Greetings! As a part of the Q&A series we're doing, we will be answering your questions related to different topics. Last week we asked you to post your questions related to diplomacy, and we want to thank you for all the questions we've gotten. Before we jump into the questions, I'll take the opportunity to mention that the Q&A series will continue next week as well, and you can already post your questions about Origins.

General Diplomatic Questions

Q: Will Diplomatic deals get a similar treatment to Federations, in that they require higher levels before unlocking all mechanics? A: Not specifically, but diplomatic actions now require certain Relations levels before being able to be proposed. (Envoys can be used to relax these restrictions.) Q: Will the interstellar assembly megastructure mechanics be changed for the update? A: Yes. The immigration bonus has been replaced with a Diplomatic Weight bonus, and at stages II and IV the Interstellar Assembly grants additional envoys.
Q: Will you be expanding ways to improve relations with another empire beyond the current resource bribes? A: Yes, there is a new diplomatic action called Improve Relations which allows you to increase an empires opinion of you. Q: Will AI empires that covet my territory try to sabotage relations? In other situations, will the AI try to modify relations to where it thinks they should be? A: AI empires will use the Improve Relations envoy action if they are interested in pursuing other deals, or Harm Relations if they dislike you and either want you as a rival or want to insult you. Q: Will we be able to get custom settings to choose which diplomatic notifications we are interested in receiving, and perhaps nuance to such a system such as "nations of interest" and "nations of total irrelevance". A: No, but you can disable certain types of alerts by shift-right clicking on them. (You can re-enable disabled alert types by toggling that section on in the Outliner and right clicking on them.) Q: Will having any diplomatic relationship bigger than Open Borders still generate Xenophile attraction? A: If you are in a federation, defensive pact, or commercial pact with an empire that is a different species, then yes, the xenophiles gain a bonus to ethics attraction. (And contact with an empire that has enslaved or genocided pops of your species provides a xenophile attraction penalty.) Q: Will there be some new (diplomacy related) Ascension Perks? A: There are no new Ascension Perks, but Galactic Contender now also grants a Diplomatic Weight bonus.
If you want to read more about Diplomatic Questions and start asking questions about Origins, have a read here!