Long time tester here. Been playing a lot of SiS lately and enjoying it quite a bit. You've nailed a lot of the things I look for in a 4x game, and trust me I've played/tested a bunch.

Right now I feel like I'm playing a very well put together space war game. The ship design is brilliant with lots of customization options and the combat itself feels very organic and fluid which is hard to do with turn-based combat which is why I think so many modern 4x games are going with real time battles, which I also enjoy depending on the mood I'm in. So kudos on handling space combat so brilliantly, although late game moving of large fleets in battle can be tedious but that is a discussion for another time.

That being said, I'm looking for a little more. I know diplomacy is on the way and that will certainly help. When I start up a game of SiS now, I know I'll be at war with everyone immediately so I go ahead and attack scouts, raid colonies, and so on without a second thought. My sole focus is on explore to find exploitable worlds to fuel my war machine. This isn't the type of 4x gamer I usually am. I usually prefer to make friends with neighbors, expand peacefully as long as I can, then enter combat only when I have to either to counter an aggressive species or if I feel like I'm being cornered by friendlies/neutrals. Right now I simply can't do that with SiS and that leaves me feeling a little out of my comfort zone and not particularly immersed in the game.

You guys have made improvements in this area by adding in things to scan and discover, native species to find, pirates to interact with, and so on. I guess I'm just looking for a little more of that, combined with diplomacy of course, to help me connect more with the game as I play it. Obviously this is all a work in progress, so consider this message as more of a cheering on by me to keep up with your work on this area of the game. As it stands now I'm happy with my pre-order for the fun combat you've provided, but adding in those final touches to liven up the galaxy and make it a more interesting place to interact with and explore will solidify this game's place with me as one of my favorite modern 4x games in recent memory

The diplomacy/event system that we're working on right now aims to provide exactly that: more interesting ways to interact with the other factions and the environment, and better context for conflict when it does arise. We'll have more concrete things to say about it once we have the basic systems working, but I think you'll like where we're going with it. Increased immersion is definitely the goal.