Ports vs ip address on traffic shaping
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am wondering why it is that "port(s)" is mainly used for traffic shaping and not an ip address of a certain game server?
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Because finding the IP's of certain game servers is difficult and they change all the time and you never know where the client is making the connection to as it could be in a /24 or a /28 depending on the game provider. You could probably use the FQDN of the server assuming you could find it and then pray it didn't change. However most will not change the port or port range they use for the game once it is published.
BF4 - yes pretty easy to figure it out and go from there. Rocket League , LoL , and most games - easier to use protocol and port to shape the traffic.
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And if you want to test this - open a game on your PC - do a packet capture on it when your playing it on a Monday then wait till the weekend or the even the next day and do the same thing and compare the captures.
See if they differ at all.
Shaping gaming traffic is kind of like hunting land mines with a field knife - it is a slow and methodical process that requires patience because if you rush it - boom!!! :)