Please read these rules before entering the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Ladder Season 4 Contest (the "Ladder Contest"), and the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Season 4 Finals (referred to herein as the "Finals"). By entering and participating in the Contest, you agree to be bound by these Official Rules and represent that you satisfy all of the eligibility requirements in paragraph 1 below.
1. Eligibility. BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC., AND ITS PARENT COMPANY AFFILIATES, AND SUBSIDIARIES (COLLECTIVELY REFERED TO HEREIN AS "SPONSOR"); ARE THE SPONSORS OF THIS CONTEST. THIS CONTEST IS OPEN ONLY TO INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE OF THE AGE OF MAJORITY IN THEIR COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE WHO HAVE THE CAPABILITY OF PLAYING SPONSOR'S COMPUTER SOFTWARE PRODUCT, "WARCRAFT III: THE FROZEN THRONE" AND ARE NOT RESIDENTS OF THE STATES OF NORTH DAKOTA, VERMONT, AND CONNECTICUT WHO HAVE OBTAINED ALL THE NECESSARY VISAS, PASSPORTS, OR OTHER TRAVEL DOCUMENTS ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THEIR COUNTRY OF CITIZENSHIP SO THAT THEY HAVE THE LEGAL CAPACITY TO BE ABLE TO TRAVEL TO GERMANY ("ENTRANTS"). If you are under the legal age of majority in your country of residence (a "Minor"), one of your parents or legal guardians must read and agree to these Contest rules on behalf of you and themselves in order to win a prize. If you United States citizen residing in the State of North Dakota, Vermont, Connecticut or Maryland, you are not eligible to participate in this Contest. To be eligible to win a prize, and only those entrants who have obtained all the necessary documentation, such as travel visas, passports, etc., will be eligible to win a prize. Directors, officers and employees of Sponsor, its parent, and any of their respective affiliate companies, subsidiaries, agents, professional advisors, advertising and promotional agencies, and immediate families of each are not eligible to win any prizes. All applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Offer void where prohibited. Participants must have a Battle.net account which includes an associated valid email address. Sponsor reserves the right to verify the email address provided to Sponsor by Entrant. In the event of any dispute, entries containing an invalid email address will be deemed ineligible.
2. Disclaimer. Sponsor, Prize Suppliers, and Sponsor's Promotional Partners, as well as their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, professional advisors, employees and agencies will not be responsible for (a) any late, lost, misrouted, garbled or distorted or damaged transmissions or entries; (b) telephone, electronic, hardware, software, network, Internet, or other computer- or communications-related malfunctions or failures; (c) any Contest disruptions, injuries, losses or damages caused by events beyond the control of Sponsor; or (d) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Contest.
3. Contest Period. The Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Ladder Season 4 Contest, shall commence on or about August 1, 2006, at which time Sponsor shall distribute invitations to top players to enter the Ladder Contest in accordance with Section 4 A below, and the Ladder Contest Section of the Contest shall continue in duration through October 31, 2006 at 12:00 p.m. PST (the "Deadline"). Thereafter, Sponsor shall distribute invitations to the players who qualify for the regional LAN tournament competitions, which shall occur at a time and place to be determined by Sponsor. Following the conclusion of the Regional LAN Contests, the players who qualify for the Finals will receive invitations from Sponsor to the Final Event. It is expected that the Finals will have been completed by January 31, 2007.
4. How to Enter and Determination of Winners.
The Ladder Contest. Sponsor shall send up a maximum of three hundred (300) invitations to invite the top players from each of the following "Gateways" to compete in a qualification tournament: the combined US West and US East Gateways ("US Gateway"); the Northrend Gateway (the "EU Gateway") and Kalimdor Gateway (the "Korean Gateway. Those players who receive an invitation from Sponsor to compete in the Contest shall have the chance to compete in the Ladder Contest to determine the best "Solo" player of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Any cheating, perceived cheating, or griefing, as determined by Blizzard in its sole discretion, will disqualify Entrants. All competition for this Ladder Contest shall be in accordance with these rules, the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne End User License Agreement, the Battle.net Terms of Use agreement, and the Blizzard Ladder Rules set forth on the www.battle.net website, which are incorporated herein by this reference. Blizzard will select the most qualified solo entrants based on the Battle.net Solo Ladders to provide eligibility for this Ladder Contest, and will post brackets of all eligible players on the Ladder Contest website located at http://www.battle.net/tournaments/season4/. The qualification periods for the Gateways shall begin on August 1, 2006, and end on October 31, 2006. The top sixteen (16) solo players on the US Gateway; the top twenty (20) solo players on the EU Gateway; and the top twenty (20) solo players on the Korean Gateway will qualify for the "Regional Qualifier Stage of the Contests, in accordance with Section B below.
