[Praetor]

I think everybody has made some good points: Having Ancient Race does confer some big initial advantages, for colonization and strategic defense if for nothing else. I don't think its actually useless; but as Andres pointed out, the rest of the players can achieve the same thing eventually, and then its useless. Basically, the advantages it confers initially are offset by the fact that its a one-off thing. You can save money on explorers, know where to send your colony ships, etc., (as well as using your starmaps as diplomatic bargaining chips) but 500 turns down the road so will everyone else, and they'll still have Organic tech or Advanced Storage while you have bumpkus. I think that's pretty balanced.