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#REDIRECT [[Private server]]
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A '''server emulator''', also called a ''freeshard'', ''private server'' or ''fan clone'', is the [[Remake (computing)|reimplementation]] in online game servers, typically as [[Video game remake|clones]] of [[Proprietary software|proprietary]] commercial software by a third party of the [[game community]]. The private server is not always made by the original company, but usually attempts to mimic it in some way.
Technically, a server emulator does not [[emulator|emulate]] by the traditional definition. Instead, it is the alternative implementation of the proprietary gaming server that communicates with the same gaming client through the same, [[Reverse engineering|reverse-engineered]] [[proprietary protocol]]s. Server emulators exist for many online games. If the original proprietary servers were shut down, server emulators can be considered community continuations as fix for an [[orphaned work|orphaned]] software product.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/11/19/supcom-forged-alliance-servers-shut-down-community-made-forged-alliance-forever-keeps-the-war-alive/ |title=Community-made Forged Alliance Forever keeps Supreme Commander multiplayer alive |first=T.J. |last=Hafer |date=2012-11-19 |accessdate=2014-08-28 |newspaper=[[PC Gamer]] |quote=''The official multiplayer servers for Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance have been decommissioned for a while now, but fortunately [...] the community-driven Forged Alliance Forever has emerged. The self-patching multiplayer client allows players of the epic real-time strategy title to continue blowing things up in massive quantities. In addition to the regular patches and fixes, it also adds new units, a new faction, and some game modes that weren't available on the official servers, such as 6v6.''}}</ref><ref>[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-02-youre-in-charge You're in charge! - From vital patches to game cancellations, players are often intimately involved.] by Christian Donlan on [[Eurogamer]] ''"Supreme Commander fans released Forged Alliance Forever and gave the game the online client it could otherwise only dream of. I haven't played it much, but I still got a tear in my eye when I read about the extents these coders had gone to. There's nothing quite so wonderful to witness as love, and this is surely love of the very purest order. [...] SupCom guys resurrect a series whose publisher had just gone under."'' (2013-11-02)</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/battleforge/news/battleforge_reborn,44416,3233541.html|title=BattleForge Reborn - Community will das Spiel wiederbeleben |journal=[[GameStar]]|date=14 July 2015 |accessdate=2016-06-26|last1=Dietrich |first1=Mathias }}</ref>
== Disambiguation ==
Original server software that is stolen, like [[AEGIS (Ragnarok Online)|AEGIS]], is also not a server emulator. Reimplementing [[Standardization|standardized]] protocols or server behavior is not considered to be emulation.
== Uses ==
* Playing a game that is no longer officially supported or playable. This could be due to the game shutting down (and so lacking central servers needed for the game to function), as is true of [[Toontown Online]]. It could instead be due to more recent game patches or versions changing the desired functionality, as with private "retro" [[World of Warcraft]] servers that run older versions of the game.
* Playing games for free or for cost that goes towards maintaining a server that the spender controls.
