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About IP block issue
huiye233
Member Posts: 7 Arc User
Hi, I'm a guy who moved to China to live because of my job needs. I've encountered an issue while trying to log in to the STO website or the game.
By searching through the terms, I've found the following content:
So, I checked the terms of service, which were applicable during PWE's ownership. However, now that PWE is a part of Gearbox, it's no longer a Chinese company. This means there's no longer a need to limit access from China. Can you allow connections from China since there are no longer any restrictions on the game?
This step could potentially bring in a lot of profit, considering there's significant interest in Star Trek.
Thanks.
By searching through the terms, I've found the following content:
The following countries and zones are outright banned from playing Arc games:
China
Cuba
Egypt
Iran
North Korea
Syria
Hong Kong
Myanmar
Macao
Taiwan
Vietnam
So, I checked the terms of service, which were applicable during PWE's ownership. However, now that PWE is a part of Gearbox, it's no longer a Chinese company. This means there's no longer a need to limit access from China. Can you allow connections from China since there are no longer any restrictions on the game?
This step could potentially bring in a lot of profit, considering there's significant interest in Star Trek.
Thanks.
Post edited by huiye233#7871 on
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ToS is transferable, and not annulled just because it's not PWE anymore. The fact the ToS are still as is means it's still applicable.......and don't get me start on China and it's 'Time Travel' bans
First, PWE ban China because China have a law about oversea's games.
Second, There's actually no limit in the current ToS.
Third, What do you mean 'Time Travel'
Besides
> This is indeed quite strange. There seems to be no reason to continue blocking Chinese IP.
Just because you think it is strange that Chinese IP addresses are blocked, does not mean there is no reason to continue it. There are reasons, many have to do with the party in charge and the laws of that country.
I have lived in China for several years, and as far as I know, there doesn't seem to be any additional reasons for the ban. Steam is also accessible in China, so what's the issue? I don't understand why I can play every game except for Star Trek Online (STO), as it bans Chinese IP addresses.
The reason PWE banned Chinese IP addresses is because it was a Chinese company. In China, there is a requirement for companies with operations in the country to adhere to Chinese laws. PWE's parent company is Perfect World. Specifically, one law stipulates that overseas games cannot be provided to Chinese users or set up servers in China. Now that PWE no longer exists, and even Cryptic itself knows nothing about the IP restrictions.
However these two below articles may give a potential reason:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_video_games_by_country#Mainland_China
The relevant element is the part on gambling combine it with
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loot_box#Regulation_and_legislation
You may have an answer, considering Cryptic has always been reluctant at best to reveal drop chances so may run afoul of that.
The other potential is that there is a localised version, which often precludes international versions.
I've searched about the localized version, which was announced around 2011, but it hasn't been released yet. There's still something left in the launcher, but it's invalid.
Regarding whether China banned it first, there's no evidence because STO doesn't have anything that can violate Chinese regulations. These game that has been banned is because someone submitted it for a check so that it could be allowed to live stream on Chinese streaming sites. Only games that didn't pass the check will be banned in China. However, this doesn't mean that the game is unplayable in China. You just cannot live stream it.
Gambling will not break the laws in China. So I think those reasons were not the cause. Still the one i've mentioned above.
I also checked the laws. These laws are only applicable within China and do not have the authority to manage foreign games.(Except you have sub-company in China like PWE have a parent company in China called Perfect World.) As you can see, I can play every game on Steam without any issues. These laws only affect games made by Chinese companies, like Genshin Impact, which is the most famous example.
> > @"bladeks#3515" said:
> > This is indeed quite strange. There seems to be no reason to continue blocking Chinese IP.
>
> Just because you think it is strange that Chinese IP addresses are blocked, does not mean there is no reason to continue it. There are reasons, many have to do with the party in charge and the laws of that country.
Which could be even more strange if we focus mainly on the reasons related to the party and the laws. The game doesn't contain anything directly or indirectly related to China or the party in charge, and there is nothing violating the laws of that country that I know of.