Last edited: November 26, 2022
Please review the Terms of Service ("terms", "terms and conditions") before playing or using the website, DeviantArt group, or characters as part of Lythbound. We reserve the right to change or modify the terms and conditions, and suspend or terminate any features of the game at any time with prior notification. By using Lythbound characters or the Lythbound website and/or supplemental areas (e.g., the official Discord server or DeviantArt group), you are agreeing to these terms as outlined on this page.
If you are under 18, you must also have a parent or guardian's permission to use the Lythbound website. Please have them read this agreement with you.
Before you continue using our website we also advise that you read our Privacy Policy regarding our user data collection.
Infraction Points System
In order to maintain a respectful community, we at Lythbound have an infraction policy that utilizes a points system that goes from 0 to 100. What this means is that each rule is worth a number of points, and every time a user breaks a rule, their account receives the assigned point value; some rules have a range instead of a single number, so moderators can adjust the points received depending on severity. When a user reaches a certain number of points, they will receive a punishment — our punishments will be outlined in the final section.
While our system permanently logs every single infraction committed, points will expire after one year of the original report date. What this means is if a user breaks a rule in January 2021 and receives 10 points, those 10 points will be removed from their total point value by January 2022. While users need to be held accountable for their actions, we understand that everyone makes mistakes and should be given second chances. However, should the number of points reach 100+, the resulting ban will not be lifted as a result of time passing.
You may review your account's infraction points via the infraction points page at any time. This information is also accessible via Account Settings.
General Information
Account Creation
Users must be 13 years of age or older to register on Lythbound.com. Users may not lie about their age, and any user found under the age of 13 will lose their current account, though may make a new one once they are of age. (100 points)
Accounts with inappropriate usernames are not permitted and will result in the username being changed and possibly the account being banned. (50 - 100 points)
Users may not share accounts. (100 points)
Each user may only have one account. (50 - 100 points)
Each IP/household is limited to five accounts, assuming they are made by different users using separate email addresses. However, transfer of account contents to users under the same IP address are subject to systematic staff monitoring, and suspicious activity may lead to staff involvement. (50 - 100 points)
Confidentiality
Users may not ask other members for their password or other confidential information. (100 points)
The Lythbound staff will never ask you for passwords or other confidential information. Anyone claiming to be staff and/or asking for private information should be reported immediately through a Support Ticket. You will not be penalized for reporting suspicious behavior.
Game and Playable Characters
Acquisition
Lythbound game and playable characters — also called "Lythians" or "companions" — are acquired through group features and events, or via purchase from staff members and permitted artists. Playable characters may also be acquired secondhand through player-to-player resales, trades, or gifts based on each character's allowed transfer methods, as listed on their individual profiles.
Lythbound characters are not active or playable in-game until they have been created using the relevant items. Users may use non-playable characters — also called "NPCs" — as background props in prompts, but may not receive "Standard Character" or "Simple Character" currency rewards, unless a prompt specifies that this is allowed. Further information regarding NPCs is available here.
During the acquisition process, users may not shame or harass the seller or other interested parties, in an attempt to become the sole interested party. Comments made with such intentions may be edited or deleted at the community moderators' discretions. (30 - 80 points)
Transferral
Characters purchased from approved Lythbound designers are not refundable. Sales transactions are final. Individuals may not purposefully file a chargeback after they have fully paid for a character. They will receive infraction points for such actions, as well as have ownership of said character revoked. (50 - 100 points)
Users may not resell a purchased character for more than its original price, plus any commissioned artwork value and/or character upgrade value. Resales of characters with significant work on their unlocks or with extra art done by the owner may be resold at a higher price than the original sale price, as well. Extra art and game progress may be priced at the owner's discretion and what they deem to be fair. However, we highly discourage scalping practices and repeated patterns of such behavior may result in disciplinary action. (50 - 100 points)
Characters earned via in-game events, free giveaways, or otherwise not originally created and received in exchange for real-life money may be traded, gifted, or sold for the value of commissioned artwork, extra art done by the owner, and/or game progress only. (50 - 100 points)
Items and currency in the Lythbound game — including those purchased for real-life money and earned via in-game mechanics — may not be sold at any time, but may still be gifted or traded for art, characters unaffiliated with games, or other Lythbound characters and items. (50 - 100 points)
Trading Lythbound game currency and/or items with another game/website's content is allowed if: the other game allows off-site trading, is not currently in alpha/beta, and does not allow the trade of that content for real-life money. (50 - 100 points)
Lythbound staff does not take responsibility or liability for this type of trade, however, players found to be scamming via cross-site trades will have their Lythbound account banned. (100 points)
Trading playable characters in Lythbound is allowed. After transferring a character over to another player, the previous owner no longer has control of that character's development in the game. The new owner has the rights to the character and any changes they wish to make. When receiving a character from a trade or as a gift, it retains its original selling price and may still be resold, with an optional extra charge for art and/or game progress.
