Playing a single-player proportions 3.05 game, just to learn the tech tree. I'm happily exploiting every possible cheesy anti-AI trick I know in order to win.
It's a pretty crazy game: I have two homeworlds, thanks to starting in the same system as two other races, and sending out a troop transport on about turn 3 while the AI was still building space stations. =-)
In another system, the game appears to have put 5 (FIVE!) AI homeworlds in one system. yowch. I'm currently trying to trade as much population away from them as I can before tech reaches homeworld-busting levels and total genocide ensues.
Anyway, I have events set to maximum probability (and I took the unlucky trait as well) and there seem to be an awful lot of revolutions happening: I think I've seen at least four new empires break away from their own races so far.
I conquered the first one (which was one of mine) but the others were so far away from my homeworld, with so many nebulae and black holes in between that it's almost impossible for me to get warships there. Instead, I came up with a great way to take these worlds: Buy them. I see the new empire's planet via a partnership treaty and then get contact asap via a scout ship. All I have to do then is offer to swap them all my comm channels, maps and techs for their one little planet. They fall for it every time! A bloodless coup! It's a great way to pick up new planets full of different breathers.