Canadian Entrants to Costume Comp

Why do they have to solve a Maths question in addition to the other hoops to be jumped through? What happens if you have awesome costume creation skills but suck at maths?

Because it's the law.

Paragon Studios didn't decide this, the Canadian Government did.

For that matter, it's likely not a hard question. So don't fret,

Can I get a prize if I have a crappy costume but I have a Bachelor's Degree in Applied Mathematics?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

There is a Canadian Sweepstakes law that was put into place to prevent illegal gambling. All luck-based contests are illegal in Canada. However, to get around this all lotteries and other contests have added a 'skill-based question' (usually a math question). It's one of those cases where people have found such an insanely trivial way to get around a old, seemingly irrelevant law.

What's 2 X 10?

200

Close enough. Here's your prize!

Indeed, there's nothing that says you even have to get the question correct.
You just have to answer.

The people holding the contest can accept any answer they like. For example, I've heard of one person who won a NES in the 80's, answered the mathematical question with a smiley face, and still got their prize.



.

Hehe, that happened to me with a McDonald's prize, one of those ones you peel off the cup. The question wasn't as simple as Zombie Man's, it had some addition, subtraction and multiplication, but still not overly difficult. I got it wrong and they still gave me the free burger or whatever it was. The funniest part was this was right after I finished a 3 hour Calculus exam, which I aced.

That's hilarious. I've heard of silly things to bypass silly laws before but this is a new one for me. I'll bet there was a group of lawyers who got paid serious money to "figure out" the original math question loop hole for this kind of thing.

How bizarre...

Especially as the competition isn't luck based...

Update: Arcanaville will be providing the mathematical question.
No, not really...

From the Wikipedia entry: (Why there's one on this topic, I don't know)

Skill testing questions (or STQ) are a legal requirement attached to many contests in Canada.

The combined effect of Sections 197 to 206 of the Criminal Code of Canada bans for-profit gaming or betting, with exceptions made for provincial lotteries, licensed casinos, and charity events. Many stores, radio stations, and other groups still wish to hold contests to encourage more purchases or increase consumer interest. These organizations take advantage of the fact that the law does allow prizes to be given for games of skill, or mixed games of skill and chance. In order to make the chance-based contests legal, such games generally consist of a mathematical STQ.

The Promotional Contest Provision of the Competition Act also states that prizes are to be distributed "on the basis of skill or on a random basis.[1]"

The most common form that these questions take is as an arithmetic exercise. A court decision ruled that a mathematical STQ must contain at least three operations to actually be "skill testing"; for example, a sample question is "(2 × 4) + (10 × 3)" (Answer: 38). Enforcement of these rules is not very stringent, especially for small prizes; the player may not be required to answer the STQ to claim a prize. Anecdotally, getting the answer wrong is also often not an obstacle to claiming a prize. The questions are also becoming easier.[2] For contests held in other countries but open to Canadians, an STQ must be asked of any potential Canadian winner.

The same section of law prohibits receiving consideration in exchange for playing the games, resulting in a related peculiarity of Canadian contests: the "free entry alternative", which is usually telegraphed by the fine print "No purchase necessary". Generally this means that it is possible to enter the contest for free by, for example, writing a letter to the entity sponsoring the contest and requesting a game piece or entry form.



Basically, it's an anti-cheating measure at the core.

Wouldn't skill at making a good costume count as the skill part of the contest, though?

In Canada there is no such thing as free, we have to earn everything. ;-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wavicle CoH players are stupid and incompetent compared to WoW players.