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When I noticed that the Boron relations did not drop when I increased it with the Paranid, I figured that the DR system is either limited or not active during the initial plot. And since I was able to easily get other diplomats/agents in this area; I took my time and got both the Pirate and the Paranid up to rank 7 with no ramifications other than spending more time in the starter plot. This has made the game significantly easier to balance the NR system as I had a huge buffer with both the Pirates and the Paranid, not to mention the ships and stations available to me early on in the game. Before I could afford them to be honest. I didn't notice this mentioned anywhere in the guides, so I thought I'd share it. While this may seem exploitive, I think it makes sense in context of the plot, and it does come in with at least a small cost in time.