This ^

MrBrown,

Well said (exactly what I was trying to say).  I am not sure the server application would have to be much for then the current application with some modification.  Even if all those people with a dedicated connection could only host one game each we would shorty have quite a few games available for people that can't host games themselves.

Thanks,

Apparently I always pick the wrong search terms.  I am not sure this is exactly what I was talking about, but it is a start.

I did a quick search and have not found this suggestion either.

I seems like a lot of people have problems hosting games (port forwarding).  Also when an individual hosts a game if they end up quitting of losing their connection the entire game is lost.  It would be nice if a stand alone program was written that could host games for other people.  I would be willing to run a dedicated server to allow people to play games and not have to host them and I am sure others would as well.  Maybe you could specify how many concurrent games you would like to host and then it would have them always available to people to use.

IP-based restrictions should not be enforced in any way. Most ISPs outside of the US give the same IP address to hundreds or thousands of end-users in different premises, in much the same way as anyone playing at work in a large corporate network will have the same address as his fellow co-workers.

D.

I agree with this.  You use some type of cookie or even a MAC address to limit the connection to 1 per computer, but I like the ability to play with people in the same household or workplace.  We the rankings moved to an ELO type ranking system like I recommended here:
http://www.planetmule.com/forum?topic=554.msg2591#new
this wouldn't make as big of deal in the rankings.

I think people are going to be able to manipulate almost any ranking system and there should be way in which this is controlled as best possible, but this is not the answer IMHO.