I don't really like having lots of warp points into a system. I think it takes away from the strategy of the game - for example how hard would it be to protect a few star systems with dozens of connecting systems with numerous empires all at the same time? You wouldn't be able to do anything else but build mines and fight all the time - but I guess some people enjoy that.
I like systems of importance - for example a single system that connects to three hostile systems, where you form your first line of defense or buffer zones like nebulae. It gives you more time to develop the infrastructure of your empire (and the AI's empires) and I think that makes for a better game - like having large fleets of ships engaging each other over important planets and systems.
The Spoogy Universe Map is set up in a similiar fashion. While there are enough warp points to easily navigate to various star systems - there are also some chokepoints between each empire's starting points - which also helps for developing natural territories for each empire as well.
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