[Commander G]

What you pick for racial traits will vary somewhat if you are playing AI's or people. As someone earlier noted, you can afford trade at 50% because once the mega evil AI triggers, trade will do you no good, Playing against human, research and resources from trade are crucial until you can a huge lead. Another factor is how many starting points. With 2000 it is hard to sacrifice enough to get more than two advanced traits without seriously hurting your economy.

I myself, like to take two traits in a 2000 point game. If I'm playing Rock, I like Natural Merchants since a space port really cuts into the facilities if there is only one colonizable planet in a system. It also speeds up the startup of a new solar system. If I am playing Gas Giant, I pass on the natural merchants since you get all huge and large worlds and can spare one slot for a space port.

I usually like to take the extra movement trait because you can either move your ships one faster or you can remove one engine and save the metal/minerals for something else. In the early game, the biggest cost factor of ships is the engines and their affect on metal. Getting to planets faster, is a good way to optimize growth, a key factor in any 4X game.

I tend to disfavor increasing the shipyard rate since you can quickly produce a fleet that consumes all your resource for maintenance. Resources are more of a limiting factor in my mind than Shipyard capacity.

Also consider taking 50 to 80% for repair rates to get the points somewhere else. Repair does not help you much in the game if you can build a new ship as fast as you can repair it.

Combinations that I like include Extra Movement + Temporal, Extra Movement + Organic, Extra Movement + Crystal.

Another thing to consider when looking at advanced traits for economy bonus is how do they cost verus gaining 20 by picking 120% on the nonadvanced screen. Usually, you only want to pick the advanced trait if you take 120% plus the advanced bonus. Otherwise, it is not cost effective.

50% to 80% on Strength is a good choice since Troops are a ways down the tech tree and it is much easier to clear a planet than to take one over.

You may be able to go 80% on intelligence and just play it defensively with counter-intelligence to gain points as well. I am a little leary of doing this myself.

Trade at 80% is still useful, even in a multi-player game. At 50% you may be helping the other person to much for what you are getting.