TT is very powerful IN THE LONG RUN. But your investment of RW points in an expensive LRT and then in resources terraforming your planets is never going to pay you back if you start next to a couple bi-immune -f WM, because they are going to eat you alive. If you have 30 years of peace, then you can reap the benefits of TT. But if you are playing a medium game with 8 players, even with Distant starting positions, you are going to be close enough to other players from the very start that races designed for early aggression will overpower you before your econ can catch up.