Stellaris

[Dry]

So ****ed off with the 1.2 patch. Open borders by default, embassies removed and replaced with a 'Trust' system which makes diplomacy basically a waste of time (seriously, if you have a civ with a different gov/culture type next to you now, you basically have no way to improve relations other than constant bribery), oh and they've made happiness harder to maintain so you'll probably spend half your time fighting off faction rebellions.

Given that the game isn't in Early Access, I take real issue with these casual sweeping changes. I think I'm going to wind back to 1.1 and stay there, which is annoying as there are some useful fixes in the 1.2 patch too.

Open/Close borders:

All rivals are automatically closed borders. You can also manually close borders with your neighbors in the diplomacy screen.

So, declare rivals or close your borders manually.

Improve trust:

* Removed embassies and replaced it with Trust. Trust builds over time from having active diplomatic treaties (such as a Non-Aggression Pact or Alliance) and increases opinion by up to +100.

I got 1.2 yesterday and haven't test the non-aggression pact with civ with a different gov/culture yet, but they shouldn't be impossible to sign. Maybe trade can also help, I don't know.

Happiness

* Happiness is now a linear modifier, with levels above 50% giving bonuses and levels below 50% giving penalties

I haven't quantify this bonus yet, but I guess you already get a small bonus at 55%, whereas in 1.1 you needed 80% for first bonus. I have quite a lot of planets between 50 and 79% happiness and no so many with 80%+.
All in all, except for the recently conquered planets, I think I win on this one.

[Sir Og]

I am trying to finish my current game. Does anybody know if I should kill the fallen empires as well as the regular ones?

On the "victory" screen I see a message that says that there are 8 remaining independent empires. I can't figure out however if they are counting the the fallen ones as well.

[kentonio]

Open/Close borders:

So, declare rivals or close your borders manually.

Closing borders is a relations hit.

Improve trust:

I got 1.2 yesterday and haven't test the non-aggression pact with civ with a different gov/culture yet, but they shouldn't be impossible to sign. Maybe trade can also help, I don't know.

Well I do know because I've been playing it. Your only realistic option is to bribe them, which is bull****. You can't build trust without agreements and you can't sign agreements without trust.

Happiness

I haven't quantify this bonus yet, but I guess you already get a small bonus at 55%, whereas in 1.1 you needed 80% for first bonus. I have quite a lot of planets between 50 and 79% happiness and no so many with 80%+.
All in all, except for the recently conquered planets, I think I win on this one.

It's related to specific gov types I think. I don't play as slavers, but apparently that type is almost totally useless now.

[pchang]

You can bribe them with one credit every few days. - Pain in the butt, but it does work.

[pchang]

I am trying to finish my current game. Does anybody know if I should kill the fallen empires as well as the regular ones?

On the "victory" screen I see a message that says that there are 8 remaining independent empires. I can't figure out however if they are counting the the fallen ones as well.

Kill the Fallen Empires too. Not sure that it is necessary, but it is fun. Plus, they have technologies you cannot get any other way.

[Proteus_MST]

Kill the Fallen Empires too. Not sure that it is necessary, but it is fun. Plus, they have technologies you cannot get any other way.

And Ringworlds ... at least one of them usually

[Sir Og]

I got a free ringworld. Just tucked in the corner of the map. Got the liquid metal tech from it.
Also I got the unbidden but was a bit disappointed. I killed their portal and two 40k fleets without taking any damage and they were done. 120 range weapons FTW.

[pchang]

Tachyon Lances are pretty much what fallen empire use.

[pchang]

Trying 1.2.1 now. So far, I haven't encountered any problems.

[kentonio]

I got over my temper tantrum and decided to stick with the latest patches. It's grown on me a bit, but the diplomacy still feels painfully limited, and lost at least one game a couple of hours in just because I happened to start next to advanced tech bunch of zealots and had no way of staving off their hatred.

Still pretty unconvinced by protectorates too, it just seems to add a very tedious extra step to bringing up primitives. Requiring them to reach 40% of your tech level when you're advancing in tech very quickly yourself just feels like a tortoise-hare race. Sure they'll catch up eventually, but by then you probably wont even care that much.

[pchang]

That whole protectorate to vassal to integrate thing is too iffy and take way too long. I gave up on xenophile and just infiltrate them now.

[Thoth]

If they're primitive why not just invade them and take their stuff instead of fussing about trying to educate the savages?

[kentonio]

If they're primitive why not just invade them and take their stuff instead of fussing about trying to educate the savages?

It feels like a wierd thing to do when you're playing xenophile or pacifist.

[Proteus_MST]

It feels like a wierd thing to do when you're playing xenophile or pacifist.

AFAIK as Xenophile you don't even have the option to invade them (like wise you are forbidden to settle on planets with stone age primitives)

[kentonio]

AFAIK as Xenophile you don't even have the option to invade them (like wise you are forbidden to settle on planets with stone age primitives)

You sure? I thought my normal setup was xenophile. I could well be wrong though.