I have to say you've got me there. I haven't played MP in a while (though I've been meaning to get back into it... I tend to go in waves), but I have heard some alarming reports of, how to say, rampant disconnectivity. That would annoy me to no end, during one of my MP "waves".
That's good question, though. Are the MP problems (hotseat games aside) something that an unofficial patch is incapable of fixing, because of the nature of the MP interface? Thus, the only solution is an official patch? Anyone know?
Wodan
If I recall correctly, the multiplayer issue is hardcoded, and can't be fixed by a modder. So yeah, it'd need an offical patch.