I just had a TotA game where I bought two planets from the Thalans for some medium-level techs. Observations:
- Only the Thalans were willing to trade their planets, the 8 other opponents weren't.
- The Thalans were not willing to trade 2 planets in one round, no matter what I offered them. They were willing to trade away the second planet in the next trading session though
- I was playing as the humans with *additional* diplomatic bonuses, so I attributed the surprising willingness of the Thalans to give away their planets to my incredible diplomatic advantage.
- When I tried to trade for planets, the Thalans were the largest empire (5 planets), and the two planets I traded for had just been colonized. I suggest checking for two things:
a) Will the AI undervalue planets when it has many? That would be consistent with rabellon's game, which took place on a huge map.
Will the AI undervalue planets that have just been colonized? Such planets have high costs and produce little income, so if that's a factor in the equation, then it might devalue fresh colonies in trade.
