Regulations Governing the 2008 Scriv Productions Online
Advent Calendar Challenge

REGULATIONS

1.	These regulations were published on 11 December 2008 and come into force immediately, replacing all previous Advent Calendar Challenge (ACC) regulations.
2.	The competition is one of tactical guesswork in which players score points for correctly guessing the image contained behind the doors of an advent calendar. Players submit their guesses via the ACC website (http://acc.scriv.me.uk) and the winner is declared as the player with the most points following the opening of the final door.
a.	The regulations contained herein define the specifics within the essence of the competition outlined above.
b.	These regulations may be amended at any time during play and retro-enforced without prior notice, in order to maintain the essence of the competiton as defined. Such rule changes will be notified to players via the website.

PLAYERS

3.	All players who actively participated in the 2007 ACC will be directly invited to participate, and assigned a competitor number for, the 2008 ACC. Such players will receive an email to this effect no later than 27 November 2008.
4.	Players not involved in the 2007 ACC but who wish to participate in 2008 may apply for a PIN by email to acc@scriv.me.uk. Entry is granted at the discretion of the organisers. Successful applicants will be invited to participate by means of email within 24 hours.
5.	All players granted entry by either Article 3 or Article 4 will be sent a PIN no later than 23:59 GMT on 29 November 2008, or within 24 hours of their application being received.
6.	No person may use more than one PIN.

GUESSES

7.	Players are required to enter their guesses via the form on the ACC website, using their player id and PIN. Only guesses submitted by this method will be considered during gameplay, excepting in instances where Article 8 applies.
8.	In case of force majeure guesses may be submitted by SMS directly. The number to be used for this purpose will be included in the emails sent as per Article 5. Players using SMS to change their guess may not then use the web form to change their guess again until the next window has been opened, although another text message may be used if players wish to re-change their guess.
9.	Once a player submits a guess for the first time they are considered active within the competition and to have accepted their invite to play.
10.	Guesses must be:
a.	within bounds of acceptable taste and decency for what is considered a family competition, as defined by the organisers.
b.	of reasonable precision; i.e. not in any way broad or vague so that many common items would fall within it’s definition.
The organisers reserve the right to deem any guess inappropriate as seen fit. Inappropriate guesses will be deleted and noitification of this issued via the website. Further inappropriate guesses will be subject to the penalty schemes. Broad or vague guesses that are otherwise acceptable will be left in play and not scored.
11.	Players may change their guess as often as they wish, although restrictions or penalties may be imposed on any player who is considered to be unneccassarily changing their guess with malicious or unsporting intent.
12.	The guess for which players will be assessed for points will be the guess currently registered to a player at the time the window is opened.
13.	Guesses are not reset following the opening of a window, and any guess made will remain in play until a player changes it, has their guess deleted, is excluded, or the competition concludes.
14.	Each player’s guesses are published on the ACC website until after the opening of window 18, after which point all guesses made are secret.

SCORING

15.	Doors are opened once a day, on the date corresponding to the number on the door of the advent calendar, and players assessed for points on each day in accordance with Articles 12 and 16.
16.	Players will be eligible to score points if, when a door is opened, their guess accurately descibes the main item (or one of the main items) pictured behind the door.
17.	The time at which the door is opened will be between 00:00 GMT and 23:59 GMT on the relevant day, but no less than 12 hours after the opening of the previous door.
18.	Players assessed as eligible for points at the opening of a window will be awarded points to the value of the door number opened.
19.	Immediately following the opening of a door, details of the picture inside and any players scoring points will be published on the ACC website.
20.	Following the opening of door 24 and all associated points awards, guess submission will be disabled. After a period of no less than twelve hours has elapsed, player finishing positions will be assigned;
a.	The winner will be the player who finished with the greatest number of points over the course of the competition.
b.	Should two or more players be tied on the highest number of points, the winner will be the player who, during the competition, had the highest number of correct guesses.
c.	If the tie continues, the player with the highest scoring individual guess amongst the tied-for-first players shall be declared the winner.
d.	If the tie continues, the winner will be the player who, during the competition, had the highest scoring next best guess amongst the tied-for first players.
e.	In the event of the tie continuing, the value of all tied player’s guesses will be assessed as above in order to break the tie.
f.	In the event of the tie still continuing, the win will be shared.
g.	Ties for second and third place will be assessed in the same way as those for first. Ties for positions outside the top three will not be settled.
21.	A teams’ championship, based on the counties of residence of competitors, will run alongside the main championship. The top two scores of players in each team only will count towards this championship.
22.	The top three finishing players and representatives of the winning team will all receive a special edition 2008 ACC certificate within 365 days of the conclusion of the competition. The winning player will receive a special prize within 1095 days of the completion of the championship.

OFFENCES

23.	Cheating is not permitted.
24.	Unreasonable, unsporting, offensive, childish or malicious behaviour is not permitted.

PENALTIES

25.	All offences and indescretions are subject to any of the penalties or restrictions detailed below. The scale is not cumulative or consecutive in any way.
a.	Guess Deletion – a players guess is deleted; another guess must be submitted to continue scoring in the competition.
b.	Black/White Flag – a player’s conduct has been observed as unsporting and must cease immediately.
c.	Points Penalty – a player will be deducted any number of points for a rule infringement.
d.	Suspension – a player’s guess will be deleted and frozen for a period of time, rendering them unable to score points.
e.	Black flag – a player is excluded from the remainder of the competition.
26.	Notification of all penalties imposed will be made either via the ACC website, or by email to the player involved if the website is inaccessible for any reason.

APPEALS

27.	Any player may make an appeal against any decision or award made or penalty imposed during the competition. In such circumstances their full case must be made in writing and sent by email to acc@scriv.me.uk no later than 12 hours after the original decision, award or penalty was notified via the website. The reciept of the appeal will be acknowledged via the website and the result published after due consideration. Should the appeal be successful, there shall be further right of appeal granted to any competitors disadvantaged as a consequence. In all other circumstances there is no further right of appeal.

MINIMUM ENTRY

28.	Should fewer than twelve people have registered a guess by the time of opening of the first window, the competition may be cancelled.