I'm going to quit playing free-for-all games against the computer with three or more players. Every time I end up having a better economy (though not necessarily a bigger fleet), they'll start coming after me. It's really crappy when the computer teams up and won't attack each other, but all three will go after me. And with the lousy way to earn a faction's trust (I'm not sending a fleet of ships on a suicide mission on the other side of the galaxy just to destroy five tactical structures, thank you very much), finding a reliable alliance is difficult.

This last game I stopped playing because, despite having double Novalith cannons going, my opponents kept harassing me with their fleets. Green and Purple would warp in, start bombarding and leave as soon as I showed up, then go to another planet and leave before I could stop them. More phase inhibitors, maybe? All my planets were maxed on defense, with 10-14 squadrons, a repair platform or two, and loads of gauss guns.

Am I doing something wrong when it comes to diplomacy in these FFA games? I've tried several strategies in four or five games already, both 1v2 and 1v3, but nothing seems to work. Anybody have success with the diplomacy? I don't like to waste research time on the pirate/diplomacy bonuses, but if I have to, I guess I'll start doing that. (I prefer to play as TEC, so it's not really an option anyways.)

I still love the game, but I think 2v2 and 1v1 are just more fun...