>>Who 'leaked' the source code Abandoned Realms 'stole'?
>
>I don't really remember the details, but it was
>pre-me-on-staff, so, a pretty old copy of the code.
>Infrastructure in place for cabals and PK ranges, some of the
>old anti-paladin/ninja/ranger/paladin stuff, etc. I think
>depending on who you ask Morgath either gave the code away or
>was stupid enough to leave it somewhere people could just take
>it, and they did. BoltThrower would be the guy to ask for the
>story here.

AR didn't actually steal the code, but the code was actually 'aquired' twice. The code was originally aquired by the folks at Paradise Lost, who started up a mud on another server. Someone on staff at the time (I refuse to name names so don't even ask me to, I'm making an effort to inform without turning this into a flamefest) contacted the host of AR and told them (incorrectly since at that time CF was still obligated under the license agreement, bear in mind this is something like 12 years ago) that the staff of Paradise Lost had stolen copyrighted code, and started threatening legal action. The host company, not knowing under the license agreement that the code (In the state it was in at the time, I don't know about now) COULDN'T be copywritten, took down the mud and turned over the source to whichever staff member that it was. According to someone from the staff of Paradise Lost, changes THEY had made to the code were then incorporated into CF's code. I can't back this up with firsthand knowledge, but this did come directly from one of the coders. The code was left by Morgath in an unsecure place that gave someone else access to it.

The second time code was jacked was by (If my facts are straight) Stormace. Stormace stopped being an imm when it got out that he had been letting his friends log his immortal in to create and set eq for themselves. The staff at the time (rightly) smacked down Stormace and he was booted from the staff. He went on to start DarkMists with a few other disgruntled CFers, and provided them with the code. It was after this that more serious steps were taken to prevent a repeat, and access to copies of the code were more restricted. Interesting bit of trivia, he wound up getting kicked off of the staff of DarkMists for pretty much the same thing that got him the boot from CF. In a petulant fit he publicly released the code, and I think its still available as the Oblivion code.

History lesson is over for today kiddies.