Welcome to our Warrior's Path Tournament. Please make sure to read the full list of official rules below before you register for this event. Some important things to remember: 1) You must be a legal resident of the 50 United States and 18 years of age or older in order to participate in this event. To enter, simply e-mail age3.community@ensemblestudios.com with "AOE 3 Tourney Registration in the subject line and your ESO username in the body of the e-mail. 2) The tournament will be run over the weekend of June 17 and 18, with games starting at 12 noon CST each day, and winners will be spending two weeks in Dallas, Texas in July. 3) Registration for this event closes on June 12 at 11:59am PT. 1. Contest Description The Warrior's Path Tournament (the "Tournament") is a live skill based contest in which contestants compete against each other playing the PC game title "Age of Empires 3" until an overall champion is determined. Prizes will be awarded to the overall winner as set forth below. This Tournament is conducted in the United States and governed by the laws of the State of Washington. By entering, participants consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of Washington courts (state and federal) for any causes or controversies arising out of the Tournament. 2. Eligibility - This Tournament is open only to legal residents of the 50 United States (includes D. of C.) who are 18 years of age or older as of April 23, 2006. Void in MD, VT and where prohibited by law. Employees of Ensemble Studios and Microsoft Corporation (Sponsor), and members of their immediate families (defined for purposes of these rules as husband, wife, mother, father, sister, brother, son, daughter, or other persons residing in the household of such employees), their subsidiaries and affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies, or any person working on the product, project, or promotion or others providing services to Sponsor in connection with this Tournament are not eligible to participate. Further, any person who is employed in any capacity (full-time, part time, internship, contingent or other affiliation) by a company engaged in the field of software development for video games is not eligible to participate. If you have any question regarding your eligibility to participate, please send email to age3.community@ensemblestudios.com. 3. System requirements Players must have access to the Internet, a Personal Computer and the PC game title Age of Empires 3 with the latest patch. 4. Registration Any player that wishes to participate in the Tournament must register by emailing age3.community@ensemblestudios.com. The email must contain your Ensemble Studios Online identification name ("ESO i.d.") and the subject line must include the words "AOE 3 Tourney Registration." Registration will be open from 12:01 PM PT on May 25th until 11:59 AM PT on June 12th. All players that register agree to be contacted for the purpose of this Tournament. Sponsor reserves the right to verify all eligibility (as stated in section 2) even after registration has been closed. A player may only compete using a single ESO i.d. If you are found to have competed fraudulently under multiple identities or ESO i.d's, you will be automatically disqualified from the Tournament and could be disqualified from participating in future Ensemble Studios competitions. 5. How to Play On or around June 15th, all eligible players will be randomly bracketed and the Tournament schedule will be posted online in the Age Community Tournament forum. The Tournament will be played head-to-head in single elimination rounds until the quarter-finals, at which point the winner must win two out of three games to move on to the next round of play. Rounds will be played starting at 12 noon CST (1pm EST, 10am PST) on June 17th and continue until the field of players has been reduced to 16. On Sunday, June 18th starting at 12 noon CST (1pm EST, 10am PST) the remaining games will be played. Winners in the quarter finals round and each subsequent round will be determined based on winning the best two out of three games, until a winner is determined. Prize winners will be notified via email within 7 days following the conclusion of the Tournament. Reporting Results: At the conclusion of your tournament game, the winner is solely responsible for reporting the result on the Age Community Tournament Forum. The winner may also be required to send the recorded game of their match to age3.community@ensemblestudios.com if there is a dispute. If the winner fails to report the result of the game following the round, they will forfeit the game and their opponent will advance to the next round. Following each round, the tournament brackets will be updated to reflect the results of the round. Disputes: The Tournament Judge will be online during each round of the tournament to review complaints, and determine a winner, based on their sole discretion. In the event that a resolution is not reached amicably, both parties may be disqualified from the Tournament. The decisions of the Tournament Judges are final and binding in all matters relating to the Tournament. If you are not prepared to abide by the