Where do you think multiplayer games are hosted?...;) A multiplayer game *must* be hosted somewhere on the Internet or else it does not exist anywhere that players can join a game...;) Your IP address has nothing to do with whether or not you are running a server that is running the game-hosting software and that is connected to the Internet so that your sever can host a multiplayer game! I'm really amazed at how much I see this nonsense..;) One guy I recall was telling people in a post that GOG was "lying" about DRM because of the "fine print" he saw telling people that for multiplayer games they had to have an Internet connection! Wow--blew my mind, it did...;) Yes, multiplayer games require that a *server* be set up for that purpose somewhere on the Internet where players can then access the server hosting the game environment! GOG now offers its own Mulitplayer environment, just as Steam has operated its multiplayer environment for years.

Multiplayer does not happen otherwise. Your IP address is wholly insufficient for anything aside from sending and receiving email and nailing down your location on the web--it identifies you by that address, just as your street address identifies your physical address in the 3d world.

Now, you can play through a LAN, but your friends need to be physically connected to that LAN in order to play.