Ask any MMORPG player out there how much time it takes to play their game of choice, and the answers will range from the incredibly long to the delightfully short. And they will almost always be measured in how long it takes for you to level (one hour, one day, one year, etc). But real-time strategy games don't have any dependable way of measuring player level, and still need to keep the player playing for a long time.
Here is where I disagree with most MMORTS designs. The general design philosophy behind MMORTS games is that of "longer is better". Building units is measured in half-hours, hours, and sometimes days. Research can take months. This disconnects the player from what is happening. To really understand, though, you have to look at why people like RTS games.
RTS games are the bastard child of arcade games and turn-based strategy. Gamers looking for a more adrenaline-pumping fix found it in the early RTS games. This is why RTS games are so fast paced. Building things take seconds. Movement is fast and (as long as path-finding is good) painless. So why do developers take this genre based around tactics and adrenaline and turn it into a real-time version of Civilization?
Well, as I said earlier, developers need those subscription fees both to pay for development costs and to pay their employees. By lengthening the amount of time it takes to build something, developers are encouraging players to keep playing the game, extending both play-time and revenue. But for a hardcore RTS player, this disconnection from their beloved genre and the actuality of MMORTS designs can be both jarring and disheartening.
The MMORTS genre also covers a wide range of games. It covers Mankind and its spiritual children (Infinity Empire and Boundless Planet leap to mind), DarkSpace, and the tactical game that is Shattered Galaxy. The latter two are MMORTS games by incorporating certain RTS elements, but are far from being true RTS games. DarkSpace is more of a space sim and Shattered Galaxy is mostly tactics, as there is no resource collection in the game.
To me, the MMORTS genre could take a couple of pointers from some recently released games, most notably Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance, and Sins of a Solar Empire. Both take place on a massive (although not as massive as most MMOs) scale, but still retain the individuality that makes RTS games fun. Building and researching doesn't take hours. Battles are frequent and commonplace. They retain the core basics of the RTS gameplay while pushing it forward in new ways.
Much like MMORPGs, MMORTSs need to mature. But where MMORPGs need a maturing in setting, MMORTSs need a maturing in game mechanics. Otherwise, nobody is ever going to play the game. And that's more injurious to the industry than anything else.
Each week James Murff writes Under The Hood, a deeper look at MMO game mechanics and how they affect players, games, and the industry
