RULES OF CONDUCT
Effective Date: 2023.10.30
1.
INTRODUCTION
These Rules of Conduct govern both in-game behavior and certain out-of-game conduct relating to your (the “player,” “user,” or “end user”) use of Uncover the Smoking Gun (hereinafter referred to as “Game”) published by ReLU Games (“Company,” “we”, “our,” or “us”). These Rules of Conduct are aimed at regulating user behavior in a consistent manner and to address situations that may arise in the process of providing or servicing the Game. These Rules of Conduct supplement, and shall be read together with, the Terms of Service and License Agreement https://www.relugames.com/smokinggun/tos that apply to the Game and Services (as defined in the Terms). Matters not specifically mentioned in the Rules of Conduct shall be treated in accordance with the Terms of Service and applicable laws.
2.
CHANGES TO RULES OF CONDUCT
Company reserves the right to change these Rules of Conduct at any time within its sole discretion. Changes will be brought to your attention as we may determine in our sole discretion, including through the Company homepage(https://www.relugames.com/) and/or in-game at least 7 days prior to the effective date of the changes. For material changes that we regard as serious or that may be unfavorable to you, as we may determine in our sole discretion, we will notify you 30 days prior to the effective date of the changes. You are solely responsible for your failure to comply with the revised Rules of Conduct after the effective date, including for any loss incurred due to a lack of awareness of these Rules.
3.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMPANY
1) Company and, as applicable, its affiliates and subsidiaries will endeavor to eliminate the misconduct described in the Rules of Conduct to help ensure that the users can enjoy playing the game
2) Company will not ask you for your password.
3) Company and, as applicable, its affiliates and subsidiaries receive feedback on all types of bugs and errors through its (or their) official customer support center and official community, and Company and, as applicable, its affiliates and subsidiaries will be committed to promptly review and correct bugs and errors.
4) Company and, as applicable, its affiliates and subsidiaries will not intervene or engage in activities and disputes between or among end users in relation to the Game.
5) Company and, as applicable, its affiliates and subsidiaries may restrict some or all of the Game or Services if Company or, as applicable, its affiliate or subsidiary determines, in its sole discretion, that unusual or unintended situations hinder enjoyment of the gameplay.
6) If you or a group of users does anything that interferes with or adversely affects any services provided by Company, or that violates the Rules of Conduct, Company shall, restrict Service usage.
4.
END USER’S RESPONSIBILITIES AND RIGHTS
1) You are obliged to understand and comply with Company’s Terms of Service and Rules of Conduct.
2) The Company and, as applicable, its affiliates and subsidiaries reserve all rights arising out of in-game data (characters, items, game currency (where applicable), etc.) created by you when using the Game or Services, and you have a limited License to use in-game data consistent with the Terms of Service.
3) If you are unfairly treated or incurred harm using the Game or Services, you have the right to appeal to Company through legitimate methods and procedures as provided by the “Grievance Handling and Dispute Resolution; Arbitration Agreement” within the Terms of Service (Section 11). If you have been unfairly treated or harmed by another player, you have the right to notify and ask other users to comply with Rules of Conduct.
4) You have an obligation to be fully informed about the information that Company officially announces, and Company shall not be responsible for any damages incurred due to lack of awareness about the announcements.
5) You are not allowed to generate any profit using the Game or Services without prior written approval from Company. For additional details, please refer to the Content Creation Policy located at https://www.relugames.com/smokinggun/ccg and our Terms of Service and License Agreement located at https://www.relugames.com/smokinggun/tos.
6) You may not use the information obtained through the Game – whether by copying, duplicating, modifying, translating, publishing or otherwise providing this information to others – without prior consent from Company.
7) You may not distribute or publish false information not officially announced by Company in any manner that is likely to cause confusion to other end users, otherwise you may be found liable for engaging in such conduct.
8) You should notify Company of any glitches (such as bugs, system errors, illegal programs, etc.) of the Game or Services and must not exploit or propagate such information to other users. If you discover any vulnerability, but do not disclose it to Company and forward it to another person, your use of the Game or Services may be restricted in accordance with the Rules of Conduct, and this misconduct will be regarded as intentional misconduct.
9) You can make inquiries, suggestions and requests related to game services through following channel(s):
– Customer Support Center: cs@relugames.com
– As a general rule, we will respond promptly to inquiries, suggestions, requests, and feedback you may provide us through the Customer Support Center. However, please be advised our response may be delayed depending on the number of inquiries we are handling at any given time. Unless otherwise set forth in a written agreement signed by a duly authorized representative of the Company, your submission of suggestions will not entitle you to any compensation or payment of any kind. Further, we cannot guarantee that any information, or materials submitted in connection with your suggestions or feedback will be kept confidential or that similar information has not already been developed, or will not be developed or obtained by us in the future.
