Yesterday I found in manalink 1.3.2 and 2.0 that all the connection problems reading
"Can't create a DirectPlay session on that service provid" are produced by a problem with the VPN service that you are using.
Yesterday was impossible to connect 2 computers at home. I always used teamviewer VPN connection to connect computers and play manalink, but yesterday was impossible (error 009 directplay). I though about broken files in manalink folder, but the problem was that maybe VPN was saturated, full of connections, low ping, etc.. I tested other VPN service and manalink online worked again.
I can confirm that it is not a problem of OS. Yesterday I played online with 3 different OS: vista/7 and 10. In 10 remember that you need to enable legacy components in windows 10 features to enable directplay.
Its a pity that manalink 3 cannt be played online (game ends at the begining of the turn), but hey!! you can try ver 1.3.2 or 2.0 and play with the oldschool cards