The intent of our naming policy is to promote the feeling of being immersed in Telon. These policies apply to all player names, first and last, as well as all boats, regardless of creation date. The following types of names are unacceptable. Intentional phonetic misspellings, combinations and homonyms of these words are also unacceptable. Names must be at least three characters long and may not contain spaces or any non-alphabetic characters.

The following types of names are inappropriate:

1. Obscene, vulgar, lewd, sexual, racist, hateful, or ethnic references or slurs.
2. Combinations of words that produce an offensive result (Hugeaz, Tug Mcgroin, etc.).
3. Any and all drug references.
4. Names referencing figures of lore or otherwise found in the world of Telon (Jeric, Vol Tuniel, etc.).
5. Names recognizable from popular culture or popular fantasy. (e.g. Madonna, George Bush).
6. Names created purely to harass others.
7. Names chosen with the intent, or possessed of the effect of harming the reputation of, or used to impersonate a customer or representative of Sony Online Entertainment or any of its partners and affiliates.
8. Names of religious or significant historic origin (Jesus, Moses, Satan, Allah, Stalin, Hitler, etc.)

For all of the above, misspellings and alternative spellings of the word or words are also unacceptable.

Characters with any of the above type of name violations can be changed immediately and without notice. These changed characters may lose access to houses that they may have admin on. There will be no reimbursements made for any items, structures, money, or any other game related issue directly related to the character name being changed for the above violations.

Any other name deemed inappropriate that may not fall under the above categories will be changed at the decision of SOE. SOE employees have the final say on all name changes.

You can view this and our other policies on the Vanguard Players website.

Please remember to review the current terms and conditions of the Vanguard: Saga of Heroes User Agreement and Software License. Thank you.

VANGUARD: SAGA OF HEROES USER AGREEMENT AND SOFTWARE LICENSE

THIS AGREEMENT DESCRIBES THE TERMS ON WHICH SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT LLC OR, FOR SUBSCRIBERS LOCATED IN THE EUROPEAN UNION ONLY, SOE EUROPE LIMITED (COLLECTIVELY, “WE” OR "SOE") OFFERS YOU ACCESS TO AN ACCOUNT (THE "ACCOUNT") TO PLAY THE VANGUARD: SAGA OF HEROES FANTASY ONLINE ROLE PLAYING COMPUTER GAME AND ITS EXPANSION PACKS (INDIVIDUALLY AND COLLECTIVELY, THE "GAME"). BY PRESSING THE "I ACCEPT" BUTTON, YOU ACCEPT THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS BELOW. BY PRESSING THE "DECLINE" BUTTON, YOU DECLINE OUR OFFER, IN WHICH CASE YOU SHOULD CONTACT YOUR PLACE OF PURCHASE REGARDING ITS RETURN POLICY FOR THE APPLICABLE PRODUCT. If you have any questions regarding these terms and conditions, please visit the SOE customer service webpage at http://support.station.sony.com/.

You agree that SOE and its licensors retain the unfettered right to modify the Game and all aspects of characters, items and coin (collectively, “Virtual Goods”) therein.  You acknowledge that SOE and its licensors have been, are, and will be constantly making changes to the Game.  You further acknowledge that SOE and its licensors can and will, in their discretion, modify features, functions or abilities of any element of the game or any Virtual Goods (which may, among other things, make the Virtual Goods substantially more effective or functional, or less effective or functional, more common or less common, or eliminated entirely).

