[dmm]

THG suggested "The TF player could play more than one race."
That's a great idea! That would spread them across the galaxy right away, and essentially give the TF several turns for everyone else's one turn. That would also help with complicated deals. (Example: TFa receives gifted ship from EEE. Refuels it. Gifts it to TFb. TFb receives gifted ship from TFb. Gifts it to EEE. So EEE can get its ship refueled and returned in 1 turn instead of two.)

Plus, gives them twice the return from TR alliances. Although everyone else would also get 2X return from the TF, it wouldn't help them reciprocally because the TF wouldn't be producing as much. (Example: Let R stand for "research points." Suppose TFa has 100 R, TFb has 100 R, 5 other races allied with the TF [but not each other] each have 1000 R. With 20% research sharing, TFa+TFb gets [200+200]*5 R = 2000 R, but each of those races only gets [20+20] R = 40 R from the TF. If there were only one TF race, then TF would get 1000 R and other races would get 20 R.

BUT!!! This makes it even more imperative that TF's victory condition be radically different from everyone else's!