Server emulator: Difference between revisions

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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]]; as such, a player can play on unofficial servers, and discontiniueddiscontinued online services of a game can be made available again (though unoficiallyunofficially, 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 a new 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 a 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 ==

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== 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 violatingviolate [[copyright law]].{{cn|date=July 2022}} 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.{{cn|date=July 2022}} 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.