Terms of Service

Introduction & Acceptance of Terms

Welcome to Epic Joysticks, an online visual novel game portal operated by epicjoysticks.com. These Terms of Service constitute a binding legal agreement between you and epicjoysticks.com regarding your use of our website, services, and visual novel platform. By accessing, browsing, or using our services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these terms.

We are a curated portal specializing in premium visual novels, interactive storytelling experiences, and narrative-driven games. Our mission is to connect story enthusiasts with exceptional interactive fiction through carefully selected collections, bundles, and community features. The scope of these terms covers all interactions with our platform, including game browsing, purchases, community participation, and content access.

If you disagree with any part of these terms, you must discontinue use of our services immediately. Your continued use of our platform constitutes ongoing acceptance of these terms and any future modifications we may make in accordance with the change procedures outlined herein.

Description of Services

Epic Joysticks provides a comprehensive visual novel portal offering curated game collections, premium bundles, community features, and interactive storytelling resources. Our services include game discovery tools, personalized recommendations, purchase facilitation, progress tracking, community forums, reviews and ratings systems, and access to exclusive content and bundles.

We serve as both a curation platform and a marketplace, connecting users with high-quality visual novels from various developers and publishers. Our platform provides detailed game information, user reviews, compatibility data, and purchase options. We also offer community features including forums, user-generated content sharing, and social interaction tools designed for visual novel enthusiasts.

Service availability may vary by geographic location, device compatibility, and technical requirements. While we strive for consistent uptime, we do not guarantee uninterrupted service and reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of our services for maintenance, improvements, or business reasons.

Our platform is designed for users aged 13 and older, with appropriate content filtering and age verification systems in place. Some visual novels may contain mature themes and carry age ratings that we clearly display to help users make informed choices.

Account Registration & Security

To access certain features of our platform, you must create an account by providing accurate, complete, and current information including your email address, username, and other required details. You are responsible for maintaining the accuracy of your account information and must promptly update any changes to ensure continued service access.

Account security is your responsibility. You must choose a strong password, keep your login credentials confidential, and notify us immediately of any unauthorized access or security breaches. You are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your account, whether authorized by you or not. We are not liable for any losses resulting from unauthorized use of your account.

We reserve the right to terminate accounts that violate these terms, engage in fraudulent activity, or pose security risks to our platform or other users. Account termination may result in loss of access to purchased content, community contributions, and personalized settings, subject to applicable consumer protection laws.

One person may maintain only one active account unless specifically authorized by us. Creating multiple accounts to circumvent restrictions, manipulate reviews, or engage in other prohibited activities will result in immediate termination of all associated accounts.

Portal Usage Policies

Our platform provides access to visual novels through legitimate purchase channels and authorized distribution partnerships. You may access games you have legally purchased or that are provided as free content by developers. Sharing account credentials, redistributing purchased content, or attempting to circumvent payment systems is strictly prohibited.

Community participation must follow our guidelines: treat all users with respect, provide honest and constructive reviews, avoid spam or promotional content unrelated to visual novels, respect intellectual property rights, and maintain appropriate content standards in all communications. Harassment, discrimination, or abusive behavior toward other community members will result in immediate action.

When participating in forums, comments, or user-generated content features, you retain ownership of your original contributions but grant us a non-exclusive license to display, distribute, and moderate your content as necessary for platform operation. All content must comply with applicable laws and our community standards.

We employ content moderation to maintain a positive community environment. This includes automated systems and human review of reported content. We reserve the right to remove content, restrict accounts, or take other enforcement actions when necessary to maintain community standards.

Payments, Billing & Refunds

All purchases are processed through secure payment systems with industry-standard encryption. We accept various payment methods including credit cards, debit cards, and digital wallets as displayed during checkout. Prices are clearly shown in your local currency where possible, and all taxes and fees are disclosed before purchase completion.

For premium bundles and subscription services, billing occurs according to the terms disclosed at purchase. You authorize us to charge your payment method for all applicable fees unless you cancel according to our cancellation procedures. Failure to pay fees may result in service suspension or termination.

Refund eligibility depends on the type of purchase, time since purchase, and applicable consumer protection laws. Digital content purchases are generally non-refundable once downloaded or accessed, but we may provide refunds for technical issues, billing errors, or in other circumstances at our discretion. Refund requests should be submitted through our customer support system with detailed justification.

Chargebacks initiated without first contacting our support team may result in account suspension pending resolution. We work collaboratively with users to resolve payment disputes and encourage communication before involving third-party payment processors in dispute resolution.

