I know this post was sort of old, but the answer is in NEWS 5 4:
>news 5 4
Dateline 4/8/2001: ITEM REPLACEMENT POLICY
In an effort to provide better service to those who are in need of true technical assistance, and the tremendous amount of GM time involved in item replacements, DragonRealms has adopted the following policies for item replacements:
1) NO replacement for items, experience, coins, or the like which are lost due to service provider lag or interruption.
2) For those times when there is a Simu-related game crash, replacements will be limited to player items only. We will NOT replace coins, experience, skins, gems, treasure chests, and items on the ground (including items like a backpack left on the ground and its contents, et cetera). Also, due to variability in player-made creations, we cannot replace any player-made items, including but not limited to lockpicks, bows, tanned items, enchantments, carvings, and forged items. We can, at the GM's discretion, replace the cost of materials to make the item or replace the item with the current standard version.
To serve as many players as quickly and fairly as possible after a game crash, we have also adopted the following procedure:
== Item replacement limited to 15 items of the player's choice, and the GM will determine a value on remaining items and buyout the rest of the items with in-game coin; or,
== For greater than 15 items, total inventory loss or character corruption, a player can choose to have their persona restored from tape. Please note that while a player would regain all lost items with a tape backup, it could take several weeks and any cash, experience, items, etc. the player gains in the time between the crash and the restoral would be lost.
== We cannot under any circumstances replace an item with what players call the "old" version. "Old" generally means an item was introduced for a short time but changed thereafter because it was too powerful or imbalancing and because of this we get dozens of fraudulent requests for lost "old" items. Since we cannot tell the difference between "old" and "new" versions in our logs, and since placing "old" versions into the game would mean deliberately placing overpowered or "buggy" items into the game, we do not replace such things. Any replacements of "old" items will be made with the current standard version of the item in question.
It is strongly suggested that players NOT engage in those activities which could result in losses during times when lag is apparent, or provider stability is questionable. It is also recommended that players NOT carry large numbers of items around with them because the chance of character corruption increases with the more items being carried.
We thank you for your understanding in this matter, and for your patience as we explore every option for providing more efficient customer service to you, our valued customers. Please direct your attention to your service provider's Simutronics posting area for more comprehensive information. Questions regarding this policy will be handled there, not in the ASSIST queue.
END NEWS ITEM
Kraelyst the Hand
"The day is for honest men, the night for thieves."
-- Euripides
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
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