Endless Visual Novel ("EndlessVN") is owned and operated by Augnition Oy (on this page as "Augnition", "we", "us"). Augnition Oy is a private company registered in Helsinki, Finland.
This policy applies to the following:
This is the version 1.2.0 of this Privacy Policy, updated on 01.09.2022 (dd.mm.yyyy) and is effective since 01.09.2022 (dd.mm.yyyy).
This Privacy Policy is updated frequently as the game is development further and features are added. Updated Privacy Policy must be accepted to continue the use of the Services. Updates to the Privacy Policy can be announced in one or multiple ways including: email, Discord message or by notice on the Website or Game Client. Users will be given advance notice for major changes (not incl. wording or other stylistic changes done for clarity) and a "diff" stating the changes between versions will be provided through a public git repository.
For any questions about the privacy policy or the terms of service, please contact us by email at support@endlessvn.io.
To operate EndlessVN we collect certain information and personal data about our users. Some information is strictly necessary, such as an email address used to login to the website and client (for registered users), and some is more of a statistical importance to provide a better service and user experience.
We are committed to putting your privacy first and to not collect any information we do not need. We will never share your information to third parties beyond what is necessary to provice the service (e.g. handling payments through Stripe).
This Privacy Policy answers questions about:
We consider all personal data we collect to be confidential. Your data can only be accessed by selected Augnition employees when it is necessary for them to perform their work related to your data. We only collect and store information necessary to provide, develop and improve the service.
In order to play EndlessVN, you must register / create an account on the EndlessVN website. Your account information consists of an email address, which is used as the account identifier, and of a passphrase.
Your email address is also used as for communication from us to you. You may receive email from devs@endlessvn.io directly or through Mailchimp.
In addition to authenticating you to the website and Game Client, your email address is used for linking a purchase of a paid plan to your account. Purchases of paid plans are handled through Stripe. When you purchase a plan a customer relation is created in Stripe, which stores information including but not limited to payment method and subscription status (active/cancelled).
Our authentication service accesses your subscription status when you login to the website and Game Client in order to open or limit access to certain content.
While you play EndlessVN your choices and other inputs to the game are stored in a Game Save and used as the context for generating additional content. Your Game Save is encrypted while stored on our servers. For more information see sections 5.1, 5.2.
Interactions with the Game Server though the Game Client are logged for debugging purposes. The logs are anonymized and can be connected to a specific user only by the request of the user in question.
The EndlessVN website and game client require the use of functional cookies and javascript to authenticate registered users. Blocking these features may render the site and client unusable.
EndlessVN uses necessary functional cookies to store login information on registered users. This is used to authenticate the user to access specific features and to make it possible to transfer from the website to the game client seamlessly.
The EndlessVN website and game client uses a privacy compliant cookieless analytics solution visitor-analytics.io. This gives us statistics such as the number of visitors, most used browsers and split between desktop and mobile devices.
We use Mailchimp to deliver the EndlessVN Newsletter and to mass inform our registered users when necessary (e.g. changes to the Terms of Services). Mailchimp includes analytics in the emails, which lets us see "marketing performance" like open and click-through rates for our emails. It also allows us to see which individual adresses have opened the email, and we're not sure what to think of that. If you can recommend a more privacy aware mass emailing solution, please contact us at devs@endlessvn.io. For more information see Mailchimp's privacy policy.
In some cases you may also receive email directly from devs@endlessvn.io.
We consider all personal data we collect to be confidential. Your data can only be accessed by selected Augnition employees when it is necessary for them to perform their work related to your data.
The network and equipment of Augnition and our service providers have been secured by using appropriate measures to protect the personal data against unauthorised access and accidental or unlawful destruction, alteration, disclosure, transfer or other unlawful forms of processing.
Your data is transmitted over HTTPS and encrypted at rest while on our or our service providers servers.
Your Game Save File is additionally encrypted with a user specific key/hash that is not stored anywhere. This prevents others from accessing your Game Save ("read your story") without access to e.g. account information, game source code and the save files, all of which are logically separated services. Augnition employees will never access your Game Save without your explicit permission, e.g. if shared along a bug report or if published as a public or limited access world for others to play.
This encryption is active when the Game Save is stored on our servers. While the Game Client is running and the Game Save is loaded, the data is unencrypted for the Game Client and Game Server to use.
The Game Save File includes but is not limited to text format AI generated dialogue and other descriptions, user input via AI generated choices and via "Free Input" text as dialogue or as modifications to character and location descriptions.
EndlessVN utilizes open source GPT-J / GPT-NeoX models for the AI generated text content. When content is generated your latest choice or "Free Input" text along with a selection of recent events and character memories from your Game Save are sent to the model as context. The models are run by third party compute providers who are committed to data privacy.