5.
POLICIES FOR MISCONDUCT
In order to provide a fair and pleasant gaming experience for all users, Company has defined policies which all users need to comply with when using our Game or Services. All users playing the Game or Services must comply with the following rules.
1) DO NOT USE UNAUTHORIZED PROGRAMS OR HARDWARE DEVICES
If you use unauthorized programs or hardware devices that promote unfair game play (collectively “Unauthorized Programs or Devices”), you may be subject to severe penalties, such as a permanent Game ban and restrictions on the use of the Services on your hardware devices. If you develop, advertise, trade, publish or distribute unauthorized programs or hardware, Company may take legal action against you, seek relief from judicial authorities, make an investigation in accordance with relevant laws, and impose penalties within the Game.
2) DO NOT MODIFY THE GAME CLIENT, SERVERS OR GAME DATA
Unauthorized changes to the Game client (“INI,” "IPA,” “APK” file modification, etc.), servers, or data (such as packets) are actions that interfere with Game or Services and violate copyright laws. You must not engage in these actions. Included in this, you are forbidden from manipulating the Game data to change, copy, share or otherwise transmit your in-game profile, dice skin, or other skin customization outside the authorized channels and methods provided by the Game or Services themselves.
3) DO NOT EXPLOIT VULNERABILITIES IN THE GAME (BUGS AND GLITCHES)
Users exploiting errors and bugs found while playing the Game will be liable for serious penalties. We reserve the right to take action against those who take unfair advantage through official procedures, and all acquired in-game currency and items will be forfeited and removed.
4) DO NOT USE OFFENSIVE NICKNAMES OR REFERENCE
Use of offensive nicknames, or other references that may provoke negative imagery, are considered to violate these Rules of Conduct, and appropriate action may be taken against users who create them. The following list illustrates what can constitute an offensive nickname or reference:
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A nickname or reference that is sexually explicit or obscene;
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A nickname or reference that is made with the intention to impersonate Company or our staff;
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A nickname or reference that is discriminatory in nature;
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A nickname or reference that may infringe on the trademark or copyright of a third party;
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A nickname or reference that is sensitive or causes offense for any other reason not mentioned above;
In addition, if you change a few letters of an inappropriate nickname, or try to construct nicknames that are cleverly inappropriate by mixing other characters before and after the letters, your nickname will be changed without your consent or penalty measures will be taken.
5) DO NOT USE INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE
① Do not use inappropriate language such as profanity, insults, or verbal abuse.
Any conduct which we determine to be offensive to other users or likely to generate negative perceptions will be considered to be violating the Rules of Conduct, and will be subject to penalties. In addition, players who disrespect the dignity of customer service agents or engage in abusive behaviors such as violent language, swear words, insult, or sexual harassment that may cause the agents emotional harm may be subject to a restriction from customer service.
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Use of profanity or offensive slang, etc.
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Expressions or behaviors that are sexually harassing, such as obscene words or sexual descriptions
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Belittling, mocking or criticizing specific regions, religions, races, or individuals with disabilities, etc.
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Expressions or behaviors that are threatening or intend to cause fear
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Causing discomfort or aversion to users by using expressions or communicating in a manner prohibited by other terms and conditions of use
② Do not flood chats.
Any conduct which we determine to be interfering with the use of the chat by posting excessive content in the chat window or repetitively posting the same content in the chat window will be subject to restrictions in the use of the system.
6) DO NOT ATTEMPT CASH TRANSACTIONS
Attempts to engage in cash transactions will lead to bans. This refers to acts determined to have the intent to induce cash or in-kind transactions through nicknames or custom game mode names, attempts to trade accounts or advertising account trading, cash or in-kind transactions through nicknames, and cash or in-kind transactions using potentially speculative methods or acts determined to have the intent to engage in the same violations.
7) DO NOT PROMOTE OR ADVERTISE
Any conduct in Game or related to the Services that we determine is intended to be promoting or advertising any contents or products of yours or a third party and that are not related to the Game or Company will be subject to penalty. This includes any act that we determine to constitute using the Game or Services for the purpose of advertising for yourself or on behalf of a third party, or a purpose other than the original purposes of the Game or Services, for your or a third party’s profit, sales, advertising, or promotion.
8) DO NOT PUBLISH PERSONAL INFORMATION
Penalties may be imposed if you publish or otherwise disclose information that personally identifies another (e.g., disclosing to third parties personal information known by you of others or otherwise making it publicly available), whether through the Game or Services, which is regarded as an act that violates privacy.
