1. My longest game is 111 years old. 111 discovered (by me) systems, 3 civilizations annexed (one was saved by that because their homeworld was glassed by
Invaders), etc., etc. I dropped it because of two reasons: new version, and "someone spotted by someone, let's stop the clock". 10 NPRs, three types of spoilers and me don't go very well.
2. I usually negotiate for friendly status (before invading), the NPR surveys every system they can reach. Cue slowdown, and new NPRs (more slowdown), ruins (more interrupts), star swarms (even more interrupts)...
As for hostilities, they are usually... doing nothing, but sometimes they trigger interrupt.
3. NPR is always viable unless someone glasses their worlds and destroys their ships.
I've heard about people who have done 170-yr runs. I think it's possible to go even further, if you manage to manage NPRs.
About my experience:
#1 is actually one of the least disturbing of the problems: my empire grows larger, I need more time to maintain it, my computer needs more time to run it. It's fair.
#2 is the most annoying, especially the "00:01:00 potential something interrupt" when one ship tries to catch another ship but isn't able to (and I'll just say it's not epic at all). It's terrible experience.
#3 As of current game, errors don't bother me much. That's weird because they were ruining my games sometimes in previous versions.
#4: let me just copy the logs:
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Abadan,Abadan,Mineral Shortage (Tritanium) in Production of Mougo Anti-missile Missile at Abadan Prime
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Yousif,Yousif,Mineral Shortage (Gallicite) in Production of Bandersnatch Anti-missile Missile at Yousif Prime
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Yousif,Yousif,Mineral Shortage (Duranium) in Production of Convert Mine to Automated at Yousif Prime
14th May 2057 14:29:01,PortLouis,Unknown,Racial Wealth is negative. Production will be reduced accordingly until the debt is repaid.
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Sekhemkare,Unknown,Racial Wealth is negative. Production will be reduced accordingly until the debt is repaid.
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Grand Base,Unknown,Racial Wealth is negative. Production will be reduced accordingly until the debt is repaid.
When I captured Aargonar homeworld, I noticed one thing, called planetary missile stockpile. Who in their right mind can build 550000 AMMs?
#5: while they
steal get everything they can from me:
14th May 2057 14:29:01,ZemSoy,Chi(1) Orionis,25 inactive Research Labs on Equation
14th May 2057 14:29:01,ZemSoy,S.W. Burnham 543,A team on S.W. Burnham 543-A III led by Louis Stokes has completed research into Microwave Focusing Technology 5
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Aargonar,Unknown,Information on Microwave Focusing Technology 5 has been provided to us by HIP 21932 Aliens #207 <= hey, it's me!
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Abadan,Unknown,Information on Microwave Focusing Technology 5 has been provided to us by Abadan Aliens #202
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Yousif,Unknown,Information on Microwave Focusing Technology 5 has been provided to us by Yousif Aliens #202
14th May 2057 14:29:01,PortLouis,Unknown,Information on Microwave Focusing Technology 3 has been provided to us by Gliese 176 Aliens #214
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Aargonar,Unknown,Information on Microwave Focusing Technology 3 has been provided to us by Sol Aliens #222
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Abadan,Unknown,Information on Microwave Focusing Technology 3 has been provided to us by Abadan Aliens #202
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Yousif,Unknown,Information on Microwave Focusing Technology 3 has been provided to us by Yousif Aliens #202
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Vorkuta,Unknown,Information on Microwave Focusing Technology 3 has been provided to us by Vorkuta Aliens #214
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Muscida,Unknown,Information on Microwave Focusing Technology 3 has been provided to us by Muscida Aliens #202
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Vorkuta,Unknown,Information on Microwave Focusing Technology 5 has been provided to us by Vorkuta Aliens #214
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Canal,Unknown,Information on Microwave Focusing Technology 3 has been provided to us by Canal Aliens #214
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Muscida,Unknown,Information on Microwave Focusing Technology 5 has been provided to us by Muscida Aliens #202
14th May 2057 14:29:01,PortLouis,Unknown,Information on Microwave Focusing Technology 5 has been provided to us by PortLouis Aliens #215
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Sekhemkare,Unknown,Information on Microwave Focusing Technology 3 has been provided to us by Sekhemkare Aliens #222
14th May 2057 14:29:01,Grand Base,Unknown,Information on Microwave Focusing Technology 3 has been provided to us by Grand Base Aliens #222
they don't appear to develop\use new ship designs. Aargonar, for example, was still using Ion-powered ships, when I was flying around with Gas Core AM Engines.
Invasion becomes boring and NPRs look helpless after that.
#6 affects me the least: I'm starting to read huge logs and spend most of the time giving orders instead of advancing time. Doesn't make game any worse because I like to give orders.
I could try a conventional longrun just to see how far can I get.