Recommend me a game? Multiplayer RTS.

I'm looking for a new game, I want a strategy game which is Multiplayer online.

I played World In Conflict and liked it, so I'd like a game like this but a more recent one which will be popular online or one that is due to come out this year.

I'd like it to be realistic and modern, not really looking for a game set 500 years ago or 500 years in the future but I'd be willing to look up/try them anyway.

Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Unfortunately, the major RTS' these days tend to be ones like Starcraft 2, where they are futuristic and a new game is coming out in the not-too-distant future. Likewise, I'd recommend Sins of a Solar Empire but I don't know how popular it is online -- it was released in the year after World in Conflict. I assume you want solid online communities, or do you plan for multiplayer against the AI or in campaign?

Indeed, the two major RTS kinds are basically historic and futuristic -- those that don't fit in between or include some part of those two tend to be dogs. Plus, it doesn't help that RTS gaming is not exactly well covered in the gaming media, and there's a lot of disagreement in what makes a good RTS.

I've heard good things about Wargame: European Escalation, Hearts of Iron III and For The Glory: A Europa Universalis Game, but only if you don't plan to play against other people, because there are few people online playing those, memory serves. May be able to find some, but those games are a few years old now, even though they are newer than the game you cite.

Napoleon: Total War might fall outside your range of interest, but it's got an online community last I checked. Mind, that was six months ago. ;D