100,000 Turbine Point Sweepstakes!

[Cordovan]

What would you do with 100,000 Turbine Points? Would you buy every item in the DDO Store? Purchase matching armor for your entire Guild? Upgrade to the biggest Airship in the game? Change your hair color to match every dungeon? The possibilities are endless. You could be the richest player in Eberron! Simply enter today for a chance to win 100,000 Turbine Points!


What Can I win?




One 1st place winner for each game gets 100,000 Turbine Points
Two 2nd place winners get lifetime subscriptions to either game
Five 3rd place winners get 1000 Turbine Points



Do I have to purchase anything to enter?




No, the contest is free to enter, no purchase necessary.



Ok great, how do I enter?




To enter, go to www.ddo.com (http://www.ddo.com/) between Dec 1 to Dec 31 2010 and register for a free account to become entered in contest.



But I already play DDO, can I still enter?




Absolutely! If you already have a DDO account prior to Dec 1, entrants need to go to my.ddo.com/contest (http://my.ddo.com/contest) Dec 1 to Dec 31 2010 to become entered in contest



If I enter to win for DDO, do I need to enter separately for LOTRO?




Yes. Each game will have individual drawings. You may enter to win for each game, but you must sign up separately.

More information, including the full rules, can be found by clicking here (http://www.ddo.com/news/1259-what-would-you-do-with-100000-turbine-points)!

[irnbru]

this is an ace contest IF you are in the us. if you are european or from somewhere else in the planet they say "screw you, you cant play or win."

[Cam_Neely]

Absolutely! If you already have a DDO account prior to Dec 1, entrants need to go to my.ddo.com/100K Dec 1 to Dec 31 2010 to become entered in contest


This did not work for me, but by searching for more info around ddo.com I found this

http://my.ddo.com/contest

which works

[ZeroTakenaka]

What would you do with 100,000 Turbine Points? Would you buy every item in the DDO Store? Purchase matching armor for your entire Guild? Upgrade to the biggest Airship in the game? Change your hair color to match every dungeon? The possibilities are endless. You could be the richest player in Eberron! Simply enter today for a chance to win 100,000 Turbine Points!


What Can I win?




One 1st place winner for each game get’s 100,000 Turbine Points
Two 2nd place winners get lifetime subscriptions to either game
Five 3rd place winners get 1000 Turbine Points



Do I have to purchase anything to enter?




No, the contest is free to enter, no purchase necessary.



Ok great, how do I enter?




To enter, go to www.ddo.com (http://www.ddo.com/) between Dec 1 to Dec 31 2010 and register for a free account to become entered in contest.



But I already play DDO, can I still enter?




Absolutely! If you already have a DDO account prior to Dec 1, entrants need to go to my.ddo.com/100K Dec 1 to Dec 31 2010 to become entered in contest



If I enter to win for DDO, do I need to enter separately for LOTRO?




Yes. Each game will have individual drawings. You may enter to win for each game, but you must sign up separately.

More information, including the full rules, can be found by clicking here (http://www.ddo.com/news/1259-what-would-you-do-with-100000-turbine-points)!

Mockduck.......................................... ....................

T_T *tears of joy*

I'm in the contest.

Edit: I love you................

[RobertVesco]

With all the problems with MyDDO,( None of my characters are updating and any new ones don't show up at all. ), how can we be sure our entries are actually being registered? .

[Vellrad]

this is an ace contest IF you are in the us. if you are european or from somewhere else in the planet they say "screw you, you cant play or win."


Are you serious?

[stainer]

this is an ace contest IF you are in the us. if you are european or from somewhere else in the planet they say "screw you, you cant play or win."

Ya, but we don't have a decent rail system. You still win.

[grodon9999]

There's no cash value for this if we win, right? The IRS isn't going to come looking for $40,000 are they?

Dumb question, I'm not an accountant or a lawyer.

[Cam_Neely]

There's no cash value for this if we win, right? The IRS isn't going to come looking for $40,000 are they?

Dumb question, I'm not an accountant or a lawyer.

Not Dumb at all, I entered a contest at The Light Foundation to meet Matt Light and get sweet tickets to the Pats v Colts game, and part of the prize was $x to offset state and federal income taxes that would be paid directly to the gov't. But I'm guessing since there is no resale value the imputed value is zero and not taxed.

[SirAggravator]

hmmm from the contest terms link


ELIGIBILITY: This Sweepstakes is (1) open to legal residents in the United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 years of age or older and have Internet access; (2) void in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. Military installations in foreign countries, all other U.S. territories and possessions and wherever prohibited or restricted by law; and (3) subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws. Entrants who are not of the age of majority in their state must have their parents' or legal guardians' consent to participate in the Sweepstakes. Employees of Warner Bros. Technical Operations, Inc., Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Turbine, Inc. and each of their respective parent companies (Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Time Warner Inc.), affiliates, subsidiaries, divisions, and advertising and promotional agencies and their respective officers, directors and agents (collectively, the "Sweepstakes Entities") and the immediate family members and persons living in the same household of each are not eligible to enter or win.

[saber7]

With the cost of all the name changes for your characters and server moves to avoid those odd guildmates who just happen to be your "best friend" all of a sudden I'm not sure 100,000 points is enough. May need to double it I think :D.

[Fyresworn]

I am Canadian - I have been playing DDO since it went FTP. I have purchased a fair amount of Turbine Points although I have not taken a subscription. This game is OnLine World Wide and therefore the contest should be open World Wide. I feel it is terrifically UNFAIR to have a contest of this nature that is limited to a select few.

[Dimack]

Junk,

That's actually a great question.

[gabriul]

So the Second Place winners get a lifetime subscription to DDO worth $200. Where can I buy that?

[Bilger]

I am Canadian - I have been playing DDO since it went FTP. I have purchased a fair amount of Turbine Points although I have not taken a subscription. This game is OnLine World Wide and therefore the contest should be open World Wide. I feel it is terrifically UNFAIR to have a contest of this nature that is limited to a select few.

It may be unfair but there may be legal reasons why they can not do it outside US.

Not saying for sure.

Maybe someone more in the know can tell us but if there isn't any legal issues then there shouldn't be any reason to exclude others.

[deathtouch]

I am pretty sure that if Turbine has a cash value on these, then you would have to pay state and federal taxes.

When I am more awake I will check my Tax books.

[Cordovan]

This did not work for me, but by searching for more info around ddo.com I found this

http://my.ddo.com/contest

which works

Thanks! Looking into it.

[Purgatory]

In it to win it!

unless i have to claime it on my taxes then no ty

[stainer]

Thanks! Looking into it.

Jerry,

The cash value and IRS question is a really good question. What does the WB legal team say?

stainer

[Cam_Neely]

Thanks! Looking into it.

psh noob workers :)

GZ on the new job Mockduck!

[Smitey]

Good luck to all " legal residents in the United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 years of age or older and have Internet access"

I imagine it's for legal reasons but doesn't really sell DDO as the global service it's claimed to be operating...

[Ainimache]

okay

http://my.ddo.com/100k didn't work, so I tried
http://my.ddo.com/contest which is now what it officially says on the myddo page

But that doesn't work either.

the /100k one I get a my.ddo page that says page not found
the /contest one I get a true 404 error

I did manage to get entered into the lotro one.

edit: now it seems to be randomly going between the two types of "can't find the page" messages.

[Fomori]

I am Canadian - I have been playing DDO since it went FTP. I have purchased a fair amount of Turbine Points although I have not taken a subscription. This game is OnLine World Wide and therefore the contest should be open World Wide. I feel it is terrifically UNFAIR to have a contest of this nature that is limited to a select few.
While I agree that it would be nice to open this to all countries, I think the motivating factor was the obscure rules that individual countries place on what is required for a sweepstakes to be legal in those countries.

After doing some quick reseach it seems that in Canada they require a skill question, usually a math problem. Brazil requires a cultural contest. Some European countries also requires skill questions.

Thus its probably easier for them to limit this to what their lawyers can lock up, considering they are based in the US and know the US laws better.

What I do not think is that Turbine just arbitrarily decided that they were ungrateful of their non-US customers. Sometimes getting the legal ramifications down pat are more important than possibly annoying your customer base.

[Quanefel]

I am not sure if I am entered into this or not. I went to the link, checked the agreement box, hit the enter contest button but pages loads up saying there was an error? Did it go through or is there some way to find out if we are entered into the contest or not?

[flynnjsw]

Neither posted link works.

Code404...what did you do? (It was a code 404 error :P)

[rimble]

I am not sure if I am entered into this or not. I went to the link, checked the agreement box, hit the enter contest button but pages loads up saying there was an error? Did it go through or is there some way to find out if we are entered into the contest or not?

If you go back to the page it should say if your account is already entered.

[Cordovan]

This did not work for me, but by searching for more info around ddo.com I found this

http://my.ddo.com/contest

which works

Okay, I've looked into this and you are correct about the proper link. Thanks! I've updated the copy to reflect that.

Just a note that you do need to be logged into your my.ddo.com account to be able to enter the contest. If you aren't logged in, you may experience an error message until you do log into your my.ddo.com account.

[Spisey]

So the Second Place winners get a lifetime subscription to DDO worth $200. Where can I buy that?

This ;)

[slimkj]

Ya, but we don't have a decent rail system. You still win.
Ever been to England? :)

[Autolycus]

Here's an excerpt from the submission page. The highlighting is mine.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Eberron Unlimited™ Game Sweepstakes begins at 12:00:01 p.m. PST on December 1, 2010 and ends on 11:59:59 p.m. PST on December 31, 2010.

I assume it's a typo, but technically the Sweepstakes haven't started yet. So what happens to anyone who's already registered? Do their entries get disqualified?

[Bilger]

I had to do multiple times for my accounts before it said was entered in contest.

Just keep trying go back and hit again and again till it accepts due to the high volume receiving I bet it will keep giving errors until ya squeeze in luckily.

Worked for me and all accts are entered.

[Thrudh]

So the Second Place winners get a lifetime subscription to DDO worth $200. Where can I buy that?

Heh... nice catch...

I'll pay $200 for a lifetime subscription too!

[slimkj]

So the Second Place winners get a lifetime subscription to DDO worth $200. Where can I buy that?
Also, is it a sneaky clue that DDO shuts down in ~13 months?! ;)

[Cordovan]

Here's an excerpt from the submission page. The highlighting is mine.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Eberron Unlimited™ Game Sweepstakes begins at 12:00:01 p.m. PST on December 1, 2010 and ends on 11:59:59 p.m. PST on December 31, 2010.

I assume it's a typo, but technically the Sweepstakes haven't started yet. So what happens to anyone who's already registered? Do their entries get disqualified?

You'll be fine.

[deathtouch]

Ever been to England? :)

Yes it is very depressing. Virgin Rail has to be the worse way to travel, got on a train and pretty much stood up all the way to London.

[phalaeo]

Thanks! Looking into it.

I found I had to click on the Terms of Service link (not box) to activate something that assumes I read it before it would enter me.

[KingOfCheese]

What will I do with my 100,000 points WHEN I win?

Easy answer: Purchase 5200 mana pots and solo Shroud on elite with my bard using only Greater Shout.

[Quanefel]

If you go back to the page it should say if your account is already entered.

Cool, thanks. It finally went through.

[amnota]

Links did not work,a simple refresh fixed it for both of them.

[Emili]

Okay, I've looked into this and you are correct about the proper link. Thanks! I've updated the copy to reflect that.

Just a note that you do need to be logged into your my.ddo.com account to be able to enter the contest. If you aren't logged in, you may experience an error message until you do log into your my.ddo.com account.
I am logged into MyDDO.com and still get the 404 error.

[Ratnix]

So I'm assuming that "Two 2nd place winners get lifetime subscriptions to either game" means VIP status for the lifetime of the game, correct?

If that is the case, I will take that over 100,000 points any day.

On top of favor rewards and monthly tp's for being VIP, it really shouldn't be too hard to buy bank upgrades, shared bank slots and bags. Maybe a purchase of tp's when they go on sale every once in a while for the rare oddity or to waste on junk like xp pots and rez cakes.

[Cordovan]

What will I do with my 100,000 points WHEN I win?

Easy answer: Purchase 5200 mana pots and solo Shroud on elite with my bard using only Greater Shout.

I was thinking that spelling out "I'm Rich!" in DDO Store rest shrines might be a great way to use my theoretical winnings (of course, Turbine employees aren't eligible to enter...)

[Illarvan]

So much for this being DDO-Global. :(

[TiranBlade]

I am pretty sure that if Turbine has a cash value on these, then you would have to pay state and federal taxes.

When I am more awake I will check my Tax books.

I don't think it would qualify as taxible considering you don't actually get ahold of anything in person, it's all electronic and stays on Turbines end. It doesn't actually go onto something you can redeem somewhere else.

But, I'm not that familiar with tax laws, so I might be wrong.

Just stoping in to say hi before I head back over to LotRO,
TiranBlade

[Sirea]

Just curious, how does a lifetime subscription work in a f2p game? Does that mean VIP subscription? Or simply that all the adventure packs/races/classes are open on all servers as if you bought them all out of the Store?

