Announcing the Cosplay Contest!

[Psion]

Ugh again with the ridiculous region limitations. How many years do we need to complain about this before it finally gets fixed?!

Until you learn to stop whining at SE and start whining at your countries to fix their laws, allowing SE to hold their contests in your region.

[moriandrio]

Until you learn to stop whining at SE and start whining at your countries to fix their laws, allowing SE to hold their contests in your region.

Yeah 90% of Europe has laws that make contents impossible. Pls stop that trashtalk since other companies are able to offer similiar contests with similiar prices and not breaking laws in many EU countries.

SE has offices in those 4 countries and doesnt care about the rest.

[Kraggy]

Ugh again with the ridiculous region limitations. How many years do we need to complain about this before it finally gets fixed?!

As long as it takes for some countries to repeal asinine laws that prevent this sort of thing.

[Bowen]

Yeah 90% of Europe has laws that make contents impossible. Pls stop that trashtalk since other companies are able to offer similiar contests with similiar prices and not breaking laws in many EU countries.

SE has offices in those 4 countries and doesnt care about the rest.

Don't you think they would if they could? A REP made a post awhile ago concerning this. It basically said that they have trouble doing these contests in certain countries due to their laws. Now, I'd like for them to allow more countries to participate, but at the moment it isn't going to happen.

[KumaAkuma]

As long as it takes for some countries to repeal asinine laws that prevent this sort of thing.

There are no such laws.

[KumaAkuma]

Don't you think they would if they could? A REP made a post awhile ago concerning this. It basically said that they have trouble doing these contests in certain countries due to their laws. Now, I'd like for them to allow more countries to participate, but at the moment it isn't going to happen.

They also posted that they would fix it for future events. I think that post is almost over a year old now?

[Lady]

*Crumples up moogle wings and throws them in the trash*

Stupid US tax laws....Gotta love that we can win something, but have to sell it to play the income taxes on it.....

[Eldryan]

Just a little clarification for those who are still confused as to why there are contest restrictions preventing some countries from participating. In many countries there are gambling laws, and most often anything that is seen as a lottery or sweepstakes in which the contestant must pay in some detrimental way to enter, would fall under these lottery and sweepstakes regulations which the host of the contest must adhere to.

Some of these rules and restrictions may contain, but are not limited to:
-Registering your lottery/sweepstakes with the host country
-Pay a tax of fee to run the lottery/sweepstakes
-Offer an option of cash pay out equal to the prize of the contest
-Depositing security money equal to the value of the prize with the government
-Display odds of winnings
-Time restrictions on how long the contest can run before prizes must be given

I'm sure there are a lot more laws, but these are just some of the few that I can think of off the top of my head. Each countries have their own unique set of laws, and if SE is only able to hold contests in countries where they have offices (though I don't know if this is the case since I didn't read the entry restrictions yet), that's most likely due to those offices being able to get permission or a license from their host countries to hold the contest and is not because SE is biased against other countries. The legal fees and resources to get licenses in every country that SE sells their games would be quite large I'd imagine, so I can understand if they choose to reserve their resources for other things, like making games. Big corporations don't have unlimited money (unless you're a big bank with your government gauranteeing to bail you out of any bad financial deals you make).

A contest like this cosplay contest that requires a submission of your picture would probably be considered an entry fee of detriment because one can argue the time and money spent on materials for the costume is detrimental to the contestants. I hope this clear things up, though being the internet, I'm sure this rational explanation would be forgotten or lost a few pages into the thread and more complaints about the region restriction will continue to crop up in the future.

[KumaAkuma]

But you didn't state any facts at all, only assumptions.

[Eldryan]

But you didn't state any facts at all, only assumptions.

I'm sorry, but I don't feel like looking up the exact laws for EVERY country that SE sells product in and posting them all. The few rules that I did post up are indeed real and do exist in many countries, so they are not assumptions but are laws that exist in many countries. The legal challenge to detrimental entry fee is indeed real, and easily arguable in a court of law, so that too is a fact.

You asking me to post "facts" is actually a near impossible request as the only way I can post something that would satisfy your definition of "facts" in this case is to research every gambling laws in existance and either post or link them here. Instead, I posted a general guideline and a few restrictive laws that do exist, to illustrates the barrier that is common to most organization holding international contests.

If you believe that your country is wrongfully excluded, feel free to look up your own gambling laws and provide an action plan to SE as to how they can implement the contest in your country while still abiding by the governing regulations. (See what I did there? I responded to your near impossible request for "facts" with my own near impossible request.)

P.S. I will no longer be responding to posts here as I feel my presentation is concise and easily understood, and those who choose not to understand them are simply being willfully ignorant.