Final Fantasy XIV User Agreement (Updated 24/08/2013)

[Bigsyke]

For some strange reason I've decided to read the user agreement, one of the interesting things I've noticed was

"2.5 Data Mining. You may not intercept, mine or otherwise collect information from the Game using unauthorised third party software."

Has this always been the official stance?

I'm assuming the same goes for
"3.3 Profanity and Offensive Language. You may not use profanity or any language that a reasonable person would find offensive. The Game is for players aged 16 and older except players who are resident in Germany, Australia or New Zealand where the Game is for players aged 12 and older. You agree to behave accordingly."
despite the language filter?

Full agreement below

Spoiler: show

NOTE: The FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement will come into effect on August 24, 2013



FINAL FANTASY® XIV

User Agreement

Square Enix Europe

Last updated on 24 August 2013






PLEASE READ THIS USER AGREEMENT CAREFULLY INCLUDING THE PRIVACY POLICY, COOKIES POLICY, SOFTWARE LICENCE AND SQUARE ENIX ACCOUNT TERMS OF USE REFERRED TO IN CLAUSE 1 BELOW. YOUR PARTICULAR ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO THE AUTO RENEWING SUBSCRIPTION PROVISIONS CONTAINED IN CLAUSE 4 AND THE EXCLUSION CLAUSE AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY CONTAINED IN CLAUSE 10 BELOW





Introduction

Welcome to FINAL FANTASY® XIV, a massively multi-player on-line game (the “Game” or the “Service”). In order to play the Game, you (“you” or “User”) must first agree to this FINAL FANTASY XIV User Agreement (“User Agreement”) between you and Square Enix Limited, a corporation registered in England with company number 01804186 VAT registration number 680 9884 78 and registered office address Wimbledon Bridge House, 1 Hartfield Road, London SW19 3RU, England (“SQUARE ENIX”).

PLEASE READ THIS USER AGREEMENT CAREFULLY. If you agree by checking the box next to the statement “Accept the User Agreement” or “I accept the terms of the above agreement(s)” you warrant that you have read this User Agreement, you understand the terms of this User Agreement, all information provided by you in registering for the Service is truthful and accurate and you agree to be bound by this User Agreement on behalf of yourself and, if you are under the age of 18, on your behalf by your parent or legal guardian. Once you agree, you will be contractually bound to the terms below, which shall govern all aspects of your use of the Game. The Game cannot be played by any User under the age of 16 with the exception of Users who are resident in Germany, Australia or New Zealand where the Game cannot be played by any User under the age of 12.

If you do not accept this User Agreement, then you will not be authorised to play the Game. In that case, please return the Game to the place of purchase to obtain a refund or exchange. Your rights to obtain a refund of the purchase price for the Game or exchange will be subject to that retailer’s guidelines and any other laws or regulation relating to the return of goods in the jurisdiction where the purchase was made. Without prejudice to your statutory rights as a consumer which are not affected, all or a proportion of the refund may be withheld if such disk, packaging or documentation has been damaged in any way or if any registration or activation code provided with the Game has been input into any system or service owned, controlled or operated by Square Enix or as part of the download or installation process of any computer software relating to the Game.



1. YOUR LIMITED LICENSE TO THE GAME AND SERVICE AND LACK OF OWNERSHIP RIGHTS

The Game includes software that is installed on your computer, as periodically updated by SQUARE ENIX (“Licensed Software”), as well as data that SQUARE ENIX maintains on its servers. Subject to your continued compliance with the conditions set out in this User Agreement, SQUARE ENIX grants you a limited license to use the Game. In order to play the Game, in addition to this User Agreement, you must also agree to the following:

a) the FINAL FANTASY XIV Software License Agreement (“License Agreement”), which grants you a license to use the Licensed Software required to play the Game located at http://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2

b) the Square Enix Online Services Privacy Policy located at http://eu.square-enix.com/en/documents/privacy (“Privacy Policy”) which incorporates the Square Enix Cookies Policy located at http://eu.square-enix.com/en/documents/cookies (“Cookies Policy”); and

c) the Square Enix Account Terms of Use located at http://support.eu.square-enix.com/ru...ag=sqexaccount.

Please read each of the above documents carefully. The License Agreement, Privacy Policy, Cookies Policy and Square Enix Account Terms of Use (together the “Related Agreements”) are incorporated by reference into this User Agreement and by agreeing to be bound by this User Agreement you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions applicable to each of the above Related Agreements (the User Agreement and Related Agreements shall be collectively referred to as the “Agreements”). Where a conflict exists between the terms of this User Agreement and any terms in the Related Agreements the terms of this User Agreement shall prevail. The terms of this User Agreement shall also supersede any conflicting terms in the FINAL FANTASY XIV User Manual.

We recommend that you print a copy of the Agreements for your records and that you regularly check http://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2 for any updates that may have been made to the Agreements.

