Finally found the table Shoujo was talking about (I think).... Daynarr posted a spreadsheet
here that lists the relative occurrence of each planet type.
If I'm interpreting it correctly, it means:
--you'll have more available planets being rock/any air (though rock/CH4 seems to have a slight advantage, for some reason). But, 75% will be medium or smaller.
--you'll have more large and huge planets being gas/any. But, you'll have half as many available planets as a rocky type.
--if you're ice/any air, you'll have just over half as many ice planets available as there are rocks, and a little more than half are small or tiny (oxygen has a slight advantage, methane a slight disadvantage).
--if you choose airless, you'll have a little more than half as many rock planets or about three-quarters as many ice planets to choose from than if you had picked an air to breathe. Presumably moons are not figured into these figures as they are not considered planets.
From my own limited PBW experience (eight human empires encountered), I've seen two ice and six rocks; and five O2, two none, and a single H2. The majority is rock/O2. This is why I never pick oxygen.
So why pick Ice? Simple: more than likely you will find someone willing to trade colonization tech. More than likely they'll be rock. More than likely you'll more than double your available planets.
So, let's get some more variety out there! (Speaking of which, how about some more atmospheres, like nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, chlorine, or radon?)
Quikngruvn
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Stay alert. Trust no one. Keep your laser handy.
--from the RPG
Paranoia, now my PBW mantra