I've been playing with v.1.09 beta for a couple of weeks now, and have noticed in all of my games thus far that Diplomatic Translators are built VERY quickly -- by a minor race. Seems to me the only way to beat 'em to Dip Translators is to pump most everything into research the first several turns, and even then it seems like ya might still have to buy 'em outright to ensure you get 'em first.
Has anyone else noticed this? And what do you do about it, if anything? Just buy Dip Translators? Give up on 'em? Wait to trade for 'em later?
In my current game, a minor got it but sometimes the majors get it as well.
If you are not concerned about the score for getting that TG, having a minor build it is actually a good thing. You can get it from the minor easily through trading some of your techs.
Of course, there is always the cheese way of waiting until you get the notice that it has been built, and then reload the autosave and lease it yourself. Ok, I feel dirty for even mentioning that.