Terms of Service

1. Who we are and what these terms cover

starting.cc ("the site", "we", "us") is operated from the United States. It sells MW2 online, a Rust rewrite of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 whose subscriber servers are sold as the game plan. The site, the game client and those servers are "the services".

By creating an account, paying, downloading the game client or using any of the services, you agree to these terms, our Privacy Policy and our Refunds and Cancellation policy. If you don't agree, don't use the services.

2. Accounts and age

• You must be 18 or older to create an account or pay. Someone aged 13 to 17 may play through a parent's or guardian's account with their permission; the account holder is responsible for everything done through it. The services are not for children under 13.
• Keep your password and your sign-in to yourself. You are responsible for what happens under your account. Tell us at once if you think someone else has used it.
• One account per person. Your username is shown to us and, as your player name, to other players, so choose one you are happy to show.
• You must give us a working email address: it is how we reach you about billing and changes to these terms.

3. MW2 online

• The game client is free to download. The game plan buys access to our subscriber servers; free servers and rooms hosted by other players need no plan.
• You must own the games it reads. The client reads your own, legally obtained copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and, if you use them, Skate 3 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. It never changes those files and we never distribute them. Minecraft's own files are fetched from Mojang by the client, under Mojang's terms.
• MW2 online is an independent fan project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or supported by Activision, Infinity Ward, Electronic Arts, Take-Two, Rockstar, Mojang or Microsoft. Their names and games are their trademarks and property.
• The game plan is bound to the installs you link, at most 3 per account, and one of them can play on the subscriber servers at a time. A linked install gets a pass that never outlasts the paid period (and lasts at most 30 days) and renews itself while you are subscribed, so cancelling ends play at the end of the paid period.
• Servers, maps, modes and features can change, go offline or be retired at any time. Rooms hosted by other players are theirs, not ours; we do not control them.
• Sponsored servers. A game-plan subscriber can sponsor one of our dedicated servers for $100/month: the server then carries the name, description and banner image they set, and every player who browses it sees them. Sponsored content must follow section 5 and must not advertise anything illegal, and you must have the right to use the image. We may take down content that does not comply or end a sponsorship, and refund the unused part of the period if the fault is not yours. A sponsorship needs an active game plan: without one it is not shown. If the server is retired or changes, we move the sponsorship to a comparable server or refund the unused part.
• The client updates itself when it starts. It reports anonymous crash and usage data to us so we can fix it; what it sends and how to turn it off is in the Privacy Policy.

4. Payments, renewals and cancellation

• Prices are in US dollars. Payments are handled by Stripe; we never see your card number. Taxes may be added where the law requires.
• Subscriptions renew automatically. The game plan and a server sponsorship each charge your card every month, on the renewal date shown on your dashboard, at the price shown when you subscribed, until you cancel. We give at least 30 days' notice by email before a price changes.
• Cancel any time with Manage billing on your dashboard, which opens Stripe's billing portal. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you have paid for; you are not charged again. Refunds are described in the Refunds and Cancellation policy.
• If a payment fails, the plan ends until it succeeds.

5. Acceptable use

You may not, and may not help anyone else to:

• cheat, use hacks, modified clients, aimbots or exploits in MW2 online, or bypass the subscriber check;
• share, sell or lend your account, or a linked install's access;
• harass, threaten or abuse other players, in voice, text, server names, server cards or anything else other people can see; post hateful content; or reveal other people's private information;
• host, upload or share illegal content, malware or content you have no right to;
• attack, overload, probe or interfere with the services, our servers or other players' connections;
• use the services to break any law or anyone else's rights, including the terms of the games you own.

We may remove content, kick or ban players, suspend or close accounts, and refuse service for serious or repeated violations, without refund for the current period.

6. Your content and ours

• What you make stays yours: what you say in chat, the name and card of a room you host. You give us only the permission we need to host it, run it, show it to the people you share it with, back it up and keep the services working.
• The site, the game client and the servers are ours or used under licence. The client's open-source licences are included in its download. The games it reads belong to their publishers.
• Copyright complaints: email brian@startingsoftware.com with the work you own, where on our services it appears, your contact details, a statement that you believe in good faith the use is not authorised, a statement under penalty of perjury that you are the owner or act for them, and your signature. We remove infringing material and close the accounts of repeat infringers.

7. Availability, changes and ending the services

• The services are run by a very small team and are under active development. Features can change or be withdrawn, servers can be down, and maintenance can happen without notice.
• If we discontinue a paid service, we refund the unused part of your current period.
• You can close your account at any time by emailing brian@startingsoftware.com. Cancel any subscriptions first. We delete your data as the Privacy Policy describes.
• We can close an account that breaks these terms, or that has been inactive and unpaid for over a year, after emailing you.

8. No warranty and limits on our liability

The services are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including that they will be uninterrupted, error-free or fit for a particular purpose. Keep your own backups.

To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, or for lost data, profits or play time. Our total liability for all claims arising from the services in any 12-month period is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in that period and US $50.

Some places do not allow these limits; where that is the case, they apply only as far as the law allows. If you are a consumer in the European Union or the United Kingdom, nothing here removes the protections your local law gives you.

9. Indemnity

If a third party brings a claim against us because of content you hosted or shared, or because you broke these terms or the law, you agree to cover the resulting costs, including reasonable legal fees.

10. Disputes and governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the United States and of the state from which we operate, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. If you have a problem, write to brian@startingsoftware.com first: we want to sort it out directly, and most things can be. Either of us may bring a claim in small-claims court. EU and UK consumers may also rely on the courts and dispute bodies of the country they live in.

11. Changes to these terms

We may change these terms. The date at the top says when. For changes that matter to you, we email every account holder at least 14 days before they take effect. Using the services after that is acceptance. If you don't accept a change, cancel and close your account before it takes effect.

12. Contact

brian@startingsoftware.com