10th Vana'versary Mog Bonanza

[Phafi]

Seeing as VanaFest is less than three weeks away, when do we find out what the prizes are/be able to purchase marbles?

[Vazerus]

It isn't going to happen.

[Phafi]

This made me believe there would be something.
http://i.imgur.com/t9P35.png

[Camiie]

"Real Mog Bonanza" sounds like they'll be giving away physical prizes at the event itself.

[Phafi]

Friday night was the nomad mog bonanza, which was the event version iirc.

[Zerich]

:)jponly:)

[Camate]

Greetings!

As many of you seem to be curious about the status of the Nomad Mog Bonanza, I’d like to take a moment to explain the current situation.

The North America and European Community Teams have been working diligently preparing for the Nomad Mog Bonanza, but unfortunately due to changing times and differing global laws, we will not be able to hold a Mog Bonanza for NA and EU regions moving forward.

While Japan will hold the Nomad Mog Bonanza at VanaFest 2012, it will mark the final Mog Bonanza of Vana’diel. Furthermore, to make sure that our players in North America and Europe aren't left out, we will be holding a separate event where players will be able to win similar prizes (all the goodies from tier 1, tier 2, and tier3…plus a bunch of other rare in-game items), so rest assured we will be giving you a good opportunity to make all your Vana’diel dreams come true!

Also, even though the Mog Bonanza will be gone, we will be offering a different event for our end of the year celebration for a chance to win the items of your dreams!

We will be announcing the NA/EU event very shortly, so hang tight and look forward to it!

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

it will mark the final Mog Bonanza of Vana’diel.

And if that don't just make me feel all cheery and optimistic...

I mean, hooray for no more inventory -10, but couldn't this have been phrased more... delicately? Especially considering all the anxieties of your players?

[Washburn]

Yay! 10 year anniversary surprize: no more lotto!

Honestly this will make mos of my mules die now. So thanks for saving me a few bucks per month, i guess.

[Spiritreaver]

I know its not the same, but i still think its just silly that a company can't hold what is essentially an in-house raffle for its customers, while the Catholic church five min walk from me has bingo every friday for a cash pot :confused:

I'm really interested which markets that SE has to deal in were the ones causing the ruckus.

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

while the Catholic church five min walk from me has bingo every friday for a cash pot :confused:

Your Catholic parish doesn't have to simultaneously deal with the laws of 50+ US states/etc, 10+ Canadian provinces/etc, 27 EU members (including a number of federations with their own sub-national laws, similar to the US and Canada), not to mention all the other countries S-E officially sells FFXI in...

[Zumi]

Ok I don't get how having a lottery for items in a video game would be against some country's laws but whatever lol

[Kraggy]

Ok I don't get how having a lottery for items in a video game would be against some country's laws but whatever lol
If you play any (many?) MMOs these days which try to have in-game content like this you'll find all of them have this problem: largely caused by some asinine laws in some EU countries. :(

Blizzard (WOW), Trion (Rift) and Turbine (LOTRO) are three I play in addition to FF who suffer like this and I know others are also affected.

What I don't get it what changed since last year, or maybe SE learned that they were liable in previous years but 'got away with it'.

Sad, very sad, for the vast majority of players who don't live in countries with crass laws on gambling .. though since America has crass laws on on-line gambling that are designed to protect Mob gambling interests in Nevada primarily, I guess NA players are also subject to stupidity from their law makers.

I just wish companies like SE who suffer this would name and shame the countries whose stupid laws have created this situation.

[Dragoy]

While Japan will hold the Nomad Mog Bonanza at VanaFest 2012, it will mark the final Mog Bonanza of Vana’diel [...]

[...] we will be offering a different event for our end of the year celebration [...]



You mean end of the world celebration, right?

In all seriousness, I'd say the last one happened in 2011 already since VanaFest itself does not take place in Vana'diel... but who's counting.

This really does not bode well.
In fact, this bodes ill.

[Spiritreaver]

Your Catholic parish doesn't have to simultaneously deal with the laws of 50+ US states/etc, 10+ Canadian provinces/etc, 27 EU members (including a number of federations with their own sub-national laws, similar to the US and Canada), not to mention all the other countries S-E officially sells FFXI in...

I said i knew it wasn't the same thing, sheesh.

Still very silly.

[VoiceMemo]

Greetings!