Visitors who are unable to transfer via the in-game function should inform Lythbound staff if and when a character is traded or resold. This can be done by contacting Lythbound on another platform, such as Discord, DeviantArt, or Toyhou.se.
Co-ownership
The official character index will only list one owner. Co-ownership is not officially recognized by Lythbound and we are not responsible for any disputes over design ownership resulting from co-ownership.
User-Created Content
In-Game Assets
Names including but not limited to those of playable characters, companions, pets, shops, and guilds must be appropriate. Those deemed inappropriate will result in the asset being renamed. (20 - 50 points)
Submissions
Users may post content as long as it is not obscene, illegal, defamatory, threatening, infringing of intellectual property rights, invasive of privacy or injurious in any other way to third parties. It must also follow relevant guidelines outlined in the terms and other supplementary rules. (30 - 100 points)
Group and ARPG artwork, writing, and other submitted content must be appropriate for ages 13 and up. Gore, nudity, and implied sexual content should be tagged and hidden/spoilered. (30 - 70 points)
Content submitted for the ARPG must be original work or the player must have proper permission to use content submitted to the group. Stolen or traced artwork is strictly prohibited and may result in a suspension or ban from the game. (50 - 100 points)
We reserve the right to edit and/or remove content which does not follow the guidelines outlined in the terms and in supplementary rules. (10 - 100 points)
Copyright
Content created by Lythbound or its affiliated creators and published on the Lythbound website — including but not limited to digital downloads, images, texts, graphics, logos, etc. — is the property of Lythbound and/or its content creators and protected by applicable copyright and trademark laws. The entire compilation of the aforementioned content found on this website is the property of Lythbound and/or the content creators.
Players who submit user-generated content — user profiles, Lythian profiles, character concepts and designs, stories, and any other content created by a player — retain full ownership of this content submitted by them.
By creating or purchasing a Lythbound character design, players agree that Lythbound retains the copyright and trademark of the species, lore, and branding; however, Lythbound does not make claim to the characters or designs inspiring derivative content created with Lythbound's provided bases, species, concepts, etc.
Users are free to use their Lythbound character designs outside of the Lythbound game, for non-commercial purposes. These individual designs are owned by the users and thus we do not restrict their use in non-commercial activities, including but not limited to: using the characters/designs in role play outside of Lythbound canon, using the characters/designs in other art roleplay games, etc. For discussions about commercial usage, please contact us on one of our platforms.
In the event of a ban, a user account may be permanently prohibited in participating in Lythbound and/or its adjacent activities. However, at no point will Lythbound or Jackalune ever repossess or retract any designs the user owns that were previously purchased or created via Lythbound. The only exception is in the case of a chargeback or situation where payment is returned to the intended purchaser of a character; said character is not considered owned by that individual, as they did not complete the purchase.
