Native Inhabitants Alignment choices

That's the whole point. If you are good you are too moral to take advantage of someone else. You lose opportunities to gain something because you did what was right. Later in the game it is supposed to make everyone like you more so you have a diplomatic edge.

Still, it would be nice to have more balanced choices at the beginning, because it seems like the long-term benefits of good aren't especially greater than those of evil, (at least to me, though I've yet to see the fundamentalists show up). It would be nice if the event about a life-force draining research machine or whatever gave a big research bonus but population penalty for evil, a smaller research bonus and no penalty for neutral, and a morale bonus for good, for example.

I think the alignments reflect moral decisions in real life if you look at them from the right perspective. Here is an example of what I mean.

You are in a music store looking for some new CDs. When you purchase your CDs you notice the cashier forgot to scan 2 of them.

Good - You inform the cashier of the mistake and pay for the 2 CDs -40BC

Nuetral - You thank the cashier and leave. +10 Morale

Evil - Pay? I didn't wear this big coat for nothin'. +40 BC +20 Morale

I with Citizen Pmutzu on this one there should be some long term effect like a addition moral bonus or loyality bonus which could reflect itself in increased income or military support. The whole catch more flies with honey than vinagor idea. Perhap it should effect cultural dominace. In that that planet stays loyal when confronted with a culturally superior faction.

hm.. I normally take the evil choices, but then choose good on xeno ethics

I think events should continue to lead you toward evil, while choosing alignment as good should simply have more benefits then choosing evil.
I'd also make it impossible to choose good if you're too far down the path of evil (and vise versa).
And last, have moral choices continue throughout the game, but after choosing an alignment you are forced to choose the one that fit your alignment.
This way good and evil will balance each other in an interesting way.

If for example I come across a planet with stone age inhabitants. I should gain A bonus to a different Factor and a Deduction to another. my example Is :This planet Is iInhabited by stone age creatures who take up all but the Polar caps your choices are as follows.
1:(good) Leave the Inhabitants where they are but work with them to gain knowledge of the planets mysteries, ( you may only gain a few tiles to improve but a large bonus to research+100 or so)
2: (neutral)Relocate the Inhabitants to a small island or a polar cap. (no benefits but all tiles would be useable )
3: (evil) Enslave the inhabitants ( Recieve a bonus to production due to the added workforce but loose A bit of morale -50 or so and some tiles have been rendered unuseable by rebels and must be terraformed due to burning of the land in a attempt to stop you

i disagree. i think that the way it works now is best. in real life, it is close to Onikazi's CD analogy. more importantly though, if there were more benefits to choosing good choices, there would be no incentive to go evil. it comes down to taking advantage now, and paying later (evil), or paying up front, getting the advantage later (good). If more good benefits were implemented, it would be crippling yourself to go evil, which i don't think is the point.

if there were more benefits to going good, then there would need to be more benefits to being evil to balance, but i kinda like it becoming a choice of being future focused or present focused. it makes neutrality a form of Zen. it also means the same game can be vastly different due only to ethical choices. don't beleive me? start a game, save on the first turn, then play through as good, and see how it goes, then reload the save and play evil. alone, those choices change the game drastically.

ugh, double post. sorry about that.

the thing is I should be able to be :Good, Neutral or Evil . and they all have benefits and drawbacks that differ. so that i could change my style of play as i see fit. Right now the only Viable option is the evil option . so if thats what you want . why even have the othe r2 alignments . because nobody will play them. All you need is a good military and then you can pretty much be fine when the good non player races come a calling .
What fun is that. if every game ends up the same way.
with my system at least you would have a choice.