Ignoring a potential debate over ethnicity vs. race vs. people who aren't even Italian living in Italy.

alternatelder wrote: »

Why does this "racial discrimination" claim always come up during sweepstakes...

Stop blaming Zos for this exclusion. Blame your politicians and regulators for this, Zos is only following your country's rules.

It most likely comes down to this. I doubt ZOS wants to exclude Italy. Or any country. The broader the reach, the more potential customers. Look into national or local laws and you'll most likely find the culprit. Same as crown crates not being available in Belgium and various other countries.

It's not a racial matter, essentially it has all to do with the laws that each country has regarding contests/sweepstakes/giveaways.
The european countries have their own laws despite of being members of EU or not.
Some countries have more bureaucracy/rules than others:

"In Italy, both chance based (giveaways) and skill-based (contests) prize promotions, are subject to the same laws, which rule the bureaucratic procedures and fiscal obligations that must be respected. In addition, there are severe sanctions for not abiding by the stipulated requirements or carrying out prohibited draws.

How to run a prize contest in Italy
- Write detailed terms and conditions of the giveaway;
- Stipulate a guarantee for the full amount of the prizes;
- Appoint a non-profit organisation to receive the prizes if, for any reason, they are not claimed or wanted by the participants.
- Fill out the ministerial forms;
- Send all required documentation to the Ministry of Economic Development via the “prema on line” system at least 15 days before the start date of the prize draw;
- Choose the winners in the presence of the Official Responsible for the Protection of Public Faith;
- Pay taxes on the prizes;
- Hand over the prizes within a maximum period of 180 days with proof of delivery;
- Declare the closure of the contest with the Official Responsible for the Protection of Public Faith after having handed over the prizes."
https://www.promosfera.com/giveaway-laws-and-sweepstakes-in-italy/

PS - The country where I live, Portugal, it has always been excluded from ESO's and other gaming companies sweepstakes. The gambling legislation is "too complicated" and "too protective". So, companies tend to choose the easy path, nothing else. If laws are "too complicated to follow", countries are excluded for sweepstakes/contests/giveaways.
I also understand your frustration, I've been on ESO since 2015 (without any breaks) and subbing continuously on 2 accounts.

ThePlayer wrote: »

I don't understand this form of racial exclusion by ZOS/Microsoft towards Italy.
There is no translation of the game into Italian, there is no form of shipping in Italy, probably some payment methods are excluded, now this too in Sweepstakes, why?
I just want to remind you that Italy is in Europe, excluding any political context, as a position.
In addition to this, there are communities of Italians who have been playing this mmo for a long time, and have also spent money for this game, but is it still worth it if this is the respect received?

Did you notice that while Canada is okay, Quebec isn't? Local laws for that country/area. Even in the United States, if you're 18 in some states you can participate, but others you have to be older. "Race" has nothing to do with it.

2. ELIGIBILITY.
All participants must (a) be at least 18 years of age or older or the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence, whichever is older, (residents of Alabama or Nebraska must be at least 19 years old; residents of Mississippi must be at least 21 years old), at the time of entry; (b) possess a valid form of identification; and, (c) be a legal resident of: one of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia, Austria, Belgium, Canada (excluding the Province of Quebec), Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, or the United Kingdom.

ESO is currently supported in English, French, German, Russian, Spanish and Simplified Chinese, with a separate client for Japanese.

There's a lot of unsupported languages, obviously, so I would suggest that the lack of Italian support is by no means unusual. But then, ZOS would know better than I if they have enough Italian-speaking players to warrant supporting ESO in that language as well.

Australia is also excluded.

It should be noted our laws DO allow this sort of thing (it just requires registration and not being fraud, basically), and we used to be included. Then the ACCC sued Bethesda for refusing to give refunds in Fallout 76 (which our laws insist on if a product isn't as advertised). FO76 wasn't as advertised, so the ACCC won. The very next sweepstakes zenimax had, and every since, no one has bothered to register for Australians to be included.

Now, correlation doesn't imply causation, but it kinda sucks.

It’s not racial discrimination (oh, the irony), and I very much doubt it is Italophobia either. It will likely be due to local laws.