Diplomatic plays shouldn't have an arbitrary countdown to war if the devs don't want this to be a war game lol

Please feel free to disagree.

I've been trying to figure out why diplomacy feels so stagnant and annoying in this game, despite the whole "conflict is an extension of diplomacy" schtick it was gunning for.

I think things would feel better if they just re-examined how diplomatic plays worked altogether. Most importantly, make it so diplomatic plays won't ALWAYS lead to a damn war unless one party or the other is actively pushing for open conflict. Ditch the arbitrary countdown, replace it with something like tension, add meaningful ways to escalate and de-escalate (things like blockade, embargo, mobilization, withdrawing ambassadors all increasing tension, and then some other options, like diplomatic talks, to reduce it). Perhaps different actions are available at different levels of tension, i.e HOI4.

Make diplomatic plays more a way of gaging who will intervene, who's supporting who, without having to actually 100% commit to a conflict or any concessions. This solves the frustration we all feel when the AI decides to intervene last second for no discernable reason, and then you're forced into a war that no one really even wants.

It would also be nice to have a bit more of a diplomatic "battle" going on. Maybe something a little similar to Victoria 2's diplomatic investment for its sphere of influence system, but with diplomatic plays. Maybe if enough diplomatic power is invested by one side, and the other is not able to fend it off with their own diplomatic power, they are forced to concede (although hopefully it would be something a bit more complex). The loosing side might resort to actions that raise tension to prevent that, or they might just accept it.

Hell, maybe even make the declare war button a separate aspect to tension. You can only declare war for a goal after a certain level of 'heat', and that action will itself increase tension further, perhaps allowing Great Powers to intervene, blockade, declare war themselves etc. One country declaring war doesn't mean every country has too. They could join later, helping simulate the First World War and such where countries joined later in the conflict.

I think making the system more dynamic in these ways would also help the system simulate things like the Berlin conference which saw the Ottomans relinquishing control of the Balkans without a war. With all this, you could have actual negotiations going on without the fear that everything is going to implode after an arbitrary amount of time.

I am just brainstorming. Regardless, hopefully this is the kind of thing they're addressing in Sphere of Influence.