I believe the strength of this game is in the ability to change the attributes of the race you want to play as. Not to mention you can create a completely new race. I think it is amazing that you can change your attributes in order to coincide with your style of play. For example, I love to use diplomacy and trade when I play a space role playing game like GalCiv. So my dudes are beast at some trade and diplomacy. Interacting with other races is a lot more exciting that way. When you create an alliance it’s kind of cool when you actually hear good things about you. It does get a little annoying, however, when your ally or teammate just sits there and doesn’t help you. I have a couple of simple ideas for making diplomacy with other races a lot more interesting.

1) The ability to threaten your enemy (it kind of annoys me that they can demand credits from me, but I can’t do the same).
2) The ability to tell your ally to step up his game (if your ally isn’t doing anything to help you...threaten to break the alliance)
3) The ability to create attack strategies with your allies. ( it doesn’t have to be complex, something like, "you attack this planet and I’ll attack that one")
4) The ability to change the fighting style of your actual troops. ( Are they intelligent? Superhuman fast? Brutally strong?)
5) This goes along with 4, the ability to trade troops and (maybe civilians) with your allies ( imagine the possibilities! Your race’s troops could be intelligent but weak...that’s why you have a battalion of superhuman freaks from your ally helping you out)
6) This is where all the small stuff would fall in. It would be fantastic if there where more alien portraits to assign as your races appearance. That means I want to see that race running around on troop simulations. If i have a spider race or evil squirrel race, I want to see them running around with laser guns. That would be beast!
7) Also I want my ally to be pissed when one of my planets is taken over or huge fleet is destroyed. I want them out for vengeance. Hah
Hey guys that’s just my opinion. As you probably can tell, I’m all about the AI interaction. Of course some of you are going to be like "That’s a terrible idea!" Whatever...go ahead and say it...you’re all probably just small men. Ha