Public Opinion Changes

Today, we wanted to share with you more details and the rationale behind the changes we are making for the Public Opinion.

Remember that you can try them directly on the Public Test Branch (PTB)!

Now I leave the "keyboard" to our Lead Game Designer.

Diplomacy Remembers Now

Hello! Let’s talk on how we're giving Saiadha a memory!

Let's be honest: diplomacy in its previous form had a bit of a goldfish problem.

• Raze an empire's city? They're naturally upset for a while.

• Raze it again? Still upset, same amount.

• Raze it a third time, burn down their Ministry, occupy half their territory? Still... the same upset.

The world had no sense of escalation, no memory. You could be the most relentless conqueror in the history of Saiadha and the other empires would essentially treat each act of aggression as if it were the first.

We've been watching this play out in your sessions and listening to your feedback. Relationships needed stakes.

And most importantly, they needed to actually reflect the kind of empire you have been.

That changes in the next update. Here's everything that's coming.

Introducing Cumulative Public Opinion

We're adding a second layer to the Public Opinion system, which we're calling Cumulative Public Opinion Status. While the existing system reacts to individual events (capturing a city, signing a treaty), this new layer watches patterns and when a pattern becomes undeniable, it leaves a permanent mark.

The idea is simple: if you do something to another empire once, they'll remember it for a while. If you do it over and over again? They'll remember it forever.

How it works >> Cumulative statuses are thresholds.

Each time you perform a hostile (or friendly) action toward an Empire, a counter climbs. At each threshold, a new status is triggered with its own Public Opinion modifier and duration. Most of these statuses expire after a set number of turns. But once a threshold gets high enough, it triggers a permanent status, we call badge, that stays for the rest of the game, no matter what.

The Badge System: When Reputations Become Permanent

Badges are the centerpiece of this update. They represent a pattern of behavior so consistent that it defines how the other empire sees you.

There are eight permanent badges, split between hostile and friendly archetypes.

Here's a quick overview 👇

Notice that the penalties are intentionally asymmetric.

Earning the Butcher badge (-60) is significantly worse than earning the Raider badge (-30), while the Colonizer badge is particularly severe at (-50) because by the time you've seized 7 territories from someone, there's very little they're going to forgive.

The Escalation Ladder

Badges don't appear out of nowhere they're preceded by a clear escalating sequence. Every hostile category has 3 temporary tiers before the badge triggers. This gives you warning. It gives your diplomatic partners warning. And it means the decision to keep going is always a conscious one.

Take the attack ladder as an example:

Attack Escalation

• First attack → Attacked I (-10, 15 turns)

• 2–4 attacks → Attacked II (-20, 15 turns)

• 5+ attacks → Attacked III (-30, 15 turns) → Bully badge (-20, permanent)

Territory Occupation

• 3 territories captured → Occupier I (-25, 31 turns)

• 4–6 territories → Occupier II (-50, 31 turns)

• 7+ territories → Occupier III (-75, 31 turns) → Colonizer badge (-50, permanent)

Sending Compliments

• 1 compliment → Compliment I (+5, 15 turns)

• 2–4 compliments → Compliment II (+10, 15 turns)

• 5+ compliments → Compliment III (+20, 15 turns) → Pleasant badge (+10, permanent)

Steam post image [Aspects are not happy with their Necrophage neighborhood]

The thresholds are mutually exclusive you don't stack Attacked I and Attacked II simultaneously. Each tier replaces the last, and vice versa. If you reach Attacked II, but then stop attacking for 15 turns, the status will revert to Attacked I. If no attacks occur again during 15 turns, the Attacked status disappears.

And note that the temporary penalties for escalating tiers can actually be higher than the badge itself. Occupier III is -75 while the Colonizer badge is "only" -50 because by the time you've earned the badge, the ongoing occupation is what's really doing the damage.

What this means in practice: a diplomatic relationship's full picture is a combination of recent events (what you did in the last handful of turns) and historical patterns (what kind of empire you've been across the whole game).

Temporary modifiers come and go. Badges don't.

Quick note: Some existing treaty-based statuses such as Military Ally or Victory path followed remain unchanged. These represent active diplomatic agreements, not patterns of behaviour, so they operate on a separate track from the new cumulative system.

Why This Matters for How You Play

The most immediate change you'll feel is that aggressive play now has long-term diplomatic costs that can't simply be waited out.

If you're planning to be the one that expands aggressively, ransacks, and doesn't sign many treaties, that's a completely valid strategy. But you'll need to account for the fact that by midgame, you may be carrying two, three, or four permanent badges that are permanently suppressing your standing with the major powers you bully.

Conversely, if you invest early in the Pleasant and Diplomat archetypes, you'll carry those permanent positive modifiers through to the late game, making coalition-building, treaty renewals, and joint actions meaningfully easier.

The system rewards consistency and punishes patterns you didn't notice you were building.

What's Coming Next for Diplomacy

Expanding the Badge system to impact other Empires relationship.

The next step could be that Badges aren't private.

When an empire witnesses your pattern of behavior (or simply hears about it) your reputation precedes you.

The Butcher badge doesn't just sour your relationship with the empire you razed it makes every other leader on Saiadha warier of you too. Coalition becomes harder. Treaty offers get refused more often. The world closes ranks.

The reverse is equally true. Empires that consistently invest in compliments, honour their treaties, and earn the Pleasant and Diplomat badges will find goodwill compounds across the whole diplomatic map.

A good reputation, like a bad one, echoes outward.

More Diplomatic Options

We know the treaty menu can feel thin. We're working on expanding the range of diplomatic tools available new treaty/declaration types, and improvements to how AI leader archetypes respond to your behavior. A war-hungry leader should feel genuinely different to negotiate with than a cautious isolationist. More on this when it's ready to show.

As always, we want to hear how this plays out in your games 🤗

• Does the escalation feel fair?

• Are the badge thresholds in the right place?

• Are penalties too punishing or not punishing enough?

Let us know!

You can try the changes on the Public Test Branch [PTB] 👇

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