All aspects of the Game (including but not limited to the Game computer code, updates, patches, expansion packs, characters, character names, character data, virtual items, character profile information, (non-personal) account information, chat transcripts, artwork, plot, dialogue, locations, sounds and music) are owned by SQUARE ENIX or its licensors. You do not have any property rights in the service account you use to play the Game (“FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account”).

YOU ACQUIRE NO OWNERSHIP OR PROPERTY RIGHTS IN ANY CHARACTER OR OTHER IN-GAME VIRTUAL GOODS, AND ARE ONLY LICENSED TO USE SUCH CHARACTERS AND GOODS ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR FINAL FANTASY XIV SERVICE ACCOUNT ON A LIMITED, NON_EXCLUSIVE, REVOCABLE, NON-ASSIGNABLE, NON-TRANSFERABLE LICENSE SUBJECT TO THE CONDITIONS SET OUT IN THE AGREEMENTS. YOU AGREE THAT YOUR FINAL FANTASY XIV SERVICE ACCOUNT AND ANY VIRTUAL GOODS AND CHARACTERS DO NOT HAVE ANY MONETARY VALUE.

2. LICENSE LIMITATIONS

The Game is a carefully controlled environment designed to provide the maximum level of enjoyment for all players. In order to preserve an enjoyable experience for all users, and to protect the intellectual property rights of SQUARE ENIX, the activities identified in this Clause 2 (“License Limitations”) are strictly prohibited and violate the conditions or limitations on your license to use the Game. Therefore, any use of the Game in violation of such restrictions exceeds the scope of the license granted to you and constitutes infringement of your license and is grounds for immediate revocation of your license. Use of the Game in excess of these provisions, or use at all after your license is revoked (including loading the Game into your computer’s RAM), infringes SQUARE ENIX’s copyrights and other intellectual property rights subsisting in and relating to the Game.

Violating these License Limitations may result in the suspension or permanent banning of your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account, or such other lesser measures described in Clause 3 which SQUARE ENIX may take in its sole discretion, or an action for copyright infringement or other legal claims, all of which are reserved. You agree that offering or providing banned services to other players of the Game constitutes improper interference with SQUARE ENIX’s contracts with such players, and SQUARE ENIX reserves the right to take formal legal action against you if you do so, without warning.

SQUARE ENIX may update the list of License Limitations at http://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2 at any time. The current License Limitations are as follows:

2.1 Cheating and Botting. You may not create or use any cheats, bots, automation software, hacks, mods or any other unauthorised software designed to modify the Game and gameplay. In addition, you may not take advantage of game system bugs and exploits during gameplay.

2.2 Real Money Trading, Farming and Power-Leveling. You may not sell, rent, hire, charge, mortgage, purchase or exchange for real-world money or value any in-game currency, accounts, characters, in-game services, or in-game virtual items. You may not play the Game for the purpose of acquiring virtual items or advancement in game play on behalf of a third-party or for the purpose of selling any virtual assets to a third party for real-world money, specifically including gold-farming and power-leveling services.

2.3 Commercial Use. You may not exploit the Game for any commercial purpose (for example, advertising any product or service in-game, or use by the operator of a cyber café) without SQUARE ENIX’s prior written consent.

2.4 Private Servers. You may not create, operate, participate in or use any unauthorised servers intended to emulate the Game.

2.5 Data Mining. You may not intercept, mine or otherwise collect information from the Game using unauthorised third party software.

2.6 Hacking and Circumvention. You may not hack, disassemble, decompile, or otherwise modify the Game or server computer code, whether the Game code is located on a DVD, Blu-rayTM disc, your computer/console or on SQUARE ENIX’s servers, except as expressly permitted by SQUARE ENIX or applicable law.

2.7 Modifying or Creating Derivative Software. You may not modify or cause to be modified any files that are a part of the Game or Service in any way not expressly authorised by SQUARE ENIX, and may not make any derivative works of the Game.



2.8 Spamming/Spimming. You may not use (or abuse) the in-game chat and/or message services to distribute advertisements or to otherwise harass players.



2.9 Non-transferable. You agree that your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account is non-transferable and, therefore, may not be transferred to or used by anyone other than you.



Nothing in this Clause 2 will affect your statutory rights as a consumer, which may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.



3. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES

In addition to the License Limitations, there are other activities (set out below) that you are forbidden from doing in connection with the Game (“Prohibited Activities”). Without prejudice to your statutory rights as a consumer which are not affected and in its discretion, SQUARE ENIX may use a variety of methods to deal with violations of this User Agreement and the Prohibited Activities, including, but not limited to, any of the following:

• Issuing a warning;

• Placing a character in a “virtual jail” for a specified period of time;

• Removing or deleting ill-gotten in-game items or currency;

• Temporarily suspending a FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account;

• Permanently terminating a FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account;

• Permanently banning your IP address or residential address, or requesting our payment processing agent to permanently ban your credit card number;

• Asserting a lawsuit for breach of contract, copyright infringement, or other cause of action as may be applicable; and/or

• Seeking injunctive relief in any court or jurisdiction to prevent you from continuing such activity.