As many of you seem to be curious about the status of the Nomad Mog Bonanza, I’d like to take a moment to explain the current situation.

The North America and European Community Teams have been working diligently preparing for the Nomad Mog Bonanza, but unfortunately due to changing times and differing global laws, we will not be able to hold a Mog Bonanza for NA and EU regions moving forward.

While Japan will hold the Nomad Mog Bonanza at VanaFest 2012, it will mark the final Mog Bonanza of Vana’diel. Furthermore, to make sure that our players in North America and Europe aren't left out, we will be holding a separate event where players will be able to win similar prizes (all the goodies from tier 1, tier 2, and tier3…plus a bunch of other rare in-game items), so rest assured we will be giving you a good opportunity to make all your Vana’diel dreams come true!

Also, even though the Mog Bonanza will be gone, we will be offering a different event for our end of the year celebration for a chance to win the items of your dreams!

We will be announcing the NA/EU event very shortly, so hang tight and look forward to it!

Please elaborate on exactly which global laws are applying in this case. Laws are meant to be known so I see no reason not to name them. This way we can contact our representative to have such laws repealed. No such law should interfere with a private company's internal policies. I could see laws applying in this case if it was acutal monetary rewards but since it's all in game rewards I don't think laws should apply in this case. The game was designed by YOU(SE) and you should have total control over the virtual world's global laws. Laws from the real world that interfere on the virtual are overstepping their bounds and should not be supported.

Please post exactly which laws so we can contact our representatives to make it known that we do not support such laws and think that they should be repealed.

[Demonicpagan]

Please elaborate on exactly which global laws are applying in this case. Laws are meant to be known so I see no reason not to name them. This way we can contact our representative to have such laws repealed. No such law should interfere with a private company's internal policies. I could see laws applying in this case if it was acutal monetary rewards but since it's all in game rewards I don't think laws should apply in this case. The game was designed by YOU(SE) and you should have total control over the virtual world's global laws. Laws from the real world that interfere on the virtual are overstepping their bounds and should not be supported.

Please post exactly which laws so we can contact our representatives to make it known that we do not support such laws and think that they should be repealed.

I'd have to agree with this. We have a right to know what global laws are interfering with something we all have grown accustom to participating in for the past couple years.

[Avina]

I just hope whatever the event is, its an improvement over the Bonanza. I liked being able to collect the furnishings and the statues over the years (the only things you could 'count' on getting). I'll be thoroughly disappointed if this event is some intense contest where you have to do some trivial/annoying task.

It probably would have been a good idea to announce the new event simultaneously with announcing that the Mog Bonanza will end.

[nomanni]

see this is where ur wrong, for example lets say some joeblow on a server wins rank 1 and choose the gil, whats stopping him from selling the gil for monetary gain memo<<<.i personally think its a great idea to stop all the bs thats been goin around with all the bonaza's.

[Avina]

You mean end of the world celebration, right?

In all seriousness, I'd say the last one happened in 2011 already since VanaFest itself does not take place in Vana'diel... but who's counting.

This really does not bode well.
In fact, this bodes ill.

inb4 SE announces at Vanafest 2012 the end of the FFXI service once the game reaches 11 years old. And then no one goes to XIV (and some, like me, terminate their XIV account forever)

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

/sigh


Please elaborate on exactly which global laws are applying in this case. Laws are meant to be known so I see no reason not to name them.

Giving legislative advice to S-E's customers is likely not a part of the terms of the relationship between S-E and their legal representation; doing so may not even be legal, let alone ethical. S-E is in the gaming business, not the lobbying business.


This way we can contact our representative to have such laws repealed.

You're assuming that it's your local laws that are the problem and not someone else's. The problematic laws in question probably aren't even written in English.


No such law should interfere with a private company's internal policies.

This is your personal opinion. Your problem is that someone, somewhere, does not share your opinion.


I could see laws applying in this case if it was acutal monetary rewards

It costs actual money to play. This is business. Every country outside of Somalia regulates business.


The game was designed by YOU(SE) and you should have total control over the virtual world's global laws. Laws from the real world that interfere on the virtual are overstepping their bounds and should not be supported.

This is your personal opinion. Your problem is that someone, somewhere, does not share your opinion.


Please post exactly which laws so we can contact our representatives to make it known that we do not support such laws and think that they should be repealed.

S-E is not your lawyer. You're not paying S-E anywhere near enough to be your lawyer.

