Saga was released on 4 March 2008, after a brief open beta which began a month earlier on 26 February.
[4] Saga is set in a fantasy world where an age-old strife exists between five competing Gods.
Each faction has an ethos and a strategic quality that sets it apart, giving players a spectrum of play styles to identify with.
Saga combines the trading card game (TCG) sensibilities of Magic: The Gathering, the MMO persistency of RPGs, and the kingdom management and mass battles of RTS titles such as Rome: Total War.
In keeping with the RTS genre, gameplay in Saga revolves around managing a persistent, online kingdom.
These improvements include building defensive walls and towers, researching new technology at the university, and harvesting the available resources.
Unpopular leaders can suffer riots, leading to extensive damage to structures and mass desertions by peasants.
Happiness is gained by winning battles (PvP or quests), bribery and by having sufficient food and housing.
Each player receives an initial starter pack, as one would with a TCG, featuring a collection of various individual troops.
For example, dragons use wards and charms, while mechanical (sometimes called 'machine', not to be confused with Machine faction) units mostly use siege gears and plates.
Combat in Saga is real-time, in keeping with the RTS genre, and consists of maneuvering units around the field to fight and gain an advantage over the enemy.
While quests largely take place on neutral battlefields across the world of Saga, PvP battles are city-to-city conflicts between the competing players.
Being a persistent world, damage inflicted during PvP battles in 'hardcore' mode carries over, including the pillaging and destruction of opponent's buildings, and the death of troops.