[AZgreentea]

I was already logged into MyDDO when I clicked the link.


You are now registered in the 100,000 point sweepstakes

I dont suppose I could request an email, if it dosent send one? I like getting email confirmations.

[Yazston_the_Invoker]

Sweet...would this actually be considered Winning DDO? ;)

[Krastave]

GL US players, looks like we eubies cant compete

[Cordovan]

I am logged into MyDDO.com and still get the 404 error.



Give it a few minutes and try it again, I think the newness of the announcement is leading to the occasional error as lots of people sign up.

[Ainimache]

I am logged into MyDDO.com and still get the 404 error.




Same for me, I'm also logged in.

http://my.ddo.com/100k gives me the my.ddo page that tells me that page does not exist
http://my.ddo.com/contest gives me the 404 error most times, other times I get the my.ddo page

And now it's only taking a few seconds before it tells me the pages don't exist. And both links are giving me the 404 error, rather than any my.ddo page.

[graehaus]

Personally, it sounds too good to be true, and actually I'd say it is. I think the lack of international allowance to participate is rotten. I mean we all can buy T.points right, so technically we all should be able to win points, there is no real value to them honestly. I mean like buying a ticket or book of tickets.

[TiranBlade]

Just curious, how does a lifetime subscription work in a f2p game? Does that mean VIP subscription? Or simply that all the adventure packs/races/classes are open on all servers as if you bought them all out of the Store?

If it works like LotRO's Lifetime Sub, then it's VIP for Life.

[Vellrad]

GZ Turbine, you just made a lot of your costumers angry.

Will any of Turbine employees answer why you're limiting this only to part of your players?

[Smitey]

I am logged into MyDDO.com and still get the 404 error.



Your entry will be void anyway Emili:


Illegible and/or incomplete Entries and Entries submitted by entrants who do not meet the eligibility requirements (including all requirements with respect to age and residence) are void.

http://www.ddo.com/news/1243-sweepstakes

[Ainimache]

Just curious, how does a lifetime subscription work in a f2p game? Does that mean VIP subscription? Or simply that all the adventure packs/races/classes are open on all servers as if you bought them all out of the Store?

I'm willing to make an educated guess here: It means VIP for the lifetime of your account or the lifetime of the game, whichever lasts longer.

I'm basing this on the fact that in the past LotRo players were able to purchase lifetime subscriptions, and that's what it means over there.

FYI - you can no longer buy lifetimes at LotRo, nor do they expect to ever offer it again. Don't hold your breath waiting for it on DDO.

[crazycaren]

This did not work for me, but by searching for more info around ddo.com I found this

http://my.ddo.com/contest

which works

thanks!

[Gadget2775]

Okay, I've looked into this and you are correct about the proper link. Thanks! I've updated the copy to reflect that.

Just a note that you do need to be logged into your my.ddo.com account to be able to enter the contest. If you aren't logged in, you may experience an error message until you do log into your my.ddo.com account.

The link still returns a 404 error for me.

I have one tab opened to MyDDO.com and can see both the "Logout" link in the upper right and "Logged in as Gadget2775". Tried to open another tab to the indicated link.

Running Vista 32, IE version 8 if that help...

[roc25rs]

Hey, is it just me or is everyone else having issues with the link? It gives me a "refresh" page then i do and it then brings me to a "page not found" page. Please can someone help me resolve this problem? Or is it on their side?

[Arkadios]

Well this is a peice of **** I'm vip and i thought that allowed me to enter everything? oh wait no you're form europe you don't get to enter our contests.

I mean come on? i know i'm not likely to win but seriously? you have a huge european (only saying european because that's where i am, but also from all over the world) playerbase these restrictions are stupid. Doubt they'll be fixed by this one, but please make it able to enter from ALL locations in the world if ANYONE can enter, which they clearly can't.

[Uska]

NIce now all of you listen and pay attention these points are mine.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcCXnXDiKoQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4BNbHBcnDI

[stretchcore]

Not in the US, despite the fact I was paying for DDO content before the EUbie merge, you banned the people I play with during Mabar and they don't play anymore, and now I can't enter your sweepstake.
Sucks to be me, I guess.
Oh, and btw, gets NEVER has an apostrophe in it.

[TiranBlade]

I don't think it would qualify as taxible considering you don't actually get ahold of anything in person, it's all electronic and stays on Turbines end. It doesn't actually go onto something you can redeem somewhere else.

But, I'm not that familiar with tax laws, so I might be wrong.

Just stoping in to say hi before I head back over to LotRO,
TiranBlade




TAXES AND COSTS RELATED TO THE PRIZES:All applicable taxes, including all federal, state, local and other taxes and any license, destination and delivery charges are the sole responsibility of each Winner. Winners may be issued a 1099 tax form for the ARV of their Prizes. Any additional expenses not included in the Prizes are the sole responsibility of the Winner.


Well I found this, um, yeah gonna have to check myself in case I win, I don't have a job right now and if I have to pay taxes on this according to the laws, I'm borked.

[knightgf]

Oh yes, you GOTTA love who's sponsoring Turbine's 100,000 point dash:


SPONSOR: Warner Bros. Advanced Digital Services, a division of Warner Bros. Technical Operations Inc., 4000 Warner Blvd., Bldg. 168, Burbank, CA 91522 ("WBADS"). "Sponsor and its agents" shall mean WBADS, its advertising/promotional and/or fulfillment agencies and their respective parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries and their respective employees, officers, directors and agents.

Kinda figured that someone was filling Turbine's pockets...

[Dandonk]

So, we ARE second-class customers, then? Great.

[Cam_Neely]

Oh yes, you GOTTA love who's sponsoring Turbine's 100,000 point dash:



Kinda figured that someone was filling Turbine's pockets...

News Flash, News Flash, Read all about it!

HEADLINE
"WB buys Turbine"

Subtitle
" In april 2010"

:)

http://www.businessofcinema.com/news.php?newsid=16000

[RequiemVampie]

Four pages and still no actual answer as to why players from other countries are not allowed to enter.

SHENANIGANS! Shenanigans, I tell you.

I live in Canada and been playing since Jan '07.

Show some appreciation to your paying customers from other parts of the world.

[Zenako]

Its just like any contest with prizes that have "value". You will owe taxes on winnings.


7.PRIZES AND ODDS OF WINNING:

All Prizes are virtual or available online and can only be redeemed by playing Dungeons & Dragons Online game.

Once a Potential Winner has been officially declared a Winner, they may request a copy of Dungeons & Dragons Online game on a disk from Sponsor to redeem their prize.

Grand Prize
One (1) Grand Prize Winner will receive, which includes the following:

- One Hundred Thousand (100,000) Turbine points

Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of the Grand Prize: $1,000 Total


First Prize

Two (2) First Prize Winners will receive, which includes the following:

- One (1) One (1) Lifetime Subscription of Dungeons & Dragons Online game

ARV of Two (2) First Prizes: $200 per Winner; $400 Total


Second Prize

Five (5) Second Prize Winners will receive, which includes the following:

- One Thousand (1,000) Turbine points

ARV of Five (5) Second Prize Winners is $14.00 per Winner; $70.00 Total

Total ARV for all Prizes: $1,470.00

Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible Entries received. Each Entry will have an equal chance of winning.
8.PRIZE CONDITIONS: Selection and specifics of all prizes (collectively, "the Prizes") will be determined in the Sponsor's sole discretion. All Prizes are subject to availability. No cash redemption or prize substitution allowed, except by the Sponsor, who reserves the right in its sole discretion to substitute cash value or another prize it believes is of equal or greater value. All Prizes are non-transferable. Each Entry will have an equal chance of winning. There is a limit of one Prize per person. All Prizes are awarded “AS IS” and without WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, express or implied (including without limitation, any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose). Acceptance, participation in and/or use of the Prizes are at Winners’ sole risk and Sponsor is not responsible for any damages whatsoever, including special, indirect, or consequential damages, arising out of or in connection with the use and/or misuse of any such prize. Prize is not redeemable for cash value, even if Potential Winner does not choose to download the game. Prize may be redeemed at the DDO Store located within the game. Prize must be redeemed within one (1) year or else Prize may be forfeited.
9.TAXES AND COSTS RELATED TO THE PRIZES:All applicable taxes, including all federal, state, local and other taxes and any license, destination and delivery charges are the sole responsibility of each Winner. Winners may be issued a 1099 tax form for the ARV of their Prizes. Any additional expenses not included in the Prizes are the sole responsibility of the Winner.


So since they peg the 100,000 points as being worth $1000, then if you win, you will owe taxes on that $1000 of "income". Also concerned about the language about redeeming the prize within one year. Does that mean you have to spend the 100,000 points in one year, or just claim it.

[rest]

I'm pretty sure Tolero at some point posted why the contests are US only. Something to do with legal issues in other countries. It would be nice to get a real response though.

[Irinis]

I am Canadian - I have been playing DDO since it went FTP. I have purchased a fair amount of Turbine Points although I have not taken a subscription. This game is OnLine World Wide and therefore the contest should be open World Wide. I feel it is terrifically UNFAIR to have a contest of this nature that is limited to a select few.

Even if there are legal reasons we can't enter, it's completely unfair to hype a contest on the front page without stating anything in that post about it being open to US residents only. That's a little too important to have only in the fine print 3 pages away.

The game isn't played only by people in the US, please alter the original announcement to make it clear that the contest is only for those in the US. Thank you!

[TiranBlade]

Four pages and still no actual answer as to why players from other countries are not allowed to enter.

SHENANIGANS! Shenanigans, I tell you.

I live in Canada and been playing since Jan '07.

Show some appreciation to your paying customers from other parts of the world.

It could be due to contest regulations they are not able to hold the contest in other countries, remember, laws of the land are different depending on whos in control. That's my only theory and probably not acurate. I'm not saying it's right, but it's something to think about. I hope everyone else will be able to enter as well, it would make this contest interesting.

[Missing_Minds]

Personally, it sounds too good to be true, and actually I'd say it is. I think the lack of international allowance to participate is rotten. I mean we all can buy T.points right, so technically we all should be able to win points, there is no real value to them honestly. I mean like buying a ticket or book of tickets.

Have you ever tried to run a contest and follow the rules of every single country because it is global?

Life isn't fair. Love it when it is great to you, but don't get too disheartened when it is not over the small things.

[Zenako]

Four pages and still no actual answer as to why players from other countries are not allowed to enter.

SHENANIGANS! Shenanigans, I tell you.

I live in Canada and been playing since Jan '07.

Show some appreciation to your paying customers from other parts of the world.

Mainly because the LAWS of most countries make this contest as it is, ILLEGAL to offer to residents of those countries. Take it up with your own politicians and lawyers who made those laws. A few have pointed out how some countries require specific types of "skill" quetions to be answered to be eligible to enter or win, while others require different standards. This is not Turbines choice to limit it to US only, but driven by the myriad laws of OTHER Countries which often prevent these kind of offers from being made.

[Krastave]

Isnt it then just better for them not to do this kind of contests?
Sure people like contests but now they are cutting alot of people out of it now due to laws and taxes in other countries etc..

[TiranBlade]

I'm pretty sure Tolero at some point posted why the contests are US only. Something to do with legal issues in other countries. It would be nice to get a real response though.

Beat me to it rest! lol

[articwarrior]

I'm pretty sure Tolero at some point posted why the contests are US only. Something to do with legal issues in other countries. It would be nice to get a real response though.

but canada? :(:(:(
what's wrong with canada?!:mad:

[fuzzy1guy]

Pretty standard stuff... Legit sweepstakes, lotteries ect... fall under some special us rules and they really can't offer it outside of the usa without alot more lawyers involved usually.

If any of it has any real world value at all.. and a ddo subscription does.

Some info.. But not all. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweepstakes

Most contests of this type that are usa based are usa only.

You can thank the lawyers and politicians. Of your own countries too.

[Arkadios]

Isnt it then just better for them not to do this kind of contests?
Sure people like contests but now they are cutting alot of people out of it now due to laws and taxes in other countries etc..

Agreed or make something eligible (spelt right?) in all countries or just something extra for people with different rules, that shouldn't take much more time than the contest itself

[Zenako]

but canada? :(:(:(
what's wrong with canada?!:mad:

Canadians Use a Different Method to Avoid Illegal Lotteries
Canadian sweepstakes law, unlike American law, requires that the third component, "winners are chosen by luck," is removed. Sponsors cannot use pure luck to determine who wins a sweepstake. There must be at least some element of skill involved.

In order remove the element of pure chance, sponsors narrow the field of potential winners by requiring a skill testing question to enter their contests. Every entrant does not have the same chance to win; only those who at least pass the skill testing question are eligible to win prizes. Of course, this is only a technicality. Most people can pass the skill testing questions without difficulty, although sponsors are required to make the test somewhat challenging.

[Garth_of_Sarlona]

Sucks that Canada (and Europe) aren't eligible.

Seems odd, because I know Canada was eligible for other competitions recently (after being not eligible for the first few, I think someone at Turbine expanded the rules to include Canada) - why can't this be done for this contest?

Garth, eh?