[Esvedium]

see this is where ur wrong, for example lets say some joeblow on a server wins rank 1 and choose the gil, whats stopping him from selling the gil for monetary gain memo<<<.i personally think its a great idea to stop all the bs thats been goin around with all the bonaza's.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ELFl2_1q7DI/TObn1HnV2fI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/5JkvAtpbv7k/s1600/Not_sure_if_serious.jpg

[Randwolf]

we will not be able to hold a Mog Bonanza for NA and EU regions moving forward...

...we will be holding a separate event where players will be able to win similar prizes (all the goodies from tier 1, tier 2, and tier3…plus a bunch of other rare in-game items), so rest assured we will be giving you a good opportunity to make all your Vana’diel dreams come true!

Also, even though the Mog Bonanza will be gone, we will be offering a different event for our end of the year celebration for a chance to win the items of your dreams!...

After my original complaint about disenfranchisement, this thought occurred to me, that "regional laws may be creating an issue." And, after that thought, I mused "Surely S/E can find another way to include the general population."

So, thanks for proving my cynicism wrong and my optimism right.

[Godofgods]

but unfortunately due to changing times and differing global laws, we will not be able to hold a Mog Bonanza for NA and EU regions moving forward.


explain please?

[Phogg]

10th Anniversary Special Items!
For the 10th anniversary of FINAL FANTASY XI we are preparing some pretty cool items that I think you would all be interested in

How would you all like to wield the same weapons as the Archangels?





These weapons are being prepared specially as cosmetic items. The one-hand sword is not a set, but there will be no “Rare” tag so it will be possible to get two and dual wield

We are planning to use 1 or 2 of these for our 10th Anniversary Mog Bonanza. Hope you are all looking forward to trying them out.

P.S.: Divine Might was probably one of my favorite battles (music-wise too).
(19)



I has a confused. I also activated some mules for the upcoming Mog Bonanza you directly announced. So, did I just get fleeced? Or is the nomad moogle version somehow different?

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/22345-10th-Anniversary-Special-Items%21?p=301550&highlight=mog+bonanza#post301550

[Phogg]

Nevermind.

[Method]

After this happening to me a few years ago, All I can say is good riddance.

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp132/Insurrection_album/Rank1marble.jpg

[Mittenz]

inb4 the NA/EU event is on the test server making it 1 character per SEID not PoL ID and no console players can participate

[Shadax]

After this happening to me a few years ago, All I can say is good riddance.


Holy crap. That is messed up.

[Dragoy]

Hmmm, I actually didn't even think about why any law would really come in the way of an in-game contest/event. I must have become so used to it of late, as it has been the given reason to quite several region related stuff not being possible.

Perhaps I just stopped caring, perhaps I was sleepy. Either way, while not saying it's a lie, it does puzzle my mind. Were the prizes real-life items, then it would make lots more sense but for in-game things?

Makes me wonder if those game-tables at certain spots in Vana'diel are legal or not...

[Vazerus]

Makes me wonder if those game-tables at certain spots in Vana'diel are legal or not...

I forgot about this, lol. Inb4 game tables get nuked.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

Hmmm, I actually didn't even think about why any law would really come in the way of an in-game contest/event. I must have become so used to it of late, as it has been the given reason to quite several region related stuff not being possible.

Perhaps I just stopped caring, perhaps I was sleepy. Either way, while not saying it's a lie, it does puzzle my mind. Were the prizes real-life items, then it would make lots more sense but for in-game things?

Makes me wonder if those game-tables at certain spots in Vana'diel are legal or not...

A lot of countries class in-game items the same as real items now, also competition laws apply the same for in-game items.

Reminds me of a case (can't remember where) when someone got charged in court for logging into an ex's account and dropping all their items/equipment as if she'd burned all of them in reality.

[Camiie]

Hmmm, I actually didn't even think about why any law would really come in the way of an in-game contest/event.

I wonder if it's more of a problem with how some countries are treating virtual property than anything really to do with gambling or games of chance. That's just totally blind speculation.

And I think Daniel_Hatcher beat me to it as I was typing...

[Spiritreaver]

see this is where ur wrong, for example lets say some joeblow on a server wins rank 1 and choose the gil gets a few KC to drop from bcnm fights-selling them all for gil, whats stopping him from selling the gil for monetary gain memo<<<.i personally think its a great idea to stop all the bs thats been goin around with all the bonaza's.

