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THE SOE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR 2009 CONTEST
OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.
Participation constitutes entrant's full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Official Rules. The Sony Online Entertainment (“SOE”) Players of the Year 2009 Contest ("Contest") begins at 12:00:01 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (“PDT”) on April 17, 2009 and shall end as of 11:59 p.m. PDT on May 10, 2009 ("Contest Period"). Contest is sponsored by Sony Online Entertainment LLC, 8928 Terman Court, San Diego, CA 92121 ("Sponsor"). Submissions received after Contest Period will not be judged. All winners will be announced on or about May 18, 2009.
Eligibility: Any individual who is a current subscriber in good standing to any of the following SOE games: EverQuest, EverQuest II, EverQuest Online Adventures, PlanetSide, StarWars Galaxies, The Matrix Online or Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, is eligible to enter. Only the original author who created the submission may enter or win (in the event of a dispute as to authorship, Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entry or winner; Sponsor’s decisions are final). Contest is open only to natural persons who are legal residents of the fifty (50) United States (including the District of Columbia) for the duration of the Contest. Void in Puerto Rico, Guam, all other U.S. and all foreign territories and possessions and wherever prohibited or restricted by law. Contest may only be entered from and in eligible jurisdictions. Entrants must be twenty-one (21) years of age or older at time of entry in order to participate. Employees, officers, directors, and agents of Sponsor, its parent company, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion, and fulfillment agencies, their immediate family members and persons living in their same household, are not eligible to participate in the Contest. All federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply.
How to Enter: To enter, review the requirements posted here and transmit an e-mail to SOEContests@soe.sony.com with the following information: (i) a letter or role-play story of three hundred (300) words or less (within the body of your e-mail, or if as an attachment, in plain text (.txt), rich text (.rtf) or Microsoft Word (.doc) format only), in Times New Roman 12 point font, single-spaced, (do not use indentations, emoticons, all caps or slang terms) describing why you think you, or the person whom you are nominating, deserves to be recognized as an SOE Player of the Year 2009; and (ii) (optional) a link to an image that you personally created (i.e., screen capture, artwork, video or photo) with the entry as support for the letter or role-play story. The written submission is required to enter, and the image submission is optional. If you include your image as an attachment, the image must be hosted externally, and made available for download by Sponsor. All entries must contain “SOE Players of the Year 2009 Contest” in the e-mail subject line, and in addition to the link to the image, e-mails should also contain your in-game character name, your name, mailing address (including street address, apartment number (if any), city, state and zip code; no P.O. Box will be accepted), forum community handle (if applicable), server name, and e-mail address. Additionally, please update your Station Account to reflect your current contact information in the event that you are chosen as a potential winner. Contest is limited to one (1) entry per person. Subsequent entries will be void. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any person or e-mail address that submits multiple entries. Submissions posted on any game-related website forum will not be accepted for entry. Any submission of robotic, automatic, or programmed entries, or any entries submitted by agencies, other third parties, or through other unapproved methods are void. Any attempt at entry except as stated herein is void. Sponsor will not provide you with confirmation of receipt of your submission. Review the judging criteria for your submission located below. By participating in the Contest, you agree to comply with the applicable game’s End User License Agreement, Station Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and all rules, regulations, and policies. Entrants not complying with these requirements will be disqualified. You expressly acknowledge and agree that all content submitted is owned by Sponsor. The concept for the writing submission and image submission must be your original design and creation, and neither may be subject to the rights of any third parties, other than Sponsor. The content of the writing submission and image submission may not be offensive or otherwise unsuitable for use, as determined in Sponsor’s sole discretion. By participating in the Contest, you acknowledge and agree that Sponsor has an irrevocable right and license to publish, use, edit, and display any or all of the content in your submission, without further approval from you, without territorial, time, or other limitations, for any and all purposes, including, but not limited to, marketing, advertising, and promotional purposes.
Determination of Winner: Eligible entrants will be judged by a panel of judges, consisting of members of Sponsor’s community relations team, development teams and marketing team, according to the criteria set forth below, and whose decisions are final and binding in all respects. The panel of judges will use the following criteria in determining a ranking of the top submissions (the number of which is at Sponsor’s discretion, based upon the number and quality of entries) for the Contest: The panel of judges will use a 0-100 point scale: 0-35 points for originality, 0-35 points for creativity, and 0-30 points for thematic content consistent with the theme of the ‘SOE Player of the Year 2009’ (including, for example, in-game accomplishments or the embodiment of a game theme’s spirit). In the unlikely event of a tie, the judging panel shall break the tie by determining which of the tied entries better represents the theme of the Contest. Winners will only be selected from those eligible entries meeting the judging criteria set forth above and, if no entry meets the criteria set forth above, in the panel’s sole and absolute discretion, then no winner shall be chosen and no prize shall be awarded. Up to two (2) eligible entrants receiving the highest number of points from the panel of judges in each category combined will be a Grand Prize Winner, subject to verification of eligibility by Sponsor following the Contest Period. Judges may additionally designate Honorable Mentions for publication on the SOE or Station.com website or forums at their discretion.
