I have been reading through all of the various topics in this forum and am wondering what the average player starts a game with.  I have been playing the demo and am waiting for my copy of SEIV:gold.  It looks as though quite a few people start with 3 planets.  Is this quite common, what about racial points, and computer player difficulty?  What are some of your favorite attributes, and galaxy types, atmospheres, planet types, and why?  
