contest WP:PROD deletion - this has been discussed at WP:AFD so is ineligible for that process, and, anyway, the proposer is asking for redirection, not deletion, so it can be done boldly or via a discussion on the talk page without needing an admin-only "delete" button
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]]; as such, a player can play on unofficial servers, and discontiniued online services of a game can be made available again (though unoficially, and, in certain cases, illegally). 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 thea alternativenew 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>