The generation requests do not include any additional information such as user IDs which could be used to link different pieces of input/output to a specific user.
In the future we want to include other, larger and more powerful, models for our users to play with. The providers of these models may require additional conditions to generations, such as content filters or user identifiers. Use of these models will be optional and we will make it clear if they come with any additional conditions.
Your data is stored as long as you have an active paid subscription or maintain an active user on the Free Plan. Unless required by law or other business reasons (e.g. payment records) we will remove your data after a period of inactivity (e.g.6 or 12 months of no logins on user, to be defined in Terms of Service).
Some information such as survey answers may be kept for longer, but it will be aggregated, anonymized or otherwise separated from any personal data such as email addresses.
Your information/data is stored on the servers of Augnition and on the servers of our service providers within the European Economic Area (EEA). The data is not transferred outsite EEA unless required to provide the service (e.g. Stripe, Mailchimp) or when it is served to you over the game client (e.g. you are a registered, logged in, user outside the EEA and are loading a game save stored on our servers) or by other request.
You have the right to request access to, erasing and correcting your personal data as held and processed by Augnition, as well as to send us any other requests based on then applicable data protection laws (e.g. request restriction of processing of the data). Further, you always have the right to prohibit us from sending newsletters or other marketing messages to you. Please send any requests concerning your data to support@endlessvn.io.
We will update this Privacy Policy regularly to keep up with new features as EndlessVN is developed. Changes to the policy will be announced in our official communication channels and the updated policy will be available on the website.
Endless Visual Novel ("EndlessVN") is owned and operated by Augnition Oy (on this page as "Augnition", "we", "us"). Augnition Oy is a private company registered in Helsinki, Finland.
The following terms ("Terms") govern your access and use of the EndlessVN Website (endlessvn.io) and the EndlessVN Game Client (together as "Services" or "Service" where conditions are only applicable to one of them).
The agreement to these Terms is between Augnition and You ("you", "user") as the user of the Services be it as a visitor or as a registered user account.
Agreement to these Terms stands until either you or Augnition elects to terminate this agreement according to the Termination section of the Terms. If the agreement is terminated, you must cease to use the Services and your account and data will eventually be deleted (unless otherwise required by law, e.g. billing records).
This is the version 1.2 of these Terms, updated on 30.08.2022 (dd.mm.yyyy) and is effective since 01.09.2022 (dd.mm.yyyy).
These Terms are updated frequently as the game is development further and features are added. Updated Terms must be accepted to continue the use of the Services. Updates to the Terms can be announced in one or multiple ways including: email, Discord message or by notice on the Website or Game Client. Users will be given advance notice for major changes (not incl. wording or other stylistic changes done for clarity) and a "diff" stating the changes between versions will be provided through a public git repository.
For any questions about the privacy policy or the terms of service, please contact us by email at support@endlessvn.io.
Endless Visual Novel is in an Open Alpha state of development, and is by no means considered feature complete. You understand that features of the game may change, be added or removed at frequent intervals and without notice. There may be bugs that halt your gameplay and some changes to the game features may cause loss of your data or otherwise render your Game Save invalid.
We will adjust our content generation services during the Open Alpha. Content generation may at first appear sluggish under the load from increased player counts. We recommend trying out the game on Free Tier first, and only purchasing Paid Subscriptions if you want to support the development.
As the development of the game advances and features change, the pricing of Paid Subscriptions may be adjusted. Users of Paid Subscriptions will be notified in advance if the pricing is increased.
The EndlessVN Game Client requires a user account to play. The accounts are created on the EndlessVN Website. Personal data related to the account is handled as mentioned in Privacy Policy section 3.1.
All accounts start on the Free Tier subscription. Some features of EndlessVN are limited to Paid Subscriptions as listed on the Pricing section of the website. User will have access to the said features as long as they maintain a valid subscription status (See section 4. Payments and Charges) and an active user account. User account is considered active if it has a valid Paid Subscription or has logged in and used the Services in the last 6 months.
Paid Subscriptions do not give exclusive access to the features of the specific subscription tier. Features may be made freely available to other subscription tiers permanently or for a limited time period (e.g. through a "free week or weekend"). Users of Paid Subscriptions will not be reimbursed for the duration of the features being made freely available.
The Services are licensed through the Free Tier and Paid Subscriptions, not sold. We reserve the right to cancel access to the Services if these Terms are breached.
The EndlessVN user accounts are for personal use only. You must not share your account credentials with anyone else, nor use an account that doesn't belong to you. Ownership of user accounts cannot be transferred. Paid Subscriptions are account specific and likewise cannot be transferred between accounts. Attempting to chain free trials to Paid Subscriptions by creating multiple accounts may lead to permanent ban of all accounts involved.