* Experiencing accelerated or altered gameplay or improved community management.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Debeauvais |first1=T. |last2=Nardi |first2=B. |year=2010 |title=A qualitative study of Ragnarok Online private servers: in-game sociological issues. |url=http://www.artifex.org/~bonnie/Debeauvais-Nardi-RO-private-servers.pdf |journal=In Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG'10) |doi=10.1145/1822348.1822355 |s2cid=7765713}}</ref>
== Legal issues ==
Emulating the server of the proprietary commercial game often violates [[End-User License Agreement|EULA]] as many commercial MMORPGs require the user to sign a clause not to create or use server emulators. Additionally, many server emulators retain portions of the original [[Source code|code]], and thus violating [[copyright law]]. Examples of such violations include the popular ''[[RuneScape]]'' emulator ''Winterlove''—which retained decompiled, unauthorized portions of the original game client.<ref name="Winterlove Emulator">{{cite web | url = https://www.moparisthebest.com/origrs2/ | title = Winterlove RuneScape Emulator | accessdate=2017-05-30}}</ref><ref name="RSBuffer Opensourced">{{cite web | title = RSBuffer Legal Alternative to Winterlove Stream | url = https://www.rune-server.ee/runescape-development/rs2-server/snippets/196415-final-solution-all-rs-communication-rsbuffer.html | accessdate=2017-05-30}}</ref> The server may try to avoid violations by serving from the country where some [[intellectual property]] laws possibly apply differently or not at all. Typically, the locations chosen rarely differ enough in copyright and patent law to protect the individual(s) behind the emulator. Examples of these [[Bulletproof hosting|offshore]] misconceptions include the popular hosting choice that is the [[Netherlands]].<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rune-server.ee/runescape-development/rs2-server/465798-rsps-legality-old-title-jagex-threatening-servers-83.html#post4132756 | title = The offshore misconception highlighted throughout emulation communities | accessdate = 2017-05-30 }}</ref>
Another issue is a possible [[copyright infringement|infringement]] of the game creator's copyright. If the complete emulator is a work of its own, copyright violation is not as obvious as EULA violation (see [[Lotus v. Borland]] case). However sometimes the original server [[Source code leak|software leaks]] out of the company that created the game, for example [[AEGIS (Ragnarok Online)]]. Use or distribution of leaked code is widely held to be copyright infringement. There are cases where a game creator has effectively shut down private game servers by threatening [[lawsuit]]s due to intellectual property violations, such as offering a modified client (see [http://maple-news.com/2008/06/25/german-court-admits-mistake-on-odinms-lawsuit/ information on NEXON v OdinMS]) for download or offering downloads of modified files from the original game package.
In August 2010, a California Central District Court awarded [[Blizzard Entertainment]] $88 million in a lawsuit against Scapegaming over copyright-infringement.<ref name="Geek">{{cite web
|author = Matthew Humphries
|url = http://www.geek.com/games/blizzard-wins-88-million-from-scapegaming-over-illegal-wow-servers-1277800/
|title = Blizzard wins $88 million from Scapegaming over illegal WoW servers
|date = 17 Aug 2010
|accessdate = 2014-10-23
|archive-date = 2014-10-07
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141007062948/http://www.geek.com/games/blizzard-wins-88-million-from-scapegaming-over-illegal-wow-servers-1277800/
|url-status = dead
}}</ref> Scapegaming’s violation involved operation of an unauthorized copyrighted version of ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. Scapegaming ran microtransactions encouraging players to donate money to advance in the game resulting in $3,053,339 of inappropriate profits. This is one of the first big cases implemented against server emulation.
In July 2011, [[Nexon]] has threatened to take MMORPG development community RaGEZONE to court over users creating and sharing custom emulated servers. Nexon claims to file legal proceedings against all parties involved in the MMORPG development scene. [[Disney]] has also fought against server emulators for its MMO ''[[Club Penguin]]'', resulting in the closure of iCPv3 in October 2010, which had over 100,000 users when [[Disney]] filed a [[cease and desist]] notice against the emulator.<ref name="cp">{{cite web
|url = http://cppshq.com/2010/10/18/icp-is-gone-icpro3-is-the-next-icpv3/
|title = iCPv3 is Gone? – New iCP?
|date = 18 Oct 2010
|accessdate = 23 Oct 2014
}}</ref>
In late 2011, the online chatbox provider XChat filed a lawsuit after a developer published a copy of the [[source code]] to her server emulator. The suit was later dropped as the developer had not infringed copyright.{{Citation needed|date=October 2014}}
== See also ==
* [[Game engine recreation]]
== Examples ==
* [[Ultima Online#Shard_emulation|Ultima Online shard emulation]]
== External links ==
* [http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/26/1850213&from=rss Announcement] - of a ''[[Star Wars Galaxies]]'' server emulator on [[slashdot]].
* [http://forum.ragezone.com/f425/ill-fill-ragezone-nexon-ft-763917/ Announcement on Nexon and legal proceedings] - on RaGEZONE.
==References==
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[[Category:Server emulators| ]]
[[Category:Massively multiplayer online role-playing games]]
[[Category:Software maintenance]]
[[Category:Software release]]
[[Category:Unofficial adaptations]]
[[Category:Video game development]]
[[Category:Fan labor]]
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