Thank you, Fernand. I am going to need some very basic hand-holding the first time, not because of the game (I have some idea of basic game-playing strategies and how to carry them out, I can beat the AI at the highest level of difficulty) but because I don't know a damned thing about computers. I have an ADSL line, so I assume I should have no problem with my Internet connection, but I am ignorant of the most basic information about how to join a multiplayer game. I read the FAQ and that stuff and it was some help but didn't really tell me at the most basic guy-who-uses-a-computer-just-as-a-typewriter-and-Internet-connection level, "Look, here is how you find a game and the computer stuff you need to do, like where to search and what to click on, in order to join it." Once I'm in the game I shouldn't need much more help.