I started a new game of Galactic Civilizations III.  I'm peacefully cruising the local neighborhood galaxy - looking for a few good aliens to share a laugh with.....but "is anybody out there" still on my diplomacy screen.  But alas, I'm all alone.................there's no one to talk about how cold it is in space..........no “dew drop inn” bars to stop in and pick up ladies……………no one to discuss how some other culture handles explosive diarrhea in space – talk about one way of zooming around the inside of your space ship in a zero gravity situation……………..then there’s the clean up afterwards……………………and what happens when you run out of Clorox............

    Then out of the blue, my com screen buzzes to life and I see this blue blooded Witch and she says:

    “Terran Alliance, your treachery has been unmasked.  Our spymasters have discovered that you were behind the assassination of our Ambassador to your pathetic civilization.  From this moment on we are at war.  You will truly regret betraying the Altarian Resistance.”

    Now, I haven’t met anyone – yet, according to this screen, not only did I meet another alien life form, I knew their ambassador, and had contact with them.  If I had contact with them prior to this alleged assassination, shouldn’t our meeting have been displayed in my diplomatic screen prior to this alleged incident? 

    And even after finding out that the Altarians actually exist, why don’t I have the Altarians on my diplomatic screen as an option to at least attempt to open a dialogue with them?

    And do the Altarians start with the Universal Translator already researched? 

    Inquiring minds wanna know…………………….