Alright, I'll come out now and say I've payed great attention to the OdinMS Maplestory Private Server. Recently, I went on their site to find the server was down and apparently they are being sued by Nexon, the game's host company. Here's the thing though, the form doesn't look all that official to me, it could just be some group trying to get money under claims of being Nexon.
Here is a translation I did using Google Translator:
QuoteDear Mr. Butz,
Please pay the calculated overleaf court costs of $ 441.20, within 2 weeks after receiving this invoice to the above account of the judicial fund Hamburg.
Please use the attached überweisungsträger.
Requests for calculating the costs do not to the judicial fund, but only to the court or the prosecutor's office (see above frame).
Against the cost approach, you can insert memory. The procedure relating to the memory is free of charge. The memory is not bound by First and may lead to the protocol office or in writing, even without the participation of your lawyer to appeal. The appeal is addressed to the issuing authority (see above frame), specifying the number or business number to judge, not to the judicial fund.
The memory against the cost approach does not relieve you from the obligation to submit the provisional Betrang to pay. Has your memory success, is a possible unsolicited überzahlter amount reimbursed. By paying the filing of memory can not be excluded
Here is my transcribed version from the original scanned letter, although you can also find the letter at Odinms.de if you are interested in seeing the original.
QuoteSehr geehrter Herr Butz,
bitte zahlen Sie die umseitig berechneten Gerichtskosten von 441,20 EUR binnen 2 Wochen nach Empfang dieser Rechnung auf das oben angegebene Konto der Justizkasse Hamburg.
Bitte verwenden Sie den beigefügten überweisungsträger.
Anfragen wegen der Berechnung der Kosten bitte nicht an die Justizkasse, sondern nur an das Gericht bzw. die Staatsanwaltschaft (siehe obige Umrahmung) richten.
Gegen den Kostenansatz können Sie Erinnerung einlegen. Das Verfahren über die Erinnerung ist gebührenfrei. Die Erinnerung ist an kein First gebunden und kann zu Protokoll der Geschäftsstelle oder schriftlich, auch ohne Mitwirkung Ihres Rechtsanwalts eingelegt werden. Der Rechtsbehelf ist an die anordnende Dienststelle (siehe obige Umrahmung) unter Angabe des Aktenzeichens bzw. der Geschäftsnummer zu richten, nicht an die Justizkasse.
Die Erinnerung gegen den Kostenansatz entbindet Sie nicht von der Verpflichtung, den angeforderten Betrang vorläufig zu bezahlen. Hat Ihre Erinnerung Erfolg, wird ein eventuell überzahlter Betrag unaufgefordert erstattet. Durch die Zahlung wird die Einlegung der Erinnerung nicht ausgeschlossen.
If anyone can translate German to english (through the original letter would probably be the best bet, as Google Translator I know is not exactly the best online translator but I was in a hurry to get this up, would you be able to tranlate the letter to make thinking over this letter a little more accurate, as I'm not 100% sure of the legitimacy of the letter itself, and that some group either wants the server gone or just wants a ton of money even though OdinMS runs completely on donations (non-profit).
Thanks in advance for any help that can be offered, and sorry for posting this in Chat but I didn't know where to put it.
Lol, yeh I found that out not to long ago to... Wasnt it just a mistake they sent the bill to them? And i got my own private server for maplestory :P
Source (http://odinms.de/index.php?/archives/1-Nexon-vs.-OdinMS.html)
It really reminds me of how Sony decided to sue Lik-Sang, except that was from Sony itself and was not some sort of conspiracy. Unfortunately, the outcome was that Lik-Sang had to close its doors thanks to Sony...Would that be the same case with OdinMS? o.o (Sounds like some cheesy suspenseful cliffhanger)
The article did say it was real, despite all visual kookiness...Though who knows, it may be more of a joke. That letter does look pretty refined and such, but I'm not in the forensics and detective mood right now...*sleepy*
I haven't really focused on the Private Server world of Maple Story as much as other MMORPGs (Hint Hint: Ragnarok Online), but I do want to know what happens in the end...Best wishes to OdinMS...:P
Just great! I translated the whole letter and something screwed up so I lost my post. >:( And there's not way I'm gonna translate it all over. :P
Anyway, except for the suspiciously many typing mistakes, this letter is just about paying the process bill of 441,20€. "Erinnerung" in this context doesn't mean "memory" but is a kind of appeal.