In addition and without prejudice to your statutory rights as a consumer, SQUARE ENIX shall be entitled to terminate any FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account (immediately and without notice) of any User who (1) was previously suspended or terminated by SQUARE ENIX and who SQUARE ENIX can show re-registered using different registration information in order to circumvent or bypass such suspension or termination, or (2) SQUARE ENIX believes (in its sole discretion, based upon any information available, including without limitation registration and account information) that such User is enabling or assisting another User to conduct any Prohibited Activities of any kind.

SQUARE ENIX may update the list of Prohibited Activities at http://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2 at any time. The current Prohibited Activities are as follows:



3.1 Sharing Account Information. You may not share your account or log-in information (such as your SQUARE ENIX ID and password) with anyone except your legal guardian, your minor child, or SQUARE ENIX. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and log-in information, even from your friends and family. If you violate this provision, you may unexpectedly lose access to your account and SQUARE ENIX will not have any liability to you for any loss, damage, expense or otherwise arising as a result of such violation. In particular, SQUARE ENIX will not be obliged to credit your account with the amount of any Crysta or other points or awards, which may have been used by a third party as a result of the violation



3.2 Disruption. You may not in any way disrupt or interfere with the Game experience of other players, including without limitation the disruption of SQUARE ENIX’s computers and servers.



3.3 Profanity and Offensive Language. You may not use profanity or any language that a reasonable person would find offensive. The Game is for players aged 16 and older except players who are resident in Germany, Australia or New Zealand where the Game is for players aged 12 and older. You agree to behave accordingly.



3.4 Impersonation. You may not impersonate any person or entity or fraudulently hold yourself out as a SQUARE ENIX employee, representative, or any other SQUARE ENIX-connected person or being affiliated with any such person or entity. This means you cannot login to someone else’s account or deceive or mislead other people as to your identity. We encourage users to safeguard their privacy, remain anonymous, and never give out personal information to other users for your own safety.



3.5 Naming Right. You may not use any name or other intellectual property belonging to SQUARE ENIX or any other third party in your use of the Game (for example, naming a character after a celebrity, company, product or superhero).



3.6 Any Illegal Activities. You may not conduct any illegal activities whatsoever in connection with the Game. This includes every illegal activity not specifically highlighted above, including without limitation gambling, defamation, harassment and/or fraud.



3.7 False Account Information. You may not provide SQUARE ENIX with false information during the registration process.



3.8 Chargebacks. You are authorizing all fees charged under this User Agreement until you properly deactivate your account. Therefore, you may not falsely notify your credit card or debit card provider that you did not authorize the automatic recurring charge. If you are using a parent or legal guardian’s credit card, you must have their authorization for recurring billing.



4. BILLING PROCEDURES, CANCELLATION RIGHTS AND RECURRING TRANSACTIONS

4.1 FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fees. In order to access SQUARE ENIX’s servers to play the Game, you must agree to a recurring subscription package (“Subscription”) with a minimum subscription period of 30 days and pay a recurring subscription fee (“FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee”), which includes the fees for one or more playable character(s) (“Playable Character(s)”) plus two free non-playable characters (“Retainer Character(s)”). You may activate a limited number of Playable Characters determined by your chosen Subscription (which may be amended from time to time in SQUARE ENIX’s absolute discretion). A list of current Subscription options can be found here http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/ .

Note: if SQUARE ENIX chooses to allow Users to acquire additional Retainer Characters in the future for a fee, that Retainer Character Fee will also be incorporated into your FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee. SQUARE ENIX may amend the number of free Retainer Characters provided to you in its sole and absolute discretion without notice.

FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee rates will be posted at http://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2, and any changes to those rates will be posted with 30 days’ advance notice and notice will be provided to the Game community and by email to User’s registered email addresses. All FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fees are billed in advance. All FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fees are non-refundable, with the limited exception in Clause 4.7 below or any other circumstance expressly provided in this User Agreement where a full or partial refund may be provided for.

4.2 Thirty Days of Free Play Included with New Purchase of Licensed Software. The first 30 days of gameplay (“Free Period”) is included with your purchase of the Licensed Software in new, unopened condition from an authorised vendor when it is registered to your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account for the first time. You may input your credit or debit card details or select the Crysta or Time Card payment option (if available in your territory) at any time in order to continue playing the Game beyond the Free Period. You are only entitled to one Free Period per purchase of Licensed Software per platform registered to your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account and this entitlement to a free Period is not transferable to any subsequent owner of the media on which the Licensed Software is contained. For clarity, if you register two different platform versions of the Game to your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account for the first time, you will receive 60 days of total Free Period. No later than day 25 of the 30 day Free Period you will be sent a reminder notice by email to your registered email address and as an in-Game notice that the Free Period is about to expire and reminding you to register your subscription if you wish to pay and play after the Free Period has expired (the “Reminder Notice”). After the Free Period has ended, your right to continue to play the Game will automatically cease unless you have taken out a recurring Subscription as required under Clause 4.1. If you entered your payment details prior to or during a Free Period and do not wish to continue to play the Game after the Free Period has expired, no charges will be made to the credit or debit card that you provided and you will no longer have access to the Game PROVIDED THAT you deactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account before 12pm GMT on day 30 of the Free Period in accordance with the deactivation procedure set out in Clause 4.8 of this User Agreement. It is your responsibility to cancel your Subscription in accordance with the preceding sentence. No further notices or reminders will be issued. If you are accidently charged within the Free Period, please contact the Square Enix Support Centre at http://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2 for a refund upon confirmation. Please note that if you elect to continue your Subscription after the Free Period ends, this charge would properly apply for your next Billing Cycle and a refund will likely be unnecessary.