YOU PROMISE, THEREFORE, THAT YOU WILL NEVER ASSERT OR BRING ANY CLAIM OR SUIT AGAINST SOE, ITS LICENSOR(S), ANY SONY COMPANY, OR ANY EMPLOYEES OF ANY OF THE ABOVE, WHICH IS RELATED TO OR BASED ON (I) A CLAIM THAT YOU “OWN” ANY VIRTUAL GOODS IN ANY GAME, (II) A CLAIM FOR THE “VALUE” OF VIRTUAL GOODS IF SOE OR ITS LICENSOR(S) DELETES THEM (AND/OR  TERMINATES YOUR ACCOUNT(S)) IF YOU OR ANYONE ACTING IN CONCERT WITH YOU VIOLATES ANY PROVISION OF THIS AGREEMENT, THE GAME’S CODE OF CONDUCT, SOE’S TERMS OF SERVICE AND/OR SOE’S PRIVACY POLICY (ALL OF WHICH ARE POSTED AT A LINK AT WWW.JOINVANGUARD.COM), (III) A CLAIM FOR THE “VALUE” OF VIRTUAL GOODS THAT YOU MAY LOSE IF SOE OR ITS LICENSOR(S) DOES ANYTHING THAT IT IS ENTITLED TO DO PURSUANT TO ANY PROVISION OF THIS AGREEMENT, THE GAME’S CODE OF CONDUCT, SOE’S TERMS OF SERVICE AND/OR SOE’S PRIVACY POLICY, OR FOR ANY MALFUNCTIONS AND/OR “BUGS” IN THE GAME, AND/OR (IV) A CLAIM THAT THE “VALUE” OF ANY VIRTUAL GOODS HAS INCREASED OR DECREASED BY VIRTUE OF ANY GAME MODIFICATION THAT SOE OR ITS LICENSOR(S) HAS MADE OR WILL MAKE .  

1.  Accounts are available only to adults or, in their discretion, their minor child.  If you are a minor, your parent(s) or guardian(s) must complete the registration process, in which case they will take full responsibility for all obligations under this Agreement. By clicking the "I Accept" button and providing us with a credit card number, you represent that you are an adult and are either accepting this Agreement on behalf of yourself or your child. You may not transfer or share your Account with anyone, except that if you are a parent or guardian, you may permit one child to use the Account instead of you (in which case you may not use that Account). You are liable for all activities conducted through the Account, and parents or guardians are liable for the activities of their child. Corporations and other entities are not eligible to procure Accounts.

2.  To play the Game, you must (a) purchase or receive through an SOE-authorized promotional offer (such as an authentic disc bundled with a game magazine) the Game CD-ROM(s) or DVD-ROM(s) (collectively, the "DVD-ROM") or applicable files which we may make available for direct download, which includes software required for the Game (the "Software"), (b) have a fully paid Account, and (c) have at least the minimum system requirements to operate the Game and an Internet connection (both of which we do not provide) to access your Account. In addition to any fees described herein, you are responsible for paying all applicable taxes (including those we are not required to collect) and for all hardware, software, service and other costs you incur to access your Account.  Neither this Agreement nor your Account entitles you to any subsequent releases of the Software, nor to any expansion packs or similar ancillary products, without paying applicable charges.  You understand that we may update or otherwise enhance the Software at any time and in doing so incur no obligation to furnish such updates to you pursuant to this Agreement.  You understand that online games evolve over time and, accordingly, system requirements to play the Game may change over time and you may need to upgrade your system (or obtain a new system) to play the Game.  Game experience may change during online play.

3.  We may amend this Agreement at any time in our sole discretion. Amendments shall be communicated to you at the time you log into your Account. Such amendments shall be effective whenever we make the notification available for your review.

4.  Upon registration, you must select a password. You may not disclose your password to any third party. We never ask you for your password by telephone, in-game communication, live-chat or email, and you should not disclose it this way if someone asks you to do so.  Although we may offer a feature that allows you to "save" or "remember" your password on your hard drive, please note that by using this feature third parties may be able to access your computer and thus your Account.

