[Hiro_Antagonist]

FWIW, I expect multi-player games to pick up a bit soon, thanks to a couple of major press reviews. (PC Gamer and Computer Games Magazine.) We're also releasing a patch (v1.20) in a couple of weeks or so that will have features that make it a bit easier to find opponents.

As for the handicap feature, this is something we always wanted to implement, but with the way the rules and races are set up, there's no consistant way to balance a handicap. Any type or quantity of handicap we considered would benefit each race inconsistantly -- some races would always get a bigger benefit than others.

Informal, self-imposed handicaps are a good idea though, and I can definitely see how that would help bring an SO into the game. =)

-Hiro_Antagonist