[thurm]

First, you have to accept the gift to receive it from the other races. I like it that way, after all, doesn't everyone want a "thank you" when you give a gift. So, I guess the aliens feel that if we're not thankful, then they'll take back their gift.

Secondly, thanks Talenn for your mod. Its great and a lot more fun now. The economic model is actually difficult but much more interesting to manage. Before, it was ust too easy to have millions and millions of resources. Now I have trouble breaking a 100K. I also like the new names for things, much better than level 1, II, III, etc.

About the diplomacy, now with Talenn's mod, just keeping up with the other races in the first hundred turns demands that I now use the diplomacy feature, not only to make sure that I'm not fighting too many races at once, and consequently being left behind while the peaceful empires jump ahead, but also to keep up with the other races research advances that are leaving me behind.

Anyway, thanks for your effort, and if you had a game like the one I'm playing right now, diplomacy definitely does not take a back seat.

One Last thing, about ignoring other races. I have had it happen to me that if I ignored a race's request for me to end a treaty with another race, they will be at war with me within the year, with no ther provocation. It seemed right to me. I ignored them and I had to pay the price. Now, I try to ignore a request like that for a short while so that I can try to demand as many gifts as possible from the other race. That will usually get them to declare war on you eventually, and thus getting you out of the mess.