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Company News BioDocs comment on BioBazaar Outrage

VentilatorOfDoom

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Tags: BioWare

After their countdown to an US-only community event triggered massive butthurtz all over the Internets, the BioDocs make an <a href="http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/13/index/1988326/">attempt to calm down their cattle.</a>
<br>
<br>
<p style="margin-left:50px;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;border-top-color:#ffffff;padding:5px;border-right-color:#bbbbbb;border-left-color:#ffffff;border-bottom-color:#bbbbbb;">Hi everyone -
<br>

<br>
The BioWare Bazaar was launched this week as the start of a year-long celebration around BioWare’s 15th anniversary.
<br>
<br>
We recognize that BioWare has a global community, and the Bazaar this week was originally intended to be an international event to reflect our truly global fanbase. Unfortunately, we encountered some last-minute legal complications around how contests can be structured in different parts of the world that prevented us from including all territories in this first event, even though that was our original goal. And for that, we sincerely apologize – our goal with this sort of celebration is to show all our fans worldwide how much we appreciate your support!
<br>
<br>
BioWare definitely really values all members of our world-wide Community, no matter where you live. Accordingly, in the coming weeks, we will be announcing details about future events specifically for fans living in those territories which were excluded from participating in the first BioWare Bazaar. The future events will be a bit different from the first Bazaar in how they’re set up and structured, but our goal is to feature the same caliber of awesome prizes and great BioWare collectibles. We’ll announce more details in the coming weeks :)
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<br>
The reception from those fans who have been able to take part in this first event has been incredible – thank you for participating! - and we’re looking forward to future events where we can enable fans from additional territories to also join in the fun.
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<br>
Thank you all for your continued and ongoing support and participation in the BioWare Community – we really appreciate all your support over the past 15 years, and the future will be even brighter!
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<br>
Sincerely,
<br>
<br>
Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk
<br>
Co-founders, BioWare
<br>
</p>
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<br>
Dear BioWare,
<br>
To prove that this is an honest apology and not merely empty words, please send one of these ME2 gaming rigs to my home address. (PM me for the address)
<br>
<br>
Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/97372-ray-and-greg-respond-to-bioware-bazaar-backlash.html">GB</A>
 

Gragt

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Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin
They celebrate their anniversary by allowing their fans to buy shit from them? I can understand that they decided to leave the path of the doctor and focus on the merchant's.
 
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Am I right in thinking (going from some of the posts in the Bioware forum thread) that one of the things they were asking people do in the competition is post bioware links on other forums? Seems like there could be some great lulz in making that backfire tremendously. If they have a non-US version, I vote we make it a mission to post bioware forum links at the seediest, angriest and most offensive communities (other than the Codex, that is) on the web, inviting them to pay the Bioware forums a visit. Especially in forums who will be suffiicently pissed at such spamming that they might invade the Bioware forums in retaliation.
 
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anomie said:
Azrael the cat said:
some great lulz

seediest, angriest and most offensive communities (other than the Codex, that is)

invade the Bioware forums in retaliation.

i see what you are insinuating here

And I don't even hate Bioware! By modern crpg developer + angry Codex poster standards, that's a pretty good complement.
 

Lingwe

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If I'm reading the rules correctly you need to buy their games to bid for useless accessories.

You also get those little 4 cent vouchers for petrol if you spend $100 at the supermarket.
 

Gondolin

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Unfortunately, we encountered some last-minute legal complications around how contests can be structured in different parts of the world that prevented us from including all territories in this first event, even though that was our original goal.

Either fire your managers or come up with better lies.
 
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Actually their excuse was entirely plausible. Australia, for example, has legislation governing all lotteries and similar games - which this would very clearly fall into - that sets out requirements to ensure that people don't get ripped off. I'd be surprised if most advanced nations didn't have equivalent laws (though the enforcement would vary greatly). They usually aren't very onerous to comply with, but if there might be requirements to register in some countries, or to have various disclaimers and so on, and it might have just been too difficult to look them all up and comply with them by the time that they realised that competitions (where they involve money being paid directly ala tickets, or indirectly ala 'points for purchases') are regulated.

BUT

The real stupidity was not realising that this would occur. It isn't like they're not used to dealing with different nations' marketing laws. They'd have enormous experience in having to deal with multi-national regulatory codes. And so it really shouldn't have been a surprise that there might be legal difficulties - not legal BARRIERS, just requirements that need completing. It beggars belief that they didn't realise the problem until after the announcement- it should have been the FIRST thing they checked after coming up with the idea. It's the kind of mistake that some one-person e-store or amateur web community could understandably make...not a company that's used to engaging in international trade.
 

random_encounter

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doigiveadamnaj2.gif
 

Sceptic

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Divinity: Original Sin
There was a funnier version of that progress bar that ended with something like "Runtime error. Damn not given" after the "stopping" bit.
 
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Azrael the cat said:
Actually their excuse was entirely plausible. Australia, for example, has legislation governing all lotteries and similar games - which this would very clearly fall into - that sets out requirements to ensure that people don't get ripped off.

Another example: lotteries are illegal in canada. Generally, companies sidestep this by forcing canadian players to answer some math question before being able to claim their prize, making it a 'contest of skill'. :lol:

In fact... given that Bioware is a Canadian company, I'm really disinclined to believe their excuse. Surely they aren't so retarded as to not know the laws of their own country?
 

Volourn

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"Another example: lotteries are illegal in canada."

Bullshit. This isn't quite true as you pointed out in your own post. There's tons of lotteries in Kanada. They're even called that. FFS
 

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