First come, first served!
Well, it is both to address the general "this doesen't feel quite right" feeling when a single simple flak cannon costs more than the hull and to address the chaffspam (i.e. build actual ships, damn it!) We can patch the game to implement anything we'd like, it's just a question of time.
I'm also fine with more monsters and I'd also like to see more varied monsters. It seems to me like the current monsters are a barrier in the first 20-30 turns or so and then cease being a problem. I miss quad death ray blackshield monsters ;D
I'd like to aim for ~10-20 planets per player, so either low density and many systems or vice versa.
Ring could be a good shape, with both teams starting at opposite ends. I still haven't tried them all in SP.
Sure, but this should be reduced. Perhaps we should even go for pre-determined species.