Hello there. I am MMORTSLover and I love MMORTS's. Pretty straight forward, eh?
If you looked at that acronym and one or both of your eyebrows went up, I'll do a brief overview. Most gamers will know what an MMO is, especially these days, but for those that don't, it is a massively multiplayer game played online. So thousands of players all playing the same game and able to interact with one another. Some games allow more or less interaction, and there is often some sort of balance between PvE (Player vs Environment) and PvP (Player vs Player).
An RTS, again is something most gamers know about, but quickly, it is a Real Time Strategy game. The basic concept is that you control multiple units simultaneously. They could be a pack of peasants, a group of tanks, or bio engineered cyborgs depending on what type of RTS you're playing. Sometimes you have the option to build a base, or colony, and almost always have the ability to either create more units or call for reinforcements. The camera generally takes a view from the sky, viewing the battleground below. The games can go online, but tend to be limited to 2-32 players at a time (2-8 is more common).
MMORTS is a beautifully synergistic genre that hasn't seen the love it deserves. It combines the strategic level of thought needed for an RTS with the massive scale of an MMO, and something else happens. Often time the failings of an AI opponent in traditional RTS's are eliminated because most opponents are other players with their own devious strategies and tactics.
My MMORTS gaming history began with Boundless Planet, while periodically checking on Shattered Galaxy, which then moved to Mankind, then to Time of Defiance, and then I became involved in the Beyond Protocol beta. Beyond Protocol is my favorite so far, it has huge planets with hills, flat lands, and water in a 3d setting like Boundless Planet, customizable units like Shattered Galaxy, an enormous universe and mineral system like Mankind, and tactical settings and espionage like Time of Defiance. However, all of these features together create something truly unique.
When compared to the MMORPG's MMORTS's are much more rare. I am sure this has something to do with WoW's success added to the failures of various MMORTS's along the way, so I will do the best job I can to encourage this frail genre and bring it to the glory it deserves. I know there are gamers out there that want this, they just don't know they want it!
Things I'm working on: Real Life... Not really into WP atm...