So, I finally went ahead and ordered the GalCiv Ultimate Edition online, meaning that I'll finally be able to play DA and TOA. I've read posts on most aspects of the expansions, but there was one thing I was curious about (having seen it mentioned in a post today) - the TOA "tournament" scenarios, e.g "Rock and a Hard Place", "Arcea's Last Stand", etc.

I like the sound of the scenarios, which seem much more interesting then most of the DL scenarios, but I don't really like the Metaverse. My question is, are they connected? That is, do I have to play the tournament scenarios as Metaverse games, or can I just play them as ordinary sandbox games? Also, do the scenarios come "with" the game, or do they have to be downloaded?

Thanks for any information you can provide.