Hi,
We love this great game. It would be even greater in multiplayer games if we had a chat option that allowed online friends and foes to send each others text messages while playing.
Playing a game through the internet is a good way of sharing something with friends over long distances.
Text messages, through which you can send requests, threats, jokes, and organize actions add a lot of fun in such a game.
Ex AAAAHH 3 battle cruisers and a deathstare approaching my capital
Reply eheheh its me 
****
To make it even more fun, you might need to build a structure to send them and these text messages could be targeted (ie only to such and such factions) or generally broadcasted.
They could be intercepted by building the right equipment (spy ships / large spy satelites / spy networks) etc...
****
At this time, the only messages we receive are pirate threats and playing with an online friend ressembles playing with a computer (except for AI). We need msn messenger to chat which is not that easy to run at the same time on slower computers.
Best regards,
Philippe
