Here are the best changes/ideas so far:
GHenrikG
A spying system would be cool. You could sabotage the assembly of an enemy capital ship (the factory needs longer to build a capital ship; perhaps with an upgradeable research tech: the better you are in it, the longer it will take the enemy to build this ship) or structure. To prevent it from being a game breaker, I would suggest to introduce a cloaked spy ship, which needs to be in the system you want to sabotage. This spy ship can be detected via scouts and then being destoyed. That way you could bother your enemy a bit, without breaking him completely.
Very good idea!!!
Kaloozu
Allow us to choose a specialty for our planets. We already have Capital, but what about Military Stronghold, or Trade Menagerie? Having the same kind of planets have no real differences is kind of repetitive. I'd like to make that big desert planet into a huge military outpost, that would grant me some kinda bonus. The bonus wouldn't be as big as if you had found a planet special ability, but it would give you planet based orbital guns or increased trade revenue on a planet with many phase lanes crossing it. Just a thought.
I agree 100%
Haree78
Random events, On/Off selectable like pirates, things that could drastically effect large campaigns such as blocking phase lanes or making planets uninhabitable. The events can be what you like, Asteroid strikes, Alien invasions, Star collapse, whatever, just these kind of things would add to the whole experience. Maybe there are ally events also with ethical (which affects relationships) decisions that have an effect elsewhere such as economy, production etc.
More planet diversity.
On/Off selectable xenophobia so Vasari are more likely to like Vasari and hate other races and similarly accross all races.
Better missions from allies. How about I am attacking planet X in X minutes, please assist. And their happyness being affected according to the player response. Or "I need an idea what faction X is doing, please check them out for me?" which would mean a scouting mission for an AI who you share ship vision with.
How about a more fluid Ally happyness system. One where you can see the ralationships between all allies (perhaps with certain techs researched) and if you destroy ships or structures of an enemy X that another AI, enemy A, hates then the happyness between you and AI A goes up some relative amount, and likewise alliances with AI X would cause friction with AI A.
More diverse Planet development choices, think GC II but not as complex. Pretty sure I have seen screenshots in the beta with this kind of thing but I'd love to see it concidered again. Choices such as weighing up population with defence, or production or research. And ofcourse race specific super developments that are expensive and are then considered like an artifact in game play terms (all other players are informed and changing planet ownership changes ownership of the artifact/development).
An espionage tech tree that can allow the following techs:
The current ones such as phase lane monitoring etc. (Surveillance spies)
Alliance relationship and economy visability. (enemy leadership and governments spies)
Artifact visibility. (Planet spies) High level upgrades give hints to the defencive level of planets and perhaps some (lagged) visibility of fleet strength at planets.
Perhaps the espianage techs also include a constant overhead to keep and can be 'scuttled' at no resources returned but need to be paid for again with the same development time etc.
I agree with everything & I love you're idea on Espionage
TFL Big Bang Theory
I think just simply carrying out non-military actions to bolster your development and more persistant standing with allies such that they won't suddenly turn against you. Perhaps a scale of reputation that prohibits agressive actions when in a certain band.
mmmmmmmmm... reputation points... cool!!!
Valkajin
I think a great addition to the game would be to make the pirates more useful gamewise. For example; At present there is one version of pirates, but what if there was another option beside the turn pirates on or off for the game that allowed you 2 choices. First, normal pirates on/off.. or Second, pirates at lvl 1-10. Where as if you choose to play the game with pirates on say lvl 4, then you do not get the standard pirates that normally attack..Instead you would get pirates that have much more than a single asteroid with no resources. Consider the potential for fun here, since there could randomly be games where you and an opponent soon realize you both need to join against the pirates to defeat them.
Another idea for pirates, why should they only simply attack?......Why not have the option to choose what you want them to do for all that money we bid/pay them. For example; when you win the bid, what if you are given 3 choices, perhaps 1)attack random planet, 2) attack specific planet 3)attack specific target (trade center/space station/cap shipfactory)
I second that! Making pirates attack the planet of my choosing is the way to go!
Phalnax811
Flak turrets on ALL Cap Ships
Not really a diplomatic thing, but a necessary one, especially with the carrier spam.
Keep it up people, you're ideas are great, if they could include those in the next expansion, it would make Sins THE best RTS ever!