rayn

Of course there is demand for pre-Renewal servers. However, if an admin wants a pre-Renewal server, they should use eAthena. That is its goal, after-all. This is - supposedly - Renewal Athena. The focus should not be pre-Renewal. As stated - developers will soon realize how difficult it is to maintain a pre-Renewal branch (and keep it updated) - simply because all updates are meant for Renewal. There is no pre-Renewal equivalent for any of the new content. (You may notice in eAthena, many new items with verified itemscripts are left out, because there is no pre-Renewal equivalent.) My point is that keeping a pre-Renewal branch is unnecessary and counter-productive. However, the admins/developers/community are free to do as they wish. (Yes, if rAthena developers are able to pull it off - great!)

No. If Governments (capital G) really cared to shut down eAthena/rAthena/3CeAM/ReAM/other acronyms, they would have already done so on the grounds of violating the Berne Convention. S.O.P.A, in practice, will make no difference.

Renewal mechanics should be top (read: only) priority for the main development team. Not to be disrespectful to those who want non-renewal mechanics, but everything is Renewal now - bonus scripts, items, mobs, etc. It is much more work than anyone anticipates to keep a non-Renewal branch. I don't think this should take the time of the main developers. Their goal should be rapid (and accurate) implementation of new Aegis features. Perhaps a 'secondary' development team can manage the non-Renewal branch (if there is to be one). Personally, I don't think there should be a non-Renewal branch simply because it'll be out of date, there is less demand for it, and not many people will maintain it. Non-Renewal admins could simply use eAthena. (The new logo is great, by the way. There are still some old eA icons being used in various areas.)