AudibleScholar if you could show a screenshot of your modem's interface where you are doing port forwarding that would help a ton like Durfoo did. The way each router handles it is always a touch different so it is helpful to see how yours is configured to make sure it should all work correctly.

This is likely the bug that Blair mentioned that should be fixed soon. Games that are already in progress are still listed as joinable even though they aren't. They said they will be fixing it in a new push to ICO (ironclad online) soon.

Ok, connected directly to the modem and it works. I still get the error message when hosting, but it works. I don't know why, I don't know how, I don't care, I'm so tired and don't even feel like playing anymore... Aaaaargh!

P.S. Thank you everyone for your help and concern.

Most campuses don't block connections generated from within the firewall going out. What that means is that most enterprise hardware firewalls are "stateful" which is that if you host a game and send out the connection to Ironclad online using port 6112 first, the firewall knows that this is "ok" and will allow connections back on the same port you sent out on. (I work for University IT at a 10,000 student University). Also, 6112 is used for Battle.net and World of Warcraft so it is unlikely that it is being blocked unless you have some draconian network staff

Yea, the "rejected by host" error just means that the game is in progress but hasn't yet been removed from the list. An update this week will address that.

The issue being discussed here is being able to host.  Most modern games use port 6112 (supreme commander, rise of nations, rise of legends) to name 3 off the top of my head.  In fact, I don't know of any recent RTS's that don't use that port. Heck, World of Warcraft uses it.

If you direct connect to the cable modem (i.e. no router) and there's still a problem that means there's some software (zone alarm or firewall or something) blocking it.

The data comes via the Internet and then must go to the PC port 6112. If something blocks it, you can't host. It's as straight forward as that.

well then why cant i play, i have my firewall turned off and i keep getting "Disconnected from ironclad" BOOO

To be honest, I have no idea.   Can you post more of your computer specs?

Windows vista
Asus k8-n motherboard
2 2.2ghz single core processors
8800gtx
4 gigs of ram
a sound card
500 gig hard drive

If you want to play with a friend who is off-campus (or on campus on a different sub-net) you can use the most wonderful program known as Hamachi to fake a LAN and tunnel through any firewall i've ever seen. Just go to http://www.hamachi.cc/ and download it for free. Setup the program then start up a new network, call it something like "SinsLAN123" or whatever you want. Then your friend just chooses "Join Network" and types in the name of your network and voila, you can now use the "Multiplayer" option in Sins of a Solar Empire without ever going into IronClad Online. That way you can play LAN games across the internet if you have trouble with ports.

Granted, this means you can't play with random people unless you can get them to join your in your hamachi network, but its better than no multiplayer at all.

i dont want to use hamachi, i dont want to port scan and get my A@@ banned from my school's network, I Just Want To Play Multiplayer, it worked fine in beta and now it doesnt so what is different about the multiplayer setup.

although its a nice idea, i just wont be able to get enough people in my network to ever play a game hahaha. it looks like im venting but im just faking it. i work at a it helpdesk and i know how painful computer/network issues are.

Hey, just trying to be helpful. Read this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamachi about how Hamachi works and I think you will see there is nothing "bannable" about using it. It is merely a virtual private network and does not do port scanning or any such thing. All traffic is even encrypted over Hamachi. I'm not speaking as a clueless person here, I work in University IT and Networking (i'm a Network Analyst). As for what has changed between beta and release, I don't know. I had no issues in beta 4 with multiplayer and don't seem to have any issues now so whatever changed didn't affect me.

It is possible the change was something done by your networking department and not by Ironclad.

Been there done that before as well (helpdesk) as a student and full-time employee. I feel for ya

In this picture you are mapping ports 6001 thru 6003 to ips 192.168.2.100 thru 192.168.2.104. You just need one row that says 6112 to 6112 to 192.168.x.yyy where x.yyy is your local ip. You can acquire this by typing start->run->cmd. Then type ipconfig.

Doesn't Sins support UPNP? If your router supports that and you have no idea what you're doing with the port forwarding, just hunt around for that option and enable it (and take off any port forwarding to 6112 that you've done).

Yes, Sins supports Upnp but Upnp implementation on various routers is notoriously flakey (it doesn't even work all the time here at the office) and many older modems don't support it at all.

Guys do you have your services on automatic?

Mine were active (Upnp and the other one mentioned in the sticky thread) but not on automatic and I got "connection failed:rejected by host" every time I tried.

I messed with my firewall etc and it didn't do a thing, I was still getting rejected.
Then I changed my services (start, right click my computer, manage, services) to be on automatic and can connect fine.

If someone ever needs help with windows 2003 server NAT forwarding pm me. Had no trouble binding the port route to the interface.

Just so you guys know, it will still display that message saying most people cant join your game, even after you forward your ports. It does not mean its true though, if you open the port, and make sure your firewall is not blocking, people can join just fine even with that message.