[Puke]

Glad you asked!

yes, they do! which is why you play with a high AI bonus, giving them 500% production rates. tarriff ammounts are only based on their normal (non-bonused) production rate, so they give you 400% and keep 100% for themselves. aint it grand?

Regarding giving planets to the AI, yep definitly possible, could be a very good tactic.

Regarding wars-by-proxy: A very valid tactic, this is what i think will make the game the most interesting. You will either have to declair war on people that send ships to harass your client state, gift ships or defense bases to your client state, or take a world (request gift, tribute, or trade) from the AI and build defenses on it before giving it back.