Official Discussion Thread for the #ESO #MillionReasonsToPlay $1,000,000 (USD) Giveaway

Dominoid

Turelus wrote: »

Considering all you need to do is register and log in, what's the assurance this is going to be won by an active player who cares about the game?

I already have friends who left long ago and have zero care for the game reinstalling and signing up. They will log in once a day then out again to go play other games.

That's not how sweepstakes work. The fine for running a sweepstakes in that manner would be greater than the prize.

Katinas

In a nutshell, a contest for several European countries and NA server.

Zaldan

Register for the #ESO #MillionReasonsToPlay $1,000,000 (USD) Giveaway via the online entry form below using the same email address you used to create your ESO account.

What happens if that email address no longer exists? will current email linked to eso account work?

Waseem

Oops.. i play ESO from the wrong country

Enodoc

Yes it sucks if you're not in an eligible country but there's nothing ZOS can do about it. (Except maybe they shouldn't have held the contest at all.) @ZOS_GinaBruno I suggest putting in your OP that the restrictions are based on government laws and are out of ZOS' control.

Lynnessa

I'm glad to see so many posts in this thread that are reasonable.

rmatthendrick

Contest not available for the state of New York? We have New York City, one of the most important cities in the world. What gives?

Marvan

Tyrion87 wrote: »

I need to write this also in the official thread just to relieve my frustration.
At the beginning there was a disbelief regarding this whole lottery thing but also an interest and excitement after all. But when I saw that Poland, as well as most of other countries, is not eligible to participate, I have to reconsider whether to continue to play this game or not. Not because of this game is bad (I really love it) and not because of the simple fact I cannot participate (there don't need to be such a lottery at all) but I feel extremely discriminated and 'worse' than other players. Many players now may quit the game because of that feeling. ZOS, don't you really care about all of your fans and do you really need to differentiate players in this way? If it is a joke, it's a really bad joke. But if it's true, you really may lose some of your loyal players who feel a disgust right now.

I was upset as well as I am from Poland too but out of curiosity I did some research on what would they have to do in order to run sweepstakes here.

It turns out that they would have to submit application to Polish Customs Office and among other documents include bank guarantee for entire prize pool. While I cant find much information about costs of such guarantee the numbers I found are between 0,2-1,5% of guarantee value (so between 2000 and 15,000 USD).

On top of that the fee for receiving permission to run that kind of lottery is 10% of entire prize value (so in this case it would be more than 100,000 USD).

So they would have to spend more than 100,000 USD in order to run this sweepstakes here. Now imagine other countries have similiar restrictions, the fees alone could cost them more than prizes.

tengri

Sure, I get it, the idea was to promote the game.

But in the end you end up alienating 90% of the globe where ppl are very well allowed to pay for and play the game but not to participate in the "contest".
*shakes head*... whoever came up with that idea needs to be canned asap.

Just do what every company does and give the excess money as bonus to the senior management... because this as far as promotion goes is a complete failure.

Moglijuana

Why isn't Florida eligible but all the other states are? THE FUH?

Also, why not use this money to make your PvP actually work??? That would make you more money by bringing back loyal players instead of these new "casuals" you keep going after. I would love to say some things to your marketing department...

Turelus

Also because I know some people will freak out over it...

By accepting a Prize, each winner agrees to Sponsor's use of his/her name, city/state/province of residence, picture, biographical information, statements, voice and likeness in any advertising and publicity Sponsor may conduct relating to the Sweepstakes in any media or format, whether now known or hereafter developed, including but not limited to the World Wide Web, at any time or times in perpetuity, without further compensation or notice, except where prohibited by law. Aggregate and anonymized Sweepstakes winner information may be used by the Sponsor to communicate about the Sweepstakes to its retailers and distributors.

Tyrion87

Enodoc wrote: »

Yes it sucks if you're not in an eligible country but there's nothing ZOS can do about it. (Except maybe they shouldn't have held the contest at all.) @ZOS_GinaBruno I suggest putting in your OP that the restrictions are based on government laws and are out of ZOS' control.

I see that people from eligible countries support the lottery, while the whole bunch of other players don't. And since the laws of vast majority of countries across the globe forbid the participation in the lottery organised in another country, this lottery should not have been organised at all and ZOS should finally and officially admit that it was a mistake and is a huge marketing failure. They should also apologize all players who are excluded. Players have been differentiated in respect of the place of their residence and it should not have happened in any circumstances. It will not be beneficial for ZOS and its image at all and maybe it's good that they will pay their price for it. In my country, which cannot participate, all gaming websites write about this idea and there is nothing but the criticism. Devs just took a wrong step into a wrong direction. Enough said.

NovaMarx

This is the "Welcome Back"-campaign all over again....

Why keep holding competitions where only some can enter?? Every time you do this you alienate a large part of your audience (myself included, as I am Danish). And the prize does seem more like something from some kind of lottery, rather than a prize from a game - which is really weird, IMO...

