If you’re looking for something a little different in terms of an MMO, check out Beyond Protocol. It’s an MMORTS that’s in the Closed Beta phase right now, but they’re looking to expand the tester base significantly very soon. If you’ve ever played any MMORTS, this is a culmination of the innovative moves over the past two decades in that genre, brought to modern gaming standards. If you’re new to MMORTS, look up games like Mankind, Shattered Galaxy and Boundless Planet. Even Stardock’s "Sins of a Solar Empire" is a dwarfed, less complex RTS compared with Beyond Protocol, if you enjoyed that, you’ll love this!

The game boasts a complicated interdependency of research, tactics, espionage and trade.

*Research general technology that increases your empire’s understanding of the universe, then turn that understanding into components to equip on your units and buildings. The player is able to design custom armor, engines, shields, radar, and weapons. Choose from one of the many hull templates, and customize compartment allocation within. There are also a complement of 105 unique minerals in this game, and an alloying system that allows for a combination of any 4 of those minerals at a time, making the possible number of resources nearly infinite. Each one possess both known and unknown properties that could aid or hinder design.

*Tactical warfare has never been so in depth in an RTS. All units posses the AI to target certain unit configurations and classes while fighter class ships can target specific enemy components, all without constant player intervention. The formation builder allows a player to sculpt complex unit arrangements to augment AI and unit design, for use in combat or blockades. Fight on a planet, fight in space, or fight across an entire galaxy. The battle group system allows players to group and monitor fleets or caravans AND make use of them through email or SMS.

*If head on battle is not your thing, a fully developed espionage system is in place. Hire agents with specific skills and traits. Assemble teams to carry out missions ranging from, "Find this mineral in this system" to "Destroy this building in that empire" to "Steal this cargo from this planet" to "Assassinate the Governor of this colony". The system is complete with counter agents to foil these attempts and potentially capture enemy agents. A captured agent gives you the possibility to interrogate for information like agent name, employer, and mission.

*There is also a robust trade system which allows you to create a galaxy wide trade empire. Set buy orders to instantly buy a product matching your description when it appears on the market. Use your economic might to buy all available resources in a system to bend the will of its inhabitants, or benevolently supply all those under your influence to garner trust and protection. All of this can occur out of the public eye from a hidden building on an unnamed planet, or build a space trade post, capable of selling the big equipment, but the location of which is common knowledge to all in the solar system.

You could try to play all four aspects, but to develop a formidable empire, it’s best to recruit friends and divide roles. Beyond Protocol also introduced an alias system which allows multiple accounts to play the same empire simultaneously. So, not only can your form a faction made up of separate empires, you can fully combine you assets to create a truly cohesive nation.

They just recently updated their graphics system and added in a new instanced tutorial that helps dull the sharp learning curve. If you’re looking for strategy online, look no further.

Homepage and Registration - www.beyondprotocol.com

Quick Description - www.mmorpg-center.com/game-56.html