PRIZE UPDATE: Zero Punctuation Celebrates 100,000 Facebook Fans With ZP T-shirts Giveaway

[Spinwhiz]

Hello Friends,

We have listened to your feedback and have come to a decision. In an effort to include everyone that is not in the US or Canada for this t-shirt contest, everyone else can now enter the same exact way and we will be giving out 50 ZP t-shirt badges.

Again, these badges will only be available to those not residing in the US or Canada, so follow the rules above and good luck!

 

[not_the_dm]

Ignore me. Everyone else does...

 

[Kuliani]

One Question:
WHY DID IT TAKE THIS LONG?
Seriously

We didn't start putting the link to the Facebook page until not long ago. Before then, it was just normal people looking around for it on Facebook on their own.

 

[Blue Musician]

Unfortunately I do not have a Facebook account, specially after that yesterday in the PirateBay it appeared the personal info of 100 million people that had been registered to Facebook. So yeah, I'm not going to do that.
Couldn't you have done something inside the Escapist? But whatever, I think it's fine for me. I hardly ever get into these type of contests.

 

[Sikachu]

Two people win the same shirt - one lives in Ireland, the other in New Zealand. The shirt is worth, let's say, $10. Shipping from the shirt distributor will be far more to the winner in New Zealand than it would to the winner in Ireland so now. Let's say it's $10 to Ireland and $20 to New Zealand. In effect, those two contestants have now won prizes of unequal value and we are officially running an unfair and unbalanced contest.

I'd like to start off by saying that I understand why you don't want to run international competitions (tax-related issues) and that I've been impressed by your explanations to the many people complaining about being excluded. As far as I'm concerned, you're rewarding as many of your fans as is practicable. However, the argument you've presented in my quote is facile and flawed. Those people have not received prizes of unequal value, they have received prizes of unequal cost to the Escapist. That isn't the same thing. Not only that, I'm sure if you asked your users if they minded this 'unfairness' you'd get an overwhelming majority responding in the negative.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Two people win the same shirt - one lives in Ireland, the other in New Zealand. The shirt is worth, let's say, $10. Shipping from the shirt distributor will be far more to the winner in New Zealand than it would to the winner in Ireland so now. Let's say it's $10 to Ireland and $20 to New Zealand. In effect, those two contestants have now won prizes of unequal value and we are officially running an unfair and unbalanced contest.

I'd like to start off by saying that I understand why you don't want to run international competitions (tax-related issues) and that I've been impressed by your explanations to the many people complaining about being excluded. As far as I'm concerned, you're rewarding as many of your fans as is practicable. However, the argument you've presented in my quote is facile and flawed. Those people have not received prizes of unequal value, they have received prizes of unequal cost to the Escapist. That isn't the same thing. Not only that, I'm sure if you asked your users if they minded this 'unfairness' you'd get an overwhelming majority responding in the negative.

Let me try putting it another way. Let's say the shirt costs $10 and the shipping to Andy costs $10, but the shipping to Bob costs $30. (Bob must live on the moon, but it's just to make the math work.) Andy could argue, hey, you're spending $40 on Bob, but just $20 on me, I should get twice as much. And if people can argue something, they will. The literal prize - that is the shirt - is worth the same in both cases, but the prize must also include shipping, because otherwise, we could say hey, sure, you won the shirt but have to pay for the shipping yourself. (I've seen places do that, too, though usually the prize in question is something heavy like a TV.) The rules governing contests are byzantine, to say the least, and often defy common sense.

I absolutely agree with you that most folks wouldn't dream of being so nitpicky, and would be very happy just to get the shirt. Most, but not all. It only takes one jerk.

In any event, whether you agree with my point or not, the main issue is, and always shall be, there are laws dealing with shipping items of financial value to foreign countries.

 

[Amphoteric]

Why only in North America, Yahtzee is English. Shame.

 

[joshuaayt]

So, if Yahtzee himself were to enter under an assumed identity, he would be ineligible. Humn.

