Only Humans Score Only Humans Score

These terms govern the optional paid Pass — the only part of the platform where you are known to us. The public game is free, anonymous, and keeps no account. Buying a Pass is the moment, and the only moment, you choose to cross from anonymous play into a named customer relationship.

1. Two surfaces, one wall

The platform has two distinct surfaces:

• The free game — open to all, anonymous, no account, no identity stored. Every player receives a digital birth-certificate credential on first playthrough and a digital lei when they win, with no personal information required.
• The paid Pass — governed by these terms. Here, and only here, we learn who you are, because a physical prize has to be mailed somewhere.

2. Age & who may take part

You must be at least 13 years old to use the site. A neutral age check runs on first visit; anyone under 13 is turned away and may not play. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13 — if we learn we have, we delete it.

Anything that collects personal data is 18+ only. Players aged 13–17 may play the free, same-room game, which is anonymous and keeps no account — but they may not create an account, sign in, join the wall/leaderboard, buy a Pass, receive a physical prize, tip, or otherwise provide us personal information. To buy a Pass you must be 18 or older and able to form a binding contract; the paid surface and every data-collecting feature are adults-only. The age you give is self-declared and taken in good faith — it is a screen, not identity verification.

3. The Passes and what they cost

Weekly Pass — $9.42 / week

Seven days of prize eligibility and paid-tier features (including Fuel). Auto-renews weekly (see §6). The short-commitment door — priciest per day, walk away anytime.

Monthly Pass — $31.69 / month

One month of eligibility and paid-tier features. Auto-renews monthly (see §6).

Annual Pass — $301.69 / year

Twelve months of eligibility and paid-tier features. Auto-renews yearly (see §6).

Lifetime Pass — $3,141.69 (one time)

Permanent eligibility and access for as long as the platform operates, paid once, no renewal. Lifetime holders are memorialized by name on the site’s patrons wall (a deliberate inversion: in a project about who gets to be counted as a person and an author, the people who fund it are the ones whose names are held). Name display is optional and may be a chosen handle; see §5.

The Elite Square — 3.14 BTC (one time)

The apex patron tier, strictly limited in number. A permanent named square on the Founders’ Wall — a literal, fixed place on the site, yours for the operating life of the platform; the most permanent thing offered here. Includes every Lifetime benefit, plus a standing editorial voice: a seat on the patrons’ council and a vote, carrying veto power, over bounded direction decisions — which features ship, which causes the proceeds support, how the prize economy is run. Bounded by design: the Elite Square conveys a voice, a veto, and a square, not the pen. The veto is negative only — it can block a council decision inside the enumerated set, never compel one — and it does not grant control over the project’s core thesis, the author’s manuscript, or any decision that would compromise the platform’s independence; those remain with the author. And yes — in a project about whether money should buy a voice, this tier lets money buy one, and a brake on the rest. That mirror is the point, placed here on purpose.

Prices are in U.S. dollars and do not include any sales tax, which is added at checkout based on your shipping address where required. A Pass is a subscription to eligibility and access, not a guarantee of winning any particular prize. The Lifetime Pass is a one-time purchase, not a subscription; “lifetime” means the operating life of the platform, not a personal guarantee of perpetuity (see §7, §9).

The Elite Square is priced at 3.14 bitcoin (3.14 BTC) and paid in cryptocurrency. Its value in U.S. dollars varies with the market at the moment of payment. Cryptocurrency payments are final and non-reversible: the 14-day refund window does not apply to the Elite Square, which is a final sale. Receiving and holding cryptocurrency may carry tax and reporting consequences for both buyer and Operator; each party is responsible for its own advice.

The patrons’ council (the editorial voice and veto, defined). Each Elite Square carries one seat and one vote on the patrons’ council. The council holds a binding vote over a fixed, enumerated set of decisions: (1) which optional features are built next; (2) which charitable or civic causes the platform’s proceeds support; and (3) how the monthly prize economy is run. Within that same enumerated set, each Elite Square additionally carries a veto: a single seat may block a council decision on (1), (2), or (3). The veto is negative only. It can stop a proposed change inside the enumerated set; it cannot compel an action, cannot override the author on a reserved matter, and cannot reach anything outside the set. A veto that would force a reserved decision, conflict with law, the platform’s independence policy, or child-safety and content rules, or that would block a change the author is legally or contractually obliged to make, is itself void. The council’s authority — vote and veto alike — is limited to that enumerated set and nothing beyond it. It has no authority over the project’s core thesis, the author’s manuscript and published writing, the platform’s independence and editorial standards, legal or safety decisions, or anything not expressly enumerated above — all of which remain solely with the author. A voice, a veto, and a square — not the pen. [DECISION: crypto processor, KYC/AML posture, tax handling, the hard cap on the number of Squares, quorum and veto-override mechanics, and the full council charter require counsel before this tier opens.]

4. The prizes

Each calendar month, recognition is awarded to paid-Pass holders, determined entirely by human play:

• Sublime — the best name, as judged by humans in-game.
• Troll — the worst name, as judged by humans in-game. Best and worst both win; the middle is the only loss.
• Most Plays — the paid holder with the most completed playthroughs that month.
• The RoboCop Award — the human with the highest stump-rate in Fuel that month (best at telling human work from machine work).

Only humans can score. Winners are determined by human votes within the game and by counted plays; the machine never judges. Eligibility for physical prizes is limited to active paid-Pass holders. Monthly winners receive a physical lei and a printed copy of the crowned work. All players, paid or free, keep the digital lei and certificate.

