Alliance incentives

So warlords bring protection to the table. Traders bring resources to the table. What do researchers bring? Why would anyone trade with a researcher? Wouldn't it just be easier to not trade with them and let them die without any RO?

Maybe there should be some kind of small bonus to research that people trading with a researcher get, per trade? Like for every trade, you get 15 seconds off your current research goal up to some limit.

Or perhaps planets trading with a researcher should get a small bonus to population growth (not that this has a big impact on the game).

I guess the bigger question is..

How do you know what the person is you are trading with? If I say I'm a Warlord, how would you know I'm not lying? Who's to say that you don't have a bully Warlord in your sector that you want to get rid of? Why wouldn't you ally with someone that was a researcher? I would think allies of any sort go a long way to helping you reach your goals.

As a trader your best economy will come from trading. The more trade routes you establish the better. Think Ferengi in Star Trek. You're more than happy to trade with someone as long as there is something in it for you, and you get what you want. Who cares what other people are doing. I certainly think if you limit yourself in "who" you want to trade with, you could find yourself in a dire situation quickly.

Sure a researcher doesn't offer you anything other than an increased economy, just like the warlord, and while they won't have the muscle of the warlord with stealth ships, and star collapsing abilities I certainly wouldn't want to get on their bad side. If you needed help a researcher isn't a bad one to have on your side if you both want to work together to rid the universe of others.

When a researcher manages to pull off the collapse of a start, what happens to the planets in that star?

The planets themselves are fine, everything else on the planet or it's orbit depends on the tech of the players who have colonies / outposts there. If they've researched hyperspace physics they're fine. If they haven't then everything is destroyed. It's also worth mentioning that any ships passing through a sector with a black hole will also be destroyed if they don't have the appropriate tech.