Massively to hold EVE Online contest this week, win copious amounts of game time
by James Egan 
Nov 21st 2009 at 10:00AM
Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Contests, Giveaways
In the time our columnist Brendan Drain and I have spent covering EVE Online for Massively, it's grown into one of the site's most popular game categories. With that in mind, we've decided to run a contest that's really a thank you to our readers who've been following along with our EVE coverage. CCP Games was kind enough to provide Massively's readers with 50 Pilot License Extensions (PLEX) as contest prizes which we'll give away over the next two weeks. As most every EVE Online player knows, one PLEX = one month of game time, but is also a virtual item that can be bought and sold on the market in-game. Massively's EVE Online PLEX contest will actually give our readers two chances at winning -- once this week, and once next week, too. The first thing we must note is this contest will only be open to North American residents (U.S. and Canada, excluding Quebec). Sorry to our other readers abroad, but it's a legal thing. For everyone else who is eligible to enter, read on for more info:
"What will I need to do?"
When the contest post goes live, it won't be as simple as just firing off a quick comment to scream "First!". It's not first come, first served. We recognize that a number of EVE fans who read Massively are also talented writers, so this contest is really for you. We're going to pose a question to you related to the upcoming Dominion expansion, to be answered in 200 words or less. Your entry will be judged by the Massively staff on the merits of creativity and presentation. Once we announce the topic you'll have a few days to collect your thoughts and get your entry in. So, stay tuned this week.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. So, what can I win for doing this?"
Glad you asked. How does 15 PLEX sound if you take first place? 15 months of game time is pretty sweet. The second place winner will get 10 PLEX, which we think is quite nice as well. We think a shot at 10 to 15 months of EVE play time for 200 of your finest words is a good tradeoff, and we hope many of you will join in. Like we said earlier, there will be two separate chances to win, details to be announced this week.
"What happens if I win? How will I get my PLEX?"
First and second place winners will be announced when the judging is complete, at which time Massively will contact you. Massively doesn't have the PLEX, so CCP Games will handle delivery of your winnings. If you've won, Massively will contact you to get your account name and which character you'd like to be the PLEX recipient. We will never ask you for a password. Once you give us your account/character names we'll let CCP Games know, and they'll give you the PLEX directly. That's it!
"TLDR."
There's always someone, right? Here we go:
- You'll have two chances to win a ton of PLEX (EVE Online game time), once this week and once next week.
- On both occasions Massively will ask you a question about the Dominion expansion for EVE Online, which you'll need to answer in 200 words or less.
- If your entry is good enough to take first prize (judged on creativity and presentation), you'll win 15 PLEX. The second prize winner will receive 10 PLEX.
- We'll provide the contest rules and details (in all their legalese glory) in the actual contest post that will pop up on the site this week, so keep your eyes open!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dab said on 10:05AM 11-21-2009
I can't write creatively to save my life, but I am sure going to give it my best! This is a great contest, Massively.com!
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DonSailieri said on 10:22AM 11-21-2009
yay!
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SgtBaker said on 11:09AM 11-21-2009
> open to North American residents (U.S. and Canada, excluding Quebec)
yeah yeah yeah... Internet is truly global *yawn* ;-)
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Benicio said on 5:39PM 11-21-2009
Exactly. Talk about undermining the whole "thank you to our readers.." shtick.
I'd love to see the stats on just how many readers are international.
Dirame said on 11:36AM 11-21-2009
> open to North American residents (U.S. and Canada, excluding Quebec)
I vill hant you down and make sure you pay for vhat you've done.
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DonSailieri said on 12:11PM 11-21-2009
> open to North American residents (U.S. and Canada, excluding Quebec)
wait. what. You can't be fucking serious.
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Anu said on 12:31PM 11-21-2009
So this contest is restricted to only a small population of EVE players? I'm an Australian... why can't I enter? o_0
mandrill said on 12:32PM 11-21-2009
> open to North American residents (U.S. and Canada, excluding Quebec)
What!? Its not a lottery, it looks to be a judged contest. CCP are an international company, you have an international readership. I don't see what the problem is, unless a permit is involved and Massively is too miserly to stump up for it. Other US companies offer international contests, so why not you?
Or is it a case of discriminating against people who dare to speak a language other than good ol' American English? (Hence the exclusion of Quebec)
I'm becoming more and more dissilusioned with Massively as their US centric attitude rears its head again and again. The US is not the only country on Earth.
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Shawn Schuster said on 1:39PM 11-21-2009
It's an AOL rule. All AOL sites have these rules: Joystiq, Engadget, etc.
Ga'len said on 10:41PM 11-21-2009
I have to agree with Mandrill on this one here. EVE Online has an international subscriber base, the contest should be open to all persons who play the game.
PLEX cards are an in game item, there is no valid reason why someone in Australia, Dubai, Italy or anywhere else should not be able to receive one.
amburgey said on 1:39PM 11-21-2009
@Anu
You're an Australian. You've already won life's lottery :)
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PeterD said on 2:08PM 11-21-2009
To those outside the U.S., this is a common issue with contests hosted by companies based in the U.S. -- it is against the law for people outside North America to participate in the contest.
It doesn't matter that CCP is an international company, CCP isn't hosting the contest, Massively is, and Massively has to abide by the rules of the state they're based in, and most states do not allow prizes with monetary value to be awarded outside of North America.
It has nothing to do with Massively being biased, they're not out to get you, they don't hate you, they don't prefer their American readers. I'm sure Massively would love to let everyone enter, but they can't. This restriction applies to most companies based in the U.S., which is why, for instance, even companies with branches all over the world typically have different contests for the U.S. and Europe.
If you want to complain, contact the applicable state or federal government and ask them to change the law :p
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Xavier said on 2:20PM 11-21-2009
Fifteen months of game time my arse.
That's 4,125,000,000 isk, you mean. :)
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Lamthara said on 3:00PM 11-21-2009
damn, i'm italian :|
oh well! good luck to everyone else :)
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Pingles said on 3:14PM 11-21-2009
Has Massively ever done a poll to see what their readers play? Granted, we come to this site to hear the writer's opinions on games but I get the feeling that there are a LOT of articles with very little audience.
Don't get me wrong, don't stop your writers from writing about what they want but perhaps if you were to have a contest like this (very rare it seems) you might want to pick a game that more of your readers actually play?
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Xavier said on 3:20PM 11-21-2009
Yeah, nobody plays Eve, right? And the contest isn't due to CCP giving them 50 plex to give away or anything. CCP are a bunch of jerks for not giving away WoW subscriptions for Massively to give away, really.
Darn these Massively guys, always trying to hold down the WoW-obsessive.
Pingles said on 3:21PM 11-21-2009
Uh, forget my last comment. The prizes are obviously provided BY Eve Online. I saw CONTEST and EVE and reacted without reading. My apologies.
Pingles said on 3:22PM 11-21-2009
Ugh, Xavier got to me before I hit reply. Again, he's right. My apologies.
Darkdust said on 5:13PM 11-21-2009
Generally, the other jurisdictions (Europe, Quebec, etc.) have lots of specific regulations and organizations just don't have the legal expertise or resources to deal with the intricacies of it all.
And since Massively has a WoW sister site, you're welcome to go visit it if you don't like the games they cover here.
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Crim said on 8:20PM 11-21-2009
great idea may the best writer win I my self will have tp pay for my plex cuz I suck at writing and will never ever type something good in 200 word not even if my life was at line I would never menage to even typ 200 word with grammar or even something good so this competition is fail for me. Next time make a better competitions so even I can have a chance oh wait who cares about one reader when you have 1000 of others that like this competition. sorry my bad
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