5.  We describe our fees and billing procedures at a hotlink located at www.joinvanguard.com, which are incorporated by reference and are subject to change at any time. All fees are stated in U.S. Dollars unless otherwise specified. All fees are prepaid and non-refundable. Upon your acceptance of these terms, we have the right to automatically charge your credit card the Account fee plus any applicable taxes we are required to collect, and you authorize us to do so. Thereafter, each time your Account comes up for renewal, we have the right to charge your credit card the then-current renewal rate plus any applicable taxes we are required to collect, and you authorize us to do so. If we are unable to process your credit card at a renewal period, your Account may be immediately terminated. If we make a Game Card available and you use a Game Card to pay for your Account, the Game Card shall activate your Account for the period stated on the Game Card and, thereafter, you will either need to provide a valid credit card (in which case your credit card will subsequently be charged as referenced above) or purchase another Game Card for subsequent subscription periods, or your Account will be closed.  You may terminate your Account at any time through the Account registration process.  If you terminate your Account during the initial period of gameplay included with your purchase of the Game Software, if any, your account will be closed at the end of such initial period of gameplay and you will not be billed.  If you convert your Account during the initial period of gameplay included with your purchase of the Game Software to a paid subscription account, you may lose the balance of any unused period of gameplay included with your purchase.  If you terminate your Account during any subscription cycle, your Account will be closed at the end of the then-current cycle and you will not be billed again unless you affirmatively reopen the Account.  We do not give full or partial refunds for subscription periods that you have purchased.

6.  We may terminate this Agreement (including your Software license and your Account) and/or suspend your Account immediately and without notice: (i) if you violate any provision of this Agreement; (ii) infringe any third party intellectual property rights; (iii) if we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us; (iv) upon game play, chat or any player or Game-related activity whatsoever which we, in our sole discretion, determine is inappropriate and/or in violation of the spirit of the Game; and/or (v) upon any violation of this Agreement, the Station Terms of Service and/or the Game Code of Conduct. If we terminate this Agreement or suspend your Account under these circumstances, you will lose access to your Account for the duration of the suspension and/or the balance of any prepaid period without any refund.  We may also terminate this Agreement if we decide, in our sole discretion, to discontinue offering the Game, in which case we may provide you with a prorated refund of any prepaid amounts.

7.  Subject to the terms of this Agreement, we hereby grant to you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Software solely in connection with playing the Game via an authorized and fully-paid Account.  You may not copy (except to make one necessary back-up copy), distribute, sell, auction, rent, lease, loan, modify or create derivative works, adapt, translate, perform, display, sublicense or transfer all or any portion of the Software. You may not copy any of the written, digital or electronic materials accompanying the Software unless we expressly permit you to do so in writing, and then only to the extent permitted.  You may not reverse engineer, disassemble or decompile the Software except to the extent that this restriction is expressly prohibited by applicable law. The Software may contain license management software that restricts your use of the Software.

8.  We and our licensors and suppliers shall retain all rights, title and interest, including, without limitation, ownership of all intellectual property rights relating to or residing in the DVD-ROM, the Software, the Game and Virtual Property, all copies thereof, and all game character data in connection therewith. You acknowledge and agree that you have not and will not acquire or obtain any intellectual property or other rights, including any right of exploitation, of any kind in or to the DVD-ROM, the Software, Virtual Goods, and/or the Game, including, without limitation, in any artwork, video, graphics, music, sound effects, character(s), item(s), coin(s) or other material or property, whether virtual or real, and/or any compilation or copyrightable arrangement of any of the above (collectively, “Rights”), and that all such property, material, items and Rights are exclusively owned by us or our licensors.

9.  You may not use any software to modify the Software to change Game play. You may not create, facilitate, host, link to or provide any other means through which the Game may be played by others, such as through server emulators. You may not decrypt or modify any data transmitted between client and server and you may not use, post, host or distribute macros, “bots” or other programs which would allow unattended game play or which otherwise impact game play. You may not take any action which imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure. You may not buy, sell or auction (or host or facilitate the ability to allow others to buy, sell or auction) any Game account, characters, items, coin, Virtual Property or copyrighted material or any other intellectual property owned or controlled by us or our licensors without first obtaining our express written permission.

10.  To obtain an Account, you will be required to choose both a login name and a player name. While you are encouraged to use a pseudonym, especially if you are a minor, you may not pick a name that violates anyone's trademarks, publicity rights or other proprietary rights.