Regional Qualifier Contests. The dates and times of the Regional Qualifier Contests will be contained in notices that Sponsor will distribute to the qualifying players. Each of the Regional Qualifier Contests will be held on a Local Access Network, and in accordance with and under the same rules as the Ladder Contest. The entrants who qualify for the Regional Qualifier contests will compete in a "best 2 out 3 games", single elimination format to determine who will qualify for the Finals. The top four (4) players in the US Gateway Regional Qualifier; the top six (6) players in the EU Gateway Regional Qualifier, and the top six (6) players from the Korea Gateway Regional Qualifier shall qualify for the Finals.
The Finals. The dates and times of the Finals that will be held in Cologne, Germany, will be contained in notices that Sponsor will distribute to each of the players qualify for the finals. The entrants who qualify for the Finals will compete in a "best 2 out 3 games" elimination format to determine the first and second, place winners. The Finals will be held on a Local Access Network, and in accordance with and under the same rules as the Ladder Contest.
5. Prizes.
Regional Qualifier Contestants. Each entrant that qualifies for a Regional Qualifier tournament will win a trip to the Regional Qualifier that includes round trip coach air fare from the regional airport nearest the qualifying player's residence the site of the Regional Qualifier Tournament which the entrant has qualified for, as well as two (2) nights lodging at a hotel of Sponsor's choice, meals and ground transportation. The approximate retail price of this prize package is estimated at no less than $1,500.00 U.S.), depending upon the cost of travel for the entrant to attend the Regional Qualifier Tournament.
Finals Contestants. Each entrant that qualified for the Finals will win a prize package consisting of the following: (a) Sponsor shall provide round trip coach air fare from the regional airport nearest the qualifying player's residence to the site of Finals in Cologne, Germany for, as well as two (2) nights lodging at a hotel of Sponsor's choice in Cologne, Germany , meals and ground transportation; and (b) a "medal" commemorating the entrant's achievement of qualifying for the Finals. The approximate retail price of this prize package is estimated at no less than ($2,500.00 U.S.) depending upon the cost of travel for the entrant to attend the Finals.
Fourth Place Winner. The entrant who places fourth in the Finals tournament shall a prize package consisting of check in the amount of $1,000.00 U.S.
Third Place Winner. The entrant who places third in the Finals tournament shall a prize package consisting of a check in the amount of $2,000.00 U.S.
Second Place Winner. The entrant who places second in the Finals tournament shall a prize package consisting of a check in the amount of $3,000.00 U.S. cash and a trophy" commemorating the entrant's achievement of placing second in the Finals tournament.
First Place Winner. The entrant who places 'First' in the Finals tournament shall a prize package consisting of a check in the amount of $10,000.00 U.S. cash and a trophy" commemorating the entrant's achievement of placing 'First' in the Finals tournament.
Prizes returned as undeliverable or otherwise not claimed within fifteen (15) days after delivery of notification will be forfeited and awarded to an alternate winner. Prizes are not transferable. No substitutions or exchanges (including for cash) of any prizes will be permitted, except that Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value for any prize. All prizes are awarded "AS IS" and WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, express or implied (including, without limitation, any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose). STATE, LOCAL TAXES, INCLUDING VAT TAXES WHICH ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE RECEIPT OR USE OF ANY PRIZES ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNER.
*All cash prizes will be paid in U.S. currency. Winners will be required to complete and submit to Sponsor an IRS form w-8 or W-9 to receive a cash prize.
