I understand that in order to be successful in this game, one will need to make friends and alliances. I am a little curious about this and have a couple questions as well as trade related questions. I did a search on the site for information but it came up with little information.

1. Do players actually form alliances or is more of an informal " I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" sort of thing where players merely trade goods and minerals?

2. Let's say an alliance composed of four or five empires had vanquished all others in the game and that all the empires had remain true to the alliance to the very end. Would the victory conditions allow for an alliance victory or would those five remaining empires have to duke it out Highlander style?

3. As far as trading goes, is it limited to resources and money?

4. Can research be increased through trade deals?

5. Can you trade technology?