11.  As part of your Account, you can or may be able to upload content, messages, art, graphic files, pictures, video, audio, music, sounds, software and other files, items and content to our servers in various forms, such as in the selections you make for the Game, in-game posts and chat, and in chat rooms and similar user-to-user areas (collectively, your "Content"). Your Content, whether in written, digital, oral, machine-readable, electronic or visual form, shall not: (a) infringe any third party intellectual property, other proprietary or publicity/privacy rights; (b) violate any law, rule or regulation; (c) be unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, pornographic or harmful to minors, invasive of another's right of privacy or publicity, hateful, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable; or (d) contain any viruses, trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots or other computer programming routines that are intended to or result in damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information. We may take any action with respect to your Content if we believe it may create liability for us or may cause us to lose (in whole or in part) the services of our ISPs or other suppliers. You hereby grant to us a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicenseable (through multiple tiers) right to exercise all rights of any kind or nature associated with your Content, including, without limitation, all intellectual property rights, and all ancillary and subsidiary rights thereto, in any languages and in any media now known or not currently known.

12.  We cannot ensure that your private communications and other personally identifiable information will not be disclosed to third parties. For example, we or our designees may be forced to disclose information to the government or third parties under certain circumstances, or third parties may unlawfully intercept or access transmissions or private communications.  Additionally, we, or our designees can (and you authorize us or our designees to) disclose any information about you to private entities, law enforcement or other government officials as each of us, in our sole discretion, believe necessary or appropriate to investigate or resolve possible problems or inquiries, or in exigent circumstances involving risk of harm to any person or property.  You agree that we may communicate with you via telephone, email and any similar technology for any purpose relating to the Game, the Software and any services or software which may in the future be provided by us or on our behalf.  You expressly permit SOE to upload CPU, operating system, video card, sound card and memory information from your computer to analyze and optimize your Game experience, improve and maintain the Game and/or provide you with customer service.  Furthermore, if you request any technical support, you consent to our remote accessing and review of the computer you load the Software onto for purposes of support and debugging.  You may choose to visit www.joinvanguard.com, www.station.com, or other SOE web sites if such web sites offer services such as a Vanguard: Saga of Heroes game-themed chat room or other services of interest to you.  You are subject to the terms and conditions, privacy customs and policies of SOE while on such web sites and in connection with use of your Account and the Game, which terms and conditions, policies and customs are incorporated herein by this reference.  Since we do not control other web sites and/or privacy policies of third parties, different rules may apply to their use or disclosure of the personal information you disclose to others. Solely for the purpose of patching and updating the Game and/or Software and ensuring the integrity of the Game, you hereby grant us permission to (i) upload Game-related file information and data from the Game directory and (ii) download Game files to you.  You acknowledge that any and all character data is stored and is resident on our servers, and any and all communications that you make within the Game (including, but not limited to, messages solely directed at another player or group of players) traverse through our servers, may or may not be monitored by us or our agents, you have no expectation of privacy in any such communications and expressly consent to such monitoring of communications you send and receive. You acknowledge and agree that we may transfer Game and your Account information (including your personally identifiable information and personal data) to the United States or other countries or may share such information with our licensees, licensors and agents in connection with the Game.  The Game may incorporate third party ad serving technology from third parties. This technology, if used by SOE and provided to you, enables certain advertising to be temporarily uploaded to your computer system and replaced in-game while connected online.  As part of that process, neither SOE nor the third party ad serving company collects any personally identifiable information about you and only temporarily logs select non-personally identifiable information (such as IP address). No logged information is used by such third parties to determine any personally identifiable information about you.