 

[Sneaklemming]

edit: nvm I read the thread - susan delivers again

 

[Chipperz]

Two people win the same shirt - one lives in Ireland, the other in New Zealand. The shirt is worth, let's say, $10. Shipping from the shirt distributor will be far more to the winner in New Zealand than it would to the winner in Ireland so now. Let's say it's $10 to Ireland and $20 to New Zealand. In effect, those two contestants have now won prizes of unequal value and we are officially running an unfair and unbalanced contest.

I'd like to start off by saying that I understand why you don't want to run international competitions (tax-related issues) and that I've been impressed by your explanations to the many people complaining about being excluded. As far as I'm concerned, you're rewarding as many of your fans as is practicable. However, the argument you've presented in my quote is facile and flawed. Those people have not received prizes of unequal value, they have received prizes of unequal cost to the Escapist. That isn't the same thing. Not only that, I'm sure if you asked your users if they minded this 'unfairness' you'd get an overwhelming majority responding in the negative.

Let me try putting it another way. Let's say the shirt costs $10 and the shipping to Andy costs $10, but the shipping to Bob costs $30. (Bob must live on the moon, but it's just to make the math work.) Andy could argue, hey, you're spending $40 on Bob, but just $20 on me, I should get twice as much. And if people can argue something, they will. The literal prize - that is the shirt - is worth the same in both cases, but the prize must also include shipping, because otherwise, we could say hey, sure, you won the shirt but have to pay for the shipping yourself. (I've seen places do that, too, though usually the prize in question is something heavy like a TV.) The rules governing contests are byzantine, to say the least, and often defy common sense.

I absolutely agree with you that most folks wouldn't dream of being so nitpicky, and would be very happy just to get the shirt. Most, but not all. It only takes one jerk.

In any event, whether you agree with my point or not, the main issue is, and always shall be, there are laws dealing with shipping items of financial value to foreign countries.

Could the first part be fixed with a piece of "small print" saying that the prize is the T Shirt and, while shipping will be payed, it is not a part of the actual prize? Wouldn't that stop any jackassery? I'm aware there are still laws that are so mind-bendingly logic detying they could have been concieved by Lovecraft himself, but the problem of shipping costs seems pretty easy...

Either that, or a tag on the competitions saying "US Only". It'd at least mean that the majority of readers wouldn't waste the bandwith. That's time that could have been spent looking up porno and eating a hot pocket, whatever one of those actually is...

 

[Susan Arendt]

Could the first part be fixed with a piece of "small print" saying that the prize is the T Shirt and, while shipping will be payed, it is not a part of the actual prize? Wouldn't that stop any jackassery? I'm aware there are still laws that are so mind-bendingly logic detying they could have been concieved by Lovecraft himself, but the problem of shipping costs seems pretty easy...

Either that, or a tag on the competitions saying "US Only". It'd at least mean that the majority of readers wouldn't waste the bandwith. That's time that could have been spent looking up porno and eating a hot pocket, whatever one of those actually is...

As to your first point, I don't know. It certainly makes sense logically, but legally? I can't say - I don't know enough about the laws in question.

As for your second point, we've added a way for non-US folks to take part, too.

 

[Therumancer]

I don't use Facebook either, it's just not appealing to me, so I'm not getting involved in this contest.

That said, I am a little surprised that Zero Punctuation just broke the 100,000 mark. Given the amount of time it's been around and it's relative fame throughout the internet and gaming community, I would have expected it to have been over a million or something. Mayber I misunderstood what he was talking about, but I thought Shamus (I think it was Shamus) was comparing his relative E-fame to Felicia Day, and said she had something like 1.9 million on her facebook or whatever. I'd have expected Yahtzee to be somewhere up there too.

 

[Tharwen]

Hehe... I just saw a post where someone had copied the text from the OP and written 'Escapist Username = Spinwhiz'.

 

[TimeLord]

*Sigh* US and Canada only

Again...

Hope I win a badge though!

 

[Alpha1Niner]

This is awesome. I've got to have one of those shirts.

 

[Eleima]

Thanks so much for including the rest of us who don't live in the US or Canada! I'm really curious about that limited edition badge!