Firaxis Games: Community: From the Prez

Official Rules
Entry Form

Official Rules

Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization Modding Contest

Contest may only be entered in or from the 50 United States and the District of Columbia (excluding Arizona, Maryland, North Dakota, and Vermont) and entries originating from any other jurisdiction are not eligible for entry. This Contest is governed exclusively by the laws of the United States. You are not authorized to participate in the Contest if you are not located within the United States.

1. How to Enter. To enter the Contest, first create a modification (“Mod” or “Mod Submission”) of Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization, burn your Mod and clear installation instructions (no installers or archives please, all files must be uncompressed) onto a CD-Rom and mail your Mod along with a completed entry form with proper postage to Firaxis Games, c/o Colonization Modding Contest, 11350 McCormick Road, Executive Plaza III; Suite 1100, Hunt Valley, MD 21031. You may enter individually or as part of a team (limit of 5 team members per team). If you enter as part of a team, each team must choose a team leader (“Team Leader”) who is responsible for identifying all team members and who will have final authority in dividing prizes amongst the team if awarded. For purposes of this Contest, the Team Leader shall be deemed “entrant” and must have the permission and consent of team members to act in this role and confirm the team’s agreement with these Official Rules. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or modify this Contest in the event an insufficient number of entries are received that meet the minimum Judging Criteria, as defined below. All entry information and Mods will be collectively referred to herein as “Entries” or each as an “Entry.”

By entering, each entrant warrants and represents the following with respect to the non-Civilization® elements of their Mod Submission: (a) entrant is the sole and exclusive owner of the Mod Submission; (b) the Mod Submission is entrant’s own creation and is 100% original; (c) the Mod Submission will not infringe on any rights of any other third parties; (d) any third parties appearing or depicted in the Mod Submission have given entrant appropriate consent (if necessary) to be used as permitted herein; (e) the Mod Submission will not promote a product or service (other than Civilization®) in any way; (f) entrant will not use any Mod created by another person or team; and (g) the Mod Submission will not contain spyware, viruses, or other “malware.”

You may submit as many Mod Submissions as you wish, regardless of whether you are entering by yourself or as part of a team. Limit one (1) Mod Submission per outer envelope. No mechanically reproduced entries, alterations, facsimiles or forged entries. No automated entry devices and/or programs permitted. All entries, including Mod Submissions, become the sole and exclusive property of the Sponsor and receipt of entries will not be acknowledged or returned. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, illegible, stolen, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, postage-due, misdirected, technically corrupted or garbled entries, which will be disqualified, or for problems of any kind whether mechanical, human or electronic. Only fully completed entry forms are eligible. Proof of submission will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by Sponsor.

2. Start/End Dates. Contest begins at 12:00:01 AM Eastern Time on October 8, 2008 and ends at 11:59:59 PM Eastern Time on December 17, 2008. All mailed entries must be postmarked by December 17, 2008 and received by December 22, 2008.

3. Eligibility. Participation open only to legal residents of the fifty United States or the District of Columbia (excluding residents of Arizona, Maryland, North Dakota, and Vermont), who are 13 or older as of date of entry. Void in Arizona, Maryland, North Dakota, and Vermont, outside of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, and where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law. Employees, officers and directors of Firaxis Games, Inc. (“Sponsor”), 2K Sports, Inc. (“2K”), and their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, dealers, advertising and promotion agencies, manufacturers or distributors of Contest materials and their immediate families (parents, children, siblings, spouse) or members of the same household (whether related or not) of such employees/officers/directors are not eligible to enter. You are not authorized to participate in the Contest if you are not located within the United States or the District of Columbia. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.

4. Judging/Judging Criteria. Judges reserve the right, in their sole and absolute discretion, to disqualify any Mod Submissions that are inappropriate for any reason, including without limitation, for depicting or mentioning sex, violence, drugs, alcohol and/or inappropriate language. All Mod Submissions will be judged by a panel of judges that have the required knowledge and experience to apply the judging criteria. All Mod Submissions must improve the core game (Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization), so no scenario games (e.g., Pacific Coast) will be permitted. To play the core game, a player will select “Single Player” from the main menu, and then select “Play Now”.