Code of Conduct
Platform Usage
Spam — unsolicited messages sent to a large number of recipients or posted in high quantities — are not permitted on our site, Discord, or any other online presences. (10 - 30 points)
Abuse of the ticket system is not permitted. (10 - 30 points)
Abuse of the notification system is not permitted. (10 - 30 points)
Users may discuss other ARPGs, post outgoing links to appropriate websites, and promote their own work, but blatant advertising of competing games — personally owned or otherwise — is considered poor etiquette and is heavily frowned upon. While Lythbound may occasionally promote other ARPGs, they will be ones the staff have collaborated with, personally endorse, or can vouch for. This is for the safety of our members, as well as to maintain site integrity. (10 - 50 points)
Cheating, creating falsified numbers regarding in-game assets, or taking advantage of website bugs or exploits, will result in an immediate ban from the game. (100 points)
In the event that you accidentally happen across any bugs in the Lythbound site in terms of security, games, programming, or other areas, we request that you immediately report it to staff. Please do not privately share the information with other users or exploit it for personal gain. You may contact us via Discord or by filing a Support Ticket. Upon receiving the information, we will fix the error as soon as possible. Any users who accidentally received the benefits of an exploit but report it will not be penalized.
Lythbound retains the right to refuse service to individuals who align themselves with the following groups, and/or related views which have historically oppressed either vulnerable communities or individuals who cannot express consent: "problematic ship/fiction/etc"; fascism; alt-right ideologies, pro-law enforcement ideologies, or other white supremacist ideologies. (50 - 100 points)
Player Interactions
Harassment of any kind will not be tolerated. This includes, but is not limited to: homophobic, transphobic, racist, ableist, or otherwise hateful language. This applies everywhere in any context, not just to statements directed at other players. Using such will result in disciplinary action. (50 - 100 points)
Players can choose who they interact with in-game and cannot pressure others to play with their characters specifically. The Lythbound website offers a block function to assist in this. Block evasion often leads to harassment and is not allowed within Lythbound. (10 - 30 points)
Players are strongly discouraged from posting guilting or begging messages on any platforms. Begging for characters, other players' characters, currency, or items will result in a warning. (10 - 30 points)
Players may offer gifts to new members for signing up using their referral code. However, new or existing members may not request gifts in exchange for using an individual as their referral. (50 - 100 points)
Scamming or any attempt to scam any user will not be tolerated. (30 - 100 points)
Players are encouraged to help one another with the game but are discouraged from "mini-modding" or acting in place of a moderator. Please allow staff moderators to answer user questions that require staff attention, as well as handle disagreements that occur. (10 - 30 points)
Conduct between users should remain respectful at all times and disagreements or altercations should be reported to a member of moderation staff so that defusal of the situation may occur and disciplinary action may be taken if necessary. (10 - 50 points)
Moderation staff have the right to warn, suspend, and/or ban those who break these Terms of Service, supplementary rules, or who create significant game disruptions. This is defined subjectively by the moderation team.
Possible Punishments
Lythbound and its affiliated creators ask that you respect the terms and conditions, rules, and supplementary guidelines. We reserve the right to suspend or ban users that break these terms or the rules of the game, or who create issues within the game that are not defined by these terms. Refusal to abide by these terms or any supplementary rules will result in action by the moderation staff such as the following:
Public or Private Reminder (at 0 - 40 points)
First-time offenders of lesser infractions or those who appear close to breaking a rule may receive a reminder. We aim to resolve most matters privately — as to not call out users — though may have to do so publicly depending on the situation.
Official Warning (at 50 points)
Warnings are for serious or repeated infractions and will be delivered to the user privately on the Lythbound site. It will point out which rules were broken and will remind the user to review our Terms of Service.
Temporary Community Suspension (at 50 points)
The user will be muted in our community Discord and unable to participate in community-related portions of the site (comments, blogs, messaging, etc). This means they may still use the Discord server to receive news notifications or view community posts, but may not post anything. This also means a temporary ban from any ongoing Discord games. The user may be unsuspended after one month of no infractions.
Account Ban (at 100 points)
While this is a last resort, the moderation team will ban users who repeatedly break the rules or commit a serious violation. They will lose access to their account and all their current ARPG progress. It is possible to appeal a ban by submitting a Support Ticket, but Lythbound makes no guarantee that a ban will be lifted due to an appeal.
Permanent Ban (at 100+ points)
For users who appear to have no interest in following our guidelines, they will be banned from making any accounts on the Lythbound site, as well as blocked on all our other online presences.
