Cicero posted:

A lot of smaller RTSes being known as more 'chill' is just there not being a big competitive scene to develop a well known competitive meta/culture. Like, StarCraft 1 wasn't known as some super difficult 300 APM pro-only RTS right when it came out, it developed that reputation as its competitive scene exploded in Korea and became relatively well known among PC gamers in the West. Similarly, Dota was originally viewed as just another casual-ish little hero custom that people played like Aeon of Strife, Tides of Blood, Enfos, etc; It became known for being difficult as it got more popular and people took it more seriously.

So if there was a large Dune: Spice Wars competitive scene with big money tournaments, you'd probably see roughly the same things you see in other RTSes with a large competitive scene.

Edit: basically, RTSes are usually chill when they don't hit critical (competitive) mass and so end up culturally chill, moreso than being chill because of the mechanics themselves imo.