No, in AH there is no "at fault". The computers don't care about that at all. The only thing the code is looking for is if a collision happened. In your EQ example, even though the computers are next to each other they are both running their on FE and both communicating with the server independently, and thus events being displayed slightly out of sync, particularly, I bet, for actions of the character on one of the computers showing up on the other.
First, I never said there was an *at fault* in AH.
Second, I know exactly how the *collision* model works in AH. In a 1 vs 1 for example, there aren't just two planes in the fight, there are 4, two on my screen and two on my opponents screen. I only take damage when the game code on MY machine registers a *collision*. My opponent only takes damage when the game code on HIS machine registers a *collision*.
Third, I only used EQ as an example for someone else. That example is to show that it isn't just AH where we never see the same realities at the same times, it's every online game and it doesn't matter if your opponent is in the same room as you playing on your spare comp or is in Australia. It also wasn't just the actions of the two characters that showed visible delays, actions from characters that weren't my own were affected as well. For example, during a raid, the main tank calls assist on a mob, one computer would see that assist call significantly sooner than the other. I know this for a fact because I had audio triggers going off for the assist call (among other things) for both of my machines.
Fourth, I understand why people get confused when we talk about the *collision* model in AH.
People get confused because it isn't like any collision they are familiar with. Like traffic collisions for example. (refer to the definition of collision that I posted earlier) We see a *collision* on our screen and we don't also see what our brains tell us is the results of a normal collision and it causes frustration and confusion for people.