The game gets to the point of hilariousness when the best player is the Kabuto and he beats up on everyone no matter what you do. The game can be set up to allow a different combo of races so if you don't want Kabuto, Sea Reapers, or Meccaryns you don't have to have them. Meccaryns are a lot like tribes as you saw, they can build bases, have packs, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giants_citizen_kabuto
I can't remember if I played it back in the day. It's available on GoG: http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/giants_citizen_kabuto I'd like to understand more about the multi (haven't watched the vids yet, still at work)... but if it's similar to the multiplayer games we host here - why not?
Actually, I had things working rather well for a while there. Then, apparently they figured out a way around our current methods. I'm currently one step behind the current version, which I think was rather recent. I've been debating on updating again, since it seems to break things every time I do. I've been trying to redesign/update our site, and I'll probably do a fresh install at that time (if not go to something different). We'll see.
It's hard to think that GoonHaven is already 3 years old... Of course it's still going strong, though! GoonHaven; live on! Let's get another 7 blessed years and we'll be a decade old!