Description of Prizes: The panel of judges will choose up to two (2) Grand Prize winners. Each Grand Prize consists of one (1) round-trip, coach airline ticket from a major airport near Grand Prize Winner’s home (determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion) to Las Vegas, Nevada, along with standard hotel room accommodations and ground transportation to and from the Las Vegas airport (all selected by Sponsor in its sole discretion) and an all-access pass to SOE’s Fan Faire 2009 event to be held between June 25-28, 2009 at Bally’s Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sponsor will determine the travel dates in its sole discretion. If winner is unable to travel on dates specified by Sponsor, prize will be forfeited. Travel must be round-trip. Sponsor reserves the right to change hotel location for any reason in its sole discretion. All expenses and incidental travel costs not expressly stated in the package description above including, but not limited to, meals, personal charges at lodging, security fees, taxes or other expenses or incidentals are responsibility solely of Grand Prize Winner. Travel restrictions, conditions and limitations may apply. Sponsor will not replace any lost or stolen tickets, travel vouchers or certificates. The Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of each Grand Prize: US$690.00. If a Grand Prize Winner is unable to comply with the terms contained herein, an alternate winner may be selected. The Grand Prize winners will be displayed (subject to Sponsor guidelines, standards, and practices, and in a manner and location determined by Sponsor in its discretion) on the http://station.sony.com website and/or any other SOE-related website in Sponsor's sole discretion.
General Limitations for all prizes: No alternative prize, cash, or other substitution is permitted, except by Sponsor, in the event of prize unavailability. Prizes are non-transferable. All federal, state, and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner. Based upon the criteria listed above, a total of up to two (2) prizes will be awarded. Total ARV of the prizes if two (2) prizes are awarded: US$1,380.00. Each potential winner will be notified by e-mail or by U.S. mail on or about five (5) days of the conclusion of the judging. Each potential winner will have five (5) days from notification to accept the prize by e-mail or by U.S. mail to the address specified in the notification. Prizes will be delivered within approximately six (6) to eight (8) weeks of verification/confirmation of winners.
Requirements of Winner: Potential winners are required to sign and return affidavits of release, releases of liability, declarations of eligibility, and where lawful, publicity consent agreements, within five (5) days of acknowledged notification. By agreeing to become a winner and/or accepting and/or using a prize, winner agrees to the use of his or her name, voice and/or likeness, and submitted content, for the purpose of advertising, trade, or promotion by Sponsor without further compensation, unless prohibited by law. If you are chosen as a winner, you agree to submit your character name and allow Sponsor to display it next to your submission. If a selected potential winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible (under these rules or due to a failure to comply with any of the other applicable policies, licenses, rules, and terms of service), or fails to timely return the completed and executed releases/agreements as required, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate potential winner may, at Sponsor’s discretion, be selected.
General Terms and Conditions: By participating in the Contest, entrant agrees that under no circumstances, including, but not limited to, negligence, shall Sponsor, its officers, directors, employees, shareholders, agents, successors, and assigns (the “Released Parties”) be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising out participation in the Contest, even if any or all of the Released Parties have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, and therefore such exclusions may not apply to you. By participating in the Contest, entrant waives any and all rights to bring any claim or action related to his/her participation in any forum beyond one (1) year after the first occurrence of the kind of act, event, condition or omission upon which the claim or action is based. By entering, each entrant agrees to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor, which shall be final. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any person, entry, or e-mail address that Sponsor determines to be in violation of any term contained in these Official Rules. Sponsor, its parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, licensors, advertising, promotion, and fulfillment agencies, legal advisors, prize providers, and the respective employees, officers, directors, shareholders, agents, and representatives of each, are not responsible for and shall not be liable for: (i) late, lost, delayed, damaged, misdirected, stolen, incomplete, illegible, unintelligible or postage-due entries, notices, releases, forms, affidavits, or other correspondence; (ii) telephone, electronic, hardware or software program, network, Internet, or computer malfunctions, failures, interruptions or difficulties of any kind; (iii) failed, incomplete, garbled, or delayed computer transmissions; (iv) any condition caused by events beyond the control of the Sponsor that may cause the Contest to be disrupted or corrupted; (v) any injuries, losses, or damages of any kind arising in connection with or as a result from participation in the Contest or arising from the entrant’s access to and use of the Internet site http:// station.sony.com (and all related websites of Sponsor), including without limitation, personal injury, death, and property damage, and claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy, to the extent permitted by law; or (vi) any errors in any materials associated with the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Contest if any problem corrupts the administration, security, or operation of the Contest, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner. Any attempt by any person to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.
Disputes: Contest is governed by the laws of the United States and the State of California. As a condition of participating in the Contest, entrant agrees that any and all actions or proceedings related to the Contest shall be exclusively brought in the County of San Diego, State of California (if under state law) or the Southern District of California (if under Federal law), and the parties agree not to raise in connection therewith, and hereby waive, any defenses based upon the venue, the inconvenience of the forum, the lack of personal jurisdiction, the sufficiency of service of process or the like in any such action or suit brought in the State of California.
Winner List and Official Rules: A winner’s list will be posted on the web site at http:// station.sony.com, or an underlying page thereto, at the conclusion of the Contest. To obtain a copy of the winner list or a copy of these Official Rules, send your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Attn: Marketing Department “SOE Players of the Year 2009 Contest”, Sony Online Entertainment LLC, 8928 Terman Court, San Diego, CA 92121. Requests must be received no later than November 30, 2009.
© 1999-2009 Sony Online Entertainment LLC. SOE and the SOE logo are registered trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment LLC in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.
Sony Computer Entertainment America takes no responsibility for this offer.
Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. and Lucasfilm Ltd. are not sponsors of this Contest and are not responsible for any obligations herein.
LucasArts and the LucasArts logo are registered trademarks of Lucasfilm Ltd. Star Wars Galaxies is a registered trademark of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. SOE and the SOE Logo are registered trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment LLC © 2009 Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. or Lucasfilm Ltd. & ® or TM as indicated. All rights reserved.
THE MATRIX ONLINE, characters, names and all related indicia are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
