Sovereign - Games - http://maxpages.com/strategyforum/Sovereign

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Verant's follow-up to its huge online hit EverQuest is both a game played in real time and one that promises the kind of depth seen in turn-based games like Civilization and Imperialism. Toss in the X-factor of multiplayer games of anywhere from four to 500 players in size, and we've never seen a game quite like this.

Sovereign is, first and foremost, big. Big in scale and big in ambition. The game is set in a world much like our own and employs current military technology. Just about any military unit you can think of is included - AWACs, subs with cruise missiles, VTOL transports, tanks - you name it, it's there. At the start of each game, the gorgeous 3D world is randomly generated and scaled in size to the number of players.

Sovereign is an empire builder at heart. At the outset, each player gets to place a city which can generate two of the eight to ten resources in the game. One resource will always be money. The second resource is based on the terrain you build upon. To get additional resources players build new cities, trade with one another, or buy them in the game's world market.

Players can win by several different methods. For example, a game might have, as a victory condition, amassing a certain amount of money, or cornering the market and controlling a certain percentage of two or more resources.

Fought in real time, games with 500 players might take as long as a month to play. But the sheer scale of the game, the realistic movement rates, and the cost of mounting and sustaining an attack will reduce the chances that Sovereign will become a clickfest. To further discourage the rush, troops and military units garrisoned in a city have their defensive and offensive capabilities doubled. Sovereign's strong roleplaying element will let players develop characters that will accrue experience and gain new skills that carry over from game to game. Each of the six character classes comes with advantages, for example, Economists can borrow from the world market, Diplomats get a bonus in all treaties with other players, Scientists get a research bonus, and Theologians convert citizens into soldiers to send on crusades.

There's an abundance of diplomatic and espionage tactics available with players able to declare war, sue for peace, spy on enemies and engage in terrorism. Players establish land, air, and sea trade, and other players can prey upon these routes.

There's even a dash of card collecting in Sovereign with its digital trading cards (DTC). A DTC might raise the morale of your cities, or be a "blackout" card that blanks a region of the map from spy satellites. Verant will distribute new cards to players every week. Players will be able to trade DTCs in the game lobby.

The big question is, though, how will a player's cities survive when the player is logged off?

"We're giving players three options," says Verant's CEO John Smedley. "Players can lock down their cities, and all friendly units will automatically head to the nearest city and garrison themselves. Players can just log off, and units with orders [guard, etc,] will continue to move while the rest will head back to cities. Finally, players can let another player run all or part of their empire." Sovereign will even email or send a message to your pager when your cities are attacked if you're not currently playing.

Unlike EverQuest, which is essentially non-competitive, Sovereign is a cutthroat game that will pit players against one another, with backstabbing encouraged. You can even invite a player into a secure chat room to discuss tactics, and allow another player to eavesdrop.

There really hasn't been a game like this before, and if Verant can deliver, particularly in balancing the game properly, it promises to be a fascinating experience.

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