Hey Scriptyure, thanks for pointing all of that out. Yes this is a sitting experience and glad that sitting down fixed your issue I do plan to support a standing mode for those inclined but just haven't made that a priority. And like you said I didn't explicitly state that anywhere, that's my bad. I have added a note to the description of the project to state that, hopefully no one else experiences what you experienced.
I am a designer by trade but I have ample amounts of C++ experience during my college days and am comfortable working with C++ code, that being said I am currently developing entirely in blueprints to get the concept up and running and plan to migrate things to C++ in the near future.
In regards to the shortcut issue, thank you so much for pointing that out. That was a huge mistake on my part! This was my first time using this kind of method to just get something into peoples' hands that I didn't realize that there was this kind of pitfall. I plan to push a build that has a proper OSS to connect people together but I was hoping to push this current build out for enthusiasts to play with while I continue to work on the build with a proper OSS. This is also why I didn't want to spend the time to figure out port forwarding stuff, because when I did some quick research I couldn't seem to find an easy and quick solution.
I am experienced, but still novice in many aspects and though I am fully aware this is a big and challenging project to pick up, I see it as a great opportunity to do something I love, make something I've always wanted to, as well as learn a lot along the way, and boy have I hahah. It's going to be a long journey but I am truly enjoying it and it's been a hugely rewarding one thus far so I have no regrets.
PS: It seems like you are very familiar with game development and or fairly experienced. If you feel interested in helping with feedback or contributing to the project and its development, feel free to join my discord. We have a group of fun and enthusiastic ppl who love just helping the project grow, I'm sure you would love it there. Also thank you so much for your feedback, it really means a lot to me that you took the time to try my project out and then even giving me feedback that things aren't working when you could have easily just ignored it. Thank you so much, I really really appreciate your help and straightforwardness!