Zugg Software :: View topic - Single IP on a no Multi-player mud

Newbie Joined: 11 Jan 2003 Posts: 6

My wife and I are both trying to play the same mud, but our ISP only provides a single IP per account. The MUD we are trying to play does not allow multi-playing, and is not known for the most tolerant or friendly admins.

We are both running registered versions of zmud 7.21 on windows XP. Any suggestions on how to get around this problem? We've tried to explain to the admins (and proven adequately I think) that we are two separate players, but they've had some multiplaying issues in the past and simply refuse multiple connections from the same IP (not hardcoded on the mud, they check an IP listing and deal harshly with the offending players)

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

Edit: Is this when you would use a Proxy server? Not sure exactly how that works - if it is the solution, anybody know of a reliable server and/or how she'd set this up?

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 5:22 pm

Ideally, you'd change to a MUD whose admins aren't total hamtouchers. If they're idiots when it comes to this, they're bound to be idiots when it comes to something else.

An option I've used infrequently (because it's a bit of a legal grey area) is connecting via wireless to someone else's internet connection. It requires that someone living near you has an unprotected wireless network, but that happens pretty often (I live on the cusp of the centre of my town - I can get wireless from either the pubs across the street, the local uni, and a couple of shops nearby that have networks). New connection = new IP.

If that's not an option, you're looking at using some kind of proxy. The main problem with this is that this is going to slow your ping time - the extent to which it does that depends on which option you use.

If you have access to an SSH shell that allows forwarding, you can use PuTTY (or CMUD Pro) to forward your connection through SSH. zMUD--(Telnet)-->MUD Server becomes zMUD--(Telnet)-->PuTTY--(SSH)-->SSH Shell--(Telnet)-->MUD Server. The extra steps are going to add some lag. I believe there's a thread on the forums about setting up PuTTY to do this, but you'll need to get a shell account yourself and that might be a problem - it's hard to find free, online shells that allow forwarding, for pretty obvious reasons. I had to resort to begging an account from a friend.

The final option I know if is The Onion Router. I tried finding the tutorial I used to set up this awesome piece of software, but can't find it now - hopefully their documentation will be plenty. If I find it, I'll post again. THe only problem with TOR is that it can be very very slow. YMMV.

Newbie Joined: 11 Jan 2003 Posts: 6

Thanks for the reply Fang.

There is a wireless network we can hit from our house, but it is protected. I take that as a sign that we aren't allowed to access it :)

I don't think the lag time of using a proxy would be a big problem, assuming it isn't ridiculous. I'd even pay for an SSH that allows forwarding if I found a reputable service - any suggestions anybody? -, but even that I'm not sure how to set up. I took a quick look for the PuTTY instructions you mentioned but the search function isn't working and if it is in the first 10 pages or so on the forums I missed it. Doesn't Zmud's built in Proxy server connector work direct w/o additional software?

It's taken me about 10 years to get my wife to finally start online gaming with me - I need to get something going fast or she's going to lose interest before we get to any fun games =(.

In regards to finding a new MUD - other than the admins, who typically leave the players be unless there is a problem (suspected multi playing?), the MUD is awesome. Unfortunately I haven't found one yet that I enjoy as much =(. Not so sure what a hamtoucher is, but I think I'll be using that one in the future ;)

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 8:21 pm

Search works fine. Use the search on the Site menu or remove the &safe= part from the URL of the google search.

There are a number of threads on forwarding with putty.

Newbie Joined: 11 Jan 2003 Posts: 6

Ahh, duh. I was trying to use just the google search, not the search in the Site menu. Thanks - that'll help with any other questions!

Thanks for the continued responses and help Fang - I think I found a solution in one of the threads you mentioned. Please correct me if this is wrong:

If my wife sets the mudmagic proxy in the Use telnet/proxy server info and connects that way, her IP will be listed to the admins as a mudmagic account, right? So it'll be obvious that she's behind a proxy, but they can't point to my IP and accuse us of multiplaying on one box?

Sorry if the answer is obvious - I'm by no means a computer/net guru and I've read enough posts on the topic today to make my head spin!