Yea Elman, most connections (At least in Canada where I am at) the leases are VERY long for residential connections.
For example, in my hometown in Ontario, our lease is up to 7 days last time I remember checking. Also generally, because
your router is ALWAYS on you would most likely never get a new IP, generally because after a certain amount of time that
DHCP server that services your residence will send out a notice that you should renew your lease (TTL half life).....and if you reply it
generally will give you the same IP address as that keeps things WAY less complicated at the ISPs end. Although correct me if I am wrong
but I know thats how most ISPs do it in Canada for cable internet these days. For personal experience, I know even if I disconnect my
router and wait 24 hours I will still get the same IP, that is because usually ISPs keep the IP specifically for you for a certain amount of time,
especially if that ISP has a limited amount of IPs in their address pools.
The main advantage that dedicated servers would have would be the fact that it could take MOST of the hardware requirements OFF
the clients and put it onto the server. Hell, CO doesnt even need to have their own servers, it could be done like all the Counter Strike
games are done etc, where you can host your own dedicated server.
That way things could be done such as hosting multiple games etc. Although you would definitely have to watch your resource usage, but
again that could be up to the client.
One thing that has really ticked me off about multiplayer is the fact that if I want to continue working on the city in Sandbox mode, I cannot
give my friend that I started the game the map because when I save, it changes the settings preventing me from using it in a multiplayer game
(If I am wrong about this, anyone want to enlighten me about how I can get around this?)
