I've played PA for a long time. Even when I haven't actually been playing Planetarion, I've stuck around on IRC and talked to people about Planetarion. I like doing these things, but at some point I hit a cognitive limit for the number of people I need to keep filed away under 'Planetarion' in my brain.
I don't want to be forced to meet new people through game mechanics. I have no problem meeting new and interesting people via IRC. In fact, I'm pretty much forced to meet new people every round, since Ascendancy hasn't succeeded at stagnating and dying yet.
I've basically settled for 30 or so people I regularly talk to about Planetarion. This group is mostly stable, but every now and then people disappear from IRC and new, interesting people show up. But that's about my limit. I can't really spend more time grooming relationships to people on IRC.
If you ever want me to play again, I have to be able to go into the game without absolutely having to interact with random people for game mechanic reasons. I'll accept interactions due to the metagame, because these require less investment than being in gal with someone.
Some people seem to be under the impression that Ascendancy plays with core galaxies because it's a winning strategy. I'd gladly do it even if it put me at a disadvantage. If all my PA playing IRC-friends disappeared tomorrow I'd reconsider, but until then, please let me choose to play with my friends