[magnate]

To say that AI is only important for SP is to miss a lot of gaming potential. The most interesting games I have played were a mix of players and AI nations.

I totally agree that a simple diplomacy interface is necessary. It's my number one wish for Dom3. It doesn't have to be complex - I agree that games which try for "realistic" diplomacy models usually come unstuck (eg. MoO series) - but a simple interface for buying peace would be a start. Almost any race will leave you alone if you give them enough gold and/or gems (or blood slaves, items, provinces, etc.). That would make playing the harder SP games much much more satisfying. Instead of having to beat all the AI nations at once from early on(which is really not realistic, until you have become a significant global threat), you can buy them off for a while.

Add to that other functionality like persuading an AI nation to declare war on another nation, entering into research-sharing treaties etc. etc. and you have some great enhancement to the game for fairly minor effort (once you have coded the basic interface for transactions).

Ultimately it would be good to allow allied armies to fight together and move through each other's provinces, but I'd understand if that was a little beyond what Illwinter saw fit to program. Being able to sue for peace with the AI is a must though.

CC