[Slick]

I think one of the aspects is that there is the perfect "rate" of new & different things added during a game. You can expect a new weapon, facility, ship, technology, or some such thing every couple of turns that you have just GOT to start using. You are also continuously expanding, building, conducting diplomatic relations, conducting military operations, etc. Like I said, it is the rate that makes the game great. If you quickly got all the techs, met all the empires, built a huge fleet and conquered the empire, it wouldn't be fun and the game would be easily mastered. If it took too long to do these things, your interest wouldn't hold long enough to have fun. The "excitement rate" is perfectly tweaked to keep people wanting "just one more turn".

Slick.