France should know. He was a beta tester for the game, and now runs a squadron known as Steel Fury.

"I formed it when I realized Allegiance was a team game," France says. "The more disciplined the team is, the more fun it has, so I created this squadron with Sgt. Seb and it has done its little way in here."

Military squad or softball team?

There's a strong military theme to Steel Fury's website. Team members are assigned ranks, and their matches are written up as military battles.

France says he doesn't take the military aspect of the game too seriously.

"Victories and defeats have impact on the Allegiance timeline," he says. "We also like to publish military-style stories. But that's all."

Instead, the squad is "more like a sport team which I have to manage."

Relationships are a little more distant than your typical beer-after-the-game softball team, though. With team members scattered across the United States, Britain and France, it's hard to get to know people personally.

France says, "The guys I have best contacts with are buddies and I am sure we could have a great time if we encounter each other one day, but most of them are in Steel Fury to play and don't care to share their real life with other members."

"All of them seem to be nice, people, though. I am very careful with membership: no jerks, no vicious people, no 'me and the desert' guys in my squad."

Everyone's welcome to join the squad, but France says he "looks carefully" at the newcomers' behavior during the games, watching how they fly and how they act.

"They are cadets for two weeks,' he says. "After that, if they are good for Steel Fury, they become full members."

The game of the future?

France thinks that Allegiance has a lot of potential, but it's not the ultimate evolution of space combat games yet.

"Right now," he says, "the game is quite repetitive and its evolution is not palpable. The 'War' storyline is not strong enough to make people feel they are part of the virtual history, and that's sad."

Even so, Allegiance is his favorite game, so much so that he isn't interested in playing other games right now.

"I am a real-time strategy player," he says, "so I really enjoy being a commander. The combination is unique, and the developers have created so many team features that this is the first game in which team play is really possible."