Military Hate in Sweepstakes???

Don't know who ever thought of this one up, but due to me being in the Military, I am able to give my life in it's defense, BUT I can't have a chance to win in the Return to Tyria Sweepstakes, just for the simple fact that I may live on a military installation. I know that there is a very slim chance that I could win, BUT all I am asking for is for me and my Brothers/Sisters in arms to have a chance to enter...To copy and paste the rules for those that actually read them, here it is...

ELIGIBILITY: This sweepstakes is open only to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada, 13 years of age or older at the time of entry. Void in Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. territories, military installations and commonwealths, the Province of Quebec and where prohibited by law. Employees of ArenaNet, Inc., and anyone working on the product, project or promotion, their respective parents companies, subsidiaries, advertising and promotional agencies and the immediate family members (parents, spouse, siblings, children) or anyone who lives in the same household of each (whether related or not) are not eligible. Entrants agree to be bound by the terms of these Official Rules and by the decisions of the judges, which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to this promotion.

I know that it is the right of the Company and everything, but that is just stupid, guess I can thank the sponsor's of this directly...

SPONSOR: The Sponsor of this promotion is ArenaNet, Inc., 227 Bellevue Way NE #75, Bellevue, WA 98004. Administrator: Marden-Kane, Inc., 36 Maple Place, Manhasset, NY 11030.

Sorry if nobody cares but I just feel like I needed to vent on this one

Did you ever consider what the legal reasons behind this may be before spewing out hatred?

What legal matters could there be that would be so drastic to where if I would live off base I could enter, but since I live on base I can't...

The same types of legal matters that void all the other places listed. >.>

Not likely, but I hate to say it, you are mssing the entire point of this thread, as usual on some of these threads that I have been reading, people jump to conclusions before they even finish reading the post and end up putting there foot in their own mouths.

It's a very odd thing that the contest would be void on military installations. I think that service members and thier families living on military installations deserve an explanation why this restriction. I understand that there are some overseas locations where the laws of the host countries would prohibit contests like this, but for those places where there are no laws prohibiting this contest (United States, etc.) not allowing the troops who live on base to enter isn't right.

I proudly served for many years and have had the pleasure of working with many very talented and imaginative people. A-net should know that they're cutting themselves off from a large source of creativity by instituting this restriction against military folks.

An explanation for this would be most welcome. The troops and their families deserve it.

I agree that this is wrong. Your serving our country in a way that allows them to even make video games but they won't allow you to participate.

P.S. I swear to God if anyone turns this into a thread about politics and if they're really serving the country I will hunt you down. ( I lost my uncel to an IED)

I think you explained it right here. Because on some military installations, there are laws against these contests, they cannot permit the contest on any military installation. It would show favoritism to those who live in the United States, and knowing the type of lawsuits that have been won, I wouldn't be surprised if someone sued for something like that.

I just realized that didnt' sound very clear. Anyway, let me try again. People have sued for ridiculous things and won (McDonald's hot coffee anyone?), so I wouldnt' be surprised if someone won a case of locational favoritism. If they did, then Anet would have to prohibit the contest in all areas of a certain type (i.e. military installations) if the contest is prohibited by law in some of them.

Or something like that, I'm just throwing out ideas.

/signed

Couldn't have said it better kool, maybe I am missing something that (me being a Jarhead) would exclude us, but I can't think of it...

I find it interesting that they mention U.S. territories considering anyone living with a ZIP code is in a U.S. territory (legally speaking of course). Since U.S. territories are excluded but residencies are included then that would imply there is a Law requirement that Anet cannot meet for military jurisdictions (usually this is due to resident vs. non resident alien status in the IRS TAX code). This is not uncommon as there are many sweepstakes that can't be done on U.S. territories as a whole because of TAX laws.

If I were you I would use your Parents address or a friends address outside of the base grounds?

i'm guessing its a military installation security thing, rather than anet wanting to bone soldiers out of contest prizes. that's a very common clause amongst contests, i've noticed.

This sentence can be a double sided blade but, Where would you feel safer? On a military installation or off of one?

Our Legal Counsel has told us that we must maintain the exclusion list due to the laws pertaining to contests, sweepstakes, and so forth. I do not know why the laws exist; I only know that he has researched the matter and we are unable to distribute prizes to some cities, states, countries, territories, bases, installations, etc.

We greatly regret that we cannot include everyone, around the world, in our contests. But the reality of local, regional, and national law (and it seems possible in this instance that there is also military law involved) makes it impossible to do so. We do the very best that we can in offering the broadest contest possible, but we do not have legal counsel in most countries, and without legal counsel, we cannot offer the contest. (And as I've explained before, the cost for a review in each of the excluded locations would most likely exceed $100,000 per contest.)

Again, we regret the situation, but there is nothing that we can do to work around it.

as being a former military person myself i feel your pain and feel that military personal shouldnt be excluded. hopefully you can stil enter and put your parents address as an residence instead

I appreciate the answer, that is all I was looking for, thank you Gaile...

That is correct and in fact it's most likely not even remotely close to cheating the contest, and here's why: My brothers both served; one in Turkey, one in Alaska and Asia. While they were deployed, they maintained their voter registration address at my parents' home. Therefore, they were residing on bases in foreign countries, but their legal address could be said to be their home in the States.

Also, please read this FAQ for an earlier contest (I'm updating the FAQ this week) for information on the matter. To be honest, I could not get as many details as I wanted when I asked about the contest exclusions; instead I was simply assured that we must include the full list and that the exclusions were required for legal reasons.

Oh, now, Sargeant, I don't know. A long time ago, I was asked to greet some gentlemen from the armed services as they came to our engineering company for a big meeting. In walks this guy wearing this splendid uniform and he introduces himself by name, not rank. I gaze (with admiration!) over his chest of fruit salad and I think "What do I say? I can't call into the associates and say "Mike is here!") So I decide to take a stab at it. "Hi, Dr. Young. (PhD of Engineering, not a physician, not that it matters ) Mr. Gaslow is here. I mean, errr, umm... Colonel Gaslow is here."

Mike was a sweetheart. Said, "Well, Miss Gray, you've certainly flattered me, first with a friendly greeting, and then with increasing my rank by two levels."

While you're on the topic of the Military, the most offensive item in Guild Wars, by far, is the way that prisoners of war are treated in Nightfall. The Corsair Prisoners in the Chahbek Village are defenseless and without any way to fight back... yet, players are encouraged to torture, or even kill them. It is just completely incomprehensible to me that in a time of war anyone would go actively condoning behavior that violates the Geneva Convention. Now, if they called them Captured Corsair Terrorists, well, it'd be OK then.

there is not much i can say except i am sorry for this happening and hope you will have a chance for another contest soon
note: gaile your just kinda awesome for helping in this thread so much

Edit for Deleted Content - Billiard

That said, apparently the reason the contest is forbidden in US military installations is because of a legal tangle, according to Gaile. Personally, I don't think that we should assume Anet dislikes a certain group of people just because of exclusion from a contest. I tend to assume the best of people, and I think we should all give people the benefit of the doubt in a situation such as this.