My point, using possible RMT down the line is a stupidly silly reason to kill this event. And i doubt it was a factor in SE's decision.

[Dazusu]

There's an incredibly away to remove the 'lottery' classification from the Mog Bonanza, and it's surprised me that someone at squares Legal Department hasn't come up with it yet.

By definition a lottery is a competition that requires no skill, only a token to enter and the result is decided by random drawing or 'fate'.

How do you remove the lottery classification to appease laws? Add a small element of skill. If you add any amount of skill what-so-ever, it's no longer a lottery - it's now considered a pool (of correct answers). The simple way around it is to have the Moogle that distributes tickets ask the player a simple question, such as: "What's the sum of 4 + 4?" - If they answer correctly, they are entered into a pool of players who also answered correctly, and are able to select their Marble numbers as per usual.

Legally speaking, it's no longer a lottery, it's now a nominal test of skill. (This would work in the UK and USA, unsure about other jurisdictions). Companies abuse this loophole every day.

[Phogg]

I'm not concerned about laws that may be out of the control of the developers and end users. What I find disturbing is that an announcement was made promoting an upcoming mog bonanza two months ago, causing myself and others to activate accounts in order to be eligible for the event, and then not told the event was canceled until SE determined enough people were "curious" about it to bring this to light.

Laws might be out of the control of the devs, but sending off this information efficiently certainly is. Thanks for wasting my money, SE!

[Daniel_Hatcher]

I'm not concerned about laws that may be out of the control of the developers and end users. What I find disturbing is that an announcement was made promoting an upcoming mog bonanza two months ago, causing myself and others to activate accounts in order to be eligible for the event, and then not told the event was canceled until SE determined enough people were "curious" about it to bring this to light.

Laws might be out of the control of the devs, but sending off this information efficiently certainly is. Thanks for wasting my money, SE!

It's not like they told you to activate inactive accounts to increase your chances of winning.

[Alhanelem]

It certainly is true that it is very difficult to have international contests. Even when you can do it, you're often forced to exclude certain people due to their nation'state/district/municipal laws.


Were the prizes real-life items, then it would make lots more sense but for in-game things?This mog bonanza is a real life event- Even if the prizes are items in a game, the contest would still be subject to laws. Not every country's law even distinguishes virtual prizes from physical ones.


And then no one goes to XIV (and some, like me, terminate their XIV account forever) I don't know about you, but I'm not going to refuse to patoronize another SE service or game or manga or whatever purely because they cancelled some other one. It's just a fact of life- nothing lasts forever. FFXI won't last forever, FFXIV won't last forever, nothing will last forever. There's no sense in being spiteful over it. That would / is going to be a petty action on your part.

[Kluaf]

Well then they better remove the sf gambling tables as well !!!

[Cahlum]

I saw this coming for quite some time ever since they got rid of the game corner in Pokemon Platinum in the EU then in Heart Gold and Soul Silver in the US. It is a form of gambling to get around this law they can easily just give people 10 free raffle tickets as then no one is actually losing any money.

[Riggs]

i don't see why SE just don't go ahead with these competions, are they really saying that some country is going to sue them over this?? i think most governments have more important things to be worrying about at the moment

[Phogg]

It's not like they told you to activate inactive accounts to increase your chances of winning.

Yeah, silly me for believing their promotions........Wow.

[Yokoh]

As the title says.. NO FREAKING WAYY?! Does this mean that SE will have to take out our gambling tables too?!!!

Not that anyone really used them.. but, it was always great fun to spend an hour or so waiting for an event with the LS to have a bit of banter over the Jeuno Gambling table for 10k a roll...

This is an in-game gambling event.. Does this too get effected by world-wide laws?

I'm not too worried about the final bonanza being played, because after all, who wins? I'm usually out of pocket every year, and wished i'd never held onto the damned tokens for around 2 months.

I was always very cynical about it too..
Let the moogle choose numbers, or you pick 'random' ones yourself.
I never truly believed that the numbers are totally 'random' on the draw.. because surly at the end of the day, the numbers are generated by a computer, which uses 1' and 0's, which can easily calculate which numbers have been selected by the players, and just choose the winning rank 1 accordingly..

But thats just me being a sore-looser, never getting above rank 4 for all the years its been running..

[Beeraga]

It's not like they told you to activate inactive accounts to increase your chances of winning.

