1. We must build good management AI.
2. We must restrict the player, so he/she cannot manage everything by him/herself.
The first one is obvious. The AI side(s) needs a good one anyway.
The second is a bit tricky. Who wanna play a game without full player controll?
There are no problems in the games at the beginning. The first few planet (area, etc.) must be controlled by the player, so he/she can fully develop them. The problem arise when one have 20-30 planets. (not to mention 100-200
) Controll all of them is time consuming and just not fun. 
Let say after the first 10 planets the player cannot controll all of them, just a continously shrinking proportion of them. IE: The player have 20 planets -> can controll directly only 15 (5 controlled by AI).
from 50 planets -> 25
from 100 planets -> 40
etc.
It can be a solution for other areas, like espionage, fleet movement, exploring, you name it. I know everybody get some favorite parts of any game, so in the beginning the player can pick 2 or 3 areas (like espionage, ship design, diplomacy), what he/she can manage to death.
I think this feature can save this game to be a second SEIV with complette end game boredom. 
With this feature on even a multi player game can be much quicker. Very good for a (relatively) short internet fight.
