opinion is worthless to the situation, but I still use it. So I'm not expecting (and I shouldn't expect) anything to change because of me or any other person that plays GW in an 'odd' location. I just, obviously hope that, some other time in a similar occasion, whoever is responsible remembers "us", the misplaced GW players.

So, I'm not saying I'm sorry, as I did nothing wrong, I'm just saying what I think about these 'promotions'. No gaming magazine contents, no 'lottery' prizes, nothing. Don't get me wrong I'm not asking you deliberately to give me stuff, but it just makes me wonder, it's not that we're Kazakhstan or something. What mysterious rules do we have that keep us from enjoying some of the banal commodities that our associate countries benefit?

Cheers, and good luck to those who can participate anyway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by crimsonfilms

So much crying over an optional contest, done in good will I might add, by people who have no clue whatsoever about international laws and regulations.
So cry more - I'm sure your government will change the law just for you.
I'm sure there will be a lot of 'Sorry Anet, I was wrong for assuming bunch a stuff I have no idea about' in this thread after Gaile's post.

Better to cry than to lick boots. No one questioned their good will.