[apoger]

I hate chiming in late, but this is a major issue for me as well. I really hope that Illwinter will put some diplomatic functionality into the game eventually.

It is my understanding that in Dom II that gateway and other movement spells now only work between labs. This means that in multi-play you will have to attack the person next to you even if that is a bad idea. In Dom I if there was a clear leader, the smaller nations could negotiate some level of cooperation to further their interests. In Dom II if there is no way to cross anoter nations area, and the movement spells are gone, it will reduce diplomatic options even lower than Dom I.

Even if "there can be only one" it still stands to reason that nations will cooperate when it's in their best interests. By affording no diplomatic options IW is limiting player interaction, and player interaction is half the fun of multi-player.

I like seeing more options, not less. A good diplomatic system would do nothing but enhance the game. Players could always turn it off if they didn't like it.