Think about this all especially in context of MUDs, which is a very gray wasteland of internet in general. I know only a couple of MUDs which were given a cease-and-desist, but they went grossly over the line. For example, one of them was a forgotten realms themed mud, in which, as the rumor has it, the whole world was close to 1:1 replica of what was written in all forgotten realms handsbooks.
However, one could argue that real people can be attracted to the game by e.g. the chance of playing a beholder or some TSR originated race, and this satisfaction transforms into money in form of Jää ry membership, which is used to e.g. run the game server.
I wanted this out in the open so that 1) I get a general feeling of how we feel about the topic, and also 2) as a FYI for anyone outside our community to know what we've been thinking about these things and also has a chance to chime in without playing the game.
Truth to be told, in most medieval themed MUDs you cant throw a stick behind your back without hitting something that could not be claimed as being originated by TSR/wizards of coast etc. in some direct or indirect manner. In this sense, in most MUDs, it is actually very little that is original.
This thread is to discuss about this. Speak NOW or forever hold your peace.
