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Star Wars: The Old Republic: On Regional Restrictions & SWTOR

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129

In today's Devil's Advocate column, we take a look at the increasingly annoying regional restrictions that many MMOs today employ including *gasps* Star Wars: The Old Republic. See if we're on the mark with this and then let us know what you think in the comments.

Regional restrictions, such as region-locking the sale of a game or disallowing certain IP addresses from specific countries from a given version of a game, are somewhat common in the MMO and MOBA markets. For instance, League of Legends has licensed regional clients in some Asian countries, with IP locks preventing people from those countries with regional clients from accessing the US version of the game. Certain MMOs and specific games on digital distribution services like Steam and Impulse (now Gamestop), such as Aion, Final Fantasy XI, and Dead Rising 2, are also region-locked.

Read more of Victor Barreiro Jr.'s The Devil's Advocate: On Regional Restrictions & SWTOR.

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Comments

  • zhivikzhivik Member Posts: 38
    Be that as it may, it is kind of insulting, especially when you live in a country where most other digital retailers do business (in my case, Bulgaria). I was thinking that living in the EU for four years would get you at least equal treatment, but about half of the EU isn't on the list. Yes, I can always order from Amazon UK (for an English version), but since retailers like Steam or even Apple (they started selling music here recently, and you know how bitchy the music majors are) seem not to have a problem, I wonder why EA does.

    I do get the "too many players at launch" concern, but it is a risk, especially if there is other competition, and if reviews turn out not to be so favourable. The latter will probably not be the case, but other competition should be an issue. For example, if it turns out that SWTOR is not easily available to me by the time Guild Wars 2 launches in the spring (hopefully), I will be probably lost as a customer for a long time, which ultimately is not a good business.

    All for the betterr, anyways, as I wasn't very sure I wanted to order the game from the beginning. At least this makes my decision much eaiser, I did take part in the Thanksgiving beta, and I liked the game, but I wasn't crazy about it, so I suppose my money will go for Mass Effect 3.
  • victorbjrvictorbjr Member UncommonPosts: 212

    Hi there. I'm the author of the piece above. I can understand where you're coming from. If they'd release even English versions of the games across the EU, I think they'd probably get even more revenue from pre-orders without taking too much of a "quality experience" issue.

    I'm not sure what to make of the regional restrictions in that particular case though. I suppose we'll have to see if their Early Access goes well to really know if their plan for launching the game in the manner they did was truly a good idea.



     

    A writer and gamer from the Philippines. Loves his mom dearly. :)

    Can also be found on http://www.gamesandgeekery.com

  • AusareAusare Member Posts: 850

    I wonder what different laws in the countries effect the decisions the companies make about regional locking.

  • victorbjrvictorbjr Member UncommonPosts: 212

    Originally posted by Ausare

    I wonder what different laws in the countries effect the decisions the companies make about regional locking.




     

    As far as I can tell from the research I did previously, some countries may have restrictions as it relates to content or textureswithin a game. I doubt that applies much to SWTOR, but it's popped up as an issue elsewhere in the many games out there (WoW in China didn't want there to be skeletons, if memory serves).

    In some cases, regional restrictions exist due to a licensing deal made with regional operators of a game. This applies to some free to play MMOs (like Dragon Nest or Ragnarok Online), as well as MOBAs, such as League of Legends.

    The (rather incomplete) Regional Lockout article on Wikipedia provides a short history of it as it relates to console games and to computer games - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_lockout

    A writer and gamer from the Philippines. Loves his mom dearly. :)

    Can also be found on http://www.gamesandgeekery.com

  • PuremallacePuremallace Member Posts: 1,856



    Originally posted by Ausare

    I wonder what different laws in the countries effect the decisions the companies make about regional locking.

    It comes down to service providers and who you feel like dealing with. Trion proves most of this talk from EA and pure BS because if a newbie dev could launch in all these places or atleast offer the game digitally a company bigger then Blizzard should be able to easily.

     

    If they want to cripple their EU playerbase then that is there decision. It will just end up like Aion going F2P as the subs drop due to pure aggrivation.


