Poor Diplomacy Will Cripple the Game

[jdmillard]

In my first post I listed 23 comments.
viewtopic.php?f=204&t=45528
But I feel that diplomacy trumps all of it.

Upon starting another game I focused on diplomacy. Although there are many things that can be adjusted for better game-play (like the my 23 points and many others in the beta forum), the real deal-breaker will be the diplomacy. Not only will it largely affect the opinions of those who play the demo, but every written review will surely comment on it. If there's one thing to try and perfect before release, it's diplomacy. The rest of the ideas are good and I really hope for some of those changes, but they can wait to be in post-release patches. Their absence "right-off-the bat" won't cripple the game. Sub-par diplomacy may very well cripple the game even if the tech tree, units, and operations are perfect. I'd even go as far as to say that it would be worth delaying release if it meant that diplomacy would be up to par and "just right."

-There needs to be a good balance. I feel like everybody either hates you for no reason, or everybody loves you for no reason. I realize that there may be a real reason underneath it all, but I don't know what it is. what did I do right/wrong?

-Factions need to ask for your help in war. If you accept, they should respect you and perhaps return the favor later. You should be able to respond with 1) giving money which gains you a little respect, 2) joining the war guns-ablaze which will earn you a lot of respect, or 3) decline, which will hurt your respect with that faction. If you decide to just support them with money (option 1), but you maintain your trade and/or research pacts with the enemy of the person asking for help, you should lose some of the respect you gained from supporting with money. Some factions might laugh at money and say they need some real backup and other factions will happily accept whatever help they can get (all depending on their mood and/or desperation).

-You should be able to give a city to a friend, or trade them. There are a lot of reasons for this even if some people don't ever use it.

-There should be specific actions that trigger diplomatic results. Like walking into the territory of someone with whom I don't have open borders. I did this yesterday and Solar Dynasty didn't care... I waltzed in with two maxed out Mech units. He had the most military on the map and could have stood up to me. I guess he just liked me that much to let me do that (but not enough to accept open borders or an alliance, hmm). I think that placing troops close to their borders should make the AI factions nervous unless you are allied.

-There should be a way to exchange food and minerals between factions. In the form of a gift, or a transaction. I ask for food, then the AI offers their price per unit and the max they are willing to sell. (This feature is far less important than the others above)

[vv221]

I think that placing troops close to their borders should make the AI factions nervous unless you are allied.

This is already in the game
The other faction asked for withdrawal of my troops after a couple turns standing just right next to his frontiers.
Didn't check for any effect on my relations with this faction after I refused, but I guess there has been some.

[jdmillard]

I think that placing troops close to their borders should make the AI factions nervous unless you are allied.

This is already in the game
The other faction asked for withdrawal of my troops after a couple turns standing just right next to his frontiers.
Didn't check for any effect on my relations with this faction after I refused, but I guess there has been some.

Oh, very nice. I did not know. I like that kind of thing.