4.3 Recurring Subscription. When the Free Period ends, the recurring FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee will be charged in full at the beginning of each chosen billing cycle using the payment method that you have chosen to pay for your Subscription (“Billing Cycle”). Billing Cycles are discussed in Clause 4.4 below. Square Enix will provide prior notice of an impending charge during the login process or via email to your registered email account. Subject to the limited exception for initial charges for certain new Subscription Fees explained in Section 4.3(a), all recurring Fees will be combined in a single FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee billed on the same date in advance, no matter when in the Billing Cycle any particular option (for example, one time password tokens or World Transfer requests) was added to the account.

If you select a longer Billing Cycle, the FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee charged at the beginning of each Billing Cycle will include the entire covered term (meaning, if you choose a 90-day Billing Cycle, you will pay for all 90 days at once). All charges will be automatically charged to your pre-selected payment method, and once you have been charged for a given Billing Cycle that charge is non-refundable, Subject To the limited exception in Clause 4.7 below and Subject To your statutory rights as a consumer within the jurisdiction where the purchase was made. You agree to pay the appropriate amount each Billing Cycle until you deactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account here https://secure.square-enix.com/account/app/svc/accffxiv (You must be logged in to your Square Enix Account) or by following the procedures explained at http://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2. If you deactivated before the beginning of the next Billing Cycle, yet were billed for the next Billing Cycle, please contact the Square Enix Support Centre at http://support.eu.square-enix.com/co...hp?id=903&la=2 for a refund upon confirmation.

(a) Pro-Rated Billing for upgrading Subscription.

You may upgrade your Subscription at any point during a Billing Cycle subject to payment of any additional FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fees. If you upgrade to a higher priced Subscription in the middle of a Billing Cycle, the additional FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee for that Subscription will be adjusted on a pro-rated basis and charged immediately, subject to our minimum transaction fee. (For example, if you upgrade a Subscription on the 15th day of a 90 day Billing Cycle, you will be billed for the remaining 76 days in your 90-day Billing Cycle.) However, the minimum transaction fee allowed by our billing system at any time when adding a new Subscription is currently €1/£0.70 and subject to change upon prior notice to you even if the pro-rated charge would otherwise be less than €1/£0.70. (For example, if the pro-rated FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee is only €0.50/£0.50 you will still be charged €1/£0.70.) Please be aware of this minimum transaction fee if you decide to upgrade a Subscription less than 30 days before the end of your Billing Cycle. NOTE: there will be no minimum transaction fee charged if you pay for Subscriptions using Crysta or a Time Card (if available in your territory).

(b) Downgrading Subscription. You may downgrade to a lower priced Subscription at any time. However, the change will not take place until the end of the current Billing Cycle.

(c) Time Cards.



Within certain territories you may be able to purchase a time card for a fixed fee which will grant you access to the Game for a designated period of time as indicated on the time card (“Time Card”) and subject to any specific terms and conditions attached to the Time Card. Any period of game time associated with a Time Card shall only be added to your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account at the end of any existing Billing Cycle. Upon expiry of the Time Card, you will need to setup a new Subscription or add an additional Time Card to your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account for continued access to the Game.



(d) World Transfers.



You may request to transfer your in-game Playable Character from one world within the Game to another world subject to the conditions and restrictions as updated by SQUARE ENIX from time to time found here; http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/.



4.4 Billing Cycles. A single Billing Cycle will apply to all recurring Fees. When you first register to play the Game or first commit to a Subscription, you will be given an opportunity to increase the default 30-day Billing Cycle to 90 days or 180 days. If you choose to increase the length of your Billing Cycle, you will be rewarded with a reduced FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee. Please note that you are only receiving a discounted monthly FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee because you are agreeing to pre-pay for a longer period, and without prejudice to your statutory rights as a consumer which are not affected no refunds will be given if you choose to stop playing the Game before the pre-paid period ends. You should not change the default 30-day Billing Cycle unless you are prepared to pre-pay for the longer Billing Cycle. Please note that Billing Cycles are equivalent to the length of your recurring Subscription term, or “Period Length,” a term that appears throughout your user manual.

4.5 Changes to Billing Cycles. You may increase or decrease the length of subsequent Billing Cycles at any time. However, the change will not take place until the end of the current Billing Cycle. For example, if you agree to a 90-day Billing Cycle and decide 15 days later to reduce it to a 30-day Billing Cycle, the change will not occur until the 90-day Billing Cycle has ended, at which time, you will be switched to a 30-day Billing Cycle.