     

  • TolanaTolana Member UncommonPosts: 22

    Quite frankly I don't care what EA/Bioware does now.  I also live in one of the "affected regions" (sounds like a quarantine?) and find it utterly insulting.  I've bought practically every Bioware PC title ever released and have been waiting for SWTOR for many years.  Since I'm not considered a "valuable enough" consumer/client, EA/Bioware can forget about me supporting them ever again.

     

    I can't wait for Diablo 3, but until then I'm loving Lineage 2 again :)

  • victorbjrvictorbjr Member UncommonPosts: 212

    Originally posted by Tolana

    Quite frankly I don't care what EA/Bioware does now.  I also live in one of the "affected regions" (sounds like a quarantine?) and find it utterly insulting.  I've bought practically every Bioware PC title ever released and have been waiting for SWTOR for many years.  Since I'm not considered a "valuable enough" consumer/client, EA/Bioware can forget about me supporting them ever again.





     

    I can't wait for Diablo 3, but until then I'm loving Lineage 2 again :)







    How's Lineage II? Been looking into a game to play between now and SWTOR. EQ2 is my game of choice, but I've not really tried Lineage II recently.  Anyway, I do feel for you, as I'm in the same boat. No Early Game access or even Launch day access for me. :D

    A writer and gamer from the Philippines. Loves his mom dearly. :)

    Can also be found on http://www.gamesandgeekery.com

  • XoloXXoloX Member Posts: 83

    Originally posted by Ausare

    I wonder what different laws in the countries effect the decisions the companies make about regional locking.




     

     Im my case (foreigner in Germany, ofc gaming from there), it's easy:

    Germany attempts to control non-adult access to games (and other media) by a kind of government controlled PEGI/ESRB system (and they don't care a *cough* about international ratings). And they are very, very touchy with sex, violence and Third Reich symbolism/propaganda. Very, very, very touchy, indeed.

    Since online services like Steam don't won't to get their services banned in a large market like that everything rated adult/mature will not get offered within their online services. Example: Steam does not offer Dead Island if you log on with a German IP or you have regional settings pointing to Germany. Once you have it installed (imported, boxed *meh*,  from Austria, the UK or wherever you preferred) and registered with them, however, they assume you got it legally and support it completely.. Annoying as hell for an adult, no circumventing these mechanics...

    Esp. for Germany, many developers/distributors even cut their games (and movies, music, etc...) to not get banned there. Rated mature (18+) means it's legal to buy, have & use - if your a proven adult only. Media can even get banned completely, making it being illegal to own, sell & use it, as well...  Many games haven't been attempted to be offered in Germany for that reason (examples: almost all Running With Scissors products, some Wolfenstein games, Quake (banned), Doom 1&2 (banned)....the list is long).


    ...activating morph from silent reader to active poster...
    ...pending...
    ...pending...
    ...pending...

  • alkarionlogalkarionlog Member EpicPosts: 3,584

    I would only wonder one little thing, if I lived on one of the european country who can't buy the game yet, couldn't like then sue EA/bioware for preventing you for buying something every otehr country can buy or something? or at least a dude be crazy enough to try that? I guess that would be funny at least?

     

    though truth be told all teh Technicall issues they say would happen if they open to whole world is a lie, since I played during beta phase and had same ping from all otehr games I played

    FOR HONOR, FOR FREEDOM.... and for some money.
  • GrumpyMel2GrumpyMel2 Member Posts: 1,832



    Originally posted by XoloX








    Originally posted by Ausare







    I wonder what different laws in the countries effect the decisions the companies make about regional locking.






















     





     Im my case (foreigner in Germany, ofc gaming from there), it's easy:





    Germany attempts to control non-adult access to games (and other media) by a kind of government controlled PEGI/ESRB system (and they don't care a *cough* about international ratings). And they are very, very touchy with sex, violence and Third Reich symbolism/propaganda. Very, very, very touchy, indeed.





    Since online services like Steam don't won't to get their services banned in a large market like that everything rated adult/mature will not get offered within their online services. Example: Steam does not offer Dead Island if you log on with a German IP or you have regional settings pointing to Germany. Once you have it installed (imported, boxed *meh*,  from Austria, the UK or wherever you preferred) and registered with them, however, they assume you got it legally and support it completely.. Annoying as hell for an adult, no circumventing these mechanics...





