Early contact ...

[Trajan]

... good thing or a bad thing?
Good thing, assuming that I meet them in such a manner as to let me "make peace" with them. If it is war from the get-go then my answer differs depending on how many folks I meet early on. If it is only one AI empire, I am usually ok with it. If it is several from multiple fronts then life will get tough as the squeeze gets put on -- this is always tough in the early game. Too many resources are then spent to make war instead of improving the empire's economy and technology.

If you remain isolated for some time with no contact - good or bad? I like to remain isolated, though eventually I need trading partners or subject for conquest, so that I can continue to grow my empire. Active trading partners (materials and technology) substantially add to my empire's ability to grow and prosper, so isolationism is not my favorite way-to-go.

Then do you go looking or ...? If I remain isilated for too long (and am not sut off due to a lack of worm holes) I always go looking probably sacrificing several LR scout ships to accomplish the task. Hopefully I can encounter an AI player before we get too crowded and automatically go to war.

Cheers!
Trajan