13.  SOE warrants to the original consumer purchaser only that the media furnished in this product will be free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of purchase (as evidenced by your receipt).  This warranty shall not be applicable and shall be void if the defect in the Game, DVD-ROM  or Software has arisen through abuse, unreasonable use, mistreatment or neglect.  If the media furnished in this product proves to be defective, and provided that the original consumer purchaser returns the media to SOE in accordance with the instructions in this paragraph, SOE will replace the defective media: (a) free of charge to the original consumer purchaser, if the media proves to be defective within the ninety (90) day period following the date of purchase, or (b) for a fee of $5.00 per Compact Disc or Digital Versatile Disc, as applicable (“DVD”), if the media proves to be defective after the expiration of the ninety (90) day warranty period, provided that the request is made within a reasonable time from purchase, and SOE continues to distribute the DVD commercially.  To obtain a replacement DVD, please return the defective DVD only, postage prepaid, to Sony Online Entertainment LLC, 8928 Terman Court, San Diego, CA  92121, accompanied by proof of date of purchase, a description of the defect, and your name and return address, as well as a check for $5.00 per DVD made payable to Sony Online Entertainment LLC if after expiration of the warranty period.  SOE will mail a replacement to you within 180 days of receiving your order.

EXCEPT FOR THE LIMITED 90 DAY WARRANTY ON THE MEDIA AS SET FORTH ABOVE, WE PROVIDE THE DVD-ROM, THE SOFTWARE, THE ACCOUNT, THE GAME AND ALL OTHER SERVICES "AS IS."  WE AND OUR SUPPLIERS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Without limiting the foregoing, we do not ensure continuous, error-free, secure or virus-free operation of the DVD-ROM, the Software, the Game, your Account or continued operation or availability of any given server or Game feature, skill, character class or race, art, graphics, items, abilities, zones or other content. Some states do not allow limitations as to how long an implied warranty lasts and/or exclusions or limitations of consequential damages, so the above limitations and/or exclusions of liability may not apply to you.  This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other legal rights which vary from state to state.

We are not liable for any delay or failure to perform resulting from any causes beyond our reasonable control. Further, we cannot and do not promise or ensure that you will be able to access your Account whenever you want, and there may be extended periods of time when you cannot access your Account.  You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless SOE, SOE's affiliated companies, licensors and suppliers, and all of their respective officers, directors, owners, agents, employees, information providers, affiliates, licensors, designees and licensees (collectively, "Indemnified Parties") from and against any and all liability and costs including, without limitation, attorneys' fees and costs, incurred by the Indemnified Parties in connection with any claim arising out of (i) any breach by you of this Agreement or the foregoing representations, warranties and covenants or (ii) your use of the Game and any other hardware or software required or used to play the Game, including use of or access to the internet.  You assume the entire risk as to the results and performance of the Software and the Game in connection with your hardware and software, and you assume the entire cost of all servicing, repair and/or correction of your hardware and software.  THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE GAME REMAINS WITH THE USER.

14.  IN NO EVENT SHALL WE, OUR PARENT, OUR LICENSORS, OUR AFFILIATES OR OUR SUPPLIERS, AND EACH OF OUR AND THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS, BE LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY LOST PROFITS,  REVENUE, DATA, CONTENT, ITEMS, HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, INJURY, INFORMATION OR SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (HOWEVER ARISING, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) ARISING OUT OF, IN CONNECTION WITH OR RESULTING FROM POSSESSION, USE, INABILITY TO USE, FAILURE TO PERFORM, ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DELETION, DEFECT, DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, COMPUTER OR OTHER VIRUS, COMMUNICATION LINE FAILURE, THEFT, DESTRUCTION, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO, ALTERATION OF OR MALFUNCTION OF THE GAME, SOFTWARE, YOUR ACCOUNT, THIS AGREEMENT OR THE DOWNLOADING OF ANY SOFTWARE OWNED OR OPERATED BY US OR ANY THIRD PARTY, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMIATION, DAMAGE TO PROPERTY AND—TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW—DAMAGES FOR PERSONAL INJURY, EVEN IF WE, OUR LICENSORS AND EACH OF OUR RESPECTIVE AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR LOSS. THE LIABILITY OF SOE, OUR LICENSORS OR ANY OF OUR OR THEIR RESPECTIVE PARENT OR AFFILIATED COMPANIES TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTIES IS LIMITED TO $100. YOU AGREE TO WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO EQUITABLE RELIEF INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, INJUNCTIVE RELIEF AGAINST SOE, ITS LICENSORS, THEIR PARENTS OR AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS TO ENFORCE THE TERMS HEREOF; HOWEVER, THE FOREGOING SHALL NOT PRECLUDE SOE AND/OR ITS LICENSORS FROM SEEKING ANY INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. Some states do not allow the foregoing limitations of liability, so they may not apply to you.

