Diplomacy Question
 

What am I doing wrong? Everytime I make contact with a race there opinion of me gets worse and worse even though I avoid there territory and even send many gifts...I'd like to establish a Lasting research treaty but they see fit to cancel every other turn!!

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"He's dead, Jim."-- Lt. Commander Leonard "Bones" McCoy |Chief Medical Officer / USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Re: Diplomacy Question
 

Are you ahead of all the other empires in the game? If you're ahead by more than a certain amount they will automatically hate you unless you disable "Meg Evil Empire" in the settings.txt file. Other than that, though, your "Demeanor" does have an effect on what the other empires think of you. I chose "Erratic" for my demeanor once, and the XiChung spent an entire game offering me treaties and refusing to go to war even though I was bLasting any of their ships that entered by systems. Weird. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif I guess there's some sort of "assumed relationship" between each demeanor and the others. The XiChung are 'Psychotic' and this must be considered friendly to 'Erratic'... ???

Re: Diplomacy Question
 

If the strenght between your empire and the other is not too big, normally you either get an agreement on trade treaties after your fist offer, or after several turns. I keep trying if it doesn't work right away. When your empire is far too strong for the opponent, indeed they will not agree to peace treaties. And of course the chances are influenced by your general empire settings (standard = neutral) and behavior (friendly, etc).

Re: Diplomacy Question
 

Some AIs are naturally hostile.
Some AIs do not even like the idea of "talking" to you. So, the more you talk, the worse it will get. So, just stay away from them, then maybe things will improve. Every turn the AI's attitude shifts slightly towards you , so if you wait long enough, they will "like" you again. (that's if nothing else goes wrong during these time)