DECISION: confirm tie-break rules, minimum-play thresholds, and whether monthly winners may win again in consecutive months before publishing.

4a. International shipping of physical prizes and perks

Physical items — the Pass-holder shirt, the monthly lei, and any printed work — ship where lawful. This clause governs anything we mail across a border:

• Where-lawful fulfillment. We fulfill to international addresses only where doing so is permitted by U.S. export law and by the law of the destination. We do not ship to embargoed or sanctioned destinations, and we screen addresses against applicable sanctions/denied-party lists before shipping. Where a prize promotion is restricted or prohibited in your jurisdiction, the prize is void where prohibited and may be substituted with a digital equivalent or withheld.
• Duties, taxes, and customs are the recipient's responsibility. Import duties, VAT/GST, customs fees, and any local taxes on a shipped item are owed by the recipient, not by us, unless local law provides otherwise. We are not responsible for customs delays, seizures, or refused deliveries.
• The shirt is a subscription perk, not a contest prize. It ships with a paid Pass as a product feature — the same where-lawful, duties-on-recipient terms apply, but it is not awarded by any vote, ranking, or chance, and free players are not eligible for it.
• Address accuracy and a fulfillment window. You are responsible for a correct, complete shipping address. Unclaimed or undeliverable items may be forfeited after a reasonable window we will state at the time of award.
• Substitution and value. We may substitute an item of equal or greater value if supply or law requires. No cash equivalent unless required by law.

DECISION (counsel): confirm the sanctioned/restricted-destination list, whether any country requires registration of the prize promotion or a "no purchase necessary" free entry method, tax-reporting thresholds (e.g., U.S. 1099 for prize value), and your carrier's international terms — before any cross-border shipment.

5. Crossing the wall: what we collect and why

When you purchase, we collect only what the paid relationship requires:

• A name and shipping address — so a physical prize can be mailed.
• An email address — for receipts, prize and shipping notices, and renewal reminders.
• Payment is processed by a third-party payment processor. We do not store full card numbers. The processor handles card data and its own identity-verification (KYC) requirements.

We use this information only to operate the Pass: to bill you, to ship prizes, and to send required notices. We do not sell it. Sub-processors in the chain (payment, shipping, email) receive only what their function requires. You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your paid-account data, and you may close your account, by contacting us; deletion is honored except where we must retain records for tax or legal reasons. Closing your paid account does not affect — and is not linked to — your free play.

DECISION: name your payment processor, shipping carrier, and email provider, and confirm a data-retention period (e.g., tax records kept for the period your jurisdiction requires).

6. Billing, renewal, and cancellation

Auto-renewal. The subscription Passes renew automatically at the end of each term — the Weekly Pass every week at $9.42, the Monthly Pass every month at $31.69, the Annual Pass every twelve months at $301.69 — using your payment method on file, until you cancel. We will send a renewal reminder before an Annual Pass renews. The Lifetime Pass does not renew: it is a single charge of $3,141.69 with no recurring billing.

Cancel anytime. You may cancel at any time from your account or by contacting us, with no cancellation fee. Cancellation stops the next renewal; your access and prize eligibility continue through the end of the term you already paid for. Cancelling is as easy as signing up.

Refunds. If you cancel within 14 days of a charge and have not yet been awarded or shipped a physical prize for that term, we will refund that charge. After 14 days, or once a physical prize for the term has been awarded or shipped, charges are non-refundable except where local consumer law requires otherwise.

DECISION: some states/countries mandate specific auto-renewal disclosures, cooling-off windows, and one-click cancellation. Confirm the refund window and renewal-notice timing with counsel for the places you sell into.

7. Shipping of physical prizes

Physical prizes ship to addresses within the United States (50 states and D.C.). You are responsible for providing an accurate, current shipping address; we are not liable for prizes lost due to an incorrect address. Delivery times vary. Any taxes or fees on physical goods are your responsibility and may be collected at checkout.

DECISION: U.S.-only is the default to avoid international customs, VAT, and data-transfer complexity. If you want to ship internationally, that is a separate compliance question to settle first.

8. The works are public domain

Images the machine generates have no human author and, as the law stands, no copyright — they enter the public domain at creation. You do not receive, and we do not grant, any exclusive ownership of a crowned work. Human-authored elements you contribute (the names you write) remain yours. Nothing here is a transfer of rights in machine-made output, because there are no such rights to transfer. This is intentional and is part of what the platform documents.

9. Fair play

Prize eligibility assumes good-faith play. Automated, fraudulent, or manipulated plays, multiple-account abuse, or attempts to game the “Most Plays” count may forfeit eligibility. We may withhold a prize where we reasonably determine results were manipulated.

10. Disclaimers and limit of liability

The Pass and the game are provided “as is,” without warranties beyond those that cannot be disclaimed by law. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Operator’s total liability arising from a Pass is limited to the amount you paid for the Pass term in question. We are not liable for indirect or consequential damages. Nothing here limits any right you have under applicable consumer-protection law.

11. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. Material changes affecting an active Pass take effect at your next renewal, and we will give notice before they apply to you. Continuing or renewing after notice is acceptance; if you do not accept a change, you may cancel before it takes effect.

12. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Michigan, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules, except where your local consumer-protection law applies and cannot be waived. The parties will attempt to resolve disputes informally first.

DECISION: confirm whether you want a venue clause, and whether to include or omit arbitration — both have real trade-offs and should be a counsel call, not a default.

13. Contact

Questions about a Pass, a charge, a prize, or your data: a declassified project.

Free play stays free and anonymous. The Pass is the one door you choose to walk through, with your eyes open and the terms in front of you. — Operator