Terms and Conditions

Rules about number of accounts

You are only allowed ONE account per person. If you have multiple accounts then some or all of them may be deleted by staff. You'll normally be left with one to play on, but don't assume it would be your main one.

It is perfectly OK for several family members to all play marapets from the same computer/IP. We prefer you use seperate email addresses but if that's impossible then that's fine too. Where several family members play then it's OK to give gifts every so often to each other but accounts that exist ONLY to make mp to give to another family member will be treated as multiple accounts. We advise that where several family members play marapets from the same computer/IP then you maramail one of the staff to let us know. You may also add a note on your profiles for staff.

What should I do if I made multiple accounts by accident or have a spare account from before there was a rule about it?
Let the staff know by making a support ticket or maramailing an admin FROM the extra account(s). They'll be deleted with no penalty to you.


Rules about Accounts

Sharing accounts is NOT allowed. If you give your password to a friend etc then you can't use 48-hour protection to claim back anything they may steal from you.

In the case of two people from the same household sharing an account (for example two sisters, or husband/wife), this is also disallowed as it is unfair to other users to have to compete against an account used by two people. Please play fair! We have no problem however with an account being shared with a young child who isn't able to play the site by themselves.

Selling or trading accounts for mp or items (or real money) is NOT allowed, you may also not give your account away if you are leaving. The account being sold will be deleted and the user buying it will be punished.

Stealing accounts by hacking or scamming is forbidden. The account will be returned to the rightful owner and your own account will be deleted.


Rules about pets

Pets can not be bought, sold or traded for items or mp. This includes selling a costume that is on a pet, and trading a pet for a pet potion. Pets may ONLY be traded for other pets.

Pets with offensive or inappropriate names may be either deleted or have their name changed by staff without warning.

Any pets that are placed in the pound or die and go to the graveyard are available for anyone to adopt. Once you place a pet in the pound (even by accident) you immediately lose all rights of ownership to that pet. If you lose a pet in the pound during transfer etc then the new owner does NOT have to give it back to you. Maramailing them ONCE to ask politely if they would return it is acceptable, anything more is seen as harassment.

Pets may be lent (for avatars etc) for a tip. However, if you wish to use 48-hour protection to claim back a pet that was stolen while lending then you must have maramails to prove that the person borrowing knew that it was a lend and agreed beforehand to return the pet.


Rules about pet trading

Pets may ONLY be traded for other pets. All pet trades should be done through the proper pet trades at Eleka's Castle. All pet trades should be simply trading between 1 - 5 of YOUR pets for 1 - 5 of the OTHER PERSON'S pets. Any complicated twists on this to try and technically get around the no trading for items/mp rule are not allowed.

You may NOT:

* Trade a pet for items or mp. This includes trading for pet potions or enchanted plushies, even if they are immediately used to create a pet when you get them.
* Have someone send you their pet to use a potion etc on, then trade that pet for another pet of theirs
* Sell a costume that is on a pet.
* Offer to make a pet to order (with a potion etc) specifically to trade with another person's pet (ie trade NIY pet)
* Trade a pet plus a name certificate (or plus specified minipets/weapons) for another pet.
* Pay someone a fee/send them a gift to thank them for trading pets with you.


Pet training by others whereby you pay someone else to train a pet in the Gym or School for you is NOT allowed.


Rules about selling and trading

MP and items can NOT be sold for real money or traded for currency of other pet sites etc.

No 'autobuying' programs, scripts, shortcuts etc of any shape or form are to be used when restocking. You can expect your items and mp to be confiscated at the LEAST for using them.

When selling or trading items you may not lie about the value of those items in order to drive the price up. It is primarily up to the buyer to check prices, however outright scamming to sell at inflated prices is against the rules and you may be penalised for doing so. Example: You may charge 1 million mp for an item that is worth 500mp. However, you may NOT tell someone that a 500mp item is worth 1 million mp, that everyone charges that much and that you have already sold 2 at that price.

You should only use the trades for items you are willing to trade. It is against the site rules to list items that are 'not for trade'. These items should instead by in your Gallery if you would like to show them off. It is also against the rules to advertise anything other than the trade lot you have listed in the trades description.


Rules about Contests & Competitions

You may have contests on the forums, provided they are on the Word Games board. You may NOT require an entry fee in the form of mp or items from the users in order to enter your contest.


Rules about Forums, Maramail, and Club Chat

No swearing, obscenity, or any other inappropriate language is allowed.

No using abbreviations etc for swearing (for example putting an F in OMG or LMAO) everyone knows what it stands for.

'Milder' words such as damn, hell, crap are acceptable within reason. You shouldn't use them in topic titles, and you'll get into trouble if you use them in every other post you make.. Use common sense!

No talking about sex or religion. You can post about religion in your journal if you want to.

Discussions of other pet sites are not allowed. This includes posting referral links.

Forum posts have to be suitable for all ages. Subjects not suitable for our younger members should be avoided. You can write about these in journals.

Forum topics must include everyone on the site. This means that topics aimed at a particular person or group of persons exclusively is not allowed. You can make topics aimed at a specific group (for example 'chat for adults' but you can not stop others posting there if they wish.

Spam (pointless and annoying messages), chain letters, etc are not allowed, as is posting pointless messages for the sole purpose of making mp.