Tournament Judges decisions, please do not participate in this Tournament. Disconnections and Out of Syncs - If a player is disconnected from the game or goes OOS within the first two minutes, players must restart the game. If a player disconnects or goes OOS after the two minute mark there are two courses of action based on the status of the game. 1) Both players agree that neither of them were clearly winning the game. Restart the game. If players are found to be intentionally disconnecting from games or going out of sync, they will be disqualified from the tournament and banned from ESO. Tournament schedule*. June 17th - 12 noon CST, 1pm EST, 10am PST Play will continue on June 17th until the field has been reduced to 16 players. On June 18th, the remaining players will play rounds where they must win two out of three games to advance until a winner has been decided. * Tournament dates are subject to change so players must have flexible schedules. Game Settings: 2 Players (1v1) 7. Code of Conduct Any Player competing in an unsportsmanlike manner or in a manner that is not in compliance with these rules or the Ensemble Studios Terms of Use may be immediately disqualified from the Tournament and may be disqualified from competing in any Ensemble events. Unsportsmanlike conduct includes, but is not limited to, the following violations: Unsportsmanlike conduct 8. Prizes: At the conclusion of the Tournament, prizes will be awarded as follows: 1 - 4th Place: Each winner will receive a trip to Dallas, TX, to get an inside look at the life of a video game tester. The prize includes round trip coach airfare from major airport closest to winner's home, 12 nights standard hotel accommodations, and a per diem stipend of $90, for a total of $1,080. While on-site at Ensemble studios, winners will get the rare opportunity to play games in the development cycle and provide feedback to the development teams. In addition, each winner will receive an Age of Empires III branded watch (Approximate retail value, ARV: $20 ea). Actual value depends on date/time/destination, and difference between actual value and stated value will not be awarded. If the winner or guest resides within 100 miles of Dallas TX, Microsoft reserves the right to provide alternative means of transportation to and from destination. 5th: - 8th Place: Each winner will receive an Age of Empires III branded Watch (ARV $20 ea) Any expenses not explicitly listed herein, including any applicable tax on a prize, are the sole responsibility of the winner. Prizes are not redeemable for cash. No substitution, transfer, or assignment of prize permitted, except that Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value in the event an offered prize is unavailable. To accept 1st - 4th place prize, winners must agree to execute a release of eligibly, liability / publicity, a non-disclosure agreement, and consent to a criminal background check. If the winner is unable or unwilling to agreement to these requirements, the prize will be forfeited and awarded to the next highest ranking player. Specifics of prize package are subject to availability and sponsor's sole discretion. No cancellation of reservation or transfer of reservation to another date after reservation has been made. Travel and on-site experience at Ensemble Studios must be completed on dates specified by sponsor or prize will be forfeited and awarded to an alternate winner. Please Note: The dates for the trip are subject to change at the sole discretion of Microsoft. Therefore, the winner must have flexible travel plans. [This message has been edited by The Crazy Idiot (edited 05-25-2006 @ 10:42 PM).]
Official Rules
All players are encouraged to arrive online in ESO multi-player service at least 10 minutes before the start of the event, which is June 17th, at 12 noon CST. (1pm EST, 10am PST) Any player that has not arrived within 15 minutes following the scheduled game time will be disqualified and their opponent will automatically receive a bye and move on to the next round of play. If neither player is present both will be disqualified and the player scheduled to play the winner of their game will automatically receive a bye and move on to the next round of play.
Every time you play a tournament game in which a player disconnects, or goes Out of Sync ("OSS"), report this information in the Tournament forum.
2) One player feels that he was obviously winning. Post the results in the tournament forum and send the recorded game to age3.community@ensemblestudios.com to verify this is the case. The Tournament Judge with determine the winner in this case.
June 18th - 12 noon CST, 1pm EST, 10am PST
Supremacy
Home City Levels - any
Map - Standard Maps
Starting Age - Discovery
Difficulty - Moderate
Game Speed - Medium
Free For All - Off
Record Game - On
Allow Cheats - Off
Handicapping - Off
Sending threatening or offensive e-mails or in-game messages to players
Cheating of any sort through various means
Delaying or slowing gameplay using various tactics
Intentionally disconnecting the network cable
Intentionally interrupting network connectivity
Any other known or unknown way of tampering with gameplay
Reporting false game results