It would be nice to have diplomacy mean more, perhaps that is something they will do in the inevitable expansion. More than that, I'd like to see the agents cleaned up, a lot. Its a freaking nightmare sorting through them all each turn trying to assign them missions, keep your assassins alive, etc.

As for cease fires, they are damn scarce for me too. Its very frustrating when I have a faction completely surrounded and all but neutered and they still wont sign. I would just eliminate them, but we all know the penalty for that is payback 10 years later in the form of 3 stacks of elite troops behind the lines.

One thing I have noticed, sending a princess to a faction results in positive results a lot more often than an emissary, valor aside.

olaf