Increased Colony costs for "flavor"

[Suicide Junkie]

I know that, and you know that, Fyron.
But Geo just said:

As far as empire setup goes there is really no basis for choosing between rock or ice over other than personal taste or role play or whatever. The choice between Rock/Ice and Gas Giant does make a difference, but that's not to say one is better than the other. They simpley require slightly different strategies as Gas players will tend to have fewer but larger, and presumably better defended planets, while a rock/ice player will have more planets but be more widely dispersed

In fact, Ice worlds have between 35% and 40% LESS of EVERYTHING compared to rock.

Compared to rock, gas gets slightly more population, but fewer facilities and even lower construction rate than ice; half what rock gets.