War of Conquest

War of Conquest is a massively multiplayer nation-building real-time strategy game. It was released in 2002 and ran through 2011. Each player founds a nation, expands the nation's territory, allies and battles with other nations, and captures resources. As a nation progresses in level it develops technologies, chosen from a large tree of possibilities that begin in the neolithic age with options like "stone tools" and "heads on pikes" and advanced through the modern era and into far future realms of nanotechnology, interdimensional travel and post-singularity AI. Parallel technology paths explore psychic abilities, magic, and biological fantasy.

The ultimate goal of a nation is to pursue the ancient and mysterious Orbs scattered throughout the landscape. Orbs come in several types, ranging from the relatively common Orbs of Noontide, through to the singular Orb of Fire located at the heart of the game map. Nations that capture an Orb accrue prize winnings for the duration that they hold it, and these winnings can be exchanged for the in-game currency, "credits", or cashed out.

War of Conquest is unusual among nation-building strategy games in that it places all players' nations, which typically number in the several thousands, onto a single large open-world map. This makes conflict between nations inevitable, and reinforces the value of alliances, negotiation, and community.