Hate to open a can of worms here as I do not know the answer to this question, but as far as I am concerned if a dyna server admin is running their dynaverse on what amounts a server that is supported by the community, a server admin should not be able to promulgate a rule that denies access to that server, particularly in this case this firewall thing. Are most of these dynaverse campaigns run on the servers that are maintained by the Organization? I know that far more people benefit from these "public servers" than actually contribute to their maintenance and upkeep, etc., but if this community is not a pay-to-play system, then there has to be some consideration paid to the community at-large. Quite frankly if you have your own equipment and you want to make lunatic connection rules even based on ping, that is your perogative.
However, I chaffe at the intimation that somehow if someone puts together a dynaverse campaign, he or she can somehow set policy for the entire community as regards their internet security settings. As I have said, I think first we are trying to be an open community. Insisting on a set of conditions to even participate in a dynaverse campaign, I think, is a bit restrictive and counterproductive. Further, if these campaigns are run via these "public" services provided by the Organization, I hardly see how someone who creates a campaign, i.e. the content of a server, should be able to set policy for access to these "public" services. And that is a very qualified "public" I am using. I believe we are not using servers fully maintained and funded by the community. I am really trying not to step on any toes here, so I will say no more in this particular line of arguement.
What I will simply say is that I do indeed play with no software firewalls as I have little choice in the matter if I even wish to connect to the dyna. I don't think that anyone is particularly jeopardizing their system by dropping the software firewalls for a time, but I think it is wholly inappropriate to insist that they must.
Further while I have no doubt that software firewalls can play a role in mission instability, it would seem to me that mission instability was here long before I even knew what a software firewall was, before I even had one on my system, before this topic even came up. Like I said, tempest in a teapot.