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Old 02-17-2012, 07:48 PM   #6
realmsofvalor
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Join Date: Jul 2011
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Re: Pay to play, donations.

Hey Orion,

If you are building off an existing codebase, you should read up on the rules of the license. For example, Arantha (the MUD I work on) is based off of Circlemud, which is a derivative of DikuMUD. They both state you cannot make money or otherwise profit in any manner. Interpretation of the DikuMUD license has been a firebrand of conversation in years' past, particularly requesting donations to pay for server time.
Personally, I believe it is a violation to charge money or offer pay-for-perks and I do neither. I'm on the fence about donations strictly to pay for server costs, it is not an easy question to resolve and my MUD does not currently ask or accept donations. Merchandising your own copywritten material (Arantha the tee shirt, Arantha the color book, Arantha the lunch box) appears to be no violation of the license, and something I would like to explore further when the time and the demand are present.
If your MUD is all your own code or license permits, I would suggest spending the money ONLY on the costs to run and upkeep your game, and to be transparent about what is spent where if anyone asks. I believe you owe it to the people who would invest their money into your game to spend it with wisdom.
Cheers!
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