15.  You shall comply with all applicable laws regarding your use of the Software, the DVD-ROM, your access to your Account and your playing of the Game. Without limiting the foregoing, you may not download, use or otherwise export or re-export the Software except in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, including, without limitation, the laws of the United States.  The Game may NOT be downloaded or otherwise exported or re-exported (i) into (or to a national or resident of) Cuba, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Iran, Syria, or any other country to which the U.S. has embargoed goods; or (ii) to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Commerce Department's Table of Deny Orders (including, but not limited to, the Denied Persons List).By downloading, installing and/or using the Game, you represent and warrant that you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any such country or on any such list.

16.     To the maximum extent permitted by law, this Agreement is governed in all respects by the laws of the State of California as such laws are applied to agreements entered into and to be performed entirely within California between California residents. The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is expressly disclaimed. Both parties submit to personal jurisdiction in California and further agree that any cause of action relating to this Agreement shall be brought in the County of San Diego, State of California (if under State law) or the Southern District of California (if under federal law). If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be struck and the remaining provisions shall be enforced. Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches. You may not assign or transfer this Agreement or your rights hereunder, and any attempt to the contrary is void. This Agreement sets forth the entire understanding and agreement between us and you with respect to the subject matter hereof. Except as provided herein, this Agreement may not be amended except in a writing signed by both parties.

17.         You hereby affirm and agree to those restrictions and conditions of use set forth in the Game Code of Conduct, which may be obtained at a hotlink located at www.joinvanguard.com and which is incorporated herein by this reference.

18.     All services hereunder are offered by Sony Online Entertainment LLC, located at 8928 Terman Court, San Diego, California 92121.  Our phone number is (858) 537-0898. Current rates for using the Game may be obtained from a hotlink at www.joinvanguard.com, and such rates are subject to change at any time. If you are a California resident, you may have this same information emailed to you by sending a letter to the foregoing address with your email address and a request for this information.

The Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the Department of Consumer Affairs may be contacted in writing at 400 R Street, Sacramento, CA  95814, or by telephone at (800) 952-5210.

Parental control protections (such as computer hardware, software, or filtering services) are commercially available that may assist you in limiting access to material that is harmful to minors. If you are interested in learning about these protections, information is available at http://www.worldvillage.com/wv/school/html/control.htm or other similar sites providing information on such protections.

The Software is a "commercial item" if acquired under agreement with the U.S. Government or any contractor therewith in accordance with 48 CFR 12.212 of the FAR and, if acquired for Department of Defense (DoD) units, 48 CFR 227-7202 of the DoD FAR Supplement, or any succeeding similar regulations.

These rules are intended to ensure the enjoyment of our product by all our players. We have created these guidelines to safeguard our community. By using the service, you agree to the following:

1. While using the service, you will not engage in any conduct that is unlawful or that restricts or inhibits any other player from using or enjoying the service.

2. We reserve the right, but not the responsibility, to restrict conduct that we deem, in our absolute and sole discretion, to be harmful to individual members, damaging to the service, or in violation of our or any third party's rights. We further reserve the right to prohibit or delete conduct, communication, or content transmitted on Sony Online Entertainment services that is deemed to be in violation of applicable laws or is harmful to other members, the Vanguard service community, or the rights of Sony Online Entertainment in general. You acknowledge, however, that communication over the service occurs real-time and we cannot, and do not intend to, screen communication in advance.

3. You will follow any and all instructions of a duly appointed representative of Sony Online Entertainment. Failure to comply with requests or instructions constitutes a violation of the Code of Conduct and, thus, the EULA.