It's not like they told us that an event was going to happen and then decide to cancel it.

This event was originally announced in April. As of June, they've pulled the plug, claiming international laws. What laws have changed in the past two months that would hinder them from actually going through with the event? ...OR did SE have their collective heads so far up their bums that they didn't even bother to check to see if this was still in accordance with international gambling laws?

I would have been ok with them saying, 'hey, we can't do this event anymore because of these laws'. Instead of promising an event and then pulling the plug only AFTER someone had asked about it.

So what, they weren't planning on actually telling us formally that this event wasn't going to happen?

Either way: Fail.

[Alhanelem]

This event was originally announced in April. As of June, they've pulled the plug, claiming international laws. What laws have changed in the past two months that would hinder them from actually going through with the event?Hm?? there was no backpedaling. They never said that we'd be able to participate. It sucks that we can't, but they didn't pull the plug, it was never plugged in in the first place.

[Beeraga]

Hm?? there was no backpedaling. They never said that we'd be able to participate. It sucks that we can't, but they didn't pull the plug, it was never plugged in in the first place.

So, what you're saying is that just because SE posted that they were going to have the event, along with a list of prizes and screenshots, doesn't mean they were ACTUALLY going to go through with the event.

I suppose though, if you follow SE logic, this makes sense.

[Phogg]

Hm?? there was no backpedaling. They never said that we'd be able to participate. It sucks that we can't, but they didn't pull the plug, it was never plugged in in the first place.


Orly? This wasn't posted in the English forums in April?

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/22345-10th-Anniversary-Special-Items



We are planning to use 1 or 2 of these for our 10th Anniversary Mog Bonanza. Hope you are all looking forward to trying them out.

[Randwolf]

...What laws have changed in the past two months that would hinder them from actually going through with the event? ...OR did SE have their collective heads so far up their bums that they didn't even bother to check to see if this was still in accordance with international gambling laws?...
Have you ever worked for a company that is large enough to have it's own attorney(s)? Those guys spend free time, when they have it, going through everything a company does and then explaining how they can get sued for it. I guess S/E's attorneys got around to looking at Mogbonanza. Guessing the gambling tables will now go since, they've been mentioned.

Hopefully, S/E will still follow through on what they promised (a replacement/equivalent event) and sometime reasonably soon.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

Yeah, silly me for believing their promotions........Wow.

Indeed!

Ah well, such is life!

[Dragoy]

Reminds me of a case (can't remember where) when someone got charged in court for logging into an ex's account and dropping all their items/equipment as if she'd burned all of them in reality.

Makes me think of America for some reason. ^^;


This mog bonanza is a real life event- Even if the prizes are items in a game, the contest would still be subject to laws. Not every country's law even distinguishes virtual prizes from physical ones.

Yeah, I know the event held at Vana'fest is, but I'm talking about the Bonanza and co. that we have had in the past with no real-life festivities.

All in all, I do understand that there are laws that surely affect this kind of services, somewhere, but they have been able to do it in the past, too, so why not now? Makes me think it's all about the money. ~ö~
I don't actually remember if we had bonanzas during past Vana'fests, but either way, they could just hold a strictly in-game one for those who can't travel to the spot.

It's nice to see that they are indeed working on something like that, but yeah, these things do still puzzle me. I may have been 'spoiled' by other games who never had any sort of restrictions regarding region when it comes to a 'lottery' (or anything else, really, though payment options are more or less affected by the ability of the company dealing with them, but it's definitely not click and bye). One I remember gave away in-game item(s) as well as free subscription time for a period of some months (European company).

In the end, I wont exactly miss it too much, either, since I never win 'big'. I did have some statues I still wanted to collect, however, and I think I once got 2 x rank 4 prizes (or was it 3, naaaw, must have been 4 where I the Nocturnus Helm with). I still use it, gimp or not!

But yeah, it will likely forever puzzle me that a game can not include some regions to a contest because of laws.


/etc/init.d/blahblah stop

[Alhanelem]

So, what you're saying is that just because SE posted that they were going to have the event, along with a list of prizes and screenshots, doesn't mean they were ACTUALLY going to go through with the event. Said list of prizes and screenshots was never posted on the NA website. No announcement was made on the NA website. where did people get the idea that we were officially going to be able to participate? SE never said nor directly hinted that we would.


