Three questions for you pros

[Krsqk]

bbq said:
2. The Natural Merchants trait seems to me to not worth the 1000 points it costs. Even if it is made into 500 points only it is still easily 'fixed' by simply spending 3 turns per system to build a spaceport. What am I missing?

The advantage it brings is to systems on the front line. If you lose a spaceport planet, all the income from that system is wasted. If you have Natural Merchants, you continue to earn that income. Though if you have a front-line system producing so much that you'd miss it if it weren't there and you leave it undefended, then you deserve to lose the income.