Obligatory "hey I'm thinking about getting the game" post

So I have seen the game and done a little research and I am interested.  They say this is the groundbreaker of a new genre and as such I have a few questions.

1. What is the pace of the game once you get going?

2. How would you rate single player versus multiplayer? How does multiplayer work on such a large scale? What is the length of a typical multiplayer game?

3. I think I know i the answer to this one but I'll ask anyway..the winner is generally not the guy who gets 50 tanks out of his factory first right?

4. How diverese is the tech tree for example in the high end tiers how different can ships be from the same faction are the upgrades and tech developments as deep as people are saying?

5. For somone like me who may play 2 hours a night and save a game and come back to it...would this be a fun experience or do you think that the fun factor is dependant upon putting long hours in?

6. How mature is the community?

7. Can somone give me a short synaopsis of the game from a players perspective?

Thanks I know that a lot of questions, I am considering recommending this game to my friends and getting into it together so I don't want to bring them a turd.
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Reply #1 Top
1) Fairly slow, but nothing too bad. Games will take a few hours, but they're very exciting.

2) Multiplayer all the way (The AI sucks). MP Games are epic.

MP games can take hours, though, so it's best to meet some people, exchange contact info, and play so you can save and pick it up later, etc

3) There isn't too much in the way of tactics (there is some though) as the game is overwhelmingly strategic. However, this doesn't mean it's simple. It doesn't mean you just rush along some predefined build order, spam the "Build generic wtfpwn unit" 50642562 times and send them at the enemy. The game is very deep

4) Very. The sides usually have roughly equivalent units, but they may have different abilities, completely different functions, etc. For example, there is an Advent cruiser that extends its powerful shields to act as protection to nearby friendly ships...the other factions don't have anything like that. Tech trees have some things that are the same, but large parts of it are unique

5) Certainly. In fact, I'd recommend it. As stated above, it's probably best to find people to regularly play with (Not hard, we have a whole forum for it) and maybe communicate on xfire or MSN.

6) Good, and as stated above it's not so much a "Go into MP, get into game with Random Joe #42342, finish, leave", so you have a great deal of control over who you play with

7) what do you mean?
Reply #2 Top
1. Hard to say. Depends on the types of games you play. It's somewhat faster than a 4x game (Civ.) and slower than a RTS.
2. Multiplayer is better, but I spend more time in single simply due to time constraints. Length of any game is dependent on the size of the map. Expect hours at least.
3. Yes and no. Balance is good. Depends on the race you are playing.
4. They are pretty much the same, just some stuff is earlier or later in the tree depending on the race. There are differences, but they are definitely three completely separate trees. Still, good variety.
5. I play for 15 and come back two days later.
6. Pretty mature, as with most 4x-type games. Younger people tend to get bored easier, so . . .
7. Good god no.

All the above are insufficient to give you an idea. Read around the boards some more, that's the best you can do.