I payed to play this game off steam but most of the time the game never lets me attack another race. I don't think the space UN, pragmatism or whatever can or should be able to stop me from attacking anybody. this game is turning out to be convoluted. I don't care if the game is still in beta! if I am playing malevolent and I choose to attack another race I should be able to attack them with my small fleet no matter what. I am new to this series and I am sure someone out there (probably many other people) feel completely different than I do but I am not going to play a space game where I can build war ships but am constantly told I am unable to attack another race, especially when I never agreed to any peace treaty. for a game that offers so many choices how can it feel so limited? I'm sure the dev's only want to keep the game balanced for players not choosing domination, but if I am on the war path and the game slams to a grinding halt because for no clear reason that anyone else except the dev's and the hardcore fans of the series understand I believe this game has issues. It's the games very first win condition they list off! this game looks great and I should be loving it but I am not having any fun when the choices I have made become irrelevant. the galaxy of choices this game gives has managed to show its seams in less than ten hours. I will keep playing in the hopes I have overlooked something and I will keep trying to discover the fun I am sure this game has. a turn based game is naturally slow and methodical but should never feel like drudgery in my personal opinion. I really like the idea of this game though and will keep trying to love it.