Some questions about GMR + invite to join

Hi I'm trying Giant Multiplayer Robot for the 1st time and I have some questions:

How does the game actually work? Can you for example play 1 turn, then, if the other player is offline, can you just exit Civ V and reload it the next day?

How does it work when you're not hosting but joining a game? I joined a game and we're already full with 12 players, but nothing is happening. What is the GMR desktop application for?

Do all the players need to be online when starting the game? Because even if I manage to get enough players in my game, it's almost impossible for all of us to be online at the same time.

Thx

Also I'm looking for the 4th player to my 2v2 game here http://multiplayerrobot.com/Game#7345 I only have the Gods n Kings DLC, but JOIN IT NOW yeah

You don't all need to be online at the same time.

The application is to let you know when it is your turn in a game. I tend to turn it on when I get home from work to check on my games then turn it off again. I also have email notifications to let me know when a turn is ready for me.

In the 12 player game I am guessing the host has not started the game yet or you have an inactive player that isn't taking their turn.

Hope this helped.