Anyone have any suggestions for a project we have which needs

[Thom Kevin Gillespie <thom@indiana.edu>]

matching system/service?

He is general outline of our needs.

Any suggestions much appreciated. Send me mail directly rather than clutter up 
the list.

Thanks, Thom

------------ situation -----------

     Guardians of Kelthas is a digital fantasy card game being developed 
by a team of over 35 students for the 2006 Independent Games Festival. We 
are looking for a multiplayer matching system/service that could be used 
with our game. Specifically, we would like the system to:

- Be relatively cheap (say, no more than $100/mo). We expect to have an
extremely low volume of traffic (as the only players will be our testing team
and the IGF judges), so that may help somewhat. We don't have a server, so if
the system requires one, any costs associated with that would need to be
considered as well.

- Be an in-game solution (eg. the user shouldn't have to touch a web browser).

- Require a minimal amount of work to integrate with the existing game. Our
current code is in C#/Managed DirectX, although we can use any of the .NET
languages if necessary.

- Track user accounts and associated data (passwords, win/loss record, etc.)

- Allow automated patching of the user's game if a new version is available.

- Support basic game matching. Games of Guardians are peer-to-peer, so the
server doesn't need to be involved with a game once it starts.