TERMS AND CONDITIONS

www.houndism.com

By accessing and using Houndism.com ("site", "sim", "game", "HD"), you agree to be legally bound by these terms and conditions. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not join Houndism. We reserve the right at our sole discretion, to change, modify, add to, or otherwise alter these Terms and Conditions at any time, with or without notice. Such changes and/or modifications will become effective immediately upon their posting, so please review these Terms and Conditions posted at this link periodically.

The website www.houndism.com is owned and operated by Caitlin ("Cai", “I”, “owner”). By joining Houndism you agree that you (and your parents, if you're under the age of 14) have read the Terms and Conditions and consent to it.

General Rules


1. Members are allowed up to two (2) accounts. Shared accounts are allowed (but not recommended) and count as one (1) of the two (2) accounts you may have. You share these accounts at your own risk; Houndism can not and will not be held responsible for stolen items, money, or currency.
2. The discussion of politics and religion, and images of pornography are forbidden.
3. There is a zero tolerance for art theft; two strikes and you’re out.
4. Houndism asks that all members are the age of 14 and over. If you are younger, we require you have parental permission to play (parents can email admin@houndism.com) with written permission for their child(ren).
5. Please respect all members (including mods/admins/artists). We do not take player harassment and bullying lightly and it will not be tolerated.
6. Scamming or cheating of any sort is not allowed.
7. Art, layout, text, etc. is all copyrighted © to Houndism.com. Result of stealing our property is a permanent ban and possible legal action.
8. Houndism Dollars (HDD), Houndism Tokens (HDT), and member accounts are not to be sold for any real life currency (USD, CAD, AUD, etc.). Artists may sell their artwork for real life currency.

The Chatroom/Boards


1. Avoid using bright colours. Bright colours can often be difficult to read and out of courtesy to other players, don't use them.
2. Typing in all capitals is allowed, but permitted to a certain degree. Excessive use of capitals to try and gain attention or "shouting" will not be tolerated.
3. When a moderator/admin asks you to stop, you are to listen. Failing to listen will result in punishment.
4. Light swearing is permitted (ass, crap, lmao, wtf, lmfao, etc.) as long as it isn't being used in a derogatory manner towards players and staff. Your account can still be warned/fined/banned if you abuse this privilege, based upon moderator discretion.
5. Please post on the right board (post dog sales on the "Dog Sales Board", art sales on the "Art Sales Board", etc.). If you accidentally post on the wrong board, submit a report and a mod will move it for you.
6. Tags may not exceed the size limit of 150 x 150 pixels. You will be asked to resize your tag if they exceed the size limit. Images in player signatures may not exceed 375 x 125 pixels.

The Game

Houndism is a game where players may show, breed, and raise imaginary dogs. These dogs, along with anything else on the site are not real, including Houndism currency. (“HDD”, “HDT”, “tokens”) It is a game of fake dogs, fake money, and fake tokens. Houndism has a positive community and to make that possible we do not permit harassment of players, or tolerate heavy and obscene language. It is the player’s responsibility to make sure they have the right to use any referenced or uploaded information or images. Players that do not follow these rules may be terminated from the game without refund. Fees and privileges may be changed at any time without notice. If players do not agree with these Terms and Conditions, their only remedy is to stop using this site.

HD is designed for people to use by displaying the pages in a browser and clicking the buttons or links by hand. Using programs or outside scripts to play the game to cheat, steal or otherwise cause harm to the game or players is forbidden. Any player caught using such scripts or programs can and will have their account frozen or permanently banned. We will also not hesitate to ban your IP.

Please be aware that areas of Houndism with user created content (such as home pages, chat or message boards) do not necessarily reflect the views of our site. Although we watch posted information, message boards and chat, in no event does Houndism assume or have any responsibility or liability for any user creating content or postings or for any claims, damages or losses resulting from their use and/or appearance on or in conjunction with this game or elsewhere. Users remain solely responsible for the content of their messages and postings. Nonetheless, we will make reasonable efforts to ensure that the areas of Houndism with user created content serve the best interests of all users and, therefore, we reserve the right to edit, delete, or refuse to post any material that violates these Terms and Conditions, as well as revoke the privileges of any user who does not comply with these terms. We do not edit or delete content of user created pages or postings unless for the following reasons:

  • Copyright violations.
  • Harassing or threatening language.
  • Profanity, obscenities, or sexual content (express or implied).
  • Links to third party commercial web sites.
  • Other illegal material or material that is detrimental to the operation of the site. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other users. Houndism reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other users. Houndism gives members privileges, not rights and we are able to revoke those privileges at any time with or without warning.

    Although beneficial, donations are not required to play the game. You, as the user, choose to donate at your own discretion and upon donating agree to the following terms:

  • No refunds will be given at any point in time
  • You agree this is your own money or you have permission to spend it
  • Any charge back's made will result in an automatic permanent ban from Houndism
  • Just because you have an upgraded account does not mean you will receive any special treatment. You are just and subjected to these rules as any other player. Failure to follow these Terms and Conditions can result in your account being warned/fined/banned.

    DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

    The materials in Houndism are provided "as is" and without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied. To the fullest extent permissible pursuant to applicable law, we disclaim all warranties. We do not warrant that the functions contained in the materials of any Houndism will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected that make such materials available are free of viruses or other harmful components. We do not warrant or make any representations regarding the use or the results of the use of the materials of any Houndism site in terms of their correctness, accuracy, reliability, or otherwise. You assume the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair, or correction. Applicable law may not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusion may not apply to you.

    INDEMNIFICATION

    People who are using Houndism are responsible for maintaining their account information (IE. Logins[s] and password[s]) for your all activities that occur within the account. Houndism reserves the right to assume, at its sole expense, the exclusive defence and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will fully cooperate with Houndism in asserting any available defences.

    Hot linking

    According to the site Altlab, hot linking is described as "direct linking to a web site's files (images, video, etc.). An example would be using an <*img*> tag to display a PICTURE/JPEG/GIF/PNG image you found on someone else's web page so it will appear on your own site, eBay auction listing, web blog, forum message post, etc." In addition, hot linking is illegal, and can get you or an entire site in trouble. Uploading your pictures to a free hosting site (such as photobucket.com, tinypic.com, imageshack.us) takes little to no extra effort, and ensures that you will not get in trouble for hot linking. Once again, stealing bandwidth or copyrighted pictures can get you AND Houndism in potential trouble legally, and it's not worth the risk. With that said, those found hot linking pictures will get a warning and a fine. The second offense results in a greater fine and a one day ban, and each successive offense results in higher fines and longer bans.

    Breaking the rules will result in a warning, fine, temporary ban, permanent ban, and/or privileges revoked.

    Houndism.com reserves the right to shut down temporarily or permanently. We will not be responsible for any lost money, and it will not be refunded.

    Last Modified: January 12, 2012

    More to be added/updated at a later date. Updates will be in red.