[tripwire11]

lol turbine tries to do something nice and the whole world goes bananas.

but i did get booted due to mabar, so if i win i might forgive them

[patang01]

I got a bunch of error messages before it seemed to go through. Eventually it said you have already registered so I assume it's done then. Hopefully that won't screw me over by making it look like you tried to do it more than once.

Kind of remind me of trying to copy over a toon to Lamannia where try and try again eventually gets you there :)

Thanks for the chance - I'm not greedy tho - I'll take the lifetime subscription if I absolutely 'have' too.

[Vellrad]

Mainly because the LAWS of most countries make this contest as it is, ILLEGAL to offer to residents of those countries. Take it up with your own politicians and lawyers who made those laws. A few have pointed out how some countries require specific types of "skill" quetions to be answered to be eligible to enter or win, while others require different standards. This is not Turbines choice to limit it to US only, but driven by the myriad laws of OTHER Countries which often prevent these kind of offers from being made.

Even if this is not Turbine's fault that they can't offer concept to anyone outside of US, its their fault to treat non-US players as worse costuments. Hell, even guys who didn't paid a dime are more important than paying UE/Cannadian/South American/Asian/etc costumers. Thats nothing strange that we all feel worse, and we can be little angry on Turbine. In my opinion it would be better to offer players from all over the world something in exchange.

[Glenalth]

I would like a mountain of points deposited directly into my account please :)

[The-Last-Wolf]

Isnt it then just better for them not to do this kind of contests?
Sure people like contests but now they are cutting alot of people out of it now due to laws and taxes in other countries etc..

I have to agree with this.

I would not normaly knock Turbine but this is plainly wrong.

I absolutly respect the fact that setting up an international contest is very difficult or impossible. So the answer is surely either

A) Don't do it and respect your WHOLE community of customers

B) At the very least put a big freindly banner apologising that this is only open to USA based customers for legal reasons.

I dislike option B, but it would be better than nothing.

Saying life is unfair, so deal with it (paraphrasing a forum member not Turbine) doesn't really help. Just because certain realities make life unfair, doesn't mean people should actively strive to do more to make it unfair.

Sorry Turbine this one is a fail in my opinion. This contest should not have been run.

Regards
Wolf

[Doganpc]

There's no cash value for this if we win, right? The IRS isn't going to come looking for $40,000 are they?

Dumb question, I'm not an accountant or a lawyer.Not a dumb question a very good one and I found this little tidbit...

9. TAXES AND COSTS RELATED TO THE PRIZES:All applicable taxes, including all federal, state, local and other taxes and any license, destination and delivery charges are the sole responsibility of each Winner. Winners may be issued a 1099 tax form for the ARV of their Prizes. Any additional expenses not included in the Prizes are the sole responsibility of the Winner.

Dogan
the virtual economy becomes real

[Irinis]

Mainly because the LAWS of most countries make this contest as it is, ILLEGAL to offer to residents of those countries. Take it up with your own politicians and lawyers who made those laws. A few have pointed out how some countries require specific types of "skill" quetions to be answered to be eligible to enter or win, while others require different standards. This is not Turbines choice to limit it to US only, but driven by the myriad laws of OTHER Countries which often prevent these kind of offers from being made.

I think that's all they'd have to do to make it ok for Canada is add a skill-testing question if you win, if you can't do a simple math question the prize gets offered to the next winner.

But Warner Bros is paying for it and maybe they don't want to offer it anywhere else in the world.



the virtual economy becomes real

Virtual economies have been real for a long time now. In fact, the economy we have in the real world US is a virtual one at the moment since it's no longer tied to a gold standard.

[gabriul]

Everyone who dislikes non-Americans being excluded can protest by not entering, and I'm not just saying that because it increases my own odds. ;)

[knightgf]

Let me ask you a honest, down to earth question:

"If you had the chance to get away with it, would you not mark on your taxes that you won 100,000 Turbine Points?"

In all honesty, I don't see how governments would be able to tax Turbine Points. Sure, you've got the approximate retail value to help you out with the taxes. But in all seriousness, I dunno how this whole tax thing will work with these kind of winnings, and unless you somehow make it known what your account name is to the public(That would include the government) I wouldn't worry too much about taxes.

If you really did get taxed in real-world currency for this stuff, then I wouldn't bother applying to it, because it would be like those internet deals you see online.

Example: "Hey you wanna win a free dose of 100,000 Turbine Points? You want 100,000 Turbine points, oh I know you want 100,000 Turbine Points, well guess what? You gotta pay $100 to get it delivered!"

I know in the United States, if you win a lottery, taxes are deducted from your winnings. Well, in this case, I don't see how governments can or should deduct winnings from getting Turbine Points, therefore giving me reason not to worry about it.

[madmaxhunter]

Isnt it then just better for them not to do this kind of contests?
Sure people like contests but now they are cutting alot of people out of it now due to laws and taxes in other countries etc..

True, if they don't make everyone happy, don't do it. I guess they should go ahead in start prepping to turn off the servers. Wow, it does suck for many. Laws are just that.

It's okay though, if you all raise your voices high enough, the lawyers will dictate that no more contests should be run. How about asking for country specific contests in the future. I promise I won't cry when they have a contest for Canada only. Half of my guild is Canadian.

Besides, you know the winner will be a 13-year-old newb who's been playing for one month. And then gets grounded from the computer for six months for going to one of "those" sites.

[Ratnix]

Is it not fair to player outside of the USA to not be able to participate in the contest?
Yes it is.


Something that those players probably don't know though.

There are contests held in the USA that exclude people who live in certain States.

That's right, there are places inside of the United States where you cannot enter a contest and win a prize that is being held by a company in the USA.


It is all about the legality of it. It is hard enough making things be legal within the same country, let alone having to deal with all the convoluted laws in other countries.

Is it fair?
Not in the least.

But the issue needs to be taken up with your respective governments.

[Kale_Gresh]

The reason this is not open to all customers/countries are the legal and taxation risks that arise because of vastly different legal schemes across countries. In some countries these contests are illegal. In others (Canada and some of Europe if I remember correctly from years ago) sweepstakes that are based on a skill (I believe an above poster used solving a math problem as an example) are legal but sweepstakes based solely on chance are not (it is considered gambling). And the age requirements are also vastly different-you would have to verify different ages for different countries-13 is not legal contest age everywhere. I believe a contest offered in France must have all disclosures in french. Some countries require detailed disclosure on odds/number of entries, etc. You can see all the disclosures that Turbine had on just the US version. That is not whim-they have to do that and would have to do alot more if offered in other countries as they have different disclosure laws. And this list goes on and on.

In addition, the tax implications across countries is also very different. Been awhile since I did any cross country tax but for some of the VAT countries I believe Turbine would actually have to pay taxes to a foreign government on the contest. In the US the income tax (on both the individual winning-their income/taxes go up-and Turbines expenses-their expenses up, taxes down) or the sales tax (for sold goods) is supposed to capture all taxes due. They could end up having to hire a tax person just to make sure that this is done right if someone outside the US won.

The cost/benefit analysis for offering this contest outside the US is just not there in my opinion-there is too much risk and/or cost. Now whether Turbine, given that it can't offer this to all customers, should offer it to any is a legitimate question. Is the goodwill lost by making some customers mad worth the interest/revenue generated by the contest? That is the question.

Lairde

[Therilith]

How is a contest where you can win virtual points in a database somewhere any different from the virtual gold we are already randomly awarded every time we open a chest or the MyDDO lotteries giving away store items on a daily basis?


Purchase matching armor for your entire Guild?

How would that even work?

[Smitey]

lol turbine tries to do something nice and the whole world goes bananas.


This would be a sales marketing effort run by the owners of Turbine - I think non-US residents have a reason to complain about being excluded because it is buried in the terms and conditions.

Regardless of tax issues it is promoted as open to existing players - if it mentioned "existing US players" it would be clearer to all on first inspection.

[Zenako]

How is a contest where you can win virtual points in a database somewhere any different from the virtual gold we are already randomly awarded every time we open a chest or the MyDDO lotteries giving away store items on a daily basis?

How would that even work?

None of the DDO lotteries have awarded Turbine Points. Turbine Points are the ONLY thing you buy with REAL world Cash (other than VIP Subs and in that case it is a rental fee, not a purchase). As such they have a REAL World cash equivalent value to them. Recently 6900 points was worth $49.99 in real world Cash.

In game items are pixels. You never see Turbine Points in the game. They are merely a cash medium and exchange mechanism which seriously reduces the costs of microtransactions. One purchase for $49.99 incurs a lot fewer real world transaction costs than 100 purchases for 69 points each time. Just ask any credit card user/recipient. Fixed costs alone would remove all earnings.

[Ratnix]

How is a contest where you can win virtual points in a database somewhere any different from the virtual gold we are already randomly awarded every time we open a chest or the MyDDO lotteries giving away store items on a daily basis?

Monetary value.

Believe it or not, 100,000 TP actually has a monetary value. Those same points can be purchased for real life cash. That gives them a value. Same for the lifetime subscription. There is a monthly charge for subscriptions. So if they give you lifetime VIP for winning the contest it is actually costing Turbine a non-specific value of cash.

Getting gold out of a chest has no monetary value. They don't sell gold. The gold gained out of a chest is just part of playing the game.

[zawran]

I think they should just avoid doing contests like this entirely. It seems counter productive to potentially anger a large mass of the players by going ahead with something that can only be participated in by some of the players of the game. Why not stick with things that can be done within the game that everyone can take part in. It just makes no sense to me, but hey I am only a VIP player from Europe who have been paying for access to the US servers since December 2009, so I am probably not as entitled as others, I guess. :(

[tihocan]

Error!
The page you were looking for was not found.

[slimkj]

Sure people like contests but now they are cutting alot of people out of it now due to laws and taxes in other countries etc..
Bit annoying, isn't it? Especially given I kinda figured being added to the WB database was probably worth a shot at 100k TP. Now my entry is seemingly invalid I assume they still get to keep the data for marketing purposes. ^^

[Kale_Gresh]

How is a contest where you can win virtual points in a database somewhere any different from the virtual gold we are already randomly awarded every time we open a chest or the MyDDO lotteries giving away store items on a daily basis?


The difference on the chest is that it is a result of your actions in game-you do something to earn it-it is a normal part of the play experience and it is a non-taxable event in that it cannot be translated to a real world value. Now if you sold that gold to another player for real life money-that real life money would be taxable income in the US. And if you ran a gold selling business and bought gold for real life money you could deduct any real life money you paid for that virtual gold as a legitimate business expense.

But the amounts are de minimis so the IRS would never pursue it for small amounts.

And on the regular lotteries-I believe they do not give out Turbine Points-which is the item that has a real world value.

Edited to correct mistake on the lotteries.

[Therilith]

None of the DDO lotteries have awarded Turbine Points. Turbine Points are the ONLY thing you buy with REAL world Cash (other than VIP Subs and in that case it is a rental fee, not a purchase). As such they have a REAL World cash equivalent value to them. Recently 6900 points was worth $49.99 in real world Cash.
$49.99 = 6900TP
6900TP = 29.25 Major Experience Elixirs
$49.99 = 29.25 Major Experience Elixirs


In game items are pixels. You never see Turbine Points in the game.
They are no more or less pixels or database entries that any other virtual item (plat, for example).

[Zenako]

I think they should just avoid doing contests like this entirely. It seems counter productive to potentially anger a large mass of the players by going ahead with something that can only be participated in by some of the players of the game. Why not stick with things that can be done within the game that everyone can take part in. It just makes no sense to me, but hey I am only a VIP player from Europe who have been paying for access to the US servers since December 2009, so I am probably not as entitled as others, I guess. :(

Just curious, but did Codemasters ever run any contests or giveaways for its player base? If so, was it limited to only subsets of players from certain countries or was the entire world free to enter?

US based corporations running sweepstakes limited to the US only is not anything new. Happens all the time. In fact virtually every contest I ever see has those same disclaimers about being open to LEGAL US residents ONLY. Movie giveaways, magazine contests, TV promotions, Store Promotions, and yes even MMO game promotions.

While we do not know the actual distribution of players worldwide, I would guess that a huge majority of them reside in the US, and that at the small risk of alienating some foreign players, that the opportunity to draw more new players into the game far outweighs those risks.

[Zenako]

$49.99 = 6900TP
6900TP = 29.25 Major Experience Elixirs
$49.99 = 29.25 Major Experience Elixirs

They are no more or less pixels or database entries that any other virtual item (plat, for example).

While that is logically true, the fact remains is that you did NOT purchase the potions with CASH. You purchased Points. That was the only cash transaction. Once past that transaction, everything is now in game. IF they listed Majors priced at $1.28 each and you could actually execute a cash transaction directly for the pots, you would have a case. I think they are covered here however.

[Vellrad]

...While we do not know the actual distribution of players worldwide, I would guess that a huge majority of them reside in the US, and that at the small risk of alienating some foreign players, that the opportunity to draw more new players into the game far outweighs those risks.

I would assume something completely opposite: there are more people outside of US than inside, so its logical that there are more players outside of US than inside.

