Question for players, why do you play GCIII? It is an innocuous question and I shall elaborate.
I was playing the other day and thought about my actual game play. I have over 1000 hours playing the game and have only finished maybe 3 games to the end. Don't take this as a slight to the game but I get a lot of enjoyment over other aspects of the game besides the actual game play.
I learned how to use GIMP so I can make my own races. I have taken the time to create over 80 civ's of my own. I spend hours combing the internet for new and different pictures to create (or at least try) unique races.
I spend hours on ship designer. Until recently I have spent hours downloading and modifying ships off of Steam. Once I learned how to create my own parts I am now in process of creating unique units for my created civs. With over 80 civ's it is a daunting measure but it is somehting I enjoy even though I am quite an amateur compared to many of the wonderful ship designers on Steam.
I tend to start a game, play for a few hundred turns and then another race catches my eye and want to play as them or try another tactic. I think this is a bonus to the game, it keeps me thinking of how to do this or that in game and I have no problem starting a new game even after invested hours into a certain game.
The majority of my hours spent on game were pre-Crusade but when Crusade was announced and I read of the changes I pretty much stopped playing for months until it came out and am now back into it heavy again. My regret is that I was never a Founder for the game, and have been playing GalCiv games since the original incarnation of it. I was just curious as to what draws people to the game to put so much time into it. I do believe that Crusade has made the game what I wanted from the start and am quite happy with the DLC.