Here I'm not talking about stuff like Starcraft that's closer to an action game. I've been looking at the strategy games and most of them are real timed now, and this isn't done to expediate gameplay because these games still takes tens if not hundreds of hours to complete. I've played some of them briefly and it's not even clear to me what's the point to make a game that'd still take tens of hours real time. You invariably end up pausing the game very often because you have to make sure you actually did everything. It doesn't help multiplayer because any strategy game with depth is way beyond the scope of finishing in one multiplayer session. It seems like a lot of strategy games are real time just for the sake of real time. It'd be like if Master of Magic was real time, what would you get out of it? Nothing. I guess it'd be quicker when you already have half of the world conquered and is just mopping up, but if you've that kind of lead most games have some kind of 'auto resolve everything' option too. By making a game real time, you automatically remove the possiblity of hotseat, and yet I don't see anything added to a true strategy game by making it real time. I really don't see games like Total War or Europa Universalis ever becoming anywhere near mainstream even if it's real time. Heck, I don't see how they'd even beat Civilization in terms of market acceptance, which is definitely turn-based. Or, to put it another way, if Civilization was a real time game would the game sell any better? I just have a hard time seeing that happening.
Sins of a Solar Empire is one of the only real time strategy games that I've enjoyed in recent years and a lot of this has to do with the degree of control the player has over speed. At the slowest speed it's all but a turn based game. Things can happen, if you're patient, and later in the game it's vital to use this speed during key battles, but it really ends up letting you catch your breath and think about what you're doing. In this game a lot of the joy is watching your fleets and planets develop in real time. I think it enhances gameplay through providing tension. As fun as Civ 5 and the campaign map of Total War get - I don't think it's the same kind of suspense as moving your massive fleet into a gravity well in Sins of a Solar Empire and waiting for that moment when your fleet first hits the enemies.
I think Civilization is more about time passing and things changing and the feeling of accomplishment that comes with presiding over that, rather then marshaling your forces in real time. Turn based strategy offers a degree of detail that appeals to a different audience than Sins of a Solar Empire. RTS has a focus on military forces, while turn based allows for some added flexibility on that.
