From a strictly legal standpoint, I think it's legal to use their client with third-party servers, but I think you're making a moral point. However, I think it's a valid one, and I think it deserves proper consideration.
There is a saying about standing on the shoulders of giants. In my book, the designers, artists, and coders at SOE are giants in every sense of the word. You are absolutely right: in using their client, EQEmu, while not making any monetary profit, is still benefiting from their hard work, and that work should be given proper credit, if nothing else. One of the reasons I went to all the trouble of creating OpenZone is because I would really like to see EQEmu stand on its own and not "leech" so much from their effort. Like I said, using their client is in my opinion legal, but that is nothing compared to the work that went into the original game. At one time I had a dream of seeing EQEmu branch into something completely unique, with its own zones, models, artwork, and even client -- essentially, a total divorce from EQ. I don't think that's ever going to happen, and I find myself not getting any younger -- and seeing a need to do something else. The more I think about it, the more I feel that I'll be leaving this project in the very near future -- life is calling, and I need to start listening.
I've said from the start that I'm not a server dev, so I'm not privy to anything that's gone on in the past between the dev team and SOE (or even among the dev team members). I don't know what's been said between the team and SOE, or the level of animosity (if any) between the two. Would the people at SOE have given their blessing to EQEmu? I have no idea, and I have to honestly say I would be shocked if they had, but at the same time I have to say that I would have been impressed beyond words in that case. I think a program for users to create custom content for the game (zones, quests, artwork, whatever) would have been a very cool thing, and I think that trying to recreate the feel of "live" servers is futile at best and ridiculous at worst. Regardless of the feelings of the people at SOE, I can honestly say that, having created custom zones from scratch, I now have the utmost respect for the work that went into the original game. It must have been a staggering effort.
WC
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