1172788 4/16/2011
1172999 5/16/2011

That is a very small increase in the number of Planets in GL. Indicates to me that the game isn't expanding.
Does anyone know how Dan decides the number of planets in GL.
Is it a formula?

my guess is it expands as new players join

It grows in spurts of like 50-100k or more, when the "new" planets get scanned as a pool (I think). Trust me there are still plenty of new planets being scanned, but a certain % only so you will see existing or enemy planets also a certain % of scans, no getting around it. The smaller increase is from mission planets only atm.

This makes me sad. I do think your correct.

Why sad ? To clarify, it's like this for example (theory), I do a scan run and I get ...

1/3 enemy planets, randomly.
1/3 unoccupied planets, randomly that already existed and maybe scanned by someone
1/3 NEW generated unoc planets from a "pool" of planets, which have 0 scans on them.

A "batch" of say 50k planets is made for the third type, fresh planets. They are allocated when someone gets a "new" planet until the batch is done, then another batch is created (so if and when planet count increases doesn't matter so much). Also, a small trickle of made planets increases the total planet count but that's not a lot.

Actually the truth might be worse...

in that amount of time only 210 planets were made?? sounds like just enough for new Vorigar/Ecumenpolis rewards from missions with no others...

OK no one is getting the point: A BATCH is created, and new planets are pulled from it (essentially "created" as far as the universe is concerned) as needed, as opposed to generating planets on the fly, but the result is the same. It just jumps by large amounts instead of a couple thousand a day.

And since they are done in batches, I believe no batch has been released between the 16th of April and the 16th of May, that is what I'm saying

Batch was released, as of 5/21/2011. We are now up to 1235739 total planets. That's an increase of 62,740 planets since the 1172999 of 5/16/2011.

But if BinaryMan is right, this doesn't matter, and the ratios are set. Unless the ratio of types of planets have been adjusted over time ( for instance, more exotic, less gas, etc) but that's just speculation.

But dont you just like that new Planet smell? Like my exotic i found

define made please?!?
most (if not all) really good planets are converted from a base planet...metallic - dyson...icy - oceanic etc. so there would be no change in the amount of planets in the database, just the rarity?

There are 2 missions that actually get Dan to create a planet for that person, 1 is in the Silthion Chain that gives Aphotic planets (3 completions), and the other is in the Taltherian chain that gives Ecumenopolis planets (2 completeions). And to head off the inevitable "What are those" questions: Aphotic planets are the equivalent of "Shadow" planets with inherent cloak, and Ecumenopolis planets are basically a one-city planet.

thats not a bad rate of made planets spawning then...most high level players will already have theirs...and most low level players wont have the missions yet.