Dorm's and IP rules

[Sokar408]

So I happened to live in a dorm/neightborhood (The area coucil keeps changing it, wish they'd make up their mind) in which 1200 people all use the same external IP address. This has me a bit worried as I saw in a post yesterday, that only 3 people are allowed to play from the same IP, which brings me to my quests:

Does this IP rule take MAC addresses into consideration, coupled with the external IP, or in some other way can differentiate between different apartments on such an internet solution?
If it can't/doesn't, can someone point towards a GM/whoever that I can talk to about this, because I'd hate to have to try and keep this server a secret, in order to be able to continue playing myself (Don't want more people know about it, as more people knowing = bigger chance more people logging on = bigger chance of going above the 3 user pr IP limit)

My and my girlfriend have been having a blast playing thus far, which leaves just 1 connection, and I'd like ensure that we can continue to do so

[Alyusha]

I'd imagine that they have some way of telling you apart. I'm not very informed on how IP networks set up like that work but it make absolutely no sense for them to not be able to see you as a different person than the guy next door, there is no way every single 1200 people are getting the same packets everyone else is it would bog things down way to much.

That said, if there is any reason why they wouldn't be able to do that then I'm sure a simple ban appeal would solve the problem granted it may take a few days.

[String]

Greetings,

The restriction does not take MAC addresses into consideration, as MAC addresses are on the local network.

However, you can always purchase a VPN (or find a free service) and connect to the server along with your friends.

Regards,
String

[Sokar408]

Greetings,

The restriction does not take MAC addresses into consideration, as MAC addresses are on the local network.

However, you can always purchase a VPN (or find a free service) and connect to the server along with your friends.

Regards,
String

I know little to nothing about VPN's though, and so that just opens up more questions for me. Like isn't a VPN just connecting to a server farm, and have the server farm, provide you with whatever you are requesting over the internet, in effect making the VPN your external IP? And if so, who is to say that that VPN doesn't already have other Nos users using their service, simply moving the problem of IP to the VPN?

And for clarification, what happens if more then 3 tries to log in? Do all users get disconnected, or is the 4th connector just not allowed to connect?

[Armilus]

Greetings,

The restriction does not take MAC addresses into consideration, as MAC addresses are on the local network.

However, you can always purchase a VPN (or find a free service) and connect to the server along with your friends.

Regards,
String

I know little to nothing about VPN's though, and so that just opens up more questions for me. Like isn't a VPN just connecting to a server farm, and have the server farm, provide you with whatever you are requesting over the internet, in effect making the VPN your external IP? And if so, who is to say that that VPN doesn't already have other Nos users using their service, simply moving the problem of IP to the VPN?

And for clarification, what happens if more then 3 tries to log in? Do all users get disconnected, or is the 4th connector just not allowed to connect?

Not exactly. A VPN basically diverts your traffic through a router that masks your original IP. The VPN can put a bunch of people on the same IP address or it can provide each user with their own IP, depends on what service you are using and what you pay for.

[zerf]

I'd imagine that they have some way of telling you apart. I'm not very informed on how IP networks set up like that work but it make absolutely no sense for them to not be able to see you as a different person than the guy next door, there is no way every single 1200 people are getting the same packets everyone else is it would bog things down way to much.

That said, if there is any reason why they wouldn't be able to do that then I'm sure a simple ban appeal would solve the problem granted it may take a few days.

No, you can't tell people apart from server side. Technically all of this is handled by router, that is used as a gateway to internet and it handles network address translation (NAT) + makes sure traffic only goes where it is supposed to go.

This rule won't be effective against catching bots anyway, because just as legit players can connect through VPN's and proxies, so can botters (it's even easier for them, since they already know everything about that). All it does is alienates people who are stuck behind routers with only single public IP (many places with underdeveloped internet infrastructure are using shared IP addreses simply because it's cheaper).
Expect lots of false positives.