4. Surrendering to allies to merge empires together.
5. Surrendering to an ally or other 3rd party to keep what is left of your empire from going to the enemy.
6. Surrendering your empire when you just want to leave the game.
10. Gifting a planet for the primary purpose of keeping another player alive.
19. Email diplomacy between players when races haven't met in the game yet.
22. Allied victory or Last Man Standing victory conditions must be chosen and declared, or there will usually be some friction towards the end of the game.
26. Pre-arranged alliances in non-explicitly team games.
These are I think the only things I think are gamey in the big list. If there is one thing that kind of bugs me it is the refusal to accept that you've been beaten and then to surrender in a way to ruin the game for others. #19 and 26 are just really really unsportsmanklke
Number 26 can ruin any game, not just SE4. I've seen it happen in boardgames more than once.
People who join the game with a prior agreement to play together are bad enough, but it's worse when they join with a prior agreement to play against a specific player.
(I just can't express what I think of this practice in words).
__________________
Have you ever had... the sudden feeling... that God is out to GET YOU?
Well, my girl dumped me and I'm stuck with the raftmates from Hell in the middle of the sea and... what was the question again???