First of all, while the trait-tree panel is a bit less ugly in .5994 than previously, it's still kind of awkward. The player should not have to scroll to get a full view of the choices available to them, given how often you have to pick or upgrade traits. Either make the panel bigger or use the space better; that could mean showing only part of the tree (maybe collapsing non-forking branches and expanding to show inherited traits on a first click), representing the traits with CK-style icons that only show names on mouseover, and/or showing traits as a list of options rather than a tree.
More abstract: the trait list is going to be a powerful tool to convey the values of the culture. Some things that strike me about the present system:
- Leaders who are accomplished at statecraft are respected even if this involves being duplicitous, tricksy or downright nasty: smooth, cunning, glib, plotter, cold-hearted, bloodthirsty. (It's assumed that if the player buys something with XP, it's a positive value.)
- Fine-grained distinctions between statecraft/social traits are important: glib vs. smooth, commander vs. leader, cunning vs. plotter.
- Conversely, physical traits are less important (there's only four lines).