Core game Mods can include, but are not limited to:

Map Scripts (just a single .py file)
New Colonial Power/Civilization (for example, Portugal)
New In-Game Assets (art) (includes: units, buildings, terrain-sets, etc.)
Game Concept changes (for example, adding specific artifacts for discovery)

Mod Submissions will be judged based on the following equally-weighted judging criteria (“Judging Criteria”): (a) Technical Merit, (b) Originality, and (c) Artistic Merit. In the event of a tie, the highest score in the Originality category will determine winner. Judging will be performed in two stages. During the first stage, which is scheduled to take place on or about December 8, 2008, panels comprised of members of the Civilization IV community selected by leaders in the community (“Community Judges”) will judge the Mods using the Judging Criteria above and select five (5) Finalist Mods. Members of the Community Judges panels will not be eligible to enter the Contest. During the second stage, which is scheduled to take place on or about December 16, 2008, the Finalist Mods will then be judged using the same Judging Criteria by a panel of judges comprised of employees of Sponsor and 2K (“Judging Panel”). The Judging Panel will select a Grand Prize Mod, as well as four (4) runner-up winners from among the Finalist Mods.

One Grand Prize will be awarded to the Mod Submission that receives the highest score out of all Finalists Mods. Four (4) additional prizes will be awarded to the runner-ups. By entering the Contest, entrants fully and unconditionally agree to be bound by these rules and the decisions of the judges, which will be final and binding in all matters relating to the Contest.

5. Prizes. One (1) Grand Prize. Grand Prize consists of: One (1) Dell XPS 410 (desktop) (ARV: $1,199). Only one (1) Dell XPS 410 per winning team, regardless of number of team members. In the event the Grand Prize winner is a team, the Dell XPS 410 will be awarded to the Team Leader. Grand Prize winner will also receive a copy of Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization autographed by Sid Meier and the development team (up to a total of 5 copies, one (1) copy for each team member) (ARV each: $29.95). The four (4) runner-up winners will each receive a copy of Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization autographed by Sid Meier and the development team (up to 5 copies, one (1) copy for each team member) (ARV each: $29.95).

ARV of all prizes combined: $1,948, but actual value may vary depending on number of team members per winning team. Prizes are non-transferable. No substitutions or cash redemptions, except that Sponsor reserves the right to substitute prize for a prize of greater or equal value if prize becomes unavailable or for any reason. All taxes and unspecified expenses are the responsibility of winners.

6. Notification and Designation of Winner. Potential winners will be notified by Sponsor by email on or about January 7, 2009, and will be required to sign and return, where legal, an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability/Publicity Release and/or rights transfer document within ten (10) calendar days of prize notification. As a condition to receiving a prize, all potential winners will be required to execute an assignment transferring and assigning all of his/her rights, title and interest in their Mod Submissions , including but not limited to any copyrights, to Sponsor. Additionally, potential winners may be required to obtain releases from all members of their respective team and/or any and all third parties appearing in or implicated by their respective Mod Submissions. If any potential winner is considered a minor in his/her jurisdiction of residence, Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability/Publicity and rights transfer document must be signed by his/her parent or legal guardian, and such prize will be delivered to minor’s parent/legal guardian and awarded in the name of parent/legal guardian. If any potential winner has not responded within ten (10) calendar days of first notification attempt, does not return any documents within ten (10) calendar days, if any prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, if any winner rejects his/her prize or in the event of noncompliance with these Contest rules and requirements, such person shall not be designated a winner and the Sponsor shall designate the Mod Submission with the next highest score as a potential winner.

