[MrLobster]

Originally Posted by Tactitus

Light pretty well said most of what I was going to say. There are a lot of features (or remnants of features) that don't make sense anymore because other features have been ripped out. Removing the remnants is one option; giving the remnants some new purpose would be another. The real problem though is one of vision and design. How do you want the game to work and what features are necessary to make that happen?

There's also a trade-off between texture and complexity. Game features (different resource types, different ship types, different races, different tech branches, etc) can add interest to the game; but they also add complexity. Also, it always easier/more fun to add new features rather than delete old ones, so feature creep and second-system effects are a real problem.