[zipomatic]

It took probably 50 - 75 refreshes, but I was finally able to get through, and after a 10-15 more tries, confirm my entry. Hooray!

And they do offer contests open to all the player base: The Lotteries.

Because they wanted to do something to attract more players during the Christmas season (schools are closed for holiday break) they did a lottery. It's something to attract NEW players. It's cool that existing players can try for it. It's sad that those outside the US can't. But the point is it's for those not currently playing to get them to try out the game.

Think about it: What they're giving away costs them nearly nothing. They lose some potential future sales, we can even give them the full value of the prizes and say the prizes are costing less than $2000. The cost of managing this contest though, is probably costing them more than that. The thought of the managing process costing 4 or 5 times the value of the prizes, just in legal fees to make sure they hold a legal contest in every country that has players...that's crazy.

Not to mention each country would have a different requirement to enter. People would be complaining because they had to fill out a survey, or take a test, and that it was "harder," or just different from, someone else's entry. There's no way they can give out something that has a real-world cash value without ticking off someone.

They know MOST of their player base is in the US. The know most US people are attracted to "free giveaways." They are probably counting on adding enough new paying players (premium or VIP) with this promotion to more than cover the costs. The more it costs, the more new players they'd have to get in, and if they don't think the costs of allowing non-US entrants will attract enough non-US paying players, then they are not going to go that route.

No sweepstakes is for "fun" or just because the entity offering the prizes is generous. It's ALWAYS a form of advertisement. And it's one that's proven to work in the US. In other countries though? I don't know. I assume not so much, when it's across country lines; not enough to be worth the cost is my guess.

[Therilith]

While that is logically true, the fact remains is that you did NOT purchase the potions with CASH. You purchased Points. That was the only cash transaction. Once past that transaction, everything is now in game. IF they listed Majors priced at $1.28 each and you could actually execute a cash transaction directly for the pots, you would have a case. I think they are covered here however.

Then have the contest give someone a "Rock of 100.000 TP" in-game item that can be redeemed for 100.000 TP. Problem solved.

[Smitey]

Just curious, but did Codemasters ever run any contests or giveaways for its player base? If so, was it limited to only subsets of players from certain countries or was the entire world free to enter?



Codemasters never had the store but US players could enter their competitions along with anyone playing ddo-europe.com

They did run competitions and in-game events - the RL competitions were normally for WOTC items that were not restricted to any country and posted to any player.
Game items were never restricted by nationality and of course had to be distributed by a GM with no store facility.
Marketing was limited under Codemasters as it was Atari's responsibility - it will be disappointing if Warner Brothers continues along a US-centric approach to promoting DDO.

It will be interesting to see if LOTRO EU offers a competition for Codemasters european players.

[Otherworld]

:( sad panda here.

I know it's law issues and all, but couldn't you just ask an easy-peasy skill question then?

[RequiemVampie]

lol turbine tries to do something nice and the whole world goes bananas.

but i did get booted due to mabar, so if i win i might forgive them

The Joker: I just did what I do best. I took your little plan and I turned it on itself. Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Hmmm? You know... You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan." Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all "part of the plan." But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds!

Kinda like this. :p

[Hambo]

Good luck to all " legal residents in the United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 years of age or older and have Internet access"

I imagine it's for legal reasons but doesn't really sell DDO as the global service it's claimed to be operating...

According to Fernando's recent post, DDO is not going to be truely international until 2011.

You cannot simply snap your fingers and "go international". In addition to having to revamp all of the contest rules AFTER researching all the pertanant international law, a lot of behind-the-scenes work probably needs to be done and couldn't be budgeted until next year. I suspect the transfer of European players to Ghallanda was to give them a home with a bonus or two (like keeping most items and the TP bonus) while the international situation is worked out.

[Hambo]

I am not sure if I am entered into this or not. I went to the link, checked the agreement box, hit the enter contest button but pages loads up saying there was an error? Did it go through or is there some way to find out if we are entered into the contest or not?

Same here. I'm going to keep trying as I think the pages are just being slammed today, hence not getting to the agreement page until after 20 or so tries.

[Shenay]

Everyone who dislikes non-Americans being excluded can protest by not entering, and I'm not just saying that because it increases my own odds. ;)
I would recomend exactly the different thing. The more non-us-players enter the contest the more it might become clear to Turbine what they have done.

Just curious, but did Codemasters ever run any contests or giveaways for its player base? If so, was it limited to only subsets of players from certain countries or was the entire world free to enter?
They did. Just another kind of contest where ALL players had the chance to participate. They run life and ingame and noone was excluded.

I'll say this - if they continue to show us that non-us-players are 2nd-class-customers to them it will only speed up the process to surch another game where its different. At least I'm now sure I will never ever spend any money in the ddo-shop.

[zawran]

While we do not know the actual distribution of players worldwide, I would guess that a huge majority of them reside in the US, and that at the small risk of alienating some foreign players, that the opportunity to draw more new players into the game far outweighs those risks.

The US has about 310 million people, Canada has about 34 million people, Europe has about 685 million people, Russia has about 145 million people. So just Canada and Europe alone is more than double that of the US. I would say that there might be a good chance that there are more players from outside the US than within that plays DDO. But since noone really have any actual numbers, it is all guesswork.

[Lorien_the_First_One]

It may be unfair but there may be legal reasons why they can not do it outside US.

Not saying for sure.

Maybe someone more in the know can tell us but if there isn't any legal issues then there shouldn't be any reason to exclude others.

They allowed Canadians into previous contests for TP. It appears the new wording is from the new contest masters, WB.


I think that's all they'd have to do to make it ok for Canada is add a skill-testing question if you win, if you can't do a simple math question the prize gets offered to the next winner..

Nope, that's only if its held in Canada. We have no control of gaming laws in the US, and prizes from games of chance, which include contests, are tax free in Canada.

[Dozen_Black_Roses]

I am logged into MyDDO.com and still get the 404 error.



If you are logged in still, log out and log back in, that should fix it. I remember having to do that for something else relatively recently, I think toon transfers to Lammania, so I tried it and presto.

[Vellrad]

The US has about 310 million people, Canada has about 34 million people, Europe has about 685 million people, Russia has about 145 million people. So just Canada and Europe alone is more than double that of the US. I would say that there might be a good chance that there are more players from outside the US than within that plays DDO. But since noone really have any actual numbers, it is all guesswork.

Don't forget about Asia and South America.
There is total about 9.000.000.000 people in the world, 310.000.000 lives in US. Of course, Africans and people from poor countries don't play this game, but still I won't bellive that there is more players in US than in the rest of world.

[Hambo]

Ever been to England? :)

Yes. You still have a superior rail system. Ours has been decaying since they started construction of the Interstate Freeway (except on the east coast, where they have toll roads) System in the late '40s :D

[Darkrok]

Great contest, thanks for making this available!

[CeltEireson]

Then why not simply have a seperate lottery for non US folk that gives some nice in-game rewards, like a supreme tome +2 for every character slot they have, gold, or a mixture of things that any player would find useful, be it thousands of pots such that they need never buy any again or maybe even their choice of a piece or two of raid loot, or a large number of crafting ingredients. I would assume that as we get in-game items through the existing lottery that having one that just gives a lot more would not be an issue? Not as flexible as the TPs but I'm sure they could come up with a few packages that any existing player would be happy to get regardless of their characters / level.

Keeps non US players happy, doesnt cost Turbine anything dollar wise, and would basically just be saving the characters of the player some money /time so shouldnt really imbalance anything,

[Hambo]

Here's an excerpt from the submission page. The highlighting is mine.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Eberron Unlimited™ Game Sweepstakes begins at 12:00:01 p.m. PST on December 1, 2010 and ends on 11:59:59 p.m. PST on December 31, 2010.

I assume it's a typo, but technically the Sweepstakes haven't started yet. So what happens to anyone who's already registered? Do their entries get disqualified?

So in effect this says we have to wait until one second after noon today, PST... Just under an hour and a half from the time I post this.

Of course, they probably meant A.M., to give the entire month of December as the entry timeframe.

[Sirea]

You know, we don't have to pay taxes on "gifted" TP via favor, so why should you have to pay taxes on the 100,000 TP being "gifted" by this contest?

[Smitey]

According to Fernando's recent post, DDO is not going to be truely international until 2011.

You cannot simply snap your fingers and "go international". In addition to having to revamp all of the contest rules AFTER researching all the pertanant international law, a lot of behind-the-scenes work probably needs to be done and couldn't be budgeted until next year. I suspect the transfer of European players to Ghallanda was to give them a home with a bonus or two (like keeping most items and the TP bonus) while the international situation is worked out.



We’re currently offering support in English only at the DDO community sites. We hope to begin expanding our German and French support later this year,


That refers to French and German language support only and it seems they have failed to deliver on their plans to expand to other languages.

If customer support is going to be implemented outside of EST I applaud the move - it will probably not however and most things will remain MA, US timezone.

Hopefully competitions other than sweepstakes will appear so that everyone can take part - this is to encourage new players after all so limiting it to one country, no matter the market share does little to promote the game worldwide nor encourage existing players they are all valued in equal standing.

I would have said to all my fellow guildies to sign up their friends and enter themselves, but we are all from the EU so I will not be promoting this particular competition via my networks unfortunately.

[Uska]

I would assume something completely opposite: there are more people outside of US than inside, so its logical that there are more players outside of US than inside.

Not everyone outside or in the US plays so your arguement is pointless I would imagine most players are in the US but its not likely to be a huge majority. and most of the time for rules like this is the other countries complcate things with their own laws reguarding such contests so its likely eaiser for them to just confine it the US

[Sretsam]

Only one (1) Entry per person or household, regardless of method of Entry....?

My wife, son and I all play DDO. All live in the same house. We each have our own accounts but only one of us can enter?

[Cap_Man]

ok, if I understand this right it cannot be offered to non-US residents because there is tax issue as there is a monetary value associated to the points. But you can't sell them for cash so I don't see the problem.

And if tax laws are the problem then why is ok for me (a Canadian) to win those other myddo lotteries? A while back I won a pack that included items like hair tonic that you can only purchase with points. So why is it ok to give out hair tonic as a prize to non-US residents but not points? I would argue the hair tonic has as much value tax wise as the points as neither is something you can find in game.

This contest makes it appear as though US residents are given more perks than non-US residents so I would like to see a reduction in the cost of VIP subscriptions for non-US residents since non-US residents are not as VIP as US residents. :rolleyes:

[Hambo]

Sweet...would this actually be considered Winning DDO? ;)

Oddly enough, you could think of it that way if you got second place (lifetime sub) :D

Reminds me of the time I won a quiz contest at a computer show... First place was a trip for two to Hawaii, second place was an Apple 2e. We were fighting for second :D

I ended up with the trip and no desire to go to Hawaii... They wouldn't let me give it to my parents so I traded the trip for cash value in equipment at the shop that put up the prizes.

[Hambo]

Agreed or make something eligible (spelt right?) in all countries or just something extra for people with different rules, that shouldn't take much more time than the contest itself

Have you ever tried incorporating a non-profit, say an emergency radio organization, for example? That's relatively simple, purely local and took over six months.

[Hambo]

Canadians Use a Different Method to Avoid Illegal Lotteries
Canadian sweepstakes law, unlike American law, requires that the third component, "winners are chosen by luck," is removed. Sponsors cannot use pure luck to determine who wins a sweepstake. There must be at least some element of skill involved.

In order remove the element of pure chance, sponsors narrow the field of potential winners by requiring a skill testing question to enter their contests. Every entrant does not have the same chance to win; only those who at least pass the skill testing question are eligible to win prizes. Of course, this is only a technicality. Most people can pass the skill testing questions without difficulty, although sponsors are required to make the test somewhat challenging.

I vote for trap disabling as the skill test. Who's with me? :D

[PookaWitch]

I honestly feel really let down about this. :( Too many things online exclude Canadians, and I live only a couple of hours from the border. :-/
You wouldn't believe the amount of times I try to go to a site and it says that they don't stream to, or allow Canadians. *sigh*

[TheChubs]

I'll say this - if they continue to show us that non-us-players are 2nd-class-customers to them it will only speed up the process to surch another game where its different.
Sure. Go to WoW! Oh, wait...
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/contests/5year/rules.html
"THE WORLD OF WARCRAFT FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY SWEEPSTAKES (THE "SWEEPSTAKES") IS OPEN ONLY TO RESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES (EXCLUDING THE U.S. TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS), CANADA (EXCLUDING THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC), AND NEW ZEALAND"

Fine, then go to Champions!! Oh, wait...
http://www.champions-online.com/node/105991
2. ELIGIBILITY: Sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the forty-eight (48) continental United States and Washington, D.C. (specifically excluding Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and other US territories and possessions)

There are clearly legal issues involved. It's not Turbine's fault (or even WB's). Sure, maybe they could have made it more clear, but the "fine print" eligibility requirements are SOP.

And really..."they can't do everybody, so they shouldn't do it for anybody"? I grew up with somebody who liked to take his ball and go home when things didn't go his way. Nobody like him much for some reason...

