credits, metal, and crystal on the second shot. Dev cheat for the win.

I noticed there's a new capital ship on the bottom right of the first image. Hopefully, this means that there will be a few new ships other then the diplomatic cruiser to make me feel happier while you fools try to negotiate with my Superdreadnoughts? Pretty please with double whipped cream and cherries on top?

a new capital ship.... now thats good news.

Not really impressed so far with the tech tree style diplomacy though. Seems like their is still no real diplomacy, its just stats to push numbers around. Human element evaded....

Not that I expected to talk to the enemy and actually negotiate. I just would have expected a more warm and fuzzy human element to diplomacy. A random effect a bit more like total war..... rather than an absolute power effect of stats. U are guaranteed a diplomatic relationship if you hold the cards, there is not hate, no historical problems to overcome, no historical allies, no feeling as to who will be reliable dis-regarding resources and who will turn on you.

I wonder what the role of the new capital ships. We already have battleships, carriers, colonisers, support and seige ships so what has been left out?

The information given so far indicates that you need upgrades to feed allies, talk to other factions and negotiate custom treaties. Also, diplomacy will work with other human players.

btw, the devs deny that there is a new capital ship. wonder what that means...

No.  I bet what you see, is where you build the new "Envoy cruiser".  I bet it will be expensive.  It will cost as much as a capital ship, and will probably require fleet research like capital ships do.  And it may have abilities, etc.  But I am just guessing.

So thats what it probably means.  I believe them, when they say there isn't a new "capital ship".

The other new (7th) icon, that you see in the frigate's menu, is a constructor.  Looks like now we will be able to buy "extra" constructors?

LOL!  Almost $3,000,000 credits!  Wow.  And 12 unused Cap ship crews! 1800 unused Fleet!

But of significance;  Tier 4 research (w/2 prerequisites!): "Universal Negotiation - Allows you to offer and demand gifts of credits, metal and crystal from oppossing factions."  In other words, allows you to feed, or be fed.

Pretty cool. What's the new cap ship? Will every race get a new one?

may be you can use it for capture other ships like one of the advent captal ship could do it

That looks like a pretty damn nasty 'diplomatic cruiser'. It seems to be larger then the Mazra and it looks like she has some right nasty missile/fighter bays with some sensors that'd be overkill for a diplomatic ship, although the new cruiser could be a construction frigate when you compare to the ones in the Empire Tree. But why would they add that? Construction frigates auto-build already, why add a control to make them?

Maybe it is for building replacement construction frigates (constructors).  In online multiplayer, they are usually the first thing targeted.  Yes, they auto-build, but only after 6 minutes! (If hostiles remain in the gravity well). They auto-build in half a minute once there is no threat in the grav well (for free no less).  But there are also good reasons to have 'extra' constructors, if that is what it allows.

I don't know.  The other pictures we saw, were definitely of a TEC constructor.  But maybe this little icon, in the 7th slot, in the cruiser menu (the second level of frigates), that looks like a constructor... is the envoy cruiser.

But then I have no clue what is in the cap ship menu.  I believe Yarlen, when he says, "There aren't any new capital ships in the works", reply #34.

Looks like a new building in the upper left of the second screenshot. Maybe a diplomatic HQ that unlocks diplomacy research.

Anyone have an idea of how this micro expansion will interface with Entrenchment?  Currently we have two choices, vanilla Sins or Entrechment.  Obviously this could become three choices with Diplomacy, but will you be able to play with Entrenchment and Diplomacy combined?

Diplomacy requires Entrenchment to play.

And as far as the new ships seen there.  I thought the Constructors were frigates.  So wouldn't they be in the frigates category if they're buildable?  Same with the Envoy Cruiser.  Even if it costs a lot and has abilities, ect...  wouldn't it still be in the cruiser category?  I mean making it build from a Cap Ship Factory, cost a lot, have abilities, and use crew supply would technically in game purposes make it a "Cap Ship"...  Hm, maybe I'm thinking too much about it though.

We just have to wait for the devs to chime in on this.