01About Aetherphone and these terms
Aetherphone is a free plugin for FINAL FANTASY XIV, running on the Dalamud plugin framework, that adds a smartphone to the game. Some of its apps work only on your computer. Others use Aethernet, our online service for accounts, profiles, feeds, messaging and calls. The Aetherphone companion app for mobile devices uses the same accounts.
"We", "us" and "our" mean the maintainer of the Aetherphone project, publicly known as XeldarAlz, who operates Aethernet. "The service" means the plugin, the companion app and Aethernet.
By creating an Aethernet account you accept these terms. If you do not agree, do not create one. The offline features work without an account. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle your personal data.
02Not affiliated with Square Enix
Aetherphone is an independent community project. It is not made, endorsed, sponsored or supported by Square Enix. FINAL FANTASY and FINAL FANTASY XIV are trademarks of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.
Square Enix's User Agreement prohibits the use of third-party tools with FINAL FANTASY XIV, and the terms of the game's regional operators may do the same. Using Aetherphone may lead to action against your game account, up to and including permanent suspension. You accept that risk. We cannot appeal, reverse or compensate for any action taken against your game account.
03Eligibility
You must be at least 13 years old, and old enough to form a binding contract where you live, to create an account. We do not ask for or check your age. Creating an account confirms that you meet this requirement.
Velvet, the adult app, is only for users aged 18 or over, which you confirm before entering. We do not verify this. Velvet may not be used with a Lalafell character, and the plugin does not open it while you play one.
We may suspend or remove an account whose holder we believe does not meet these requirements.
04Your account
Each character you verify is a separate Aethernet account, with its own profile, contacts, messages and Aether Coin. You verify a character through the Lodestone, XIVAuth or, on the Chinese game client, Rising Stones (石之家). We never ask for your Square Enix or Shengqu password. The service is available worldwide.
You are responsible for activity on your accounts. Verify only characters you control, and keep your computer and linked devices secure. You may not sell, buy, share, lend or otherwise transfer an account.
You can delete your current character's account at any time in the plugin, under Settings, Account, Delete account, unless it is suspended. Deletion is immediate. The Privacy Policy explains what is deleted and what is kept.
05Your content
You keep ownership of the content you post.
You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to store, copy, transmit, translate and display your content, only to operate and moderate the service. The licence ends when you delete the content or your account, except for the copies described in the Privacy Policy, such as backups, moderation records and copies other users already have.
You are responsible for your content and confirm that you have the right to post it and that it infringes no one's rights.
06Rules of conduct
You must not:
- Post illegal content or promote serious crime
- Post, request or share any sexual content involving minors, or sexualise a child-like character, whatever its stated age or lore
- Share intimate images without consent, blackmail or sextort anyone, or post bestiality
- Harass, threaten or bully anyone, use hate speech or slurs, or encourage or glorify real-world violence
- Encourage or glorify self-harm, suicide or eating disorders, or post graphic violence or gore
- Share private conversations without everyone's consent, or share anyone's real-world personal information, your own included, such as a name, face or address
- Impersonate a player, moderator, developer, venue or community to deceive others
- Send spam, run scams or phishing, or share harmful links
- Trade gil, accounts, boosting or other in-game goods or services for real money
- Post real-world political content on Chirper or Aethergram
- Post nudity or sexual content in public spaces outside Velvet, such as Chirper, Aethergram, Muster and Yellow Pages
- Repost others' art, screenshots or commissions without permission, claim others' work as your own, or share leaked paid or private mods
- Post AI-generated or AI-altered images, including explicit AI images of real people
- Evade a suspension or a block, harass or threaten our moderators, or organise mass reports or appeals
- Automate the service with bots or scripts, get around its security or usage limits, or interfere with or overload it
- Access Aethernet through anything other than the official apps, or scrape, copy or reverse-engineer the service
- Connect to Aethernet with an unofficial version of Aetherphone, or disguise one as official (see section 11)
Some apps show additional rules before you first use them, and those rules also apply.
