Yes I did, actually. In fact, I even wrote an article not too long ago (thought about it for months before I wrote it). It's on another site, but basically goes through a brief history of gaming, and their pros/cons. I noted that strategy and simulations seem to be the most popular games in terms of long-term replay factor, and uniqueness. (Strategy and sims aren't always going to be the same game each time. Platformers, action/adventures, and FPS games tend to have the same levels over and over again).
There is one major difference though, and this game is heading there -- it's the MMORPG aspect where the players become their (or someone else's) creation. They can have an Everquest RPG-type adventures on one planet, or a Civilization type strategy game on another, or even Total War games on yet another, all the while, players "live" there simulating the way of life. You could even have events set up so that say, a player playing a strategy game moves a unit on a board affects a deeper level where an NPC gives the order to attack XYZ area. You could have players doing other things like having a race, or playing a board game in that environment. I also get this mental image of 2 gamers playing chess (the chess board displays as 2D until some event happens, the ground starts to shake, and when they look up, they see this other player's army charging to take over a city. Each host player would have their own universe that could be set to allow players from other universes to enter, or to have it closed to other player (or species).
However, for all its' MMORPG finesse, there should be a single player element for those who don't wish to play a MMORPG-type simulation.