    Esp. for Germany, many developers/distributors even cut their games (and movies, music, etc...) to not get banned there. Rated mature (18+) means it's legal to buy, have & use - if your a proven adult only. Media can even get banned completely, making it being illegal to own, sell & use it, as well...  Many games haven't been attempted to be offered in Germany for that reason (examples: almost all Running With Scissors products, some Wolfenstein games, Quake (banned), Doom 1&2 (banned)....the list is long).










     

    Yup, rather sad.... Germanies answer to adressing a past regieme that was notorious for banning publication of ideas and images it did not agree with...... is to ban publication of ideas and images related to that regieme it doesn't agree with  (along with anything else it doesn't like).

    I guess the word "irony" doesn't translate into German.

     

    P.S. Alot of publishers of historical strategy games run into problems distributing to Germany for the same reason. Some also run into similar problems with China as well...if thier game involves that Theatre of operations for WWII, and it's depiction doesn't match up with the "officialy sanctioned" version of history that  the Chinese government has adopted for that period.

  • AusareAusare Member Posts: 850

    I know in american you can not sue the government unless you are asserting they are violating a right.

  • bronecarbronecar Member Posts: 685

    Originally posted by zhivik

    Be that as it may, it is kind of insulting, especially when you live in a country where most other digital retailers do business (in my case, Bulgaria). I was thinking that living in the EU for four years would get you at least equal treatment, but about half of the EU isn't on the list. Yes, I can always order from Amazon UK (for an English version), but since retailers like Steam or even Apple (they started selling music here recently, and you know how bitchy the music majors are) seem not to have a problem, I wonder why EA does.



    I do get the "too many players at launch" concern, but it is a risk, especially if there is other competition, and if reviews turn out not to be so favourable. The latter will probably not be the case, but other competition should be an issue. For example, if it turns out that SWTOR is not easily available to me by the time Guild Wars 2 launches in the spring (hopefully), I will be probably lost as a customer for a long time, which ultimately is not a good business.



    All for the betterr, anyways, as I wasn't very sure I wanted to order the game from the beginning. At least this makes my decision much eaiser, I did take part in the Thanksgiving beta, and I liked the game, but I wasn't crazy about it, so I suppose my money will go for Mass Effect 3.

     

    Actually, the answer is much simpler, my young padawan, Origin UK :)

     

    Btw, red zoner here as well, Romania.

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347

    And how long are the other regions going to have to wait for the game?  How many years, to give them a good reason to complain?

    I had to wait five years for Uncharted Waters Online to get translated into English.  Now, that's a translation issue, not a regional lockout.  But still, five years.

  • divmaxdivmax Member Posts: 106

    I live in an excluded region and I find it completely nonsensical and insulting. I will not be buying SWTOR at ANY point, regardless of whether they eventually open my region or not. 

     

    WoW, EVE, LOTRO, City of Heroes, Guild Wars, Warhammer, Rift, Aion, EQ 1&2, ALL found it possible to be available in my country and, indeed, to my knowledge, are globally available. SWTOR has absolutely no excuse to launch globally with the budget they have available. It's shocking. Simply shocking. They can honestly shove their game. 

     

    Guild Wars 2 will be available in my region and I think ArenaNet are more deserving of my money.

  • KingPinoyKingPinoy Member Posts: 55

    I understand peoples fustration, but is it bad if a game wants a "controlled environment" to make the game smoother, I think its messed up, but maybe they have more reasoning that they just dont want to blast. Gold farmers, Country laws, etc. People who can't play plz dont flame me, im just sayin.

  • WhySoShortWhySoShort Member Posts: 315

    I have one thing to say about regional restrictions:

    They can go to hell.

    They are annoying, dishonest, and downright hair-brained. Why do you think Everquest II never became the success that WoW is? Becuase they block Chinese players, including me. And whatever silly and false explanations MMOs give for blocking Chinese players, the reaity is that they think that all Chinese players are gold farmers. It's racism.

    Honestly, playing MMOs in China is an absolute nightmare. I've had to resort to free-to-play games because all MMO websites assume that any credit card being used from China is stolen. I did play WoW for a little while, until I can back from a summer in the USA and Blizzard started locking my account every time I logged in, apparently forgetting that before the month I had spent playing the game in America I had spent about a year playing it from China...



