Do you have to host a server to play with friends?

[PeppathePiggr]

As the title suggests i was curious if in black ops 2 plutonium do you have to host a server to play with friends as custom matches wont let anyone join as i have opened my connection as well as added rules to my firewall but still no dice as well as direct connecting

TLDR
cant host for friends
ive tried
xpartyprivatego
xpartygo
direct connecting
solo match then friend joins
coustom match then friend join

discord Peppathepig#9378