[LightInDark]

*** was all excited then the standard Turbine execution fail.

Why is it Turbine always comes up with something great and then manages to turn it into a big time fail.

The contest is a great idea but oh wait .... not for those of us in the rest of the world.

We will transfer your characters ... not this month .... not this month either.... nor this one... ok maybe now.

Come on Turbine you obvious have the ideas but your execution is sadly lacking.

[Quanefel]

*** was all excited then the standard Turbine execution fail.

Why is it Turbine always comes up with something great and then manages to turn it into a big time fail.

The contest is a great idea but oh wait .... not for those of us in the rest of the world.

We will transfer your characters ... not this month .... not this month either.... nor this one... ok maybe now.

Come on Turbine you obvious have the ideas but your execution is sadly lacking.


Turbine's hands are tied because of the various laws in other countries. They are not purposely doing this just to spite our foreign friends, they simply have no choice in the matter.

[Missing_Minds]

Turbine's hands are tied because of the various laws in other countries. They are not purposely doing this just to spite our foreign friends, they simply have no choice in the matter.

There you go... using logic again.

[Nouda_EU]

Don't forget about Asia and South America.
There is total about 9.000.000.000 people in the world, 310.000.000 lives in US. Of course, Africans and people from poor countries don't play this game, but still I won't bellive that there is more players in US than in the rest of world.

Dude i know rather a lot of south africans that play the game dont make such sweeping statement

P.S how do they know my location to void my entry?

[Lorien_the_First_One]

Turbine's hands are tied because of the various laws in other countries. They are not purposely doing this just to spite our foreign friends, they simply have no choice in the matter.

Not true, they simply haven't bothered to investigate and are taking the easy way out. We went through this for several contests in a row when it came to Canada and Turbine's lawyers finally woke up and realized there was no problem and adjusted the contest rules to allow it. Now that WB legal seems to have taken over, we have regressed and they are ignoring past research.

[Vellrad]

P.S how do they know my location to void my entry?

If you're paying costument, they now your name and adress.
Anyway, they'll probably check it.

[charredrex]

Only one (1) Entry per person or household, regardless of method of Entry....?

My wife, son and I all play DDO. All live in the same house. We each have our own accounts but only one of us can enter?

This was my question as well. Both my wife and I have separate accounts but obviously live in the same house. Can only 1 of us enter or can both of us enter?

[Macroscian]

...each game get’s 100,000 Tu...

*gets

Oh and I'm just an ignorant Swede (why I know the language somewhat, having taught myself by reading pulp sci-fi and fantasy around the age of nine, also why my engRish is very oldfashioned) so I'm not competing for the dough.

[LightInDark]

Turbine's hands are tied because of the various laws in other countries. They are not purposely doing this just to spite our foreign friends, they simply have no choice in the matter.

Not true, they could have come up with another idea that is inclusive to the entire player base, rather than exclusive.

[Nouda_EU]

If you're paying costument, they now your name and adress.
Anyway, they'll probably check it.

paypal? tp vouchers... no need to put billing information in at any point Im a misterious floating body on the internet I could have a us Gmail account a US paypal accoudn that isnt verified for things Paypal? you dont have to put a billy address if your not setting up a billing whatever :)

[markhoge]

Same for me, I'm also logged in.

http://my.ddo.com/100k gives me the my.ddo page that tells me that page does not exist
http://my.ddo.com/contest gives me the 404 error most times, other times I get the my.ddo page

And now it's only taking a few seconds before it tells me the pages don't exist. And both links are giving me the 404 error, rather than any my.ddo page.

Neither one of these are working for me either....
HELP!
I want my 100,000 points!

[Vellrad]

paypal? tp vouchers... no need to put billing information in at any point Im a misterious floating body on the internet I could have a us Gmail account a US paypal accoudn that isnt verified for things Paypal? you dont have to put a billy address if your not setting up a billing whatever :)

I know that Turbine requires paypal accounts to be verified, if it can be used with DDO. In Poland (where I live) it means that I must bind bank account and debit/credit card to paypal account. In other places paypal requires different things to be verified.

[Ethiel]

I know that in the US you do not have to pay applicable income tax or declare income on any prize worth less than $1299.

I worked at a less than legal gaming establishment and none of our prizes ever cleared that mark for that reason....less scrutiny if tax laws don't apply.

Also most of the casino's in New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana restrict the slots for the same reason...sometimes you can go higher but on most machines the top pay out is $1299.

[Postumus]

I think the lack of international allowance to participate is rotten.

Haters got to hate, but you should really blame the govts, not Turbine.

It's typical for promotions to be limited to one country - especially if the company is US based.

There are so many B S hoops and forms and red tape qualifications for these types of promos in the US alone, that multiplying that by 30 or 50 and then all the special laws around liability and monetary rewards that every country has, makes it unreasonable to allow everyone in the world to participate..

[IronClan]

Heh... nice catch...

I'll pay $200 for a lifetime subscription too!

Why I paid $150 for mine :D

You know the spiel, 3 6900tp packs All content on sale when they were 30% off, all classes I wanted on sale, all account options shared bank 8 character slots etc. Had 7000tps left over and that was after I got a couple +2 tomes.

Not sure what I would do with 100,000 tps but it would probably take some fun out of the game for me... hard to not chug "Best SP" pots when they are limitless and free...

On second thought can I withdrawl from the contest? ;)

[holfrar]

Regardless of how you are arguing, the fact is Turbine have dropped the ball on this one.

DDO is a worldwide game NOT just America. There are players from every part of the globe and doing a contest like this alienates a large % of the player base.

Despite Turbines ‘good intentions’ offering a competition that is only available to a select few is wrong. Its not like they are offering a free hair dye or a 30 min catacombs pass, we are talking about 100000 TP (which is equivalent to $1000) or a lifetime subscription (even 2 years is $360 and 12000 TP).

The competition should be available to ALL PLAYERS. And if ‘legal issues’ are the problem, offer in game items or something.

Lets face it, if this was open to ‘everyone BUT players based in the USA’ you would be able to hear the screams on the moon.

[KoboldKiller]

Seriously folks this has been discussed ad nauseam here and at other times that it is NOT Turbines fault for making contests U.S. only.

It is due to other countries laws in regards to contests.

Does it suck? Yes

Is it going to change? Probably not.

[IronClan]

Regardless of how you are arguing, the fact is Turbine have dropped the ball on this one.

DDO is a worldwide game NOT just America. There are players from every part of the globe and doing a contest like this alienates a large % of the player base.

Despite Turbines ‘good intentions’ offering a competition that is only available to a select few is wrong. Its not like they are offering a free hair dye or a 30 min catacombs pass, we are talking about 100000 TP (which is equivalent to $1000) or a lifetime subscription (even 2 years is $360 and 12000 TP).

The competition should be available to ALL PLAYERS. And if ‘legal issues’ are the problem, offer in game items or something.

Lets face it, if this was open to ‘everyone BUT players based in the USA’ you would be able to hear the screams on the moon.

It's pretty obvious that the reason other countries aren't allowed is due to the legalities within those countries... so go complain to your governments :)

[KoboldKiller]

It's pretty obvious that the reason other countries aren't allowed is due to the legalities within those countries... so go complain to your governments :)


It won't matter these type of thing ALWAYS turn into a "have's and have not's" argument.

International laws are NEVER taken into consideration.

It's just one of another reason to hate America and it's citizens. We're all just elitists blah blah blah................

[charredrex]

Regardless of how you are arguing, the fact is Turbine have dropped the ball on this one.

DDO is a worldwide game NOT just America. There are players from every part of the globe and doing a contest like this alienates a large % of the player base.

Despite Turbines ‘good intentions’ offering a competition that is only available to a select few is wrong. Its not like they are offering a free hair dye or a 30 min catacombs pass, we are talking about 100000 TP (which is equivalent to $1000) or a lifetime subscription (even 2 years is $360 and 12000 TP).

The competition should be available to ALL PLAYERS. And if ‘legal issues’ are the problem, offer in game items or something.

Lets face it, if this was open to ‘everyone BUT players based in the USA’ you would be able to hear the screams on the moon.

I'd blame the sponsor, not Turbine.

And I've been on the other end where the contest was open to European players and the US lucked out. But then a few months later the US got a contest and the rest of the world didn't. It happens. Hell, I might not be able to enter because my wife and I both play and I'd rather she enter it than I do. You don't see me freaking out over it, just asking politely if we can both enter or not.

Maybe everyone just needs to take a step back and realize there are only going to be 7 registered DDO players who win anything out of this out of the millions sure to enter and realize your chances of winning aren't that great to begin with.

EDIT: I should add the contest I'm referring to above is NOT a DDO contest, but for another game.

[Xhiin]

Great contest!

[Beethoven]

SPONSOR: Warner Bros. Advanced Digital Services, a division of Warner Bros. Technical Operations Inc., 4000 Warner Blvd., Bldg. 168, Burbank, CA 91522 ("WBADS").


I am not sure why people insist on blaming Turbine; it specifically states that WB is running the thing. Anyway, it's common practice even for any global enterprise from stores to car manufacturers as sweepstakes and the like fall under "gambling" and national laws of different countries tend to be very complicated in this regard.

[Zuldar]

Mmmmm 100,000 points, if you spent that on mana pots you'd have a little over 3,300,000 sp.

[Gypsy_Mouse]

They should add a DDO trivia question to the entry.
Wouldn't that count as the "skill" requirement for it to be legal in some countries?

You'd think the big wigs in the WB legal department would know the requirements or have the ability to find out the requirements and then would have that information available to their subsidiary companies.

Then the appropriate measures could be taken for any contest to be available to everyone.


Sounds easy to me. Or maybe I've been sniffing too much glue.

[holfrar]

I'd blame the sponsor, not Turbine.

And I've been on the other end where the contest was open to European players and the US lucked out. But then a few months later the US got a contest and the rest of the world didn't. It happens. Hell, I might not be able to enter because my wife and I both play and I'd rather she enter it than I do. You don't see me freaking out over it, just asking politely if we can both enter or not.

Maybe everyone just needs to take a step back and realize there are only going to be 7 registered DDO players who win anything out of this out of the millions sure to enter and realize your chances of winning aren't that great to begin with.

EDIT: I should add the contest I'm referring to above is NOT a DDO contest, but for another game.

OK blame the sponser, but balming 'other governments' is plain stupid, they are not the ones setting the competition.

OK only 7 people are going to win and if i enter i may only have a 0.0001% chance to win, but it's still a chance. Same with the national lottery, but people still play it. as it stands though i have zero chance to win.

Even the 'only 1 per household is wrong' my guild leader and his wife both play, they have seperate accounts, have bought TP etc for each one, and only 1 will be able to enter. it should be 1 entry per account. (lets face it, if you have multiple accounts only 1 can benefit)

TBH i'm not that bothered, i know my luck, if it was a draw from 100000 tickets and i had 99999 of them i still wouldn't win, but this sort of thing is what starts the 'Us and Them' situations. you can already see it in this thread, Non americans saying it's wrong and Americans saying tough suck it up.

I have no doubt this was all done with good intentions but it was very poorly thought through. and could result in loss of customers and bad press. none of it is good for the game.

[ccoleman]

Only one (1) Entry per person or household, regardless of method of Entry....?

My wife, son and I all play DDO. All live in the same house. We each have our own accounts but only one of us can enter?
This was my question as well. Both my wife and I have separate accounts but obviously live in the same house. Can only 1 of us enter or can both of us enter?
OK, quoting this to keep it current before it gets drowned in all the US vs Rest Of The World backlash.

My husband and I are also wondering if we can both enter or just one of us?

:)

[Wurmheart]

nice enough for the americans i guess,

cant help but feel a little left out since im from europa,
also had a sweepstake similair to this in the last game i played (servers were also in the US but was aimed to europeans mostly)
they even needed to pay a percentage of the total value of what you won, if you won. (thanks to some tax law..)
now i find that rather contradictory to the idea of a sweepstake...






and let's face it, those laws aint gonna change when they're making money with it
greed is the name of the game, and greed is a politician's fame

[TheChubs]

Regardless of how you are arguing, the fact is Turbine have dropped the ball on this one.
False. They did something that should be both good marketing and good for a few lucky players.

DDO is a worldwide game NOT just America. There are players from every part of the globe and doing a contest like this alienates a large % of the player base.

Also wrong. They may have a lot of players around the globe, but it only alienates a small portion of those. I'll try to avoid using adjectives to describe those people.

Despite Turbines ‘good intentions’ offering a competition that is only available to a select few is wrong.
"If I can't have it nobody can! RAR!" I'm mean, seriously?

Its not like they are offering a free hair dye or a 30 min catacombs pass, we are talking about 100000 TP (which is equivalent to $1000) or a lifetime subscription (even 2 years is $360 and 12000 TP).
It's not like they're offering laptops, which other unnamed games have done (while also restricting Europeans from entering).

Lets face it, if this was open to ‘everyone BUT players based in the USA’ you would be able to hear the screams on the moon.

I imagine it would be a similar sampling of people from that subset, to whom I would apply the same adjectives that I'm trying to avoid using.