9) DO NOT MANIPULATE MATCH RESULTS
Severe penalties may be imposed on those who manipulate the results of the game in an unfair way, such as by taking unfair advantage in exchange for cash, goods or services, or manipulating additional accounts in addition to their own account. Those who get caught may end up forfeiting their account and all acquired in-game items.
10) DO NOT ACCESS OR STEAL ANOTHER USER’S ACCOUNT
A user may not attempt or gain access to another user’s account. Where such activity has been detected, the user may be banned from the Game or Services, or access to the user’s own information and account may be restricted.
11) DO NOT TRADE/SELL ACCOUNTS
The act of accessing accounts that are not in your possession and trading, selling or exchanging for any consideration (monetary or non-monetary) such accounts or related Game data, without Company’s prior written approval, is forbidden.
12) DO NOT DISTURB BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Users who disclose confidential information subject to a non-disclosure agreement, spread false information, abuse the customer service platform, impersonate an employee, create and spread rumors, or conduct any other acts that disturb the Company’s business operations may be permanently banned from the Game depending on the seriousness of the misconduct.
13) DO NOT PLAY THE GAME ABNORMALLY
If any abnormal gameplay patterns are detected (i.e., gameplay that goes against the intentions of how our Game is meant to be played), measures could be taken against the account that performed such actions in order to create a fair gameplay environment.
14) DO NOT EXPLOIT THE PAYMENT SERVICE OR REFUND POLICY
Penalties may be imposed on players who take financial advantage by exploiting the payment service and refund policies of Company or third-party platform providers.
15) OTHER UNDEFINED MISCONDUCT
Any action which is not defined in the Rules of Conduct that negatively impacts the delivery of Company’s Services or negatively affects other players may be subject to warning and penalty through careful review of the circumstances.
6.
PENALTY FOR MISCONDUCT
1) The forgoing Penalty Criteria Table For Misconduct is used to protect the player’s enjoyment while playing the Game.
2) If you fail to comply with the Rules of Conduct, you may be restricted from using the Game or Services without prior notice in accordance with Penalty Criteria Table For Misconduct.
3) If your violation goes over the final attempt listed in the table below, a permanent ban will be applied.
4) If you violate any of the criteria listed in the table below and your ID is listed in rank mode, your ID may be temporarily or permanently removed from the rank.
5) We define exploiting bugs and glitches as an act which includes acquiring game currency and virtual items through bugs and glitches in the system.
6) Generally, the Company considers the Maximum Penalty Period set forth in the Penalty Criteria Table For Misconduct as the most severe penalty for the corresponding action; however, depending on the seriousness of the misconduct, the imposed penalty may become more or less severe, up to and including legal action taken against a player.
7) In order to maintain fair gaming environment, the Company may restrict users from running the Game if misconduct was found from a specific hardware device.
8) Any in-game currency, items, and other profile-related data can be permanently removed from your account if they have been obtained through misconduct; and depending on the seriousness of the misconduct, the user’s entire character data may be deleted.
No. | PENALTY CRITERIA FOR MISCONDUCT | MAXIMUM PENALTY PERIOD |
1.1 | Use, develop, advertise, trade or distribute Unauthorized Programs and Hardware Devices | Permanent Ban |
1.2 | Investigate the use of Unauthorized Programs and Hardware Devices | 3-day Ban |
2 | Modification of Game Client, Servers and Game Data (packet, etc.) | Permanent Ban |
3 | Exploiting Bugs and Glitches | Permanent Ban |
4 | Use of Inappropriate Nicknames or References | 30-days Ban |
5 | Use of Inappropriate Language | 30-days Ban |
6 | Attempting Cash Transactions | Permanent Ban |
7 | Promotion or Advertising | 30-day Ban |
8 | Publishing Personal Information | Permanent Ban |
9 | Manipulating Match Results | Permanent Ban |
10 | Usage of Another User’s Account / Restrict the Usage of Account (for protecting the Account) | Permanent Ban |
11 | Trading or Selling Accounts | Permanent Ban |
12 | Disturbing Business Operations (e.g. spreading false information, abusing the customer service platform, impersonating an employee, creating and spreading rumors or conducting any other misconduct) | Permanent Ban |
13 | Abnormal Gameplay | Permanent Ban |
14 | Exploiting Payment Service and Refund policy | Permanent Ban |
15 | Other Undefined Misconduct | Permanent Ban |
7.
RECOVERY POLICY
We are unable to recover any losses (pecuniary, non-monetary or otherwise) that arise from a player’s failure to follow the Rules of Conduct, in-game notices, homepage notices, policies, game systems, etc.
These Rules of Conduct can be translated into other languages for the convenience of the players. In case of any discrepancies between the English version and the other versions, the English version shall prevail. However, Korean Rules of Conduct shall prevail for players with the nationality of the Republic of Korea.