Gem store problems? (Belgian players not able to buy/redeem gems?)

[Aapke.3592]

I used my vpn, then with paypal I set my billing address as the Netherlands instead of Belgium. Then I was able to buy gems. I was also able to use the gems in the store.Also I'm not sure the issue would be the belgian law. Friday evening I wasn't able to use the 'Buy Gems' button. But the day after it was enabled again. But Belgium was gone from the billing list. And when trying to buy gems without a vpn I did get 'Something went wrong, please try again later'Spending gems does work without issue for me (without vpn)

I've also logged a ticket and the response I got is that they are looking into the issue. They just updated my ticket to say that they are working on it (no other explanation/details)

[SplitSecond.6845]

can confirm, that the gem store in Belgium is blocked, using a vpn and setting your ip & billing adress to the Netherlands solves the problem for now.

[Crash.5486]

Same here. Live in Belgium and can't buy anything or redeem anything. They could have at least stated that they were gonna remove an entire country from their list. If they disable the gems for now they I would slightly understood it but you can't even buy the game anymore. Why don't they have replied to this yet?

[smitske.4912]

Hello fellow belgians, seems Anet does not want our money ;pYou can still exchange gold for gems, for now.

[Ok I Did It.2854]

It seems strange there is no reply from Anet on this topic, to stop an entire country from buying something from you ingame store, when the entire problem is around 1 item ( the RNG lootboxes known as Black Lion Chests ) what is Anet going to do, if the entire EU decide its a problem, just block 50% of the games player base and potential income from buying gems/items.

Maybe if the EU does do this, Anet will finally break down and show the % chances of getting something from the BLC's , as the entire lootbox thing is not going to go away anytime soon, and i can see other countries following suite.

This was taken from reddit, it doesnt look like it will be long before the EU steps up to this and makes it harder.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-09-17-15-european-gambling-regulators-unite-to-tackle-loot-box-threat

As someone said on reddit, Anet can't ignore all the Europe its to big a market.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Or, since the CS Team stated they are working on the issue, players could just wait a bit for it to be resolved.
It's surely possible that some reason other than 'loot boxes' caused the issue.

[purplecoyote.6018]

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:Or, since the CS Team stated they are working on the issue, players could just wait a bit for it to be resolved.

It's surely possible that some reason other than 'loot boxes' caused the issue.

Yeah I agree. The lootbox law could just be ONE explanation.

[Ashantara.8731]

@XioGShep.4021 said:I'm having this issue now as well. I am from the US though.

At first I guessed it could be connected to the new laws in Belgium and the Netherlands regarding gambling (they have, for instance, been barred from acquiring RNG crates in games like CS:GO), but apparently that can't be it. ;)

[Nagataka.8469]

Keep in mind, this is prolly not an ANet reason.New rules in Belgium to stop gambling (RNG).. trying to make people not addictive to it.

[edit] Even in Holland they are thinking about this now.

[Grinsomx.2459]

The issue seems to be fixed on this end, i could redeem my code.

[samanosuke asakura.6240]

i can buy gems again woop woop

[samanosuke asakura.6240]

https://www.pcgamesn.com/guild-wars-2/guild-wars-2-gems-belgium?tw=pcgn_ne

We made the news. xD thats why btw i don't read the news or believe things said on facebook

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

I'm still not sure why people are so sure that this is due to a decision made 6 months ago by the Belgian Gaming Commission.

Typically, the way enforcement works is that there's an investigation as a result of a complaint, and then the corporation is contacted. Especially in the case of Belgium, where the commission has restated that they are willing to work with gaming companies, it seems unlikely that there's some sort of secret deadline with which ANet had to comply.

It's not impossible that the gaming commssion's decision is behind the current problem, but there are a variety of other reasons it could be happening.

[purplecoyote.6018]

@"samanosuke asakura.6240" said:https://www.pcgamesn.com/guild-wars-2/guild-wars-2-gems-belgium?tw=pcgn_ne

We made the news. xD thats why btw i don't read the news or believe things said on facebook

MY LEGACY

[purplecoyote.6018]

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:I'm still not sure why people are so sure that this is due to a decision made 6 months ago by the Belgian Gaming Commission.

Typically, the way enforcement works is that there's an investigation as a result of a complaint, and then the corporation is contacted. Especially in the case of Belgium, where the commission has restated that they are willing to work with gaming companies, it seems unlikely that there's some sort of secret deadline with which ANet had to comply.

It's not impossible that the gaming commssion's decision is behind the current problem, but there are a variety of other reasons it could be happening.

In any case, it seems to be fixed now! Redeeming a code worked for me as of writing this post!

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

@purplecoyote.6018 said:

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:I'm still not sure why people are so sure that this is due to a decision made 6 months ago by the Belgian Gaming Commission.

Typically, the way enforcement works is that there's an investigation as a result of a complaint, and then the corporation is contacted. Especially in the case of Belgium, where the commission has restated that they are willing to work with gaming companies, it seems unlikely that there's some sort of secret deadline with which ANet had to comply.

