Civiliwhaaaaaaat?

It took me a little while to reason out what was so disappointing about the Civilization Online reveal. Clearly it's a very different beast from an actual Civ game, but that's fine; spinoffs happen all the time. And the grand, ambitious concepts they discuss - shepherding an entire civilization from its ancient roots to the modern era, while personally playing a part in its exploration, settlement, technological development, and warfare - are pretty impressive, albeit suspiciously vague and possibly unfeasible.

But what makes Civilization Online seem altogether less appealing than a full-fledged Civilization, is that I'm not in charge. When I lead a civ to technological or cultural revolution, or to diplomatic or bloody victory, none of it happens by virtue of other players, or intelligent agents within my civilization. It's all on me! The leader. The idea of becoming a leader in Civ Online is appealing, but by its nature as an MMO, most players won't be able to accomplish this. The role they'll be filling instead - being a grunt in another leader's army - doesn't sound very fun.

All the same, I'm curious to find out more about the game, if only because I doubt they'll be able to pull off all the features they've described.