6. Sponsor Ownership of Entries. All entries and materials submitted to Sponsor in connection with the Contest (collectively, "Entry Materials"), along with all copyright, trademark and other proprietary rights associated therewith, become the property of Sponsor upon submission, and Entry Materials will not be returned to any Entrant. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you acknowledge that Sponsor will own all rights to use, modify, reproduce, publish, perform, display, distribute, make derivative works of and otherwise commercially and non-commercially exploit the Entry Materials in perpetuity and throughout the universe, in any manner or medium now existing or hereafter developed, without separate compensation to you or any other person or entity. You agree to take, at Sponsor's expense, any further action (including, without limitation, execution of affidavits and other documents) reasonably requested by Sponsor to effect, perfect or confirm Sponsor's ownership rights as set forth above in this paragraph 6.
7. Original Work of Authorship. You hereby warrant and represent that (a) you own all rights to all Entry Materials submitted by you and (b) all such Entry Materials are original works of authorship on your part and have not been copied, in whole or in part, from any other work and do not violate, misappropriate or infringe any copyright, trademark or other proprietary right of any other person or entity.
8. Collection of Information. The information collected to enter the Contest will be used to contact you in the event that you qualify to a prize hereunder. Additionally, Sponsor will use this information for marketing purposes, and to contact you regarding offers, promotions and other Contest related to this and/or other products distributed by Sponsor. In the event that you are under the age of eighteen (18) years and submit an entry to Sponsor, Sponsor will delete, erase or destroy any and all personally identifiable information that is obtained from the entry.
9. General Release. By entering the Contest, you release Sponsor, Prize Suppliers, Sponsor's Promotional Partners and any of their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, employees and agencies (collectively, the "Released Parties") from any liability whatsoever, and waive any and all causes of action related to any claims, costs, injuries, losses, or damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with the Contest or delivery, misdelivery, acceptance, possession, use of or inability to use any prize (including, without limitation, claims, costs, injuries, losses and damages related to personal injuries, death, damage to or destruction of property, rights of publicity or privacy, defamation or portrayal in a false light, whether intentional or unintentional), whether under a theory of contract, tort (including negligence), warranty or other theory.
10. Affidavit & Release. As a condition of being awarded any prize, winners may be required to execute and deliver to Sponsor a signed affidavit of eligibility and acceptance of these Official Rules and release of liability.
11. Winners List; Rules Request. A list of winners will be posted at www.battle.net/tournaments/season4/ no later than February 15, 2007. For a copy of the winners list, send a stamped, self-addressed, business-size envelope after February 15, 2007 and before August 31, 2007 to Sponsor at the address listed below, Attn: Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Ladder Season 4 Competition - Winners List. To obtain a copy of these rules, send a stamped, self-addressed business-size envelope to Sponsor at the address listed below, Attn: Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Ladder Season 4 Competition - Rules Request. Residents of WA and VT may omit return postage.
13. Miscellaneous. Sponsor reserves the right to patch or update Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne at any time to fix bugs, change balance, or add features as deemed appropriate by the Sponsor, in its sole discretion, without suspending or canceling the Contest. The Contest and these Official Rules will be governed, construed and interpreted under the laws of the United States. Entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and by the decisions of Sponsor, which are final and binding in all respects. Sponsor reserves the right to change these Official Rules at any time, in its sole discretion, and to suspend or cancel the Contest or any Entrant's participation in the Contest should viruses, bugs, unauthorized human intervention or other causes beyond Sponsor's control affect the administration, security or proper play of the Contest, or Sponsor otherwise becomes (as determined in its sole discretion) incapable of running the Contest as planned. Entrants who violate these Official Rules, tamper with the operation of the Contest or engage in any conduct that is detrimental or unfair to Sponsor, the Contest or any other Entrant (in each case as determined in Sponsor's sole discretion) are subject to disqualification from entry into the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to lock out persons whose eligibility is in question or who have been disqualified or are otherwise ineligible to enter the Contest. If you have any questions about these Official Rules or the Contest, please email them to webmaster@blizzard.com or send written questions to: Warcraft III Ladder Season 4 Contest c/o Blizzard Entertainment Research Department, 6060 Center Drive, 5th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90045.
14. Contest Sponsor. The sponsor of the Contest is Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., c/o Blizzard Entertainment Research Department, 6060 Center Drive, 5th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90045.
