Ups & Downs From Star Trek: Infinite 

Infinite drops you right into the centre of the 24th Century and by association into the heart of the Alpha Quadrant. You’re surrounded by the familiar foes and recognisable allies of the Star Trek universe - the Cardassians, Klingons, Romulans. and Bajorans are right there from the first click of the game and offer all sorts of potential opportunities once you’re acclimatised to the playing style.

It’s definitely wise to start out as the United Federation of Planets in order to stretch your galactic legs. As players expand their borders and explore, more familiar names start to appear: the Trill, Talarians, and Bolians, and with each comes the chance to build or destroy relationships that will affect the balance of the galaxy.

Just remember that this isn't going to stick to canon so that initial galactic map might look a bit strange even from the off and it's guaranteed to look completely different by the time you complete the game. The choices really are down to each and every player with that opening click more about setting up the four major powers than being technically accurate to the franchise on screen. For one Betazed has an odd spelling and was surely a part of the Federation before the "dawn" of the game.