Greetings Elyrians!

We have noticed a growing number of "contests" and events being run by the community. Unfortunately, some of them may be illegal according to the US law.

We know most of you weren't aware of this and/or didn’t intend to violate any laws, so we ask that you do not take this as a personal attack. Also, don't look at those who held these sorts of events as scammers, they're not. This is an issue of lack of information, therefore, we will help sort it out to avoid any further conflicts.

1) Illegal lottery or contest?

• Contest: The winner is chosen by merit-Judged content-. (Fanfic, fanarts, music...)They don't have to buy their access with money or other compensation.

• Lottery: People pay money for a chance to win a prize. Lotteries are highly regulated, and if they are held without the consultation of legal counsel, there is a good chance they could be illegal.

*Note: If the method of participating in the contest requires payment, it's potentially illegal. Every time a payment without recompense is required to participate in any sort of event, a given State's laws are possibly being broken. Each State determines it's own laws for Lotteries and Raffles. Example: A Kingdom token gave the buyer something in return for the $10 they spent.

2) Why is my event potentially an illegal lottery/raffle?

A Lottery is composed of a prize, chance and a consideration.

• Prize: What one could earn by participating.

• Chance: Winners chosen randomly, which basically means by luck alone.

• Consideration: How to enter. Participation often requires money, but it could be something else of value.

If you want to keep your event legal, never ask for money or something else of value in return for a chance to win. This also includes contests with charity initiatives, because they're still non-regulated raffles.Charity events can accept money as long as they're not a requirement to participate or win.

3) What do I do? I want to keep organizing events!

Don't worry, we love and appreciate any kind of work you do for the community. You can keep organizing them as long as they respect the law.

Note: A giveaway not the same as a contest, as explained above, the winners are chosen by judged content(merit).

If you want to host a giveaway, make sure you follow these rules:

• Make sure the winner is chosen at random.
• Identify the prize(s) in detail including quantity.
• Never ask for money or something of value.
• Define the rules of your event in detail.
• Define when it starts and when it finishes and execute on those dates.
• Define who can participate and how. In many countries, especially the US, you must be 18 years or older to participate.
• Define how the winner will be chosen, including if you will be choosing the winner randomly.
• Explain what would happen in the event of a technical failure, such as will you delete duplicate entries, how to contact you with questions, etc.

Always contact [email protected] if you want to make sure your event is legal or if you have questions.

4) Why do we do this?

We're doing this to protect Soulbound Studios, Chronicles of Elyria and you, our players. We don't write the law, we just follow it.

Also, no one can guarantee your own safety. You could become a victim of a scam, since scammers tend to take advantage of these sorts of lotteries. We will do our best to protect our community as much as possible so that doesn’t happen here.

Let us know if you have any questions by replying to this thread or emailing us.

Thanks for your support!