Hosting a MP Game--Newb Questions

[Mooglay]

Hello. I've been silently prowling the forums for a few weeks now and figured it was time to finally come forward.

I love this game. I never played Dominions before--never even knew about it--but the solid review on Gamespot enticed me and I immediately went and ordered a copy. I think it's by far one of the best, if not the best, strategy games I've ever played. I find that so many of the games that come out nowadays are all flash and no substance. This game is utterly, refreshingly, opposite that claim.

Suffice to say, I have only explored SP games so far. I don't think I'm very good--I lose to the AI more often than not and most people on these forums seem to be able to handle the AI with no problems, but I play to play, not to win. I really want to try out MP but every time I check this forum it seems like all of the games are full and running.

So, to bring me to my questions, I was thinking about hosting a game myself but I really don't know much about it. Here are a few queries for the experts to field:

1. Does hosting mean that I would have to leave my PC on at all times?
2. Can the game be configured to generate new turns at certain intervals (say, 24 hrs, for example) or do I have to do it manually at an interval that the players have agreed on?
3. Is hosting separate from playing? In other words, do I have to separately "log into" the game that I am hosting?

Thanks for your time in responding.

Moog