another big reason for using a client/server approach is that if you have a network game with half a dozen players, it's a lot easier to find & connect to a single server, than for each client to find all of the others and keep half a dozen connections open to be able to talk with all of them.
Using a server greatly simplifies things from the individual client's point of view.
Using a server also makes it easier to cope with a player who has a crappy connection, the server can keep things smooth for all the other players so only the person with the bad connection suffers and not everyone else.
Lastly, keep in mind that the 'server' can run on the same machine as a client, so in a network game a single person can be appointed to act as the server, you don't need a seperate machine or something.
A good example is a game like Warcraft3, where a single person 'hosts' the game and he/she then acts as the server for the others connecting to it.
Either the server can broadcast it's presence to the network for the clients to pick up, or the clients can actively broadcast that it's looking for a game to join after which the server can show its presence and link up.
Using a server greatly simplifies things from the individual client's point of view.
Using a server also makes it easier to cope with a player who has a crappy connection, the server can keep things smooth for all the other players so only the person with the bad connection suffers and not everyone else.
Lastly, keep in mind that the 'server' can run on the same machine as a client, so in a network game a single person can be appointed to act as the server, you don't need a seperate machine or something.
A good example is a game like Warcraft3, where a single person 'hosts' the game and he/she then acts as the server for the others connecting to it.
Either the server can broadcast it's presence to the network for the clients to pick up, or the clients can actively broadcast that it's looking for a game to join after which the server can show its presence and link up.