Here are a few ideas I have for features i'd like to see.

1. Cloaking tech, it would be nice to have some stealth technologies to help with spying, ambushing etc.. this would obviously need balancing and some opposite stealth detection techs but i think cloaking devices etc..are fairly enjoyable standard sci fi fare and id like to see them in my favourite game.

2. more static space features.. we have more map features now like asteroids but it would be good to have other things too like comets, pulsars, quasars, nebulae gas clouds, black holes, dark matter, permanent wormholes etc.. as features on the map too. these features could be for a variety of things some as resources (various effects) harnassable by a new class of harvesting ship or starbase, or as navigational hazards to slow or hinder fleet movements, things like permanent wormholes linking two distant parts of the map would also be fairly big tactical assets early on in the game before distance and speed techs are researched.

3. I know this is probably a bit Moo2 but i miss space monsters lol it would be nice to have some stellar lifeform that needs taking care of pop up now and then.

4. More events!!! things like asteroid strikes (built improvements and population reductions), new resources found (planetary quality improvement, or tile resource added or improved), unknown alien fleet strikes 9bit like pirate attacks on trade route or escaped penal colonist events), refugees (population increase on a world or a few random ships added to fleet), wormhole discovery! (wormhole added to map near random world in your influence, links to a random sector), Challenge to Rule (an opposing faction in your empire tries to take control via a coup, your fleet must defeat theres if you fail a handful of worlds break off and form an independant empire, new minor race), Supernova!!! (a star is about to go supernova destroying all worlds in that system unless a way can be found in time to prevent it, unique research to avoid the problem within set time frame, repeatable event and research), Subspace tear (a tear in subspace has caused space travel within several secotrs impossible, some way must be found to repear the tear, no movment by vessel in an area of effect until a unique tech is researched, repeatable event), new World discovery (a planetary system has been discovered that was previously unknown, adds random star+planets to map) and so on...

5. Call me old fashioned but if the dread lords can turn up as a super event it would be nice if the precursors can too just so we can have a friendly bada** to counter the evil bada**

6. Some orbital structures would be nice for planetary improvements, like a shipyard (increases ship build time), orbital processors (production increase), space hotel (economy increase), defence satellites (planetary defence increase), Survellance network (penatly to enemy espionage on that world), orbital telescope (espionage and sensor bonus), biospheres (population increase), etc.. all these would not use a tile on the plent but appear orbiting around it on the planet details screen like landed ships do. The planetary quality of a world could determine how many orbital sctructures a world can support and all would have a maintenance cost like starbases. This would be a nice way of giving limited bonuses that doesnt just involve sneding a scout ship on automated explore to hopefully find some permanent bonus giving anomoly.

7. Borders!!! i fail to see the point of being able to see everyones area of influence when you have no way except all out war of enforcing your border.. i want to be able to say get your ships the hell out of my borders or remove that starbase from next to my planets without having to blow it up. in this regard diplomacy needs more options. Also as far as diplomacy goes i want to be able to grant or request passage and/or building rights within my or my neighbours territories diplomatically, I want the option to try and diplomatically ask minor races to succeede independance and join my empire without only being able to conquer them. I want to be able to demand an enemey stops spying on me or face the consequences. I want to be able to be able to be close to a race without it being as full blown alliance some step below alliance that says we will help if we can but dont go demanding we declare war every 5 minutes or else the alliance is off.. all the time. Perhaps the option to build an embassy on another races world (no tile usage) to get a diplomatic bonus with that race and open up the options to open trade routes, economic or research treatis that way only once an embassy has been built within that races empire.