People asking questions in Black
Jason Kozak in Red

There are no more questions about combat, so onto diplomacy. Jason, what can you tell us about diplomacy in SC?
Diplomacy can be done through a system of treaties players can send treaties to each other, and the player receiving will have a chance to accept, deny, or edit the treaty
Is it possible to ally with another civ? (like in CivII)
Yes, there are several degrees of alliance, the highest being team (which is permanent)
Cease fires as well?
Yes as well as trade agreements
Ah, you must be reading my mind as per my next question. What can you 'trade' between civs? (i.e. in CivII you can trade world maps, technologies...)
Ships, resources, information, tech, etc..
Great! For those who have just joined us recently, can you please recap on SC's game objectives? information can be specific (scanner info from one planet)
Okay, SC's is aiming for customizability, good graphics, and fun that's all I can remember
All right! In just a few moments moderation is going to be dropped. So each and everyone of you will be able to personally ask your question(s) to Jason. All we, as ops, ask is that only one question is asked one at a time. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Jason for participating in today's chat...
What role(s) do star bases play in the game? like cities?
Star bases are required to build ships, and they are also the primary defense against attacks from space they can also house items like jump gates
Where do u build star bases?
On the planet
Will there be deep space stations (ala DS 9)? B5?
Yes, these are called 'outposts' in the game, and are built in space by construction ships 
Are they more expensive that star bases?
Can i make my own scenarios? Say... a B5 scenario?
What else can these construction ships build?
Yes a lot more, because otherwise players could lay outposts down like mines, yes to scenarios as for what else can be built so far only outposts and sensor buoys, but we're working on expanding that list
I'm not sure if it has been discussed, but what will Secretaries do?
Secretaries are your AI helpers. They are useful when micro management becomes a problem
Can they help fight battles?
Do the Secretaries have unique personalities?
No, but they will report to you on threats, as well as manage your fleets (mothballing unused fleets) there will be several different ones, each designed to manage a certain area
How will multiplayer work? is it turn based or real time?
Oh about mothballing.... Are your ships going to loose some of their power when they go into this mode?
Turn based
Do you get a certain amount of turns /per hour or just after everyone else has taken there's?
Ships stay perfectly intact when mothballed, just they don't cost you maintenance... but it comes at a cost of activation and deactivation time as ror mplayer either.. depends on the hosts settings