Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art of negotiation between nations! Or, in our case, alliances. And also in our case, it's more along the lines of getting everyone to vote for a treaty.So how does it work in Miriani? Well, the first thing to know is that all of the action happens in the Interalliance Relation Center on Pax, in sector 15. That's directly up from the neutral docking bay.
The first step in changing your alliance's relations with another alliance is proposing a treaty. You can type MENU in the Interalliance Relation Center to propose a new treaty. Anybody can propose a treaty, but that doesn't mean that it happens right away. First, you need someone to sponsor your treaty. More on that in a second. Please keep in mind that you can only go in one "step" with each alliance. For example, if you have a declaration of hostility with the AIE, you can only go down to a non-aggression pact or up to a war. You cannot jump directly to an alliance with them.
For voting on your proposal to start, you need to get a sponsor. Depending on the treaty, the sponsor will need to be in the other alliance or in your own alliance. If, after two days, your treaty has not been sponsored, it will expire. Once someone has sponsored your treaty, voting will start and last for two days before the polls are closed and the votes are tabulated.
Please note that all treaties require a minimum of two votes to even count. In some cases, this is two votes from the proposing alliance. In others, you need one from each side. In all cases, there need to be more yes votes than no votes to count. Below is a list of all the types of treaties, in order from best relations to worst. In all cases, both sides of the treaty get the same effects described below.
Treaty: Full Military Alliance
Sponsor: A sponsor is required from the alliance that the treaty is being proposed with.
Votes: A minimum of four votes from each side is required.
Effects: Upgrades offered by either alliance are the same cost for both of the alliances. Both alliances get access to a special "allied communication channel" for allied communication (which can be accessed with TR INTERALLIANCE, or just TR I. TR ALLIANCE/A also works.) Only one alliance treaty can exist at any time.
Treaty: Non-aggression Pact
Sponsor: A sponsor is required from the alliance that the treaty is being proposed with if the current state is a declaration of hostility. If it's an alliance, a sponsor is required from the alliance proposing the treaty.
Votes: A minimum of four votes from each side is required if moving from a declaration of hostility, otherwise four votes are required from the proposing side.
Effects: Upgrades purchased from alliances who you have a non-aggression pact with have a tax applied to them.
Treaty: Declaration of Hostility
Sponsor: A sponsor is required from the alliance that is proposing the treaty.
Votes: A minimum of four votes from the proposing side is required. The target of this treaty cannot vote.
Effects: You cannot land on enemy planets with flight control unless you're carrying mail. You cannot purchase upgrades from an alliance that you are hostile with. You cannot transfer starships to members of the alliance you are hostile with. You get a bounty of 3% of an enemy ship's worth for you and your crew upon destroying it. Planetary security drones capture enemies on your respective capital planets.
Treaty: War
Sponsor: A sponsor is required from the alliance that the treaty is being proposed with.
Votes: A minimum of four votes from each side is required.
Effects: The same effects as a declaration of hostility, except the bounty is increased to 8% per ship. You can't land on planets with flight control, even if you have mail. Capital sectors also launch defensive starships to assist in the protection of friendly starships in their home sector.
If a treaty proposal fails after getting to the voting stage, you will have to wait three days to propose that exact same treaty again. During this stage, the option for starting that treaty will not appear in the treaty starting menu. For example, if an alliance between the AIE and Commonwealth gets more no votes than yes votes and the treaty fails, you will have to wait for a week before proposing another alliance between the AIE and Commonwealth.
All treaty changes will be posted to the Diplomacy section of your alliance's message boards, so be sure to check them fairly often. Additionally, alliance information assistants can optionally announce treaty proposals, sponsorships and results. If you would prefer that it doesn't, you can MUTE it.
When upgrading relations, such as going from war to a declaration of hostility, both sides are required to vote on the treaty. However, to ensure that one side cannot lock another into a positive relationship, downgrading relations only requires voting from one alliance. If you see treaties that you cannot vote on, this is why.