I know the event held at Vana'fest is, but I'm talking about the Bonanza and co. that we have had in the past with no real-life festivities.Well that's something different altogether. I doubt that legal reasons is why they're not having it anymore. i am only talking about the live contest.


We are planning to use 1 or 2 of these for our 10th Anniversary Mog Bonanza. Hope you are all looking forward to trying them out. Not the Nomad Mog Bonanza, the one that happen's at Vana'fest. SE never said we'd get to participate in the nomad mog bonanza.

[Phogg]

Said list of prizes and screenshots was never posted on the NA website. No announcement was made on the NA website. where did people get the idea that we were officially going to be able to participate? SE never said nor directly hinted that we would.

Well that's something different altogether. I doubt that legal reasons is why they're not having it anymore. i am only talking about the live contest.

Not the Nomad Mog Bonanza, the one that happen's at Vana'fest. SE never said we'd get to participate in the nomad mog bonanza.

Did you actually read Camate's response in this thread? There will be no mog bonanza in NA or EU regions moving forward, and the JP only event will be the final bonanza of any form. That is what we are discussing, not the nomad moogle Vanafest event.

The 10th Anniversary Mog Bonanza, as the link I provided twice now indicates, was actually announced and promoted in the english forums. It has since and at some unknown time been canceled, but the players were only informed of this change when brought up in the forums by customers, which is a credibility and consumer confidence issue.

They let over 2 months pass after promoting the event before making this announcement. Given that the event typically has required a certain period of character activation to be eligible in the past, and also given that people like myself use mules to hold our marbles for the event, the lack of communication is disturbing. The post I linked is misleading at the very least, and that is concerning.

[Jile]

ok. Take away the event I was looking forward to >.>

But. I suggest the following in replacement.

Give us an annual event npc that we can give 2,000gil to and it gives us a random prize coupon which could be exchanged for different prizes. Without the "lottery style" number drawing that SE has been doing to make it appear like a real "lottery" the prizes shouldn't be categorized the same but gives us the same potential benefit of the old event. Give us the limit of 10 prize coupons that we can purchase per character, which would be similar to the previous "lottery".

[Dragoy]

I know the event held at Vana'fest is, but I'm talking about the Bonanza and co. that we have had in the past with no real-life festivities.



Well that's something different altogether. I doubt that legal reasons is why they're not having it anymore. i am only talking about the live contest.

Yeah, I figured you were. ^^

That's what I poked about with the 'why not create a bonanza for the rest, too, that is not tied to the live one'. I can't remember from the previous festivities if they had something for us. I do think it would not make sense really for us to be able to participate in a contest that is held over there, so probably not.

Now that I think of it, it was probably the Nomad Mog Bonanza that was held for the rest of us in 2010, and it happened just once if I recall (not going through the wikki and news now).

Either way, it's a bit weird it's going to be completely shut down and do something else (or does it really just refer to Nomad one, or all of them... wording makes me think all of them (well, like I said earlier, it's the end of the world (as you know it))).

[Rezeak]

The North America and European Community Teams have been working diligently preparing for the Nomad Mog Bonanza, but unfortunately due to changing times and differing global laws, we will not be able to hold a Mog Bonanza for NA and EU regions moving forward.


While i know the laws a iffy on such stuff, i do know that mogbonaza is no more illegal than a ton of facebook games which are international.

I also beileve that if you didn't pay gil for the marbles it would take the gambling laws out of it (may have to only have 10 marbles per person rule tho)

Either way w/e

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

While i know the laws a iffy on such stuff, i do know that mogbonaza is no more illegal than a ton of facebook games which are international.

If I recall, Facebook puts restrictions on the accounts of members who are below the age 18. Square-Enix puts no such restrictions on minors and I doubt they're willing to start now.

Remember: legitimate FFXI players can be as young as 13.

[Zumi]

I remember last vanafest people logged in with their account to pick a number for the real life vanafest. Didn't brake any rules. If Blizzard can have a RMAH on Diablo 3 where people play to get random items to sell for real money, which is similar to gambling. Don't know why they can't have this contest.

[Sarick]

They can still do this. If they give the tickets away 10 random ticket by mog mail technically it's not gambling.

An issue is when people pay gil (gamble) for a lottery ticket.

Secondly, since there are people that would do RMT << they have to consider those items of $$$ value.

These two is what gets them in trouble.