The Services may only be accessed through the EndlessVN Website and Game Client graphical user interface (GUI) as intended by the developers. You may not attempt to access APIs or other backend resources outside the Website and Game Client, nor programmatically within the Services. You may not automate gameplay programmatically nor through use of software or hardware autoclickers nor other systems in a way that would cause excessive load on our APIs and systems.
Text generated as part of gameplay based on your choices and other actions as a player, including character and location descriptions from Prompted Worlds, user input as "Free Input" to dialogue, as "Custom Actions" and as user edits to AI generated character and location descriptions, is yours to keep and use as you wish. Note that the AI may potentially generate similar outputs in similar situations to other players.
You may not save and download assets from the Website (images, logos etc.) nor from the Game Client (character sprites, background images, music etc.) for use outside the game. This does not apply to sharing of gameplay through screenshots, video or streaming, or to use in reviews and similar media purposes. For official versions of logos and other such assets you may send us email at devs@endlessvn.io.
Users can export and import worlds and characters using said features in the Game Client. Exported world files are encrypted and cannot be accessed outside the Game Client to prevent malicious acts. As of 30.8.2022 worlds are mainly shared via the EndlessVN Discord community. EndlessVN does not host nor distribute user shared content beyond encrypted Game Saves, which do not contain user shared assets such as character sprites.
When sharing worlds, sprites or other assets for others to use, the creator retains all rights to the shared content.
When downloading shared worlds or any other files shared by the community, users should take care in inspecting the contents of the download for malicious files. It's recommend to only download shared worlds from trusted friends.
If you come across any malicious content on the EndlessVN Discord, please contact us by tagging @devs, via Discord DM or by email at support@endlessvn.io.
Users may replace game generated character sprites with their own. Replaced sprites are stored in the user's browser and are not uploaded to the EndlessVN servers.
As an exception to the above we may promote certain user shared worlds to "Official Worlds" and make them available for all players through the Game Client. In this case we manually review the content and the world creator(s) license the content for us to use. Further details may be discussed with the world creators on a case by case basis.
The EndlessVN Game Client runs in a browser on a desktop device. The Game Client has been lightly tested to work on recent versions of Chrome, Firefox, and Brave browsers. Users should test performance of the Game Client on their devices using the Free Tier before purchasing Paid Subscriptions. A constant network connection is required to play.
The Game Client automatically downloads and caches game assets and content (character sprites, background images, music etc.) during gameplay. Downloaded assets are temporarily stored on your device / browser cache and may be automatically removed upon closing the Game Client for an extended time period or by clearing your browser cache.
Disk space requirements are not defined. Automatic downloading of the assets may cause extra charges for users on a capped data plans or on otherwise metered networks. The Game Client does not automatically download anything while the browser tab is closed.
The EndlessVN is available as an online service anywhere you can access the Website and the Game Client. User alone is responsible for meeting the Technical Requirements (3.4) for using the Services.
The Services may be periodically unavailable for a limited time due to (but not limited to) updates and changes to Services or to networks and computer systems related to delivering or hosting the Services, routine maintenance, technical faults and errors. Downtime may also be caused by situations outside our control (e.g. problem at our service providers).
Users of Paid Subscriptions shall not be reimbursed for the downtime unless it is excessive (7 days or more). Downtime of game features that are not core to the experience (i.e. features not related logins, text generation and asset pipelines) will not be reimbursed. Potential reimbursement can be done as discounts and coupons that count toward future invoices of the Paid Subscriptions.
The EndlessVN Website and Game Client are updated frequently with fixes and new features. You agree to receive these updates and to only use the latest available version of the Services. Updates involving new features may include changes to the Privacy Policy and to the Terms of Service. These changes must be accepted in order to keep using the Services.
User data related to the user accounts is stored in our systems as long as the account is valid (3.1) or as otherwise required. User data may also remain in system backups for an extended period of time.
Game Saves stored in our systems are encrypted using a user specific secure key, which is created after the user logs in to the Game Client. They key is not stored anywhere. This means the contents of the Game Saves are inaccessible to anyone not in possession of the specific user's account information. For more details see Privacy Policy section 5.1.
If you wish to delete your user account and have your information removed from our systems, please contact us at support@endlessvn.io from the same email address as used on your account. A way to do this on your own will be added to the Website and announced on a later date.
You can give us feedback and suggestions about the Services through our Discord community and through other channels. You agree that we may use your feedback and ideas, including code samples, partly or in its entirety without any compensation or credit.
Should you come across any security issues that can lead to unauthorised or unauthenticated access to user data, the Services or game assets, please inform us via email to support@endlessvn.io. You may be rewarded with e.g. a free access to otherwise Paid Subscriptions or otherwise.