What about instead of real life equity, make the prize something in-game, like in-game currency or vanity items. That way you'd avoid any trouble due to fiscal restrictions across borders, and you could focus on using your funds to better the game - i.e. more content, fixes, etc...

DirtyDubs

From Ireland so can't enter. That's fine, not bothered. But $1,000,000 is crazy. Even though it's 'only' $50,000 a year that's too much money for a game company to hemorrhage. I wouldn't even expect this kind of crazy from companies as big as Ubi., EA and Blizzard.

BennyButton

not sure why many of you are complaining here. take it up with your government

WhimsyDragon

Getting untrusted connection warning message when I try accessing the entry form or rules on firefox... not sure how to proceed. Is it just me?

BennyButton

Adoryn wrote: »

Getting untrusted connection warning message when I try accessing the entry form or rules on firefox... not sure how to proceed. Is it just me?

step 1) uninstall firefox

step 2) install chrome

step 3) ????

profit

hiyde

Enodoc wrote: »

Yes it sucks if you're not in an eligible country but there's nothing ZOS can do about it. (Except maybe they shouldn't have held the contest at all.) @ZOS_GinaBruno I suggest putting in your OP that the restrictions are based on government laws and are out of ZOS' control.

For Floridians, here's the first thing they tripped over in Florida law:
(e) To require an entry fee, payment, or proof of purchase as a condition of entering a game promotion.

You know how most big corporate contests (radio, McDonald's, Coke, etc) all have a "No Purchase Necessary" option? This one doesn't. You have to have a valid ESO login, which means you are required to spend money to participate in this contest. This is a lottery.

Clearly, the goal isn't to reward any existing members. It's to attract new purchasers. How many people that don't already own the game will shell out $60 for a chance to win 50k a year for 20 years?

In my opinion, this contest should have been configured to comply with as many states and countries as possible (including a "no purchase necessary" option). I think the goodwill & interest created would have benefited the game far more than the much smaller pool they are fishing in (must buy the game to enter).

Actually, I think the game would have benefited more from $1 Million in advertising...or $1 Million in free copies of the game being given away.

I commend ZoS on doing something this big, but I think there are so many ways to have done this better.

And I can't blame the loyal customers (we all helped fund this contest) who are left completely out of the contest due to poor contest configuration, for being upset.

That said, it's out there. They have to do it as advertised. What a shame.

Glaiceana

Adoryn wrote: »

Getting untrusted connection warning message when I try accessing the entry form or rules on firefox... not sure how to proceed. Is it just me?

It was happening to me earlier on Chrome. Just updated chrome and tried again. Double check your firefox is up to date too just in case.

Enodoc

hiyde wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

Yes it sucks if you're not in an eligible country but there's nothing ZOS can do about it. (Except maybe they shouldn't have held the contest at all.) @ZOS_GinaBruno I suggest putting in your OP that the restrictions are based on government laws and are out of ZOS' control.

For Floridians, here's the first thing they tripped over in Florida law:
(e) To require an entry fee, payment, or proof of purchase as a condition of entering a game promotion.

You know how most big corporate contests (radio, McDonald's, Coke, etc) all have a "No Purchase Necessary" option? This one doesn't. You have to have a valid ESO login, which means you are required to spend money to participate in this contest. This is a lottery.

Yeah it's funny that NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN is the first line of their Terms, but it's technically not true. Legally it's true because you don't have to pay to directly enter the contest, but technically you have to purchase the game. How's that for a legal loophole?

Krainor1974

No New York!!!
There should be no contest if all players can't enter.

Malmai

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

This is the official discussion thread for the blog article #ESO #MillionReasonsToPlay $1,000,000 (USD) Giveaway. Good luck to everyone!

Cannot participate in this giveaway, so what is the point ? Or how can i sign in ?

@ZOS_GinaBruno

Nic727

Knaxia wrote: »

Annnd Quebec isn't eligible to the contest....

Thank you ZoS.....

sigh

me too

kongkim

WTF.. Where is Denmark on the list?

BennyButton

For those of you who cannot use Google, I have done most of the legwork for you.

https://www.dlapiper.com/~/media/Files/Insights/Publications/2014/03/Prize_Promotions_of_the_World_Handbook_booklet_V12.pdf

myrrrorb14_ESO

twogirls_onebenny wrote: »

For those of you who cannot use Google, I have done most of the legwork for you.

https://www.dlapiper.com/~/media/Files/Insights/Publications/2014/03/Prize_Promotions_of_the_World_Handbook_booklet_V12.pdf

Good info, but really long. Stupid bureaucracies. ..

The Uninvited

For people in The Netherlands (like me), the reason why we are not eligible is probably because our government prohibits online gambling (which includes sweepstakes).

Could be the same for some of the other countries, but don't know about that.

LeevC

So, Argentina can't participate.. shame on you ZOS, at least give us the chance of the crowns...

DeejayKnight

Welp. I was going to enter, but Florida's ineligible, lol.

Lame, but whatever. :P

murmur

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baHsoEAAMZU