4. You will not provide any false information when registering an account or filing petitions with Sony Online Entertainment.

5. You will not transfer or share your account.

6. You will not modify any files that we do not specifically authorize you to modify. Use of material that is subject to the rights of any person or entity without the express permission of that rights holder is prohibited and will result in the termination of the service to you and possible civil and/or criminal liability charges.

7. You will not disassemble, modify, or otherwise reverse-engineer any of the game's code, databases, files, or packets. You will not interfere with or attempt to decipher any transmissions to or from the servers running Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. You will take no actions to intentionally create latency within the game environment.

8. You may not use any vulgar, obscene, sexually explicit, harmful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, or ethnically, racially, or otherwise objectionable language in our games, forums, events, or communications. This includes all in-game communication channels, regardless of filters.

9. All characters, guilds, pets, buildings, and any user-generated content must fully abide by the naming policy.

10. You may not organize any guilds or groups that are based on, or promote, any racist, sexist, or any other forms of hate-mongering.

11. You will not abuse, misinform, or attempt to defraud any duly appointed representative of Sony Online Entertainment.

12. You may not reveal or communicate any player's real world information. This includes, but is not limited to, name, address, account names, or other personal information without their permission.

13. You will not use, communicate to other players, condone or promote the use of Exploitation. Exploitation is defined as the use of any bug, undocumented feature, or any weakness in the game for the benefit of a player, group, or guild. All bugs should be promptly reported by typing /bug in game and entering all information.

14. You may not harass other players. Continued unwanted contact or communication outside of the scope of the code of conduct is strictly forbidden, regardless of channel, location, filters or other commands that are used to assist in reduction of this type of behavior.

15. You may not conduct yourself in a manner that disrupts the immersion of other players. You may not interfere with the ability of other players to enjoy playing the game except where specifically allowed by alternate rule sets, such as a PVP rule set. Please refer to section 20 for PVP servers.

16. You will not encourage, induce, condone, or assist other players, groups, or guilds to violate any of their contracts with us, including but not limited to the EULA, Terms of Service, or Rules of Conduct.

17. The placement of tombstones at the end of dungeons, for example near the Hegnerian encounter in the Swamps of Rumug, is now strictly prohibited. We understand that players do die and leave tombstones. The use of tombstones for zone disruption and as a fast travel method has led us to this decision.

18. Once a trade between two players has been completed, it is final and cannot be altered. You can always ask the player for any items that you had traded, but the GMs will not be able to assist you in this case. In any trade agreement involving loaned items, or items you will be paid for at a later date, make sure to /report your conversation in tells or in /say with both you and the other player stating the agreement. This will help maintain a record of your agreement in our logs. In this instance only, a GM may be able to assist you with a trade agreement.

19. You may not defraud other players. Fraud is defined as falsely representing one's intentions to make a gain at another's expense. Examples of this activity include, but are not limited to, using deception to deprive another player of items, slandering another player or impersonating them with the intention of causing harm to that player's reputation, or falsely representing one's identity in order to gain access to another player's account or account information. Fraud in all transactions between players may result in disciplinary action when confirmed by a Vanguard GM.

20. On a PVP server, there is always a PVP solution available for every circumstance. A PVP solution is defined as collecting more of your friends or guild mates to slay the opposing raid group. Sections 15 and 21 have different applications depending on whether the server is PVE or PVP.

21. You may not disrupt the normal playability of a zone or area. Zone/Area Disruption is defined as any activity designed to harm or inconvenience a player or group of players through the use of game mechanics in a way that is contrary to the spirit of friendly play. This includes, but is not limited to:

• On a PVE server, refusing to cooperate with the other parties at a contested spawn site. On a PVP server this is acceptable.
• On a PVE server, causing intentional experience loss to other players. On a PVP server this is acceptable, unless you are using an exploit or third party program to do so.
• On a PVE server, intentionally training Non-Player Characters on other players. Training is acceptable behavior on a PVP server as there is a PVP solution available.
• On a PVE server, continued monopolization of non-raid content and refusal to allow other groups the opportunity to experience said content. On a PVP server this is acceptable.
• On a PVE server, kill-stealing a Raid Boss (On a PVP server this is acceptable) .
• If a group has claimed ownership you must not attempt to steal aggro. On a PVP server this is acceptable.
• On a PVE server, leapfrogging, which is defined as sneaking up on a group that has cleared an entire wing and then stealing their boss without having done the trash mobs yourselves. On a PVP server this is acceptable.

