Terms of service

MetroLord ("we", "us") is a pixel city on the web where anyone can lease a building and put their own signs, colours and pictures on it. By using the site, signing in or leasing a building, you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, please don't use the site.

What a lease is

Leasing a building gives you the right to choose what that building shows in the city (its signs, wall colour, billboard and posters) for the length you paid for. That's all it is: you don't own the building, the plot or anything outside MetroLord, it isn't an investment, and it can't be sold or transferred to anyone else.

Your account

You need an account to lease a building. Use an email you can read, keep your password to yourself, and you're responsible for what happens on your account. You must be old enough to make a payment yourself, or have a parent or guardian's permission. What we keep about you is in the privacy policy.

Paying and renewing

• Leases are paid up front, once, through Stripe. Prices are in US dollars and shown before you pay.
• Your lease starts when Stripe confirms the payment, not when you leave the checkout page.
• Prices change over time: a building's price goes up each time a new member leases it, and comes down the longer it sits empty. Renewing doesn't raise your price.
• When a lease ends, you have 72 hours in which only you can renew it. After that the building goes back on the market and your signs and pictures come down. If you lease the same building again later, they come back.

Refunds

• Leases are final. We don't refund time you don't use, including if we remove your account for breaking these terms.
• If someone else leases a building before your payment arrives, or your checkout was cancelled, we refund you in full automatically.
• If you were charged for something that didn't work, contact us and we'll put it right.

What you put on your building

Everything you put up is shown to everyone who visits, so you're responsible for it. Only use names, logos and pictures you have the right to use. By putting something up you let us store it and show it in the city (and in pictures of the city) for as long as it's up.

Don't put up anything that:

• is sexual, or shows violence, gore or self-harm;
• attacks or harasses people, or promotes hate against any group;
• is illegal, or promotes something illegal;
• pretends to be someone else, or uses someone else's trademark or personal details without permission;
• links to scams, malware or anything meant to mislead visitors.

Pictures are checked automatically when you upload them, and anyone can report a building through the contact page. We may take down anything that breaks these rules, and suspend or remove the account that put it up, without warning. We report child sexual abuse material to the authorities.

Fair play

Don't use bots or scripts against the site, inflate a building's click count, try to get around payments or limits, or interfere with other people using the city. Click counts are a rough guide to how much attention a building gets, not a promise of visitors.

The service

We work to keep the city running, but it's provided as it is, without guarantees: it may be down at times, and we may change, add or remove features. If we ever close MetroLord for good, we'll tell members by email first.

As far as the law allows, we aren't liable for indirect or consequential losses, and our total liability to you is limited to what you paid us in the 12 months before the claim. Nothing in these terms takes away rights you have under consumer law that can't be excluded.

Changes and contact

We may update these terms; the date at the top shows when they last changed, and continuing to use the site means you accept the new version. Questions or problems? Get in touch.