Guild Wars 2

I live in Europe, which im pretty sure many people that play this game do, as well as in other parts of the world not known as the US. So when i saw a notice on facebook from one of my guildies that GW2 was doing a sweepstake where we have a chance of winning some amazing things i got all excited until i noticed i actually have to LIVE in the US just in order to participate. Why? Why only do this for those that live in the US when there are as i assume million of players OUTSIDE the US which is also playing? Where is our sweepstakes? Where is our chance to win those amazing things?

This was pretty controversial to the DDO crowd as well when I played that. I’m pretty sure its got something to do with rules and regulations of running competitions like that, and how the rules are different all around the world. And within the US itself as well. Its enough work to cover all their state regulations without trying to get things done internationally.

I was always annoyed I couldn’t participate in these as well.

This is something that has come up a couple of times in another game I play. The developer explained that there are such a large number of different, and sometimes contradictory, regulations covering sweepstakes and the like in Europe that it is prohibitively complicated to even attempt to include players from the continent.

My sympathies for your predicament.

Sweepstakes are nearly universally unable to be completed by those outside the country of origin for nearly everything under the sun.

It’s just how these things work. You can thank the laws of your own country for the lack of inclusion.

This seems to be a thing USA companies do on a regular basis. I don’t understand the thoughts behind it. They know that they have customers outside of the states but still do this. My advice is to stop with the physical stuff that leads to problems and stick to ingame stuff that does not.

Because each country has different rules for their economic policies. It’s not worth the trouble going through all the legal processes for every country.

Anet need to stop doing things which favour only one part of their customer base. Despite its’ country of origin, GW2 is an MMO- not an american-exclusive game and by doing US-only ‘sweepstakes’ Anet is generating a bitter taste for players in every region which cannot participate.

Funky.4861:

… GW2 is an MMO- not an american-exclusive game and by doing US-only ‘sweepstakes’ Anet is generating a bitter taste for players in every region which cannot participate.

They’ve done it before, they’ll do it again. They refuse to learn.

Herr der Friedhoefe.2490:

Funky.4861:

… GW2 is an MMO- not an american-exclusive game and by doing US-only ‘sweepstakes’ Anet is generating a bitter taste for players in every region which cannot participate.

They’ve done it before, they’ll do it again. They refuse to learn.

It’s not a matter of learning, I’ll try to explain as best I can.

Sweepstakes in the US are simple, you enter, you win, you get the prize.

Sweepstakes in Canada are illegal if the winner is chosen at random (you have to be able to “earn” the prize, not get it by chance)

Sweepstakes in the UK can be considered gambling and need special permission from the UK government unless they fall under strict guidelines.

Sweepstakes in Australia require a permit if the winner is chosen at random.

Basically, each country has differerent rules and regulations for allowing someone to win a sweepstake and it’s difficult and time consuming to ensure that the sweepstake is legal in every country, hence why most companies will limit the participants to the US only.

Sweepstakes? What sweepstakes?

Pretty much because of this.

Just to be clear, I’m just joking here. No hard feelings

Don’t forget, that before launch, they gave away some goodies to EU fans only, none for US. They were supposed to do another give-away for US, but it never happened. I’m not saying this is tit-for-tat, but that sometimes one group gets goodies, and sometimes, another.

It would be great if everyone got to participate in all things, but sometimes it’s just not feasible.

Umm, what sweepstakes? I haven’t seen anything on Facebook or on the main website.

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

Pretty much because of this

mwhahahaha! that made me laugh
- I am stealing your pick.
Also what sweepstakes?

If you don’t like it, you should contact your government and get your laws changed so that you can participate in something like this.

To have a sweepstake in your country, there are different rules that need to be followed and people in the U.S. won’t be able to participate because our laws are different than other countries.

It isn’t ANet’s fault that they can’t hold a sweepstake for all players from all countries at one time. In some cases, they won’t hold a contest for your country if they have to purchase a permit.

While I can’t blame people for continuing to follow up on the original post, the question still begs to be answered… What the heck sweepstakes are you talking about??

Herr der Friedhoefe.2490:

They’ve done it before, they’ll do it again. They refuse to learn.

If you’re talking about European governments that love to impose so many regulations and so much bureaucracy that nobody wants to deal with doing anything in their countries, then you’re quite correct.

Qaelyn.7612:

Herr der Friedhoefe.2490:

They’ve done it before, they’ll do it again. They refuse to learn.

If you’re talking about European governments that love to impose so many regulations and so much bureaucracy that nobody wants to deal with doing anything in their countries, then you’re quite correct.

No, I’m talking about Anet kitten ing off a rather large percentage of their player base, by offering content that many cannot participate in. Small guilds and guild missions for instance. Casual players and Ascended crafting, and these sorts of sweepstakes.

They’ve done it before, and they’ll do it again. They refuse to learn.

Yes, I knew what you meant, I was just turning it around to the parties I feel really are responsible.

There’s nothing for Arenanet to “learn” here. It’s an American company and there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to hold a contest because foreign nations make it too much of a headache to allow their citizens to participate.

As others have said, What sweepstakes are you talking about? Nothing on the ArenaNet homepage, forums, facebook, or twitter.

Maybe its a fan site sweepstake? ZAM or GuildHead or something?

For those looking http://www.guildwars2sweepstakes.com/Entry.aspx

Isha.4278:

For those looking http://www.guildwars2sweepstakes.com/Entry.aspx

Does not look like a legit site.

Just to clarify for some of the Americans: It’s not that sweepstakes aren’t permitted in European countries, or even that they’re difficult, time consuming or expensive to set up.

They can happen and do on an annoyingly regular basis. You can’t buy a magazine or newspaper in the UK without being showered with bits of paper trying to get you to enter prize draws for all kinds of junk.

It only gets to be a problem if you’re trying to run one contest in multiple different countries. Because then you have to find out and comply with all the different rules. That’s 28, just for the EU. About 50 for all of Europe and hundreds if you wanted to do it world-wide. It’s just not worth the time and effort for most companies.

On a related note I can’t find any mention of this on Facebook either.

Wow, how has this been going all December with no one mentioning it until now?

Qaelyn.7612:

Yes, I knew what you meant, I was just turning it around to the parties I feel really are responsible.

Governments in Europe and Canada are somehow responsible for Anets business and
game design decisions? Wow, that’s quite a stretch.

Herr der Friedhoefe.2490:

Qaelyn.7612:

Yes, I knew what you meant, I was just turning it around to the parties I feel really are responsible.

Governments in Europe and Canada are somehow responsible for Anets business and
game design decisions? Wow, that’s quite a stretch.

You really don’t get it.

If that site were part of GuildWars 2, officially, would it be an external site? If it is something they are sponsoring, why wouldn’t it be part of the official site? Makes me wonder, anyway.

I wouldn’t sweep that, the stakes are too high.

Looks fake, no official ties, nothing on the main news page, nothing on facebook, no advertising of the event at all that I can find.

Yeah, no thanks!

That is a good question. And one that for once makes me call out for a fast dev response.

This website is most likely fake. But still, as you can see below, it labels itself as an official Arenanet website.

If this is indeed fake, I think the devs should respond asap.

the dev’s will only be back to work on the 6th from what I understand- so don’t expect anything

Morrigan.2809:

the dev’s will only be back to work on the 6th from what I understand- so don’t expect anything

Nope, according to the Dev Tracker they are still active on the forum.

I don’t believe that site is legit. Something is off with the HTML code, you can see a glaring error if you scroll down to the bottom and look in the lower left corner. Despite this, if this were a legit ANet sweepstakes it would have appeared as an official post on the Facebook page, and most likely could be linked from the main website.