Note that unless explicitly agreed with us in advance, you may not use penetration testing tools and other automated systems in a way that could cause undue strain or similar harm to our systems and networks in a way unlike the strain caused by intended gameplay.
Customer support is available through email as support@endlessvn.io. Augnition does not have full time support personnel nor specified business hours. We'll attempt to answer all emails in due time. You may also ask for community support on Discord and tag @devs if it's urgent.
Certain features of EndlessVN require a Paid Subscription as listed on the EndlessVN Website. We use Stripe as our payments processor.
To purchase a Paid Subscription you must first create an account on the EndlessVN website, and then select one of the subscription tiers on the Pricing section of the Website. The payment is handled through Stripe and a checkout session opens in the same browser tab within a few seconds.
The Paid Subscription is automatically linked to the user account through the account's email address. This address is visible on the checkout session and cannot be changed. It is currently not possible to purchase Paid Subscriptions for any other account than yours.
Paid Subscriptions are purchased as monthly billing schedules. We may also offer a yearly billing schedule where for a substantial discount you commit to a year of subscription.
A potential discount coupon can be applied during the checkout session. Note that it is not possible to apply a discount coupon to an ongoing subscription, but one must first cancel their subscription and wait to the end of the billing period, then purchase the subscription again using the coupon.
If you have an active Paid Subscription to EndlessVN, links to Manage your subscription can be found in the Pricing section of the website and under the "Account" button of the navbar.
Like purchasing of subscriptions, management and cancelling is also handled through Stripe. A Stripe customer portal will open on the same browser tab in a few seconds after clicking on the "Manage Subscription" button on the Website.
On the customer portal, you can choose to update/change your subscription to a different Paid Subscription Tier, or to cancel your Paid Subscription. Your subscription status, meaning access to the Tier's features, stays valid until the end of the billing period (month / year). Subscriptions can be resumed after cancelling, if done before the end of the billing period. Afterwards a new subscription must be purchased to access the Tier's features.
Cancelling Paid Subscriptions puts you back on Free Tier.
Upgrading or downgrading a Paid Subscription (Voyager to Creator or vice versa) results in prorated charges as explained in the Stripe documentation:
"Changes to a subscription such as upgrading or downgrading can result in prorated charges. For example, if a customer upgrades from a 10 USD per month subscription to a 20 USD option, they're charged prorated amounts for the time spent on each option. Assuming the change occurred halfway through the billing period, the customer is billed an additional 5 USD: -5 USD for unused time on the initial price, and 10 USD for the remaining time on the new price."
If you wish to move from Creator to Voyager, but to keep the Creator features till the end of the billing period, either cancel the Creator subscription and purchase a Voyager subscription after the end of the billing period, or update the plan at the end of the billing period.
Our Paid Subscriptions grant you immediate access to our Services that have running costs and are unlike a product that you could return to us, which is why we offer no refunds unless explicitly granted by us. If you decide to cancel your Paid Subscription you will not be charged at the start of the billing period and will have access to the features of the subscription Tier until the end of the billing period.
Refunds or reimbursements may be granted under special circumstances on our decision, such as if a user somehow manages to purchase two Paid Subscriptions at once.
We recommend you try the game on the Free Tier first before purchasing a Paid Subscription.
We may offer a limited time Free Trial for the Paid Subscriptions for users to try out the paid features before committing to the Subscription. Free Trials require payment information when subscribing, and the user will be automatically billed for future use after the end of the Free Trial period. Users may cancel their Subscription for free at any time during the Free Trial period.
Free Trials are offered once per user. Attempting to chain free trials to Paid Subscriptions by creating multiple accounts may lead to permanent ban of all accounts involved.
We may change the length of the Free Trial period as we see fit without advance notice. New length of the Free Trial period appies only to new subscriptions. Users with existing Free Trials will not have their Free Trial periods cut nor extended.
Our Services come with no warranty of any kind and you agree to waive any potential warranties. Augnition shall not be liable nor responsible for any kind of damages caused by or related to the use of our Services, nor for any act or failure to act except when explicitly set in these Terms, unless caused by our gross negligence or willful misconduct. You agree to indemnify Augnition of all liability from the Services.
If you wish to terminate this agreement, you may do so by cancelling any Paid Subscriptions and by ceasing to use our Services.
We may also terminate this agreement and your access to our Services, with or without notice, should your account breach these Terms, or otherwise engage in misconduct, including but not limited to attempting to copy, modify, decompile, reverse-engineer, resell or misrepresent the Services or brand of EndlessVN or Augnition. We may do so for any other reasonable cause, effective immediately.
Terminating this agreement by you or us does not revoke any of the rights granted to us under these Terms, such as but not limited to rights over user submitted content, warranty disclaimers, waivers, limitations of liability nor indemnitification.