4.6 Failed Transactions. If SQUARE ENIX’s attempt to charge/debit your pre-selected payment method fails, you may lose access to the Game when your Subscription expires until you resolve the issue. If you have lost access, your next Billing Cycle will begin on the date you successfully pay. SQUARE ENIX does not charge late fees or interest for access to the Game. SQUARE ENIX will not be liable for any loss of game play/character history/Crysta/Time Card or other in-game assets lost as a result of any suspension or loss of access by any user to the Game pursuant to this Clause 4.6 and without prejudice to your statutory rights as a consumer.

4.7 Pro-Rated Refunds in Exceptional Circumstances Only. The entirety of your FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee is applied by SQUARE ENIX to the FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account on the day that it is charged. Without prejudice to your statutory rights as a consumer which are not affected, all charges related to the Game are non-refundable unless third-party criminal activity is involved, as determined by SQUARE ENIX or a refund is required as a result of any law or regulation in the relevant jurisdiction where the FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee has been paid. Therefore, if you deactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account in the middle of a 90-day Billing Cycle, you will not receive a refund for the remainder of the Billing Cycle, but may continue to play the Game until the Billing Cycle ends.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if SQUARE ENIX revises the License Agreement or this User Agreement and you reject either when they are first presented to you for acceptance, you will be required to deactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account and will immediately lose access to the Game. In such circumstances, upon request, SQUARE ENIX shall refund you a portion of the most recently-billed FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee.

4.8 Deactivation of Subscription. You may deactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account at any time here https://secure.square-enix.com/account/app/svc/accffxiv (You must be logged in to your Square Enix Account) or by following the procedures explained http://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2. Other than the exception explained in Clause 4.3(a), no further billing related to the deactivated FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account will occur until you reactivate by following the procedures explained at http://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2 If you believe that you have been accidently charged by SQUARE ENIX after you deactivated, please contact the SQUARE ENIX Support Centre at http://support.eu.square-enix.com/co...hp?id=903&la=2 for a refund upon confirmation.

4.9 Reactivation of FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account. You may reactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account at any time, so long as the Game is still made available by SQUARE ENIX and account-related data has not been deleted or corrupted. If you reactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account prior to the end of the current Billing Cycle (meaning, while you still have access), you will retain your original Billing Cycle and will not have to pay another FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee for that period. Otherwise, your new Billing Cycle will commence on or about the first day you reactivate your FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account (subject to adjustment by SQUARE ENIX).

4.10 About FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Accounts. You may have no more than eight FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Accounts attached to a single SQUARE ENIX Account.

4.11 Cancellation Rights. If you are contracting with us as a consumer, subject to the provisions of this Clause 4.11 you may cancel your Subscription within 14 days of the date of first agreeing to take out a Subscription, by following the procedures explained at http://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2. Where you exercise your cancellation right in accordance with this Clause 4.11 you will receive a full refund of the FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee for the Billing Cycle you agreed to take out at the beginning of the Subscription. A refund of the relevant FINAL FANTASY XIV Subscription Fee shall be the maximum extent of our liability in respect of the cancellation of the Subscription in question.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: TO BENEFIT FROM THIS CANCELLATION RIGHT YOU MUST NOT PLAY THE GAME OTHER THAN FOR THE DURATION OF ANY FREE PERIOD IN ANY WAY. YOUR CANCELLATION RIGHTS UNDER THIS CLAUSE 4.11 SHALL NOT APPLY WHERE YOU HAVE COMMENCED OR (FOLLOWING THE FREE PERIOD) CONTINUED TO PLAY THE GAME OR USE ANY PART OF OUR SERVICES FOR ANY PART OF THE PERIOD LENGTH IN THE BILLING CYCLE CONCERNED.

4.12 Refund Requests. To request a refund in accordance with your statutory rights as a consumer, please contact FINAL FANTASY XIV Customer Services here http://support.eu.square-enix.com/co...hp?id=903&la=2. If a third party obtains access to a FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account by use of a User’s SQUARE ENIX ID and password, the User must notify SQUARE ENIX immediately in order to be eligible for any possible remedial action by SQUARE ENIX. SQUARE ENIX will promptly investigate any claim of a compromised FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account and, in its sole discretion, may add some unexpired Subscription period if the third party depleted the FINAL FANTASY XIV Service Account without authorisation. SQUARE ENIX will not add any unexpired Subscription period if the User did not take appropriate steps to protect a SQUARE ENIX Account ID and password from third parties, including members of the household.

5. INTERRUPTION TO THE SERVICE



From time to time, in order to provide our customers with the optimal gaming experience, it is necessary for SQUARE ENIX to conduct routine maintenance on the computers and/or servers that support the Game. During these times, access to the Game or support services may be interrupted. Access may also be temporarily suspended in whole or in part, without notice, due to emergency repairs, fire, flood, explosion, war, strike, embargo, governmental action or failure to act, the act of any civil or military authority, act of God, or by any other causes beyond SQUARE ENIX’s control, or any other reasons for which SQUARE ENIX, in its sole discretion, deems that temporary suspension is necessary. You acknowledge that such disruptions of service may occur and waive any causes of action against SQUARE ENIX in any way arising from or related to any such disruptions of service.



