Just spent a bunch of time playing Space Empires IV, and eventually ended up ceasing the game for essentially the same reason I quit playing MOO-3.
The skinny version is that it became too far between rewards. The longer version is that the fully developed planets within the core of my empire had ceased to be useful starship providers, for two main reasons:
* The distance from the core to the edge of my territories became so great that it was pointless to build starships at the center worlds. Those ships would become technologically obsolete by the time they reached the Forward Edge of the Battle Area.
* The inordinate amount of time necessary to travel to the FEBA makes any launch from the core worlds irrelevant by the time they get there. The battles are long over, and the course of the game has moved on to other areas.
It occurred to me that my empire was stifling from within. The central planets were trying to provide something for me that only worlds near the edges of my territory can actually provide. The worlds that I had spent so much effort developing should not become a dead useless core. Their superior manufacturing ability should be convertible to some other functions, some internal organs for the life of the empire's body as a whole.