[Cap_Man]

Maybe everyone just needs to take a step back and realize there are only going to be 7 registered US DDO players who win anything out of this out of the millions sure to enter and realize your chances of winning aren't that great to begin with.

There, fixed that for you. ;)

Yeah chances of winning aren't that great, but I would at least like a chance to try. :(

[charredrex]

OK blame the sponser, but balming 'other governments' is plain stupid, they are not the ones setting the competition.

OK only 7 people are going to win and if i enter i may only have a 0.0001% chance to win, but it's still a chance. Same with the national lottery, but people still play it. as it stands though i have zero chance to win.

Even the 'only 1 per household is wrong' my guild leader and his wife both play, they have seperate accounts, have bought TP etc for each one, and only 1 will be able to enter. it should be 1 entry per account. (lets face it, if you have multiple accounts only 1 can benefit)

TBH i'm not that bothered, i know my luck, if it was a draw from 100000 tickets and i had 99999 of them i still wouldn't win, but this sort of thing is what starts the 'Us and Them' situations. you can already see it in this thread, Non americans saying it's wrong and Americans saying tough suck it up.

I have no doubt this was all done with good intentions but it was very poorly thought through. and could result in loss of customers and bad press. none of it is good for the game.

Oh I'm not saying blame other governments, but yelling and screaming at Turbine over it isn't going to help either. I guess mine was a 'suck it up' post which wasn't really my intention, but on the other hand I would not be upset if after this they had a non-US contest. There are plenty of contests out there I'm not eligible to enter for one reason or another. Not saying you don't have a right to be upset over it, but letting them know you're upset in a reasonable manner gets much farther than some of the other vitriol I've seen posted over the past year on these forums.

[Thriand]

To whoever gave me neg rep for that, thank you: You're showing everyone what some Americans really are like.

So only americans can give neg rep?

Since you are so ready to judge all americans because you got a single neg rep, does that make it all right for me to judge all non-americans off of what I've seen in the forums today?

If so I'd have to assume they where all whiny people who would rather everyone have nothing than to dare let someone else have a *chance* something.

Now obviously thats ridiculous, non everyone can be that dense, turbine did a great thing by picking up the European community, and I'm sure there are many out there who appreciate that fact, but the bottom line is it isn't anything new for US companies to hold US only contests for legal reasons, MMOs have been doing this for a long time, if you are an avid MMO player playing US based games then surely this isn't the first time you've seen this.

[Rylex_Night-Shield]

Alright, what's going on here? I just clicked the link, checked off the box that "I have read the rules and regulations" statement and clicked enter. From there, it took me to a 404 page. Alright, refreshed and same result. Tried to make sure I had been entered so I closed the page and tried the link again, result was a 404 page once more. Is this WAI or did I somehow try to register in the middle of the page being taken down? Just curious to see if it's just me and my normal luck or anyone else too.

[Dandonk]

...

I did say some, in case you didn't notice. Some.

And I hold to my original point: Non-US citizens are second-class customers here, despite Turbine's plan to go "global". I think that's a fair assessment of the way things have been handled so far.

I have no idea about the legalistic concerns in this matter. But at least mentioning that it was only US citizens before a semi-hidden paragraph on a link further in would have helped remove some of this tension.

But I suppose wanting the same options as Americans is "whiny". Must update my English vocabulary.

[Kindoki]

"error - you must be logged in to enter."

This came up as I was switching to my secondary account. When I went back to this account, it says I'm already entered. Can someone check for me?

[abrownbear9108]

So, i live in Australia and my entry somehow managed to be accepted for the sweepstakes on the first go (knowing of other peoples problems with entering).


So i'm now just curious..... If i won 100,000 TP and i live in australia, what would they do to me? would they just say "no dice, you won, but your not American, so no points", or would they cr@p themselves and go, "Dang, how did that get through?", and eat the points the just gave me

If i did somehow manage to get 100,000 TP or a lifetime sub to DDO, how would they deal with it? Or will they see this post and straight away cancel my entry?

This was all directed at anyone who's part of the system so i can get an answer from a Turbine employee if possible

EDIT: I clicked the "enter" button before i even saw it was US citizens only, so i dont know what'll happen. maybe they should change it so that on the page with the links it says "US citizens only" or some such

[Sirea]

I did say some, in case you didn't notice. Some.

And I hold to my original point: Non-US citizens are second-class customers here, despite Turbine's plan to go "global". I think that's a fair assessment of the way things have been handled so far.

I have no idea about the legalistic concerns in this matter. But at least mentioning that it was only US citizens before a semi-hidden paragraph on a link further in would have helped remove some of this tension.

But I suppose wanting the same options as Americans is "whiny". Must update my English vocabulary.

For all your whining about being a "second-class citizen" I'd think you'd rather just leave than put up with such horrible treatment :rolleyes:

People are telling you why non-US citizens can't enter, it's less to do with Turbine and more to do with US/international law. If you really want to whine, do it to the government.

[Kamenecki]

Suppose rest of the world players are good only when they're buying something from Turbine, giving one of them a free VIP would cause a diplomatic incident, I'm sure.

[Dandonk]

For all your whining about being a "second-class citizen" I'd think you'd rather just leave than put up with such horrible treatment :rolleyes:

People are telling you why non-US citizens can't enter, it's less to do with Turbine and more to do with US/international law. If you really want to whine, do it to the government.

I resent being called whiny for objecting to seperate options for seperate customers.

[rimble]

And I hold to my original point: Non-US citizens are second-class customers here, despite Turbine's plan to go "global". I think that's a fair assessment of the way things have been handled so far.

Yes, they are. Turbine does not have a global presence yet. They cannot truly do things on a global scale. The fact that non-US players haven't been able to come to terms with this yet astounds me.

This is a US game. They allow you to play because they can, the internet is cool like that. It's still a US game.

[Kamenecki]

If i did somehow manage to get 100,000 TP or a lifetime sub to DDO, how would they deal with it? Or will they see this post and straight away cancel my entry?



Of course, Obama would have to be informed of the matter, and then it all depends on his decision.

[Dandonk]

Yes, they are. Turbine does not have a global presence yet. They cannot truly do things on a global scale. The fact that non-US players haven't been able to come to terms with this yet astounds me.

This is a US game. They allow you to play because they can, the internet is cool like that. It's still a US game.

So the "global" part is false advertisement, then? OK, that's good to know.

[rimble]

So the "global" part is false advertisement, then? OK, that's good to know.

The 'global' part of what?!

[Chatuyscha]

For all your whining about being a "second-class citizen" I'd think you'd rather just leave than put up with such horrible treatment :rolleyes:

This could have been a quote prior to 1776

[IronClan]

So, i live in Australia and my entry somehow managed to be accepted for the sweepstakes on the first go (knowing of other peoples problems with entering).


So i'm now just curious..... If i won 100,000 TP and i live in australia, what would they do to me?

You're ok, Americans like Aussies so we're giving you a pass :D

[IronClan]

This could have been a quote prior to 1776

Yeah about something that actually mattered.

[Dandonk]

The 'global' part of what?!

http://www.ddo.com/news/1095-turbine-expands-to-europe

"We are working very closely with our partner Codemasters Online to facilitate a smooth transition to our new global service."

For instance.

[Chatuyscha]

Yeah about something that actually mattered.

Yeah equal rights for all

[Sirea]

So the "global" part is false advertisement, then? OK, that's good to know.

Will you get off your freaking high horse already?

The whole "global" thing is still a new concept for Turbine. They're JUST starting to wrap up the European transfers which to me should seem like the top priority, making sure your characters get here in one piece. They've already said that they're still in the process of setting up clients and support in other languages. It's a new and ongoing process that isn't even near complete. And all you can do is sit there and scream and whine and moan about "unfair treatment" and being "second class" like this is the fricking Civil Rights Era when they could have just left your characters on the Euro servers to rot and given you a big "**** you!"

[zed1]

This isn't a gift to the existing player base; it is a marketing campaign to get new people to play the game. The primary form of entry is to sign up for a new FTP account. For reasons which should be obvious (but apparently are not) it is illegal in some places to have a "sign up for this service and win a prize" contest.

For instance, it used to be common to go to a fair or a mall in the US and see a car offered as a prize for some drawing. If you flipped over the entry card, you would see that you were actually signing up to switch your long distance phone service (when such things mattered.)

The point is that "contests" can easily be fraud, even if this one is not. Laws exist to restrict how they are run, and they make it exceedingly hard to run a contest in more than one country.

[rimble]

http://www.ddo.com/news/1095-turbine-expands-to-europe

"We are working very closely with our partner Codemasters Online to facilitate a smooth transition to our new global service."

For instance.

I was giggling wondering what stupid place you'd dig up the word 'global'. Good job. Way to use Google. You know, it actually hardly returns any results? I'm sure you noticed that. You have clearly demonstrated how trivial it would be for Turbine to run a global sweepstakes and how you are entitled to such. You win.


This isn't a gift to the existing player base; it is a marketing campaign to get new people to play the game.

Agreed. Padding the 'number of new accounts in 2010' figures. That's cool I s'pose, people do 'end of year' and 'end of quarter' type padding like that all the time.

[Vellrad]

I would like to say that I hope the winner will be one of ambassadors of one of EU contries in States :)

[Yajerman01]

You "outsiders" non nonforming Euro and third world countries do get a prize... It is called the boobie prize. Grand prize is 100k Turbine points, all you have to do is purchase that amount of points with cash and you have them. Lifetime account, sure thing! we got it right here! purchase your VIP account monthly and your guaranteed your lifetime account!

[Carrefour]

I find it amusing that there is no captcha to either create a Turbine account, a forum account, or to register for this sweepstakes.

That tickles me for some reason.

[abinessy]

If anyone who is not in the US can't enter it would be really nice to see it nice and clear on the advertising.

secondly so turbine this is only for the us players, planning on letting the rest of us actually have something we can enter as we cant even enter the character lotteries with most of characters (none of the transfer characters can be seen on ddo, and none of the more recently created, so out of my 20 character a whole 2 can enter!)

[AZgreentea]

If anyone who is not in the US can't enter it would be really nice to see it nice and clear on the advertising.

secondly so turbine this is only for the us players, planning on letting the rest of us actually have something we can enter as we cant even enter the character lotteries with most of characters (none of the transfer characters can be seen on ddo, and none of the more recently created, so out of my 20 character a whole 2 can enter!)
It was clear enough that it was on the first page of posts on the announcement thread. :D I would say at least someone spotted it pretty quickly.

As for your second, look at it this way. For you the game is unchanged. It dosent hurt you to not win a contest you cant enter any more than it does for me to keep the dollar I would have spent on a state lottery ticket.

[Perspicacity]

The people who live in countries that are not eligible should stop blaming turbine for there ineligibility and start complain to the there governments for having rules that do nothing more than ration fun per household. It's not Turbine's fault your government is lame and there's nothing they can do about it so your complaints are falling on deaf ears anyway.

[Grecan]

Imo, it's a very bad etiquette for a global-wide game to make a contest for only the citizens of one country (even if this country is the home-country).

Why don't you go ahead and name it US-only Sweepstake?

Huh?

[Grecan]

The people who live in countries that are not eligible should stop blaming turbine for there ineligibility and start complain to the there governments for having rules that do nothing more than ration fun per household. It's not Turbine's fault your government is lame and there's nothing they can do about it so your complaints are falling on deaf ears anyway.
Did you just say all non-US governments are lame and they are to blame? :eek:

Are you for real? :rolleyes:

[PopeJual]

http://www.ddo.com/news/1095-turbine-expands-to-europe

"We are working very closely with our partner Codemasters Online to facilitate a smooth transition to our new global service."

For instance.

Can you log in?

Can you play?

If so, then they are serving you globally.


The fact that you aren't legally allowed to win a contest that is held in the US (and even a good number of US citizens are not allowed to win this contest, I should mention) doesn't mean that you aren't getting their service. It just means that Turbine/WB can't be expected to know the lottery laws for every country in the world, so they just offered the sweepstakes in the one country where they do know the laws... the United States of America.

This is the standard boilerplate for EVERY company that offers a no-purchase-necessary-to-enter sweepstakes in the US.

Turbine did not drop the ball any more than Coke or Pepsi or Frito-Lay or any other global mega-company does when they offer something like this.

[PopeJual]

If anyone who is not in the US can't enter it would be really nice to see it nice and clear on the advertising.

People outside the US can enter.

They just can't win...

[rimble]

This is what you agreed to when you started playing the game:

*EULA Hadouken!!*

Ow.

[Sirea]

Ow.

I know, sheesh, fricking EULA, being all tl;dr and everything ;) :p

[IronClan]

this Is What You Agreed To When You Started Playing The Game:


Tl:dr

[Shadyjames]

While this kinda irked me, I'm a Canadian, I was reading through the thread here and someone made an interensting point about TPs being awarded in game through Favor, so why can't this contest be held in game? Then i thought indeed why no. simply award the winner of the 100,000 TPs an in game quest doesn't have to be hard, so after completeing it they are awared enough favor with a new faction that they get 100,000 TP. This covers the tax issues, it also covers any game of skill some countries need like Canada. Although if done this way it's not a "real world" contest and thus doesn not fall into real world laws and politics. Just my 2 coppers GL to any who enter

[Grecan]

There are reasons for every little thing that happens in this world...