     

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  • CityHamCityHam Member Posts: 63

    I'm quite used to the fact that I live in a non-country Iceland, still it pisses me off, I hope to move away from this festering shit hole one day.

  • victorbjrvictorbjr Member UncommonPosts: 212

    Originally posted by WhySoShort

    I have one thing to say about regional restrictions:

    They can go to hell.

    They are annoying, dishonest, and downright hair-brained. Why do you think Everquest II never became the success that WoW is? Becuase they block Chinese players, including me. And whatever silly and false explanations MMOs give for blocking Chinese players, the reaity is that they think that all Chinese players are gold farmers. It's racism.

    Honestly, playing MMOs in China is an absolute nightmare. I've had to resort to free-to-play games because all MMO websites assume that any credit card being used from China. I did play WoW for a little while, until I can back from a summer in the USA and Blizzard started locking my account every time I logged in, apparently forgetting that before the month I had spent playing the game in America I had spent about a year playing it from China...




     



    Hey man... just read your comment now.

    Honestly, I feel for you, and I wish I could tell you it's alright, but I have no clue when regional restrictions will ever completely go away. You'd think being in a global community means something, but sometimes, it doesn't work that way.

     

    A writer and gamer from the Philippines. Loves his mom dearly. :)

    Can also be found on http://www.gamesandgeekery.com

  • TheCrow2kTheCrow2k Member Posts: 953

    To my fellow redzoners. I Bought my copy from Amazon and am playing the Early Access currently.

     

    Can I just say I dont think you are missing out on much ? TBH I am finding the game boring already and I am an MMO veteran coming off a clean 8 month break from any MMO's at all (world of tanks doesnt count imho). I was really pumped for this release despite the idiotic region restrictions and I am a Huge Star Wars Fan (perhaps Nut would be a better fit) however my experience with SWTOR so far has been that it feels, bland, soulless and quite boring.

    I really want to like this game and I am pushing myself to continue playing but there is just something missing, call it "the magic" if you like but this game lacks something important I just cant quite figure out what it is.

     

    End of the day being shoehorned into the redzone by Bioware & EA sucks. That said I really do not think you are missing out on much.

  • Dave3216Dave3216 Member Posts: 133

    Originally posted by CityHam

    I'm quite used to the fact that I live in a non-country Iceland, still it pisses me off, I hope to move away from this festering shit hole one day.

    Hey CityHam

                        I live in Australia one of the most gorgeous and liveable countries in the world, guess what, we are also in the red zone. We have no dodgy govt rerstrictions, or a people renowned for gold selling or internet scams. So dont be too harsh on your country, be harsh on EA. I dont believe for one second bioware had a hand in this.

     

    I have been screwed before by EA because I live in Australia, the only explanation i can think why they didnt do it here is the ping. For some reasons Americans think 250 ms - 300ms ping is unplayable, guess what, Americans are wrong about something again. Aussies have played with yanks on yank servers since mmos started, and we have kicked their asses with that so called disadvantage of 250 to 300 ms ping (its bad ping if your on dial up, not so bad on cable ADSl 2+). For a non based twitch game eg MMO the ping is fine and every other mmo company has never had a problem with it. It all boils down to EA asshattery.

     

    Also while im ranting, on a side note, there are 1,000's of posts on SWTOR official forums Aussies complaining about been screwed. Yet they are still pre ordering from Amazon.com. Way to show them whinge and buy the product anyway, Justifying EA's stand that they dont have to provide any customer support or  satisfaction for us dumb Aussies, for us to go buy their product. Which if it happens to not work (not likely but there is always one) you will get no product support because you are in a red zone.

    SIGH screw it lets swap countries :P CityHam

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  • aRtFuLThinGaRtFuLThinG Member UncommonPosts: 1,387

    I think the bigger issue is not that why some regions and countries are red zoned, but the fact that they are red zoning the WRONG COUNTRIES.

     

    Australia and NZ has one of the biggest Star Wars fanbase (due to both of the fact that they are an English speking country AND a region that accepts American pop culture) then the rest of the world and should've never been red zoned. On top of that, Aus and NZ region has one of the strongest economic growth in the developed countries right now. It is not hard to guess who can afford to play the game and spend money more?