It's not impossible that the gaming commssion's decision is behind the current problem, but there are a variety of other reasons it could be happening.

In any case, it seems to be fixed now! Redeeming a code worked for me as of writing this post!

Which would seem to be evidence that this was a technical glitch rather than some fundamental change of policy.

Regardless of the reasons, I'm glad at least that part worked for at least one person :) Hopefully, people are also able to buy gems through the game or website (and via Digital River).

With the official word below, I withdraw my previous remarks. I think it's a shame that ANet made the change without having a public comment ready. There's nothing wrong with disabling something to eliminate the risk of breaking the law, while they retrofit a technical solution. But surely, they could have foreseen that people would be surprised.

[Aapke.3592]

So... the issue seems partially solved.I can buy gems with a belgian IP. But when i change the billing country to Belgium. I don't get the possibility to choose any.Ofcourse changing it to the Netherlands does work ;)(printscreen of the situation: https://gyazo.com/05eb35c3dd365524d5825786c9162c2e )

[Crash.5486]

I could buy 1 set of gems, the 4000 ones. Then a few minutes later that one also dissapeared. Belgium is back in that list but still not on the site. It seemed to be working for a bit but then it showed nothing anymore in the list. The 4000 gems were gone as well.

[purplecoyote.6018]

@Crashdown.7419 said:I could buy 1 set of gems, the 4000 ones. Then a few minutes later that one also dissapeared. Belgium is back in that list but still not on the site. It seemed to be working for a bit but then it showed nothing anymore in the list. The 4000 gems were gone as well.

Not exactly sure what you mean, but setting the billing country to the Netherlands might help? If you're still having issues I'd send in a support ticket

[Gaile Gray.6029]

Update on the Purchase Status for Belgium

In order to conform to changes in Belgian law, purchases of gems, the Ultimate Edition, and the Ultimate Edition upgrade have been disabled for residents of Belgium. We are continuing to investigate more flexible solutions. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause our players.

[Crash.5486]

Finally a response of ArenaNet. I understand you guys have to do this because of the new laws but being quiet for such a long time? This post could have been made days ago. Anyways time to stop complaining I guess! And be gratefull there is a reply :) I'm still confused about the things that were mentionned though. Those things specific have nothing to do with gamblng. Add an age restriction to it in Belgium, and hey why not everywhere and fixed?

[purplecoyote.6018]

@Gaile Gray.6029 said:Update on the Purchase Status for Belgium

In order to conform to changes in Belgian law, purchases of gems, the Ultimate Edition, and the Ultimate Edition upgrade have been disabled for residents of Belgium. We are continuing to investigate more flexible solutions. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause our players.

Thank you for the update.Let's hope a solution can be reached by Halloween.I'll save my gem money in any case, fingers crossed!

[sniperman.1738]

actually it has everything to do with the Belgium region and it is because of the new law in which they have done this for that region, the only way for them to be able to "legally re-open the shop" would be for them to remove Black Lion chests for the Belgium area along with the random mount contract any anything else that may be rng, related, this would from my understanding take some serious background coding to rework how the gem shop works and displays items, as I think USA and EU gem shops are the same. But honestly would be nice if a Anet dev could clarify for the Belgium community if Anet has the capability to remove specific items out of the gem shop for the Belgium region.

[Zaklex.6308]

@Zeivu.3615 said:

@Linken.6345 said:Well they might remove your whole access instead of trying to figure out how to remove 1 itemEditAnd aint there two items black lion chests and mount adoption licenses?

Guild Wars 2 has more than just the Black Lion chests. Remember, some of the mount skin items fall under this jurisdiction as well.

Edit: And there are also the dye kits...

There is more than just one item they need to change

Which is entirely odd because GW2 was not even close to being on the original list of games that would be subject to the new law...so either someone is being overly paranoid or they've since gotten clarification that GW2 also falls into the same category as FIFA and the other mostly FPS games.

[Rose Solane.1027]

@Gaile Gray.6029 said:Update on the Purchase Status for Belgium

In order to conform to changes in Belgian law, purchases of gems, the Ultimate Edition, and the Ultimate Edition upgrade have been disabled for residents of Belgium. We are continuing to investigate more flexible solutions. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause our players.

Update suggests that there was any form of communication on this before from ArenaNet. Did I miss that? Or did ArenaNet failed to communicate this before taking down the gem store for Belgium? Or did the legal department suddenly panic and forced the shutdown of the gem store before proper communication to the players was possible. It looks like someone fucked up as anybody could foresee that this change would not go on unnoticed.

Now we just wait until ArenaNet decides to remove BL chests and some mount licenses from the gem store completely, find a way to comply to the gambling laws of most (European) countries (finally, years too late if you ask me), or we can wait until the gem store will be disabled for other European countries as many will follow. Because despite what you have said in the past BL chests and mount licenses are gambling according to the law in many countries.