07Moderation and enforcement
Moderation decisions are made by people. We act on user reports and may also review content ourselves. We do not review all content. You can report posts, profiles, messages, events and listings in the app.
If you break these terms or an app's rules, we may:
- Veil content, so it is blurred until a viewer chooses to see it
- Remove content and warn you
- Reset a display name or handle, or remove profile images
- Freeze, adjust or remove your Aether Coin and cosmetic items
- Suspend your account for a set period or permanently
Serious violations, including child safety violations, can lead to suspension on a first offence. We may act without notice where needed to enforce these terms or protect users.
A suspension signs you out and locks the social apps without deleting your content. While it lasts, the character cannot sign in or create a new account. A permanent suspension ends the account's access to Aethernet.
When we remove or veil your content or suspend your account, the phone shows a notice explaining the action and naming the rule. To appeal, open a support ticket on our Discord server or write to contact@aetherphone.net.
08Aether Coin and Gamba
Aether Coin is play money. You earn it by using the phone, and we may grant it for events. You can spend it on cosmetic items, such as badges and avatar frames, and on Gamba chips.
Aether Coin and cosmetic items have no monetary value and are not money or a currency. They cannot be bought, sold, cashed out, redeemed, transferred or gifted. Trading them, or Gamba results, for real money, gil or anything of value is prohibited.
We may adjust, freeze, reset or remove them at any time, including where they were obtained through abuse or a breach of these terms, and we may discontinue Aether Coin. As nothing was paid for them, no refund or claim arises. A suspension freezes your Aether Coin until 7 days after it ends.
Gamba offers games of chance played only with Aether Coin. Nothing of monetary value is staked, won or lost, and Gamba is not gambling.
09Supporting the project
Aetherphone is free. We sell nothing, and nothing in the service requires payment.
You can donate through Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee. Donations unlock no apps, features or content, including Velvet. An active Patreon membership linked to your account adds cosmetic recognition, such as a badge or an avatar frame, which ends when the membership ends or you unlink it. Buy Me a Coffee donations are not linked to your account and grant nothing.
10Translation and third-party services
Aethernet translates text in the social apps when you ask it to. Only the text you choose is translated. Automatic translations can be wrong. Show original shows the text as written.
Some apps and features rely on services we do not operate, for example the Lodestone, Universalis, YouTube, XIVAuth and Patreon. They operate under their own terms, and we are not responsible for their content or availability.
11Official versions, source code and trademarks
Only official versions may connect to Aethernet: the Aetherphone plugin installed unchanged from the official Aetherphone repository, and the companion app as we publish it. Changed, copied or imitation versions may not connect without our permission. We may block them and suspend the accounts that use them.
The plugin's source code is open source under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3 or later. That licence covers the code only and gives no right to use Aethernet. The Aetherphone and Aethernet names, logos and icons are covered by the Trademark and Naming Policy.
12Availability and changes to the service
The service is run by volunteers on a best-effort basis. We do not promise that it will always be available or free of errors. We may change or remove any app or feature at any time, and we may discontinue Aethernet entirely. If we do, we will give as much notice as we reasonably can.
13Disclaimers and limitation of liability
The service is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement, to the fullest extent the law allows.
To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary loss, or for loss of data, loss of profits, or action taken against your FINAL FANTASY XIV account, arising out of your use of the service.
Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.
14Governing law
Aetherphone is a non-commercial project offered worldwide, and we do not designate a governing law. If a dispute arises, the applicable law and forum are determined by the ordinary conflict-of-law rules of your country of residence. Nothing in these terms removes any right you have under the mandatory consumer protection law where you live.
15Changes to these terms
We may update these terms. When we make a material change, we will announce it in the plugin and update the date at the top. If you continue to use Aethernet after a change, you accept the updated terms.
16Contact
- Questions, appeals, reports and legal notices: contact@aetherphone.net
- Privacy requests: privacy@aetherphone.net
- Child safety concerns: childsafety@aetherphone.net. See our Child Safety Standards.
You can also reach us on our Discord server or through GitHub issues. GitHub issues are public, so do not use them for anything sensitive.