6. INTERNET ACCESS AND EQUIPMENT



You are solely responsible for obtaining and maintaining, at your own expense, all equipment (such as modems, computers, or videogame consoles) and Internet access necessary to play the Game, and for ensuring such equipment and services are compatible with all requirements of the Game.



7. PRIVACY AND USE OF INFORMATION



By playing the Game, you agree to SQUARE ENIX’s Privacy Policy (including the Cookies Policy) located here http://eu.square-enix.com/en/documents/privacy and here http://eu.square-enix.com/en/documents/cookies which is incorporated into this User Agreement by reference. By clicking the “Yes” button you unconditionally and irrevocably agree to the terms of the Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy as varied and/or amended from time to time. If you do not accept the terms of the Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy you are not authorised to play the Game and you should follow the procedure for returning the Game to the place of purchase as set out in the Introduction above.

8. BUDDY PASSES

Certain packages of FINAL FANTASY XIV come with a special registration code (“Buddy Pass”) that will allow a holder to invite a friend to try aspects of FINAL FANTASY XIV for a limited time on a gratis basis. If you have a Buddy Pass, you may lend your Licensed Software to another person for this limited purpose. Clause 2.1 of the License Agreement you previously entered into is hereby temporarily modified to allow for the limited and restricted use of the Licensed Software in connection with a Buddy Pass. The user of the Buddy Pass will have to agree to a series of agreements, including but not limited to: the License Agreement, the Square Enix Account Terms of Use, the Privacy Policy and this User Agreement in order to install and use the Licensed Software. Access to the Game via a Buddy Pass may be terminated by SQUARE ENIX at any time, for any reason, with or without prior notice.

9. TERM AND TERMINATION

This User Agreement will begin when you first agree to it and install the Game and will remain in effect until terminated. Either you or SQUARE ENIX may terminate this User Agreement at any time without notice. Without prejudice to your statutory rights as a consumer which are unaffected, SQUARE ENIX reserves the right to discontinue publishing the Game in your country at any time, at which time the User Agreement will be terminated for all affected Users and Users shall be entitled to a pro rata refund of all or any Subscription Fee paid for the remainder of the Billing Cycle in which the Service was discontinued by Square. As described in Clause 3 (Enforcement for Violations) above, breach of this User Agreement may automatically terminate your license to use the Game. Upon termination of this User Agreement, the License Agreement or the Square Enix Account Terms of Use, you must uninstall, delete and/or destroy all copies of the Game (including all of its component parts) in your possession. The following Clauses shall survive any termination of this User Agreement: 1 (excluding the terminated licence grant), 2, 3, 4, 7, 9 and 10.

10. GENERAL TERMS

10.1 Indemnification. You agree to pay and reimburse us in full for the amount of all costs, fees, expenses, damages, penalties, liabilities and other losses which SQUARE ENIX and its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, officers, employees incur or suffer due to your usage of the Game in breach of the Agreements, your engagement in Prohibited Activities, and/or arising out of or related to content you submit, post, link to, transmit, or make available through the Game, your violation of this User Agreement, or your violation of any rights of another User.

10.2 Disclaimer of Warranties. ASIDE FROM THE EXPRESS WARRANTY PROVIDED WITH THE LICENSED SOFTWARE AND AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN THIS USER AGREEMENT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, (A) SQUARE ENIX EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS, CONDITIONS OR TERMS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE GAME SOFTWARE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS OR TERMS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, TITLE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND OTHER RIGHTS; AND (B). SQUARE ENIX IS MAKING THE GAME AVAILABLE "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY FURTHER WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND.

10.3 Informal Dispute Resolution. It is SQUARE ENIX’s goal to informally resolve legitimate consumer disputes without resort to formal litigation. Therefore, prior to filing any formal legal action against SQUARE ENIX, you agree to a make good faith attempt to informally resolve your grievance by sending a detailed letter with current contact information by Recorded Delivery to the Square Enix Limited marked for the attention of the Legal Department, Wimbledon Bridge House, 1 Hartfield Road, London SW19 3RU. You agree to allow SQUARE ENIX thirty (30) days to contact you to attempt to resolve the dispute. If you file a formal legal action without abiding by this Clause 10.3 and the action is unsuccessful, you agree that you will be responsible for SQUARE ENIX’s costs and reasonable attorney’s fees incurred as a result of the unsuccessful action.

