That’s one of the methods that SKG has suggested - just publishing the server API and leaving the actual (re)implementation of the server program to the community. That still leaves a lot of work for the community but at least it’s tractable, much more than reverse engineering raw network packets from scratch.
The servers may include third-party licensed code that the developers don’t have the rights to release
Then release the spec and protocols so someone else can redevelop/ reengineer it. If they need third party, they can license or reverse engineer.
That’s one of the methods that SKG has suggested - just publishing the server API and leaving the actual (re)implementation of the server program to the community. That still leaves a lot of work for the community but at least it’s tractable, much more than reverse engineering raw network packets from scratch.