[Chamaan]

They draw the numbers out of a fishbowl. They've said as much in previous mogbananas in the past. Or at the least ran a RNG in a room with Tanaka and other senior devs. The fact that they're using a system outside the game to make the drawing may be why this is considered a raffle instead of a purely game event. So, Ionno.

[Sarick]

The simple way around it is to have the Moogle that distributes tickets ask the player a simple question, such as: "What's the sum of 4 + 4?" - If they answer correctly, they are entered into a pool of players who also answered correctly, and are able to select their Marble numbers as per usual.

Legally speaking, it's no longer a lottery, it's now a nominal test of skill. (This would work in the UK and USA, unsure about other jurisdictions). Companies abuse this loophole every day.

This would be a nice loophole because answering 4+4 = 16 is super easy ;p

[Sarick]

It certainly is true that it is very difficult to have international contests. Even when you can do it, you're often forced to exclude certain people due to their nation'state/district/municipal laws.

This mog bonanza is a real life event- Even if the prizes are items in a game, the contest would still be subject to laws. Not every country's law even distinguishes virtual prizes from physical ones.

I don't know about you, but I'm not going to refuse to patoronize another SE service or game or manga or whatever purely because they cancelled some other one. It's just a fact of life- nothing lasts forever. FFXI won't last forever, FFXIV won't last forever, nothing will last forever. There's no sense in being spiteful over it. That would / is going to be a petty action on your part.

It comes to a head again all this time I've been trying to explain equal means if everyone can't have it something should be made that EVERYONE can do. I argued with you about this in the past. You see how corrupt and imbalanced things get when no rigid fairness guidelines are written out? You have the same group of players getting the goodies while the others get sloppy seconds. I can't express in words now horrible it is when people become corporate sympathizers. Players know well that there is a type of segregation of the gaming population here but refuse to admit it. Yet again the same group will probably get the superior event while US/EU get some sad excuse of a an item that gives 99 fireworks every 136 hours.

I'll even go out on a limb here and say that even if the special replacement event for US/EU is acceptable it won't exclude the group that was allowed to participate in the mog bonanza. Let's just let a select few get a scoop of ice cream and a freeze pop while we are lucky to get only a freeze pop. After our discussion if you're still following that same mind set of things can be equal. I hope they give you a lump of coal that gives you a one time 50exp when you use it. Seriously, based on the defense you gave in the past this would be acceptable.

[Trisscar]

Greetings!

As many of you seem to be curious about the status of the Nomad Mog Bonanza, I’d like to take a moment to explain the current situation.

The North America and European Community Teams have been working diligently preparing for the Nomad Mog Bonanza, but unfortunately due to changing times and differing global laws, we will not be able to hold a Mog Bonanza for NA and EU regions moving forward.

While Japan will hold the Nomad Mog Bonanza at VanaFest 2012, it will mark the final Mog Bonanza of Vana’diel. Furthermore, to make sure that our players in North America and Europe aren't left out, we will be holding a separate event where players will be able to win similar prizes (all the goodies from tier 1, tier 2, and tier3…plus a bunch of other rare in-game items), so rest assured we will be giving you a good opportunity to make all your Vana’diel dreams come true!

Also, even though the Mog Bonanza will be gone, we will be offering a different event for our end of the year celebration for a chance to win the items of your dreams!

We will be announcing the NA/EU event very shortly, so hang tight and look forward to it!

Does this mean the old battle tickets and statutes will be purchasable/craft able?

[Nakts]

Wait, so is Japan getting to participate?

[Camiie]

Does this mean the old battle tickets and statutes will be purchasable/craft able?

I wonder if they've even thought about it. They may be perfectly fine with these items no longer being available.


Wait, so is Japan getting to participate?

They're having a Mog Bonanza for Vanafest attendees. I don't think it's for anyone but them. That's what I understand anyway. Whatever the case is, this will be the last one and yes none of us get to play.

[Amalah]

All I ever wanted from the bonanza was a 4th tier prize. Just the Redeyes so I would never run out of my favourite pretty firework, my needs are simple.

Looks like it may never happen for me now though. Darn it I had a 50% chance of getting one last year but luck didn't go my way.

[Bulrogg]

I thought Redeyes came from the pre-Crystal War event only (Crystal War Revisited). And that only 1000 pair were distributed to the highest ranking adventurers. Adding them as a bonanza prize makes them seem less special. :/