It was the willingnes to accept the trade/how much more you can expect of them Long before the "Favorable Trade Deal" effect on Diplomacy was even added to the game.
Fallen Empire's trade opinion bugged?
- Thread starter Ophisx
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Not really I find it really clear, then again I have followed this game since release, when FEs were just late game enemies to conquer
In terms of the games fluff they're meant to be entirely insular and see all young races as inferior, so if anything the bug is that you can trade with fallen empires at all.