I think it is a great game but there is room for a lot more new stuff. Besides the obvious new races, secret techs, monsters and minor races I would like more different biomes increasing the feeling of playing on different worlds. I really appreciate the human factions but more alien cultures would be cool!

I also agree that the settlement and economic mechanics could be a little more differentiated and expanded. It feels very basic at the moment. Perhaps by adding more race special buildings that could be built upon the different map production sites.

Good discussion. I agree that on the units side the factions are really amazing and diverse but the empire management feels kind of the same. It would be cool if Assembly would use part of their production for growth and consume energy instead of food for example. Slightly more variations in buildings and society techs would be an improvement also.

Great podcast – have really been enjoying the game. They just released a new dev diary that features relays, allowing you to instantly transport an army to another relay once per turn. Should help on larger maps in the late game.