10.4 Limited Liability/Remedy. YOU CAN RECOVER FROM SQUARE ENIX ITS PARENT, SUBISIDARY AND AFFILIATED COMPANIES (“SQUARE ENIX PARTIES”) ONLY DAMAGES WHICH ARE A FORESEEABLE CONSEQUENCE OF A BREACH OF THIS USER AGREEMENT BY SQUARE ENIX UP TO AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO THE FINAL FANTASY XIV SUBSCRIPTION FEE CONTEMPLATED BY YOU AND SQUARE ENIX AT THE TIME YOUR SUBSCRIPTION IS ACCEPTED BY SQUARE ENIX. THE SQUARE ENIX PARTIES ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR INDIRECT OR SO-CALLED “CONSEQUENTIAL” LOSSES WHICH HAPPEN AS A SIDE EFFECT OF THE MAIN LOSS OR DAMAGE AND WHICH ARE NOT FORESEEABLE BY YOU AND US INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: (A) LOSS OF INCOME OR REVENUE (B) LOSS OF BUSINESS (C) LOSS OF PROFITS OR CONTRACTS (D) LOSS OF ANTICIPATED SAVINGS (E) LOSS OF OPPORTUNITY (F) LOSS OF DATA. SQUARE ENIX PARTIES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK, VIRUSES OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, COMPUTER PROGRAMS, DATA OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OR DOWNLOADING OF THE GAME SOFTWARE OR TO YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIAL POSTED ON IT, OR ON ANY WEBSITE LINKED TO IT. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED IN THIS CLAUSE 10.4 OR ANYHWERE IN THIS USER AGREEMENT, NOTHING IN THIS USER AGREEMENT SHALL LIMIT OR EXCLUDE SQUARE ENIX’S LIABILITY TO YOU IN NEGLIGENCE FOR DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY CAUSED BY NEGLIGENCE OF SQUARE ENIX OR ANY OTHER LIABLITY TO THE EXTENT THAT SUCH EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION IS UNLAWFUL, UNENFORCEABLE OR VOID UNDER ANY APPLICABLE LAW.

Some states or jurisdictions may not allow the limitation or exclusion of certain warranties or conditions and where that is the case (and to such extent), the exclusions and limitations of liability in this User Agreement may not apply to you. Your statutory rights as a consumer are not affected

10.5 Injunctive Relief. In no event will you be entitled to obtain any injunctive relief or otherwise enjoin, restrain, or otherwise interfere with SQUARE ENIX or with the distribution, operation, development, or performance of the Game or any related products or services.

10.6 Choice of Law and Venue. This User Agreement and any related dispute or claim (contractual or non-contractual) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law. Each party irrevocably submits for all purposes in connection with the User Agreement (including any such dispute or claim) to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts for any action, suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to this User Agreement or the Game, except that nothing in this User Agreement shall limit Square Enix Limited’s right to bring any action against any part in any other court of competent jurisdiction nor shall the bringing of such action in one or more jurisdictions preclude the bringing of any other such actions for any other jurisdiction (whether concurrently or not) to the extent permitted by law of such other jurisdiction.

10.7 User Disputes. You shall be solely responsible for resolving any and all disputes that may arise between you and other Users in connection with the Game, and for paying any and all expenses incurred by you in connection with resolving such dispute. SQUARE ENIX shall not be responsible for mediating or resolving any such disputes and shall have no liability to you or to any third party for any costs, fees, expenses, damages or other losses incurred in connection with or as a result of any such disputes.

10.8 Severability. If any sentence or any provision of this User Agreement is determined by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, such sentence or provision will be interpreted to the maximum extent to which it is valid and enforceable, all as determined by such court in such action, and the remaining sentences and provisions of this User Agreement will, nevertheless, continue in full force and effect without being impaired or invalidated in any way.

10.9 No Waiver. No waiver by SQUARE ENIX of any term, provision or condition of this User Agreement shall be deemed to be or construed as a waiver of any other term, provision or condition of this User Agreement. No SQUARE ENIX customer service representative or any other personnel of SQUARE ENIX who interacts with you is legally empowered to bind SQUARE ENIX to any amendment or waiver of the terms of this User Agreement.

10.10 Assignment. SQUARE ENIX shall have the right to assign and/or delegate in its sole discretion its rights and obligations under this User Agreement in whole or in part to third party at any time without notice to Users. Each User’s rights are personal to such User and may not be assigned.

10.11 Entire Agreement. This User Agreement, together with the Related Agreements and any other terms of use relevant to your use of the Game or the Service, such as the user manual, constitutes the entire understanding and agreement between the parties with respect to your use of the Game and/or the Service and supersedes any and all prior or contemporaneous oral or written communications with respect to the subject matter hereof, all of which are merged herein. The Related Agreements shall form a part of this User Agreement and are expressly incorporated into this User Agreement by this reference. In the event of any conflict between this User Agreement and the Related Agreements, the terms of this User Agreement shall prevail; provided, however, that for all matters that are not covered in this User Agreement, the terms of the License Agreement, the Square Enix Account Terms of Use, or the Privacy Policy and/or Cookies Policy (as applicable) shall continue to apply.