7. Conditions. In the course of evaluating Mod Submissions, they may be reproduced, cut, edited, reformatted, rearranged, combined with other materials and/or otherwise modified, in Sponsor’s sole and absolute discretion. Any and all federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winners. Participation in Contest and acceptance of prize constitutes each winner’s permission for Sponsor to use his/her name, address (city and state), likeness, photograph, picture, portrait, voice, biographical information, Mod Submission and/or any statements made by each winner regarding the Contest or Sponsor for advertising and promotional purposes without notice or additional compensation, except where prohibited by law. By entering, each entrant warrants and represents that (1) if their Mod Submission is a winning Entry, he or she agrees to provide legal releases for the use of such Mod Submission in a form satisfactory to judges and/or Sponsor; (2) that Sponsor shall own the Mod Submission (and all material embodied therein); (3) that by entering, the entrant assigns to Sponsor and its designees any and all rights, title and interest in the Mod Submission including but not limited to all intellectual property rights; and (4) that Sponsor and its designees shall have, without limitation, the perpetual right worldwide (but not the obligation) to create, manufacture, design, distribute, adapt, modify, publish, exploit, make derivative works of, and use the Mod Submission in any way, and in any and all media now known or hereafter devised for trade, advertising, sales, promotional and/or other purposes (including, but not limited to, displaying online) as Sponsor and/or its designees may determine without further permission from; or notification or consideration to the entrant or any third parties. By participating, entrants and winners agree to release and hold harmless Sponsor, 2K, and their respective advertising and promotion agencies and their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers and directors, from any and all liability, for loss, harm, damage, injury, cost or expense whatsoever including without limitation, property damage, personal injury and/or death which may occur in connection with, preparation for, travel to, or participation in Contest, or possession, acceptance and/or use or misuse of prize or participation in any Contest-related activity and for any claims based on publicity rights, defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, trademark infringement or any other intellectual property-related cause of action. Entrants who do not comply with these Official Rules, or attempt to interfere with this Contest in any way shall be disqualified.

8. Additional Terms. Any attempted form of entry other than as set forth in Section 1 above is prohibited; no automatic, programmed; robotic or similar means of entry are permitted. Sponsor and 2K, and their affiliates, partners and promotion and advertising agencies are not responsible for technical, hardware, software, telephone or other communications malfunctions, errors or failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, web site, Internet, or ISP availability, unauthorized human intervention, traffic congestion, incomplete or inaccurate capture of entry information (regardless of cause) or failed, incomplete, garbled, jumbled or delayed computer transmissions which may limit one’s ability to enter the Contest, including any injury or damage to participant’s or any other person’s computer relating to or resulting from participating in this Contest or downloading any materials in this Contest. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, extend or suspend this Contest should (in its sole discretion) virus, bugs, non-authorized human intervention, fraud or other causes beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the Contest. In such case, Sponsor will select the winners from all eligible entries received prior to and/or after (if appropriate) the action taken by Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual it finds, in its sole discretion, to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or web site. Sponsor may prohibit an entrant from participating in the Contest or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines that said entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by cheating, hacking, deception, or other unfair playing practices (including the use of automated quick entry programs) or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrants or Sponsor representatives.

CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN ENTRANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

9. Disputes. Except where prohibited, as a condition of participating in this Contest, entrant agrees that any and all disputes which cannot be resolved between the parties, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, or any prizes awarded, or the determination of winners shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action exclusively by arbitration pursuant to the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association, then effective. Further, in any such dispute, under no circumstances will entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys' fees, other than entrant's actual out-of-pocket expenses (e.g., costs associated with entering this Contest), and entrant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.

10. Governing Law and Jurisdiction. This promotion is governed by US law and is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited by law. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of Entrant and Sponsor in connection with this Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York, U.S.A., without giving effect to the conflict of laws rules thereof, and any matters or proceedings which are not subject to arbitration as set forth in the Arbitration Section of these Official Rules and/or for entering any judgment on an arbitration award, shall take place in the State of New York, in the City of New York, County of New York.

11. Arbitration. The parties waive all rights to trial in any action or proceeding instituted in connection with these Official Rules and/or this Contest. Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these Official Rules and/or this Contest shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. Any such controversy or claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis, and shall not be consolidated in any arbitration with any claim or controversy of any other party. The arbitration shall be conducted in the State of New York, in the City of New York, County of New York, and judgment on the arbitration award may be entered into any court having jurisdiction thereof.

12. List of Winners. To obtain a list of winners, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope by February 28, 2008 to: Firaxis Games, 11350 McCormick Road, Executive Plaza III; Suite 1100, Hunt Valley, MD.

13. Sponsor. Firaxis Games, 11350 McCormick Road, Executive Plaza III; Suite 1100, Hunt Valley, MD 21031.