Everything can be potentially explained (why it happened), but that doesn't mean everything can also be excused and justified!

I hope at least some people understand this.

[Rumbaar]

This is what you agreed to when you started playing the game:



TURBINE, INC.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE®
TERMS OF SERVICE

Last updated: August 9, 2010

*snip*
I think I made my other point by quoting it all and thus remove it now.


What is your point?!

[KoboldKiller]

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR9dQBmCEcWJBPrEikFAgR7IFpMnQo5C MW0IQ79VjlRBn76CfT-

[Natashaelle]

As far as I know, the normal *practical* reason why these sorts of things are restricted to US is to keep control of shipping and handling costs, because delivery needs to be *guaranteed*, which isn't always possible to some territories.

Still SUCKS though ... :(

Any chance for any future sweepstakes being non-US *only* ? Just for fairness' sake ?

[Grecan]

I'm not saying i haven't agreed to the ToS... but take a look at this :D

GameStation has today revealed that it legally owns the souls of thousands of customers, thanks to a clause it secretly added to the online terms and conditions for the official GameStation website. (http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2010/04/15/gamestation-we-own-your-soul/1)

I mean, there are things above and beyond ToS and laws... right?

And i spoke about etiquette here: http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p=3445885&postcount=186

Say all you want about rules and regulations, what i said still stands ;)

[Grecan]

<snip>
(I'll note that I did not put the EULA in this thread yet, although I can do so if it becomes necessary. You have been warned.)

At least, please, don't copy-paste all of it... You could simply provide a link. You have been asked :)

[rimble]

I'm not saying i haven't agreed to the ToS... but take a look at this :D

Yeah, PopeJual's an alright guy so I don't wanna bust his stride, but EULAs are complete bull, as are many many things legal related. I don't think it's a very helpful tool to use to support any kind of argument.

I agree that it'd be AWESOME if Turbine could make this a truly worldwide sweepstakes. However, EVERY thing like this that I've ever seen is conducted in this manner, to hold Turbine accountable for that is absurd, especially just mere months after going 'global' in the first place. Maybe they'll get there some day, that'd be cool.

[WielderofGigantus]

http://my.ddo.com/contest didn't work for me. I got an error message when I tried to enter the contest.
http://my.ddo.com/100k did work for me.

[Smitey]

The people who live in countries that are not eligible should stop blaming turbine for there ineligibility and start complain to the there governments for having rules that do nothing more than ration fun per household. It's not Turbine's fault your government is lame and there's nothing they can do about it so your complaints are falling on deaf ears anyway.

I've seen many comments that it is other countries law that restricts this competition.

This is incorrect. Laws have been put in place by many countries to protect consumers from scams and are only applicable if some form of gambling is involved. The US implemented similar laws and it is the the US state/federal law itself that restricts making sweepstakes available outside of the United States:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweepstakes



Because of their potential for abuse, sweepstakes are heavily regulated in many countries. The U.S., Canada, and individual U.S. states all have laws covering sweepstakes, resulting in special rules depending on where the entrant lives. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (http://forums.ddo.com/wiki/U.S._Federal_Trade_Commission) exercises some authority over sweepstakes promotion and sweepstakes scams (http://forums.ddo.com/wiki/Scams) in the United States.
...
Most corporate-sponsored sweepstakes promoted in the United States limit entry to U.S. citizens, although some allow entry by legal residents of both the United States and Canada (http://forums.ddo.com/wiki/Canada).
...


Comments that other countries have a skill factor requirements for 'competitions' are correct. However, this is not a lottery as no fee is required by players so if Warner Brothers were to refer to this as a 'free prize draw' there would appear to be no skill requirements necessary to comply with laws that "prize competitions" stipulate (such as when you purchase a product to take part or need to ring a premium telephone number) and it would be acceptable to many countries given no purchase is necessary:

http://www.mrs.org.uk/standards/freeprize.htm

http://www.dma.org.uk/_Attachments/Resources/234_S4.pdf

So it appears to me it is US law and Warner Brothers that limits this sweepstake to exclude Canada and the rest of the world - that is their right as sponser of this promotion.

As I said before good luck to all the eligable entrants - I do believe it should be made clearer that entrants must be US based, otherwise without clearly stating that (not just in terms and conditions) you really could be seen to be misleading new customers that have no chance of winning the prizes on offer because of their geographical location.

[PopeJual]

I'm not saying i haven't agreed to the ToS... but take a look at this :D

GameStation has today revealed that it legally owns the souls of thousands of customers, thanks to a clause it secretly added to the online terms and conditions for the official GameStation website. (http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2010/04/15/gamestation-we-own-your-soul/1)

I mean, there are things above and beyond ToS and laws... right?

And i spoke about etiquette here: http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p=3445885&postcount=186

Say all you want about rules and regulations, what i said still stands ;)

Turbine is not legally able to make a sweepstakes that everyone in every country is able to participate in.

Turbine is not reasonably equipped to make a sweepstakes that people in more than a few contries are able to participate in.

Should they just not make any giveaways at all?


I'd think that giving something nice away to some people is better than not giving anything away at all. Apparently some Europeans disagree.

[PopeJual]

At least, please, don't copy-paste all of it... You could simply provide a link. You have been asked :)

...for anyone that actually does want to read the EULA, here's the link.

http://www.ddo.com/ddosupport/policies/218-eula


LotRO has a different ToS and EULA, by the way. Some of the paragraphs are actually different in significant ways. I was surprised when I read through the legal docs for both games in September.

[Lorz]

http://www.ddo.com/news/1095-turbine-expands-to-europe

"We are working very closely with our partner Codemasters Online to facilitate a smooth transition to our new global service."

For instance.

And the service is GLOBAL...that is why you can play.

But nothing i read says they are obligated or owe you an entry in anything.

See you seem to think that somewhere with your sub....you where also buying a contest ticket...you are not, you did not, and you are being both overly dramatic....and childish to say the very least.

[Smitey]

Turbine is not legally able to make a sweepstakes that everyone in every country is able to participate in.

Yes they can - several alternatives have already been mentioned



Turbine is not reasonably equipped to make a sweepstakes that people in more than a few contries are able to participate in.


Warner Brothers are an international company - if they can't run competitions outside of the US how will they promote the game worldwide?



Should they just not make any giveaways at all?


They should make it fair and transparent



I'd think that giving something nice away to some people is better than not giving anything away at all. Apparently some Europeans disagree.


It's not a giveaway when it's also a marketing scheme that may mislead non-US residents.

[Rumbaar]

(I'll note that I did not put the EULA in this thread yet, although I can do so if it becomes necessary. You have been warned.)ha!

Anyways I guess you were the one that during the recent Maban event posted to everyone affected that they have agreed to being banned via the previous posted content you've posted and now via a 'warned' posting of the EULA.

Context and merit, my friend :)

[rimble]

It's not a giveaway when it's also a marketing scheme that may mislead non-US residents.

Yeah, the amount of money lost by non-US citizens signing up for F2P accounts may even exceed the tens of nothings!

[Grecan]

And i spoke about etiquette here: http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p=3445885&postcount=186

Say all you want about rules and regulations, what i said still stands ;)
Whoever neg-repped me for the post i linked (not quoted) here, i'd like to understand how s/he justifies this Sweepstake as an example of good etiquette... or does s/he disagree that it's a US-only Sweepstake?


Turbine is not legally able to make a sweepstakes that everyone in every country is able to participate in.

Turbine is not reasonably equipped to make a sweepstakes that people in more than a few contries are able to participate in.

Should they just not make any giveaways at all?


I'd think that giving something nice away to some people is better than not giving anything away at all. Apparently some Europeans disagree.

First, it's apparently not only some and not only Europeans that disagree.

And secondly no, it's not nice, it's only nice for those who are not excluded.

How would you feel if you were excluded?

Finally, i talked about things above laws, and you continued talking about legal issues :rolleyes:

[Rumbaar]

Yeah, the amount of money lost by non-US citizens signing up for F2P accounts may even exceed the tens of nothings!Yeah the 'we now have over 2 million player accounts' can never be a massive marketing tool for Turbine.

That has a worth, that this competition looks to exploit, specially those outside of the US.

[IronClan]

While this kinda irked me, I'm a Canadian, I was reading through the thread here and someone made an interensting point about TPs being awarded in game through Favor, so why can't this contest be held in game? Then i thought indeed why no. simply award the winner of the 100,000 TPs an in game quest doesn't have to be hard, so after completeing it they are awared enough favor with a new faction that they get 100,000 TP. This covers the tax issues, it also covers any game of skill some countries need like Canada. Although if done this way it's not a "real world" contest and thus doesn not fall into real world laws and politics. Just my 2 coppers GL to any who enter

Read this guys idea and give him + rep because that suggestion solves ALL the problems and allows EVERYONE to participate and probably is easier for Turbine legally... It's good enough to point out twice since it seems to have gotten burried in the last page.

[PopeJual]

ha!

Anyways I guess you were the one that during the recent Maban event posted to everyone affected that they have agreed to being banned via the previous posted content you've posted and now via a 'warned' posting of the EULA.

Context and merit, my friend :)

I certainly don't recall making such a post. You could go back and look it up if you'd like to stand by your accusation instead of just making a claim and putting "I guess" in front of it.

I could guess that you kick puppies, but I'll try to stick to what you actually say and do instead of inventing things.



Turbine has the right to ban people for any reason that they choose. They would be foolish and wrongheaded to do so for inappropriate reasons.

Turbine has the opportunity to do something nice for some of their players. I think it would be foolish and wrongheaded of them to avoid doing so even if they can't provide that opportunity to everyone.



Also, whoever wins this contest/raffle/free prize giveaway/sweepstakes/whatever should be aware that they may end up having to pay taxes on their prize.

[TupeloHoney]

Well this is a peice of **** I'm vip and i thought that allowed me to enter everything? oh wait no you're form europe you don't get to enter our contests.

I mean come on? i know i'm not likely to win but seriously? you have a huge european (only saying european because that's where i am, but also from all over the world) playerbase these restrictions are stupid. Doubt they'll be fixed by this one, but please make it able to enter from ALL locations in the world if ANYONE can enter, which they clearly can't.

If you read through the whole thread, you'll see there are legal reasons and the laws for winning sweepstakes in different countries are all very different.

[Smitey]

Yeah, the amount of money lost by non-US citizens signing up for F2P accounts may even exceed the tens of nothings!

It's not just about free to play accounts spending or not spending cash - it's also the personal data you hand over, which does indeed have considerable value.

[Smitey]

If you read through the whole thread, you'll see there are legal reasons and the laws for winning sweepstakes in different countries are all very different.

Only if it is a lottery, which this is not.

[DragonKiller]

Folks, while Turbine bashing is a lot of fun (and well deserved at times), this is one of those times it's NOT their fault. Many of you come from countries who's government makes some really strange and tough rules on contests and giveaways. Because of these, it makes it all but impossible for companies based in other countries to run contests or giveaways.

Some quick searches on the internet will show some of these reasons. I did a quick search on google "contest rules uk" and this: http://www.out-law.com/page-6780 is literally the 1st link that comes up. Read it, and you'll see what it's like for JUST Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). They mention that laws in Northern Ireland are different, so they need to be considered to run just a UK wide promotion.

Sorry that many of you can't join this sweepstakes, but your ire needs to be pointed towards the people that make it so you can't.... your governments.

[Arkadios]

If you read through the whole thread, you'll see there are legal reasons and the laws for winning sweepstakes in different countries are all very different.

If you read the whole thread there are many ways that WB (or turbine or any of it's associates) can get around this and make EVERYBODY happy.

[Rumbaar]

I certainly don't recall making such a post. You could go back and look it up if you'd like to stand by your accusation instead of just making a claim and putting "I guess" in front of it.

I could guess that you kick puppies, but I'll try to stick to what you actually say and do instead of inventing things.I'm sure you didn't, and that wasn't the point of my post.

Maybe I should have worded it better, something like: I guess you were the type of person who would have posted [ie the mindset] ...

My point was about context and merit. At the time User Agreements and EULA's would have been inappropriate justifications for the Maban fiasco. Just like now using them for valid justification of the exclusion of a great section of the community isn't appropriate.

[KoboldKiller]

I'll admit my picture was a bit juvenile but come on people, this outrage over a perceived injustice is bordering on ridiculous.

You act like this is a America only thing. My guess is there are several contests held by "global" companies that are not open to those in the U.S.

Seriously people it's a GAME, it's not some sort of social injustice that is hindering your freedoms.

Just because an American based company is offering it's services to those outside of the U.S. DOES NOT mean they are also required to include you in it's contests considering what the actual process might involve when dealing with international laws.

[Rumbaar]

Oh and some context, I can submit and win the myDDO lottery for in game prizes [which have a TP value]. But I can't enter a similar myDDO lottery for in game prize [TP] due to what reason again?

Why not have it as the normal myDDO lottery so I can win?

