Okay, so I've played a few games, and noticed a few things. First, I'd like to mention that I too have noticed all the comp players researching the same weapon techs.

In my current game the Torians are at war with the Drengin and the Arceans (or was it the Terrans? it doesn't matter). However, not once have I seen either attempt to invade a Torian world. I HAVE seen however several Torian transports make their way to Arcean space, but they stopped and are floating in one of my systems (but when they had first stopped their two of the three worlds were theirs, untill I flipped 'em ). The weird thing is, the Torians have a Ranger, and they won't use it!!! Which brings me to another point, I got the message saying the Torians had acquired a Ranger atleast six months before it actually showed up. I have Advanced Espionage on all the other civs, and my empire COMPLETELY envelops Torian space. I checked every last Torian world atleast twice, probably more, and never found a Ranger in orbit. How does this 'finding precurser ships' thing work?

Lets see, what else...... Ahh yes, another note on the Torian's little war. Despite the HUGE armada the Drengin posess, they will not send it against the Torians, About a turn or two ago they sent a Transport northward, but I doubt it will get far before they have it just hang in space like the two Torian ones. When I say a huge armada, I mean close to two dozen ships. I'm not talking wimpy fighters either. I'm talking ships with 3-7 missile attack, and some lasers for good measure. Considering how many their are, and how primitive their civs are, thats powerfull. Plus its still early game. I've only had enough time to conquer the Korx, the Carinoids(minor race, one planet), and to squeeze Torian influence down to one sector. Its only the year 2030!!

Any theories would be welcome, aswell as any of your observations of strange behavior by the AI, or the game itself.