User Conduct

Acceptable use of our platform includes browsing and purchasing games, participating constructively in community discussions, providing honest reviews and ratings, sharing gameplay experiences and recommendations, and respecting other users' rights and contributions. We encourage positive engagement that enriches the visual novel community.

Prohibited activities include but are not limited to: attempting to hack, compromise, or exploit our systems; sharing or distributing copyrighted content without authorization; creating fake accounts or manipulating reviews; engaging in harassment, discrimination, or abusive behavior; spamming or sending unsolicited communications; violating applicable laws or regulations; and interfering with other users' enjoyment of our services.

We enforce these conduct standards through various measures including warnings, content removal, temporary suspensions, and permanent account termination. The severity of enforcement action corresponds to the nature and frequency of violations, with serious breaches resulting in immediate action.

Users may report violations through our reporting system, and we investigate all reports promptly and fairly. False reporting or abuse of the reporting system may itself result in account penalties. We maintain logs of user activity to support enforcement decisions and appeals processes.

Content & Intellectual Property

All visual novels, games, artwork, music, text, and other content available through our platform are owned by their respective developers, publishers, or licensors. We provide access through legitimate licensing agreements and authorized distribution channels. Users receive limited, non-exclusive rights to access purchased content for personal use only.

Our platform's original content, including website design, logos, text, graphics, user interface, and software, is owned by epicjoysticks.com and protected by intellectual property laws. Users may not reproduce, distribute, modify, or create derivative works from our proprietary content without explicit written permission.

User-generated content, including reviews, forum posts, comments, and shared materials, remains owned by the user but is licensed to us for platform operation. This license includes the right to display, moderate, and distribute user content as necessary for service provision. Users represent that they have necessary rights to any content they submit.

We respect intellectual property rights and respond to valid takedown notices under applicable copyright laws. If you believe your rights have been infringed, please contact us with detailed information about the alleged violation, and we will investigate according to legal requirements.

Disclaimers & Limitation of Liability

Our services are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. We do not guarantee uninterrupted service, error-free operation, or that our platform will meet your specific requirements. While we strive for accuracy in game descriptions and technical information, we cannot warrant the completeness or reliability of third-party content.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, epicjoysticks.com and its affiliates, officers, employees, and partners shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, data, or use, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Our total liability for any claims arising from or relating to these terms or our services shall not exceed the amount you paid us in the twelve months preceding the claim. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain disclaimers or liability limitations, so these provisions may not apply to you to the extent prohibited by applicable law.

We are not responsible for content, products, or services provided by third-party developers, publishers, or other partners. Transactions with third parties are solely between you and those parties, and we disclaim any liability for disputes, defects, or other issues that may arise.

Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms of Service are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Canada, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any disputes arising from or relating to these terms or our services shall be subject to the jurisdiction of Canadian courts, with venue in the province where epicjoysticks.com maintains its principal business operations.

Before initiating formal legal proceedings, we encourage users to contact our support team to resolve disputes through informal negotiation. Many issues can be resolved quickly and satisfactorily through direct communication, avoiding the time and expense of formal legal processes.

For disputes that cannot be resolved informally, we may offer mediation or other alternative dispute resolution methods at our discretion. Such processes are voluntary and do not preclude either party's right to pursue legal remedies if resolution cannot be achieved.

Users residing in jurisdictions with different legal requirements may have additional rights under local consumer protection laws. Nothing in these terms is intended to limit such rights where they cannot be legally waived or restricted.

Changes to Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms of Service at any time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or business practices. When we make material changes, we will notify users through prominent website notices, email communications to registered users, or other appropriate channels at least 30 days before the changes take effect.

The updated terms will be posted on this page with a revised "Last Updated" date. We encourage users to review these terms periodically to stay informed about their rights and obligations. Minor changes, such as corrections or clarifications that do not materially affect user rights, may be implemented immediately without advance notice.

If you disagree with any changes to these terms, you may terminate your account and discontinue using our services. Your continued use of our platform after the effective date of any changes constitutes acceptance of the modified terms. We will not apply changes retroactively to disputes that arose before the effective date of modifications.

For significant changes that materially impact user rights or obligations, we may implement additional notice procedures or transition periods to ensure users have adequate time to understand and respond to the modifications.

Contact Information

For questions, concerns, or disputes regarding these Terms of Service, please contact us using the information provided below. We are committed to addressing user inquiries promptly and working cooperatively to resolve any issues that may arise from your use of our platform.