I don't remember exactly what I expected - probably an RP/Strategy game, but much less well balanced than BM is; so either a Strategy game with virtually no role-playing, or something more like a forum based RP thing with some nod in the direction of strategy grafted on. I think it's the balance BM has that keeps it strong.
My first character landed in Omsk (I picked a small realm since I thought there'd be a better welcome for a new player). A week or so later, Sirion rolled over it, and that was the end of Omsk.
However, in that week there was lots of discussion about where the Omkians would go next and offers of hospitality from Perdan and Oligarch. I picked Oligarch since it was closer to my new, hated enemy. The EI Great War, with its ebbing and flowing, the number of times we dragged our sorry troops through Bruck, losing Oligarch city, all seeming beyond hope, coming back and retaking it; great times. The months-long end of Oligarch in particular was perhaps the most involved I've ever been in a video game. When Oligarch finally died, I was as gutted as any soccer fan seeing their team lose the cup final. Perhaps more so, since I'd done more than just sit on the sidelines cheering.
That first character's bastard son now fights for Sirion's elite army, but there's still just a little bit of me that would like to see Sirion crushed. Those elves are evil, right?
Poll