[KoboldKiller]

I'm sure you didn't, and that wasn't the point of my post.

Maybe I should have worded it better, something like: I guess you were the type of person who would have posted [ie the mindset] ...

My point was about context and merit. At the time User Agreements and EULA's would have been inappropriate justifications for the Maban fiasco. Just like now using them for valid justification of the exclusion of a great section of the community isn't appropriate.


Would you care to provide some hard data to support this statement?

[Arkadios]

Agreed or make something eligible (spelt right?) in all countries or just something extra for people with different rules, that shouldn't take much more time than the contest itself

Quick question why did i get neg rep for this? i don't mind getting neg rep i probably deserve it sometimes but why for this one? if anyone can tell it would help thanks :)

[PopeJual]

First, it's apparently not only some and not only Europeans that disagree.

And secondly no, it's not nice, it's only nice for those who are not excluded.

How would you feel if you were excluded?

I'm not eligible to win a free Maharaja Mac from the New Delhi Macdonalds. I'm okay with that.

I'm not eligible to vote in the parlimentary elections in Greece. I'm okay with that. (I just picked Greece because it is a European contry that your screen name made me think of.)

https://www.iwinnersadvantage.com/ has a bunch of sweepstakes for each of the USA, France, UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa and Germany. More than 90% of the countries of the world are excluded from that and I'm excluded from all of the sweepstakes that they list for France, the UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa and Germany. I'm okay with that. (By the way, please don't click on that link and enter your information since it's most likely just a giant spam mill or scam. I just googled for an example and happened to find that one.)

Check out
https://audience.nba.com/services/msib/flow/registerOrAuthenticate?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nba.co m%2Fkoreanair%2Fsweepstakes
That's limited to residents of the 48 continental United States and the District of Columbia. Sarah Palin can't even enter that contest. I think she's okay with that.


No giveaway can include everyone. Does that mean that companies shouldn't have giveaways? I love my wife, but I don't love your wife. Should I be ashamed of my lack of love for your wife (who I'm sure is lovely, I just never had the opportunity to meet her)?

The fact that I can't provide something nice to everyone should not keep me from providing something nice to the people for whom I can.

[GreenDragonStalker]

so im reading the rules and find this

ELIGIBILITY: This Sweepstakes is (1) open to legal residents in the United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 years of age or older and have

and go ***

so i go to the forums and find this tread make it trough 9 pages of rants and no real responce from DDO..

but come out with this to get past most countries laws you need a skill based question well hell thats a easy one to do

Name 1 spell used by a cleric in DDO To heal people..

now its not like this info is not searchable outside of game so easy enough for everyone to get it and fofills the skill based question requirement..

PS i live in new zealand we have no such rules or reason why we could not have entered this contest other then DDO's Fail to put a little more effort into a contest for all its users!

and with the number of paying players outside the USA i would have thought DDO and WB would have had a little more concideration for there whole player base not just a very select group

Im sorry DDO you have been found to be lacking yet again in putting forth an effort to look after all your player base Yet Again!

So much so im am going to have to seriously look at protesting the only way i can and not renew my VIP again till DDO starts taking us outside the USA a little more serious.

[Delssar]

Why do only the US get a chance. In ever major game its like this, im so tired of being screwed out of a chance of winning things because im Canadian

[Grecan]

I'm not eligible to win a free Maharaja Mac from the New Delhi Macdonalds. I'm okay with that.

I'm not eligible to vote in the parlimentary elections in Greece. I'm okay with that. (I just picked Greece because it is a European contry that your screen name made me think of.) <snip>

I'm okay that i can't win a BicBurg from a USA McBurg, cause i don't live there and i don't eat there.

I'm okay with the fact i cannot vote for the USA elections, cause i don't live there.

I'm not ok with the fact that a large portion of the game players are excluded from a Sweepstake, cause we all play the same game!

And there are already lottos and festivults and events and whatnot held for every player...

[Rumbaar]

Would you care to provide some hard data to support this statement?Yes I'll use the same hard data Tolero supplied to confirm the statement that 'only less than a percent' were affected by the recent Maban event.

[pSINNa]

What an awesome contest! I got pretty excited, then i realized i live in Australia :P.

Ah well, ca-ca happens eh, not really worth getting too upset about.

'oh no, i've misseed out on my one in 100,000 chance to go wild with store bought stuff in this game i love playing!'

dddddd000ooo00lo0000mmmmmmmm11!!!111!!!!. xD

Coit out~


(congrats in advance to the lucky sod that wins this contest, i has teh envy :P)

[testing1234]

few thoughts on this
1: never a international contest, ever in future?
once Turbine have accepted this inability to hold international contests we know its permanent they are never going to hold anything for none US with cash/items rewards.
didnt expect better of them basically all online games cant handle international contests.
seen this thing happen in many online games, thing is once they excluded anything other then US once you know its permanent from personal experience of other games this has never been wrong once means forever all future contests. after 10 years+ of mmoing this not the first time ive seen this and this pattern has never been wrong would be interesting if others has had alternative experiences though.

2: shouldn't Turbine be able to handle the european countries?
turbine just toke back the european service by doing so basically claiming they can handle holding a eurpean service ... well unless it has to do with european laws and thats never likely to happen again is it?
if they cant handle european laws why did they take over the european customers?

3: anger over not being allowed to participate, is it the natural reaction to have?
a perceived promise is made and then taken away before realized this is the reason for the anger as i understand it or in other wordsif you hold up a toy to a small child then take it away the child will be upset
this is the same situation only without the child, toy and the person taking it away.
suppressing emotions is seldom a good move long term and a forum is a relatively safe place to vent them.

4: could turbine have made the reward available for almost all countries?
id rather they produce more content myself, but cant help feeling at the same time that they are not even trying.
doing something badly can in some cases be worse then not doing it at all

and for the record this has upset me and this post is my way of thinking it over and venting my emotions so please excuse any offense i might give with post so im not starting a nerd rage cycle of my own

[Grecan]

The fact that I can't provide something nice to everyone should not keep me from providing something nice to the people for whom I can.
I agree to some extent, BUT... it's not just "something nice".... have you heard of a better prize in the history of DDO?

And of course, there's what i said just before:

And there are already lottos and festivults and events and whatnot held for every player...

[Baillo]

this is the error i get when clicking the Link needed to enter

"Sorry, the page you were looking for could not be found
Showing related results for: http://my.ddo.com/contest"
Intresting i say.

[Pewf]

You Turbine, have to be the most coolest people ever.

Good luck to everyone who has entered. :)

[ieatsyew]

9.TAXES AND COSTS RELATED TO THE PRIZES:All applicable taxes, including all federal, state, local and other taxes and any license, destination and delivery charges are the sole responsibility of each Winner. Winners may be issued a 1099 tax form for the ARV of their Prizes. Any additional expenses not included in the Prizes are the sole responsibility of the Winner.

so, does the goverment take away turbine points if i win...? just asking

[Gai-jin]

When I try to enter through my.ddo.com/contest, I check the box and click the button to enter, then get an error "The page you were looking for was not found."

[Zenako]

9.TAXES AND COSTS RELATED TO THE PRIZES:All applicable taxes, including all federal, state, local and other taxes and any license, destination and delivery charges are the sole responsibility of each Winner. Winners may be issued a 1099 tax form for the ARV of their Prizes. Any additional expenses not included in the Prizes are the sole responsibility of the Winner.

so, does the goverment take away turbine points if i win...? just asking

No, they just know via the 1099 that you recieved goods (albeit in game points" worth a stated value of $1000, and will owe the IRS appropriate taxes (if any) on that value. This is the same thing that happens with all prizes over a certain value. (Exact value might vary from state to state.)

[karl_k0ch]

Honestly after several threads like this I wish they had quietly let codemasters delete their characters.

I never had a codemaster's accout, yet I am b1tching around a bit.

A "We are sorry, but this contest only applies to US citizens"ish disclaimer in the OP would be nice.

[Shenay]

Seriously folks this has been discussed ad nauseam here and at other times that it is NOT Turbines fault for making contests U.S. only.

It is due to other countries laws in regards to contests.

Does it suck? Yes

Is it going to change? Probably not.
Thats not the point.
It IS Turbines fault to run a contest that excludes a majority of players.
And it IS Turbins fault if this players just feel dumped by that.
There are a lot of other possibilitys to run such a thing.
And again it IS Turbines fault to not using them.
And hinding the fact that the contest is us-only somwhere in small letters on the 3rd side says enough of how they care.
So please dont tell me how to feel about if you arent affected by it.

[Tin_Dragon]

FAil link




Error!
The page you were looking for was not found.

This error (HTTP 404 Not Found) means that Internet Explorer was able to connect to the website, but the page you wanted was not found. It's possible that the webpage is temporarily unavailable. Alternatively, the website might have changed or removed the webpage.

Glad I continue to pay...

[ChiliBean]

FAil link



Error!
The page you were looking for was not found.

Glad I continue to pay...

You have to login to forums first then go http://my.ddo.com/contest

[Shenay]

Honestly after several threads like this I wish they had quietly let codemasters delete their characters.
Honestly after several postes like this I wish even more codemasters had continued their services. It shows how some (?) americans are. Nothing more had to be said to that.

[Stublore]

This is a joke right?
Giving away in game points, with no monetary value and it's just limited to the US!
Way to show how much you value your non-US customers :(

[StrixAluco]

Being a non-US resident I would have loved the change to enter, but I am not really surprised that I am not.
What upsets me isn't that I can not sell my personal information for a hypothetically change of a great price, but the fact that Turbine haven't adressed the issue yet. All I ask is an explanation and that they tell me up front who can participate and why it is limited who can participate. I choose to get confused and start wondering over employees participating in this thread replying only to the technical questions and apparently ignoring the questions from all non-US players about why we are not allowed to take part. Instead of getting upset with the explanations I come up with I would much rather see an answer from Turbine to know that the question is acknowledged as I still wish for an answer stating that it has nothing to do with how the players are valued. I hope they will prove that the intentions were good though the result seems bad according to a lot of us.

[TigrisMorte]

Hmm, rules state,
“Sweepstakes begins at 12:00:01 p.m. PST on December 1, 2010 and ends on 11:59:59 p.m. PST on December 31, 2010”

Starts noon + 1 second Pacific on 20101201.
Ends 1 second prior to noon on 20101231.

It is now just over 4 hours past noon pacific and when clicky big greenis submit get,

“
Error!
The page you were looking for was not found.
“
Denmark doth bad fish smell of.
Click again and get
“You are now registered in the 100,000 point sweepstakes”
Well, guess y’all are worried about that old “Texas, it’s a whole ‘nuther country!” promo.
Don’t worry it was just an ad.

[William_the_Bat]

Cool stuff for LOTRO and DDO, but the sheep boy in the basement (Asheron's Call) is left out once again.

[IronClan]

Honestly after several postes like this I wish even more codemasters had continued their services. It shows how some (?) americans are. Nothing more had to be said to that.

That would have been fine too... Unfortunately you all couldn't keep your side floating, so of course you get all upset when Turbine swooped in and saved your characters from deletion and gave you all 5000 TP's and a new home. Which was met with a resounding chorus of thankless complaining about every little aspect. And now they're howling and throwing anti-American drivel around because they can't enter a stupid contest!

It's no wonder codemasters folded up, they probably couldn't take the self entitlement any more.

[shaolaolint]

this is an ace contest IF you are in the us. if you are european or from somewhere else in the planet they say "screw you, you cant play or win."

blame your government. contest laws vary all over the world and the more areas that the company allows to play means more litigation and laws to deal with.

[PopeJual]

Giving away in game points, with no monetary value

I agree with you that the game points have no monetary value, but the IRS (or the bureau of taxation or revenue service of your country) may disagree with that understanding.

[PopeJual]

Thats not the point.
It IS Turbines fault to run a contest that excludes a majority of players.
And it IS Turbins fault if this players just feel dumped by that.
There are a lot of other possibilitys to run such a thing.
And again it IS Turbines fault to not using them.
And hinding the fact that the contest is us-only somwhere in small letters on the 3rd side says enough of how they care.
So please dont tell me how to feel about if you arent affected by it.

Do you also complain when someone gets raid loot in a raid that you weren't in?

[Rizzia]

I dont understand why this isnt available for everyone anyway, and just dealt with the same as any other in-game lottery (not that Ive seen one in months).

Sure the 100k TP has a monatary value *IF* you were purchasing TP, but your not. Your given 100k TP, which cant be traded for a cash equivilent (and is also no different to any other lottery on DDO (ie virtual goods).

If the US tax laws forbid people outside the US doing this lottery..does this mean we can no longer enter any other lottery in DDO? (same system just lesser value).

[KoboldKiller]

Thats not the point.
It IS Turbines fault to run a contest that excludes a majority of players.
And it IS Turbins fault if this players just feel dumped by that.
There are a lot of other possibilitys to run such a thing.
And again it IS Turbines fault to not using them.
And hinding the fact that the contest is us-only somwhere in small letters on the 3rd side says enough of how they care.
So please dont tell me how to feel about if you arent affected by it.

Here we go with this again.

Please show me hard evidence of the European player base being the "majority".