Threats and insults to other users will not be tolerated. These will result in forum and/or mail bans, having your account set to an under-13 account (complete ban from all mail, forums and clubs) or in extreme cases contacting your Internet service provider.

You may not ask other users for their password.

You should not post personal information on the forums. This includes information such as surnames, addresses, phone numbers, and instant messenger and email adresses.

Signatures containing inappropriate images or text will be removed.

Linking to sites outside marapets.com IS allowed providing the site linked to is none of the following:

* Other pet sites and online rpg's
* Sites with forums, shoutboxes or other chat features (as they are not moderated by us and therefore may not be suitable for younger users)
* Sites not suitable for all ages
* Sites with paid advertisements (sites with free ads added by the host, for example geocities ads are fine)
* Sites requiring login using a username and password for each user (can be used in scamming to steal accounts)
* Any other clearly inappropriate sites, for example those containing information on cheats etc

Please remember that the staff can and will delete any posts or topics that do not adhere to the rules or are not appropriate. Marapets is a friendly place where people come to relax and so topics containing argument for the sake of argument, or otherwise are not against the rules but are felt to not be suitable are likely to be deleted. Your help in keeping the forums clean by reporting inappropriate topics (via the report link on posts) is much appreciated.


Rules about Roleplay Forums

Posts on the roleplay forums must follow the general forum rules, in addition the following applies:

The following is banned in roleplays:

* Romance
* Anything with dorms/sleepovers etc
* 'Real people' roleplays such as highschools, beach parties, families, etc
* Excessive violence

The entire idea of role playing centers around pretending to be something you aren't really, therefore, role plays involving being a teenager are not really in the spirit of the forum. Role playing as a babbling, crying baby is also not what we had in mind. Try using your creativity to explore rp as a wolf, an elf, a dragon, an anime character, etc. Topics outside of the spirit of the forum will be removed.

In addition, users posting on a roleplay should follow any rules set out by the roleplay starter given in their first post.

You may NOT limit roleplays on the forums to specific users, however you ARE allowed to limit them by literacy. For example requiring all posts on a roleplay to be written with proper attention to spelling and grammar and to be long and descriptive rather than single line posts is allowed.


Rules about Marasites and Journals

Content on marasites must be appropriate for all ages. Journals are intended for a slightly older audience and therefore the rules concerning them are more relaxed, but the general spirit of the rules still applies (ie Report me I am Spammingscenity, outright offensiveness, etc)

Covering the ads on marasites journals is not allowed.

You may not have your own paid advertisements.

Linking to sites outside marapets.com IS permitted providing the site linked to is appropriate (see Forum rules section for a list of inappropriate types of site). If you are unsure whether you are allowed to link to a specific site then please maramail one of the staff and ask.


Rules about Graphics and HTML code
Marapets images may be used and altered freely within the Marapets network sites (marapets.com, marasites.com etc). If you wish to use marapets images on another website then you must include a copyright notice such as 'Copyright 2004-2007 Marapets.com All Rights Reserved. Used With Permission'

Regarding members own original artwork and html code (ie marasite and club layouts etc)

Artwork and code may be sold or traded for mp or items. Any material sold in this way should be either your own original work or art which you have PERMISSION to edit and has been edited to be significantly different. For example you may NOT simply steal another member's siggy and sell it! Art or code which you have bought may be edited for your own use however.

If you buy art or code for mp (for example a layout for your club) and it includes a tag saying 'made by etc' then you should not remove this. If you significantly alter the layout/art yourself then you may change it to a tag such as 'based on work by etc'

When you sell your original artwork and code on marapets, you are giving up your rights to it. You may not specify how it is to be used etc.

You may not steal another member's siggy, profile images, club and marasite images or layout or content. However, members should also not claim that images which are in the public domain (for example that they found on the net on another site) are their own original work which must not be used by others

Ideas MAY NOT be 'copyrighted' on marapets - for example if you think of an original idea for your siggy and then another member copies the idea (but uses their own artwork) then that is not grounds for reporting them.


Rules about Referrals

Referrals are to be gained from inviting other people to the site only. You may not cheat them by creating multiple accounts yourself.

As prizes are given for referrals, you may only refer from one account. A second account created to get a second set of referral prizes is against the rules.

You may not gain referrals by 'referral scamming'. That is, by lieing and telling people that signing up to marapets will get them money or currency from other pet sites etc.

Buying and selling referrals for items or mp IS allowed. However it is done at your own risk and is therefore not advised. Users caught scamming by deliberately taking mp for referrals they never intend to get will be penalised. However, referrals are not included in 48-hour protection so if you pay someone to get you referrals and they dont then you will not be refunded.


Other Rules

You may not abuse any glitches on the site. If you notice a glitch then please report it to the staff, do NOT attempt to 'test' it first

No form of hacking, scamming or otherwise misusing the site is allowed. Anyone found to be doing so will have their account deleted immediately.

No 'cheat programs' of any description are permitted. This includes (but is not limited to) autobuyers and auto-refreshers.

Account upgrades may not be traded for mp or items. It is of course perfectly OK to sell the items you recieve from an upgrade, but you may not go onto another users account with their permission in order to buy them an entire upgrade. Upgrades may be given as gifts by emailing marapets and arranging to have an upgrade sent to a different user.


Rules about Rules

These rules are NOT subject to discussion, optional, or applying only to some members.

Additional rules may be added as it becomes necessary. Any major changes will be posted in the news.
Last Updated 25 January 2007