I'm going to explain as to why Aquilo probably did make the profits he claims and Jeff did not. Don't take this the wrong way as after you read this you will see that i too agree that Aquilo is a total *********
but for an entirely different reason.
First you need to understand what Lineage 2 is all about. It's a MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game). You coexist with 100s if not 1000s of other players in a MASSIVE online world. You can chose from 5 different races of which each have several different professions and specialties that are acquired as you level up your character. You can buy/make/trade everything you own from your armour (helmet boots gloves top bottom even underwear) weapons, materials needed to make other items etc etc etc.. needless to say it creates a very complex in game market place. on top of that there is a social aspect and the actual fighting of monsters, other players. making of clans/guilds working together or against eachother.. pretty much a dreamworld with almost endless possibilites.
ANYWAY this game has about the same addictive properties and heroine. no lie.. i myself found myself jobless and seeing how long i could grow my beard and finger nails due to addiction to this game and have friends with the same problem. I quit smoking before i quit l2. proud to say i am now 100% L2 free.
Now that being said, people are willing to spend big real world $$$ on items like armour, weapons, pets, etc.. and how do they do this? via the good ol admin. On most L2 forums the admin will post a donation rewards list as a sticky. So Damian/Aquiloâs claims are plausible and most likely true.
I myself never played on ROFA i played on another server called L2G and i myself must have donated over $500 for ingame currency and items. So basicaly in order for you to make your earnings you would have to host the game and aquire users which would take around 3 months to become an established and known L2 server. It's not the forum it's the game addiction that makes you money. So even with Aquilo withholding certain aspects, Jeff as a buyer should have found out every deteal of the "upkeep" that Aquilo did mention. I do agree he should refund Jeff's money and at the sametime i agree that jeff made a boneheaded (i use that as a technical term not insult) business endeavor.
My friends however did goto ROFA after population dwindled on L2G and keep me quite informed on ROFA happenings.
As for excalibur, i'll tell you that story as well as you will find this amusing:
Each L2 server has a number of GMs (game masters) who basicaly help administrate, run events, discipline, tech help.. etc.. they are actualy are in game participating in the day to day hapenings of the server and have unlimited god like abilites.
Aquilo's GMs found out (much to their dismay) that he was supplying a certain clan in the game with weapons, armour, experience points, skill points, adena (ingame currency), and special GM abilities. So they set up their own server behind Aquilo's back and used ROFA's database so that people could go there and play without a corrupt admin (Aquilo) and not have to start all over (as they would have lost months of work had ROFA's DB not been "apropriated"). And so that is where my clan mates now play. Which is why as i mentioned at the top of this email why i also think Aquilo is a total ****** !!
This chain of events also explains why Aquilo could even conceive of selling the site/server. All his users left him due to his transgressions. Therefore the donations left too. So basicaly jeff even if u get the server running u gota think of a name, need a t3 connection/similar type to support 500-2500 users simultaenously, need sexbox pc to handle the memory/processing demands, assign gms.. and if you do it well, within a few months you'll have a nice user base with some juicy donations. It usualy helps to have previously been an avid player to fully understand the complexities. Don't get me wrong the fun factor is immense.
I know this doesn't change anything legaly but it should give you some more understanding of the situation.
cheers