Adapting abandoned ideas

[Ergo]

What is the consensus around here on adapting abandoned ideas/roleplays? Ask the original creator or just give ample credits, or both?

[Dervish]

Taking the game/ obviously created content without permission is a no-no. If you ask and get permission, I don't see the issue, giving credit is always a good gesture, regardless.

[Lillian Thorne]

It really depends on the RP in question, how much of it you are using, how much you are adapting etc. One of the first RPs I ran happened because I joined a RP about Greek Gods and it was shortly abandoned after we'd all made a few posts. So we started fresh and I pulled in a few people from that RP and the general premiss "Greek gods in the modern world" was adopted but the rest was my own. I didn't seek permission from the old GM and his idea (and my following one) wasn't unique. The details of each were. So that's where one has to be careful. Are you taking NPC'S? Are you taking original setting work? Then you want to get permission. It can't hurt to ask and it can't hurt to mention "Inspired by".

[Jorick]

Anything more than taking the general premise shouldn't be done without getting explicit permission from the creator. General ideas aren't things you can really lay claim to because they're so very broad and ephemeral, but things like settings and characters and their posts are clearly and firmly their work and should be treated as such.

Giving credit is required when using someone else's original work, but it's not when you're just using the general idea. I suppose it's the nice and polite thing to do though, if that means anything to you.

[Ergo]

Common sense, then. Thanks for the info.