It was a Good game Till...

slight,

it depends on what is getting you down

Tactics?

let us know what you are doing and maybe we can help

Pirates?

yeah that is an issue, but you can turn them off

Anything else?

let us know and we here at the forums can help you out

Personally no (as long as you have pirates in diplomacy turned off ) , but plenty of other people have. Their solution however wasn't to quit the game but to ask for help in the strategy forum. Chances are if your having such difficulties, you are probably making an early game mistake that his hindering your war effort later against the AI. Myself and several other helpful individuals check it regularly, so don't be afraid to stop by and ask for help.

I recommed a Carrier or Colonization based ship as ur first cap, along w/ 2 Colony frigates.

I gtg nao (stupid windows parental controls) but if you get back to me I can walk u thru the first critical moves of ur game.

Xer0 \^/

It's always difficult for the developers to gauge the difficulty level for all gamers.  In all fairness to them, the voices that dominated the forums (mostly the experienced players) were complaining that the AI was too dumb and too easy to beat, so they made it smarter.  The unfortunate side-effect is that now a lot of the players who aren't nearly as serious as us are having trouble winning on the easiest difficulty.  It's a very tough balancing act, especially when a lot of the singleplayer gamers who stick the easier settings rarely give feedback until after the big changes occur and their game is disrupted.  A similar issue occurred with pirates.

While I wouldn't be surprised if the developers do some tweaking to the difficulty levels, in the meantime your best course of action is to ask some questions.  Try to identify specific areas of weakness that are allowing the AI to defeat you, and ask away on the strategy forums.  I'm always glad to help, and there are plenty of other people who will give you great advice as well.

We are ready to help you!

What game settings are you playing with?

Note that if you aren't playing with Locked teams that the AI is liable to ally with itself and gang up on you.  Can you defeat the Easy AI in a 1v1--just you and a single AI?  Are you playing with Pirates On?  The pirates ended up being overpowered in Diplomacy.  Try it against Easy AI with Locked Teams and Pirates Off.  If you can't beat the Easy AI in a 1v1 with those settings then you're doing something wrong somewhere (not upgrading planet population, etc.).

I now play with the Al easiest level, Random strategy, no teams, 1-3 Al opponents, pirates on. I have tried keeping everyone happy, I usually end up beat in 30-minutes no Al players taken out; I am the weakest link so 2-Als gang up beat me silly. I have tried building up bases with the same affect, beat in 30-minutes; upgrading everything as I go.

I tried playing against Pirates and one AL, I done a quick assult and got beat in 10-minutes, minimual upgrading just close with and assult the AL, the graph at the end showed the Al far far more advanced then me. I feel like a puppy trying to guard against an intruder, how a new level where the Al assults the Pirates. I know I am not the even close to being average, winning at the easiest level should be almost automatic. It is no fun losing.

I have beening playing paintball for over 20-years and I would not treat a new player like this game does. I wear a full bunny suit when I play paintball just to give the new players a laugh and give them a chance to be the hero, I know that if a switched over to cammies I would take more players out but the new players are our future and without them we will die off.

 I upgraded because I stood a 50-50 chance of winning with 3-ALs on the average random level, and 25% on the large map with 25% of the Als on average and 75% on the easiest level. Now I cannot win no matter low I set it, even on the small map; upgrading ended my enjoyment of the game. Maybe it is time for me to move on to something more my speed, like Overlord 1& 2  or Bioshock.

How aggressive are you at colonization? It is a good idea to grab as many planets as possible at the beginning of a game (within the limitations of your current resources). This way, you will have more resources at your disposal.

In the early game, long range frigates (known as LRF) are the best ships in terms of damage for the credits/resources you paid for that ship. Carrier capitals are also a good pick as a first cap.

Hmmm

if it's REALLY that much of an issue, what you could do is to play a HUGE map (8+ players) set them all to EASY, and then make it so that it's you vs. 2-3 other empires on a map that can support up to 8.  With luck, your homeworlds will be far apart, and then you can get XP and work your way up from there.

Another thing to do is to play offensive defense.  Expand As much as you can, and invest only in Population upgrades as you go, until you hit enemy ships/territory.  I normally save fleet upgrades for this point, but I play w/ Large Fleet settings so... yea.  I also typically start out w/ a Carrier or Dreadnought (I play TEC exclusive) and 2 colony frigates.  I don't build combat frigates until I can build flak ships, then I get 5-10 of these and have them tag along w/ my (should be level 3-5 by now) Flagship.  NOTE! You HAVE to manually tell the flak to target ships, as they will auto-engage SC, and will NOT auto-engage ships.

Xer0 \^/

you should try maybe instead a 2v2 with locked teams. turn pirates off for a bit.

watch your cap ships, dont let them die. Make sure your upgrading your planet's population limits (this hurts many newbies so hard when they dont understand underdevelopmenet tax)  Make sure you know the counters... dont throw your ships agaisnt a superior fleet, retreat to a few repair bays, and a starbase, and wait for them to come to you (the AI, on ANY difficulty is very willing to do this, unlike players)  If you dont like losing ships (I know i dont),  you can often get away with a fleet heavy in cap ships agaisnt the ai (something that will get your ass kicked against a player, but with the right combo, deadly to the AI... think 2-3 donovs with shield restore, a kol, an akkan, and a marza)

and perhaps most importantly:

Post a replay of your game, that will REALLY help us get a better understanding of where exactly you need help.

Scouting is key.  Drop out 10 scouts immediately and find your choke points, and claim them as fast as you can.  That is where your first starbase should go.  Then grab as many other worlds as you can, but don't neglect to build up a fleet.

You will need Flak Frigates, Carrier Cruisers, Hoshikos if you are TEC, Long Range Frigates(WHAt your fleet should be mostly made of) and a few Light Frigates.

If Mines are a problem, bring in a fleet of 5 scouts and 5 Flak frigates.  Flak wipes out Mines.

For Early Game Pirates a few hangar defences on each of your fringe worlds will suffice, but later you'll need to get Starbases up.

More advice if you have specific questions.

-Twilight Storm

The biggest single change that made diplomacy harder was probably the pirates, so diffidently try turning them off. If you can't beat an easy AI on a small map with them off, it is diffidently your playing style that is off. The most common issue with this is simply not expanding fast enough. Unless the enemy homeworld is pretty much next door, most of the first 10-15 minutes should be spent on nothing but expansion. If you can still expand easily (I.e. the computer hasn't taken those planets) continue to do so until you (at least) have half the map under your control or meet substantial enemy opposition. After that go full military with sporadic economic investment to keep up with fleet supply costs (provided your fleet is strong enough to protect those investments). Hopefully you will then be able to keep the AI from getting anywhere, allowing you to start the offensive and eventually win the game.