22. "Role-playing" does not grant a license to violate these rules. Though Vanguard is considered a Role-playing game, the claim of "Role-play" will not be accepted in defense of any of the anti-social behaviors mentioned above. We strongly encourage role-playing, but cannot allow it to be done at the expense of others.

23. You may not make excessive and inappropriate use of public channels of communications (/shout, /ooc, etc.), which may also be referred to as spamming.

24. Guild Hall plots belong to the account that purchased them, and not the guild that they are or were assigned to. However, if you specify that a guild plot is a guild's headquarters, in most cases Game Masters will not assist you in the relinquishing of the plot's Guild Headquarters status, even if you leave the guild.

25. You may not operate a guild that habitually violates these rules, or a guild that is founded as a hate group or other game disruptive ideal. Disciplinary issues involving guilds may be addressed with the entire guild. Guilds whose members habitually violate these rules may be issued guild warnings, and can even be permanently disbanded.

Guild Leaders and/or officers may be held accountable for any actions of their guild members, in addition to any other actions that may be taken. It is therefore the responsibility of the guild leadership to ensure that all guild members abide by these rules.

26. Any and all decisions made by a Customer Service Manager are final and nondisputable. Your account may be actioned for any reason.

Going into launch please keep in mind that we operate on a first come first serve basis with regards to guild creations and their names. Guild names must follow our naming policy and are always subject to review.

To create your guild you can purchase a guild charter, complete it and seek out a Guild Registrar which can be found in most major cities.

If you have any questions regarding this or other guild related issues please petition in game. 

As the population of online internet gaming increases, so do issues regarding stolen or compromised accounts, and/or accounts that have been transferred from one player to another in violation of the User Agreement. This also applies to the amount of issues relating to Accounts that have had their login information ???shared??? with friends, relatives, and Guild members. These issues (and the time it takes to investigate and attempt to resolve them) hugely detract from the time that SOE's Customer Support staff have to provide quality customer service. Accordingly, SOE must remind all customers that:

(1) Account security is the responsibility of the account owner. This includes password protection, running virus checks, disabling file sharing, or any other means of checking that the owner's account has not been stolen or compromised.

(2) Any and all stolen, compromised, or shared accounts that are reported to SOE may be *suspended* in order to conduct an investigation and prevent further malicious acts upon the accounts in question. If characters on the account are deleted maliciously by someone, or items and coin removed from a character, a Customer Service Representative may offer a "character-restore." This will restore the player's character to its most recent backup if a backup is available. Experience points, items, etc, that are lost due to this type of character restoration will not be reimbursed. Please understand that once characters are deleted from an account, SOE does not guarantee they can be restored.

This character-restore service will only be offered once per player account. Subsequent occurrences of character deletion or item/coin/experience loss due to account theft, compromised accounts, or sharing of account information will not be reimbursed.

If a player account has been stolen or compromised, he or she must first recover the account by following the Account Recovery Procedure (detailed below) and then submit a Customer Service help-ticket immediately. Note: Due to the availability of character backups, Customer Service may be unable to help if the request for assistance is not received within a reasonable amount of time.

(3) Any customer found to be involved in an account theft may have any and all of his/her accounts banned. Prior to taking any action against accounts reported as compromised, SOE will conduct a thorough review of the accounts and determine the appropriate course of action. Accounts will only face disciplinary action based on information gathered through our investigation and not as a result of external allegations.

All of our support contacts are available through our Knowledge Base.