[Fantomen]

I think the genius of the llamaserver in in the accessibility rather than any differences between PBEM and direct connect.

The three key features IMO is:

1) That you can do everything from game settings and uploading you own mods to admining etc. entirely by yourself.
2) That doing this is so easy and obvious that anyone can do it almost regardless of computer skills.
3) That it is completely open to use instantly by everyone.

A comparable service fulfilling these three conditions for networked games would be absolutely wonderful, and I hope some day it happens.