     

    I can never understand why countries like Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal get green zone while Aus and NZ got red. Those countries don't even speak English and it is unlikely they have a larger fanbase per capita regardless of whether they have more population combined compare to Aus/NZ or not. On top of that, they have unemployment in the double digits and a negative economy - and regardless of that, somehow EA thinks it is wise and they can make more money there than in Aus/NZ?? :/

     

    As to the point of performance, I think people who generally lives in red zone expected MMO's to be a bit less smooth compare to the US or Europe, so that entire point is moot.

  • KlyernKlyern Member UncommonPosts: 29

    "unspoken rule" ???? are you shitting me? dont mince words this is DOWNRIGHT DISCRIMINATION, they gave us preorder options and then early access, but now they had the idea to discriminate us by giving only americans early access, giving them a headstart because they are "superior" (no one said that but they sure think so, you guys still discriminate latinos and other races even after you ended slavery and the mockery of nigros having their own bathrooms etc at bars), so what I have to buy the game later when they want me to just so all those jocks from USA can pk me whenever they want with their silly 1 week headstart?

    edit: forget the 1 week headstart, they never said they are going to take off the region locking at launch, they might even give the americans a 1 month headstart or worse.



    Seriously how the hell is it an "unspoken rule" and not a case of preferential treatment?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?

     

    The truth is the part about not ip locking is just a publicity move, for most people obtaining the code is as hard as impossible if they are blocked from buying it. Get serious if you dont have family in the US who the hell are you going to ask to buy the code for you? a friend? ur going to make a paypal transaction with an online friend? he is gonna trust you? you are gonna trust him? i wouldnt trust anyone online with my money much less my credit card, and neither would anyone who gave it a second thought. This isnt something personal because I'm the one geting screwed, its personal because they are bordering on what is and isnt acceptable as a respectable gaming company, region blocking is for tards, if i have friends who moved to another country and like playing a region blocked game then that makes them obssess over a game i wont be able to join, this was the case for me with a friend and Vindictus, i had to fool the shit with proxy settings which were a pain since it made my game lag a bit and they always disconected every hour or so.

    Region locking is a manner of shameless disrespect towards users, not just the ones who wish to play and are region locked, but the ones that can play but have friends or family in another country which are locked out, luckly that is not the case with SWOR, but what they are doing is nontheless a disrespectful, stupid and bothersome way of making bussiness.

  • TerminatusTerminatus Member Posts: 104

    Originally posted by aRtFuLThinG

    I think the bigger issue is not that why some regions and countries are red zoned, but the fact that they are red zoning the WRONG COUNTRIES.

    Oh? Then only the US and Western Europe should be Red Zoned?? Ya know, those 2 zones have a huge concentration of gamers... much more than 2 isolated islands in the middle of the pacific that still has the Queen of England as their Head of State, infact you should take your complaints to The Sovereign of Australia, currently Queen Elizabeth II.

     

    Australia and NZ has one of the biggest Star Wars fanbase (due to both of the fact that they are an English speking country AND a region that accepts American pop culture) then the rest of the world and should've never been red zoned.

    Heh, that argument "My country has more SW fans than any other" is so childish that anyone saying it can only be laughed at. You many be unaware but SWG has been a WORLDWIDE phenomena for many decades... it's not only in your crummy country. And calling Star Wars of "American Pop Culture" just makes all of us point at you while we laught about you :p

     

    On top of that, Aus and NZ region has one of the strongest economic growth in the developed countries right now. It is not hard to guess who can afford to play the game and spend money more?

     

    How cute... you are worried about world economic growth... then any Chinese should better than you by compairason?? They have a bigger rating in economic growth, so clearly every Chinese has more money than you... that should be a fact... oh wait...

     

     We're touched by your worry about what we can or cannot afford to play or even where we can spend out money but in all honesty... it's not your call to make. Plain and Simple.

    I can never understand why countries like Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal get green zone while Aus and NZ got red. Those countries don't even speak English

    Weeell... sometimes i wish i couldn't speak English, or even Français, or even Espanõl or even a bit of Italiano (sorry, no Greek) atop my native language, Português, that way i wouldn't have to read trully retarded posts by ignorant ppl that are often too lazy to learn anything else then their native tongue.

    and it is unlikely they have a larger fanbase per capita regardless of whether they have more population combined compare to Aus/NZ or not.

