Flight simulators suffer the same plight.
In an RTS, players balance the production of weapons, the development of technology, and the mining of resources with an offense and defense. There can be quiet times, to concentrate on building up resources or weaponry, followed by frantic attacks. The added dimension of multi-player tournaments over the Internet has given new life to this segment of the industry. But adding Internet play alone isn't enough to herald the development of a whole new genre of gaming. Based on that background, we'll try to make some predictions about the future.