So my goal here is to remove all the misleading usage/instances of "nodes" in any printed text.
To clarify, a "node" is a construction of the networking driver. It is not necessarily associated with any player. A good example of this is when splitscreen players join a game. All four players operate over the same connection, therby the same node. Where previously, by coincidence, nodes and player numbers aligned because of the same internal reservation mechanics--splitscreen players take more player numbers than nodes.