This is the reasons my friends would be more likely to play Civ' V and AoW3 with me than this. Then, because after they're done playing, they might want to play more, they eventually buy the games themselves.

Having to play hotseat when people are both willing and capable of using their own PC is tedious. However, it's a great way to market the game, and, as the TC mentioned, generate sales.

I've been asking for a hotseat option since GalCiv2. Hotseat was explicitly mentioned in the initial FAQ for GalCiv3 but then was disappeared from their design goal list (and likely still is in Guantanamo). At this point, I don't think they will implement it, because Brad, who always hated multiplayer in any GalCiv game, seems to have an explicit grudge against the feature.