[ComradeRob]

I imagine it would work something like this:

Private galaxies of 10-15 planets. People within these galaxies cannot receive -1 ETA alliance defence. I suppose they could be members of a tag; the point is that they are not going to be able to call upon alliance defence. Perhaps private galaxies should have a +1 on incoming defence fleets from anywhere in the universe? They most definitely should have -1 ETA on in-cluster defence though; a decent private galaxy should contain enough talented and active people to run a cluster alliance.

A digression: way back in round 3, when I first started, it was obvious that the lower clusters were better (higher scores, more roids). Since I started mid-round, it was also obvious that these higher average scores and roid counts could be attributed to the presence of Legion/Fury/RB (Triad?) members and their 'protected' galaxies in those clusters. Their scores distorted the average. But what was also apparent was that the benefit seemed to extend even to galaxies with no Triad members in. This appeared - and my hazy recollections may be incorrect here - to be, at least in part, due to the fact that these clusters had functional cluster alliances run by well-organised and talented Triad players (those cluster alliances were, typically, later betrayed by the Triad players, but that doesn't change the fact that they still ended up better off than those clusters which never had an effective cluster alliance). Back in those days, the art of running a good cluster alliance was considered to be a major part of their success. How true this was, I don't know. My point is that a good cluster alliance requires a hard core of experienced players who see the cluster alliance as being in their interests.

I also assume that it might be possible to join a private galaxy mid-round, using a similar process to exiling. Enter the code of the galaxy you want to join on the preference page, and you are transported there. Any alliance membership you have is either cancelled, or you are prevented from receiving reduced ETA defence. Likewise, players could exile out of private galaxies and return to 'normal' alliance play. Private galaxies could only receive new members if they met a certain size criteria; perhaps the size of the largest normal galaxy - 2, or something similar.

The idea is that private galaxies are essentially self-reliant for defence. This prevents them becoming too powerful; if they get too many roids, an alliance will hit them. But for people who want to have fun in a galaxy with friends, and cooperate with new people in their cluster for defence, private galaxies might be a fun option. Alliances will still exist and, indeed, will benefit from having private galaxies as a source of targets. A situation where a bunch of 'elite' players go for private galaxies would be very interesting, because although this might leave fewer 'elite' players in alliances, the alliances have a clear advantage in being able to attack the private galaxies.

A couple of other points:

* Private galaxies should require paid accounts.
* Thinking about whether alliances should be banned in private galaxies, I'm tempted to say that they should be, to prevent the scenario where someone creates a private galaxy with members from several alliances, to avoid incoming from all of them.