10.12 Changes to this User Agreement. SQUARE ENIX reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change, modify, add to, supplement or delete any of the terms and conditions of this User Agreement or the way that the Game operates at any time. SQUARE ENIX will notify you of such changes in one of the following ways at its sole discretion: through a patch, email, postal mail, website posting, pop-up screen or in-game notice. If you do not agree to any such change or modification, you may terminate this User Agreement by uninstalling the Licensed Software and destroying your copy(ies) and you will be entitled to receive a pro-rata refund of any Subscription Fee if such termination takes place in the middle of a Billing Cycle by following the instructions at http://support.eu.square-enix.com/rule.php?id=5383&la=2. Your continued use of the Game following any revision to this User Agreement will demonstrate your full acceptance of any and all such changes.

[Kelenae]

I think it was always there.

[Sonomaa]

this is one of those things where they would really like us not to but they are out of their mind if they think it will actually be stopped. Kinda like windower in XI

[Kelenae]

this is one of those things where they would really like us not to but they are out of their mind if they think it will actually be stopped. Kinda like windower in XI

Ya its not gonna stop people lol.

[Gulkeeva]

Well they could always go after the developer of the tools, and reduce the spread of such tools. Imo, they should go after the bot makers, not the .dat miners, much more harmful to the game then spoiled information from a patch >.>

Also about the cuss filter notice thing, I blame teknique, dam you and your fucking PS3 limitations t('-'t) at least I can cuss at you on the forums/bg chat...!

[Cantih]

I'm assuming the same goes for
"3.3 Profanity and Offensive Language. You may not use profanity or any language that a reasonable person would find offensive. The Game is for players aged 16 and older except players who are resident in Germany, Australia or New Zealand where the Game is for players aged 12 and older. You agree to behave accordingly."
despite the language filter?

The sane assumption is this is for public chat. Say, yell, and shout. And DF party chat as well (since you NEED a party, and kicking someone and hoping for a replacement is iffy).
If you're in a Linkshell or FC, you're there because you sought access, so if you don't like their language you can leave, or they can kick you if they don't like yours, no reason to involve S-E.

That's all assuming sanity reigns however.

[Resin]

Didn't Yoshi-P say himself during one of the letters or interviews that he knows people will be mining the .DATs? Or am I just not remembering correctly?

If he did, then that's just silly.

Also about the cuss filter notice thing, I blame teknique, dam you and your fucking PS3 limitations t('-'t) at least I can cuss at you on the forums/bg chat...!

Also this. Fucking teknique...

[Katlan]

It's something they can go after you if they want to, but they don't have the resources, or care, to police. They are just covering all bases, which is smart

[Raldo]

It's something they can go after you if they want to, but they don't have the resources, or care, to police. They are just covering all bases, which is smart

This. They're not going to pore over your text. They'll only apply the offensive/cursing clause if someone reports it, and that subsection is just in there so they have something to point to and say: This. This is why you were banned.

That said, general cursing probably won't get you into trouble even if someone reports it. You have to really go overboard like the "I'm going to fuck you so hard, then abort your children and throw you in a Nazi oven" XBox Live comments sort of thing.

[Azull]

Don't be a dick in shout or say. Problem solved.

[Spider-Dan]

Well they could always go after the developer of the tools, and reduce the spread of such tools.

The developers of these tools are not necessarily subject to the User Agreement.

Here's the part I found interesting:

The Game is for players aged 16 and older except players who are resident in Germany, Australia or New Zealand where the Game is for players aged 12 and older.

So can I report an underage player and have them banned for violation of the User Agreement?

[Gokulo]

So can I report an underage player and have them banned for violation of the User Agreement?

Theoretically, but I'm not sure if they would bother with checking that stuff.

This is pretty interesting too :D

Naming Right. You may not use any name or other intellectual property belonging to SQUARE ENIX or any other third party in your use of the Game (for example, naming a character after a celebrity, company, product, or superhero).

[Ratatapa]

I hope that it will be the end to all those sephiroth or cloud names

[Pharaun]

Don't hold your breath.

[Ratatapa]

Don't hold your breath.

Yeah

[miokomioko]

That bit has always been in the ToS, even for XI. No one reads it and no one enforces it. I can't count how many times I've seen stupid names like Nokia or Hitachi.

Then again, they could probably argue that it's their last name. In the end, the legal department decides to put it in there and no one else on the planet gives a shit.

[Azull]

I hope that it will be the end to all those sephiroth or cloud names

Not unless they make the minimum age 30ish or higher.

[Sephiroth]

SE just covers all their bases with the user agreement. A lot of the stuff mentioned here won't be enforced - names, dats etc. Though they clearly care about dat mining when it comes to leaks but that was only an issue because they released that shit 3 weeks too early. Most patches will only give a couple of hours leakage at best, they won't care about that.

[donnie]

Didn't Yoshi-P say himself during one of the letters or interviews that he knows people will be mining the .DATs? Or am I just not remembering correctly?

If he did, then that's just silly.


Also this. Fucking teknique...

Yes Yoshida did say that.

[Evane]

I hope that it will be the end to all those sephiroth or cloud names

It's gonna get worse thanks to apostrophes. I've seen Kefka' Palazzo on Ultima and except to see more.