[Hakar]

Here's my 2 research points:

*Research not simply being a matter of 'accumulate point until you have enough to gain a tech, then repeat', but having an upkeep and storage space for technologies.
Technology could be 'stored' in research centers, and should you loose 'storage space' trough war, you would start losing tech. As a result, a great war could, in essence, bLast one or more participants back to the stone age. (or at least the nuclear age)
The upkeep in tech would also have an effect on this, and it would force players to expand or spend time on researching ways of storing more tech.
If you lose a tech, you would no longer be able to build ships using it, nor would you be able to repair certain components.

*Derelict alien vessels, which you could tow back to a planet for analysis or refitting. One Precursor (to steala Star Control term) vessel could just tip the scale of war in your favor. Off course, if certain parts of the ship were damaged, you'd have to replace them with inferior native technology.

*Far more mods for weapons, and other components too.
Including Point Defence (allows it to shoot at units/seekers), Heavy (bigger but heavier), Light (lighter but weaker), Long-range (longer range, but heavier), Short-range (lighter but shorter range), Cheap (cheaper but heavier, Expensive (lighter but more expensive), etc.

*Specific arcs for weapons and shields.

*Limited turning capabilities for ships in combat. The bigger the ship, the worse it turns.
Have components that make ships more agile.

*Have racial traits that cause races to use more Living Quarters and/or Life Support on ships.

*Allow empires to establish formal borders between them.

*More than one dimension. Let empires research certain technoligies to be able to create gates between them, or let them find natural gates that might appear and/or disappear at random.

*Massive siege weapons that allow shots from one or more sectors apart. Imagine having a few of those on a planet and being able to fire at an approaching fleet.

*Colonies producing and requiring a certain amount of food per turn.

*The ability to move planets, suns, or even solar systems.

*Multiple victory conditions, such as an economic victory, diplomatic victory, intelligence victory (install a puppet ruler in every other empire), leaving the galaxy trough some huge gate (*cough*Ring*cough*), or discovering some big Secret of the Universe.