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chunky04



Joined: Aug 11, 2003

Post   Posted: Oct 21, 2006 - 02:23 Reply with quote Back to top

Having been around fumbbl for quite a while now, I can remember back to the days when the server was far less stable than what we are lucky to have today. With the stability of the server these days, it seems a lot of people are never having to learn about direct connect.

There are a number of advantages to playing a game via a direct connection compared to a proxy that make it the preferable choice for hosting games, however, it often requires a bit of tinkering in order to be able to host direct. Anyone can act as the client to a direct connect game hwoever.

Advantages of Direct Connect:

- Direct connect games reduce the load on the fumbbl server
- Direct connect games generally run faster
- Direct connect games can still be finished on the rare occasions when the server goes down
- Direct connect games suffer less problems when it comes to reloading intterupted games

Many of the newer players I have come across lately seem very hesitant to connect to a direct connect game, perhaps believing their opponent intends to gain some advantage from it. Having seen the reasons behind connecting direct above, I hope those of you who feel this way will be more open-minded about it in the future.

I can't seem to host direct - what can I do?

Many people are now behind firewalls with their net connection, which prevents them from hosting direct. However, this can be overcome with a minimum of fiddling around.

http://www.portforward.com/routers.htm

This link contains details on how to get around your router to open up the ports required for direct connect. This is a fairly simple process that most people should be able to complete with a minimum of fuss.

Once the port forwarding is set up, all that remains is to follow the handy guide here in fumbbls own user guide:

http://fumbbl.com/help:DirectConnectForDummies

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chunky04



Joined: Aug 11, 2003

Post   Posted: Oct 21, 2006 - 02:25 Reply with quote Back to top

Quickly did this up in response to a general trend of distrust against direct connecting I've noticed lately. This may perhaps be better off as a news item, where more relative newbies are likely to see it. Also, if someone more technically inclined wants to edit this, feel free.

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chunky - you are eloquence on legs
Qaz



Joined: Apr 28, 2004

Post   Posted: Oct 21, 2006 - 02:33 Reply with quote Back to top

Amen!

I am tired of people suspecting me of a cheater when all I wanted was to host direct cuz it is more stable.

Hope this info will help bring down the ingorance and misstrust

_________________
Superstition brings bad luck.

"he who has relied least on fortune is established
the strongest"
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Frede



Joined: Aug 04, 2004

Post   Posted: Oct 21, 2006 - 02:35 Reply with quote Back to top

Maybe - just maybe - some people are not that happy to expose their computer to a direct connection with the machine of a stranger.

Not out of specific distrust. As a general rule.
Qaz



Joined: Apr 28, 2004

Post   Posted: Oct 21, 2006 - 02:39 Reply with quote Back to top

Year as some one said in main chat. "Evil Gigabits" Laughing

Well that might be. But the people I ecountered was concerned that I would cheat in the game. They never once mentioned the so called Evil Gigabits they they could be exposed to. Rolling Eyes

_________________
Superstition brings bad luck.

"he who has relied least on fortune is established
the strongest"
Niccolo Machiavelli
shadow46x2



Joined: Nov 22, 2003

Post   Posted: Oct 21, 2006 - 02:52 Reply with quote Back to top

qaz doesn't cheat when he hosts direct
he just likes to disconnect 10 or 12 times a match and blame it on his connection Wink

--j

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Laviak



Joined: Jul 19, 2004

Post   Posted: Oct 21, 2006 - 03:37 Reply with quote Back to top

At risk of taking this thread completely off topic ... my responses to the concerns listed above...

Quote:
I am tired of people suspecting me of a cheater when all I wanted was to host direct cuz it is more stable.

Can anyone tell me any reason that it would be easier to cheat using a direct connection than via the proxy server?

afaik, there is no data checking done on the proxy server, it simply passes on the game messages from one client to the other.


Quote:
Maybe - just maybe - some people are not that happy to expose their computer to a direct connection with the machine of a stranger.

Not out of specific distrust. As a general rule.

OK, so what are you doing every time you visit a website? Directly connecting to a computer, somewhere in the world, that you are trusting to return a website of some sort (and not an exploit for whatever browser you happen to be using). In principle, connecting to an opponent that hosts a direct connect game is exactly the same.

Hosting direct connect games is slightly different, but not that different -- you basically want to know that your computer isn't going to respond to connections on the port you exposed unless you want it to. If you're paranoid, you could block the port once the match is finished... you could also run a software firewall to ensure that none of the programs on your computer (other than java) use that port. On the other hand, if you're paranoid truly, then hopefully you are running an operating system other than windows.

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chunky04



Joined: Aug 11, 2003

Post   Posted: Oct 21, 2006 - 04:02 Reply with quote Back to top

Actually thats pretty on topic Laviak, and if you want to incorporate it into the article (hint hint Smile ) I'd be happy for you to do so.

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destroyer_dabes



Joined: Jan 27, 2006

Post   Posted: Oct 21, 2006 - 04:13 Reply with quote Back to top

Directly connecting to a fummbl match is very different than casually browsing the web. The direct connection to another computor has no inherent protections involved, where decent browsers have firewalls in addition to the ones disabled for a direct connect match. True there is no difference for a technically savy user, but I have had many people not know what a port is so I would not guess they have a very good personal firewall enabled to allow connection but disallow application manipulation. While I would still play a match direct connect, for the paranoid or technically inept this may be a valid issue.
Zlefin



Joined: Apr 14, 2005

Post   Posted: Oct 21, 2006 - 04:23 Reply with quote Back to top

there's been other threads like this, I know i started one a year or some other long time ago. Those threads had other good info in 'em.
And that router site, that's probably way above alot of users. Sure, some of us here are tech-savvy, but there's some people who don't know how to use anything other than the web-start Razz
Zlefin
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