    Soooo... Europe has less SWG fans than Australia??? Ya know, pulling numbers from yer arse aren't considered facts and here's a proof... "99.9% of Aussies already have boned a 'roo", see?? Blowing numbers from the arse is nothing but hot (and usually smelly) wind :p

    On top of that, they have unemployment in the double digits

    Portugal has 12,4%, Italy has 8,5% , Australia has 5,2%... shockingly high...  USA has 8,6% and England has 8,3%...  China has 4,3% Cuba has 1,6% ;)

    and a negative economy

    Actually we don't have negative economy. All was working well (and still is) until the FINANCIAL MARKETS got scared with Greece, and now these guys are the ones ruining every other country in Europe, and even worse... in their Panic'ed Stampede no measures will be enough to bring them to their senses, sadly.

    - and regardless of that, somehow EA thinks it is wise and they can make more money there than in Aus/NZ?? :/

    Hah, you surelly are either too young or relativelly new at Online Gaming... else you would already know that EA is not known to "think wise", specially regarding Space Themed games (they are the ones that bought and canceled Earth & Beyond, along multitudes of Wing Comander/Privateer projects just to focus on their Sims branch)

     

    As to the point of performance, I think people who generally lives in red zone expected MMO's to be a bit less smooth compare to the US or Europe, so that entire point is moot.

    So your point is "Don't call us Red Zones, we prefer Ping Challenged Zones"??? ...ok by me...


     

     

  • JackyD30JackyD30 Member Posts: 20

    Ok first I must say I have no real interest in playing SW:TOR, but after reading this article I had to load up Steam and check for it's availability ...guess what nada. Then I went to the Origin website to make sure it wasn't just some other mess up from EA that the game simply wasn't available on Steam and to my suprise the Origin site clearly states that I'm locked out from buying the game.

    What to me is so hilarious about this is that I live in frickin Luxembourg, a country where VG's are always readily available and where we, the people, are accustomed to laughing on other countries silly regulations regarding modern medias, be it VG's, movies w/e, especially zee Germans xD.

    This is truly a first for my country and I'm quite speechless about it, we hav a strong SW fan base here, especially considering that we're quite small, we have top notch internet access (our major operator who also controls all hard connections upgraded to fiber about a year ago), heck alot of online distributors have their european operating center here due to our fairly low tax we impose on buisnesses and VAT compared to the rest of the EU.

    Quite frankly I'm LMAO atm and still can't really believe EA went thru with this move. I'm just glad I have no interest to play SW:TOR since I doesn't appeal to my gaming needs but still I am in support of all the red zoners and think this is just outrageous.

    WTG EA!

  • TerminatusTerminatus Member Posts: 104

    Originally posted by JackyD30

    WTG EA!

    Yep Jacky, good Ol' EA :)

     

    Btw, TOR won't be on Steam because EA in their "wisdom" decided that having Valve as the main Digital Distributor of games was a big no-no and also because they wanted a piece of the action (u know them Business Suits... greedy greedy greedy and don't know jack about games), so they launched their own crappy version of digital distribution platform, called it ORIGIN (which was kickass game developing company back in the day, which created games like the Ultima series, Wing Commander series along many others... until they closed all the projects and eventually the company itself) and started dreaming about how much $$$$$ they are going to make...

     

    Being an online gamer since 94, i played many game on all sides of the globe... but that was before gaming companies started getting full of "business suits" that just went there to suck money out of the users and fill the company with useless bureucratic deadweight.

     

    Forced Region Server Separation was one such "great ideas" someone had (I had to buy an US version to play with my long time US friends of old EverQuest times and had to buy an EU version when i changed to a job which prevented me to even log in on their times for some years) that pretty much rear-ended the gamers everywhere... and without lube! :p

     

    Aaaaah i miss the freedom of old days... you had a Computer, a Dial-Up modem and you could go to places... anywhere, everywhere and with anyone. Now u can't go Asian, often u can't go American and sometimes u can't even do Yurpeen...

     

    ...goddamn Online Bureaucrats!!! :p

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