The minor races need updating. All they do is just sit around and wait to be destroyed and seeing as though they can not muster a strong military, most of them are destroyed within the first few dozen turns. If DA and DL were missing anything, it was that the minor races were not up to scratch. Something must be done.

Make the minor races capable of becoming a "major race." Set a number of planets, for example, 3, so that when their empire reaches that number of planets under their control, a message will pop up saying;
"-insert minor race name here- has aquired enough power to become a major race. Etc..."
Once a Minor Race has become a Major Race, they are entetred into the United Planets, leading to a wider spectrum of the Galaxy's needs and wants!

Let Minor Races be able to develop fleets and not just starbases! I'm sick of giving them my battleships just so they can stay alive. They need to act like major races, occasionally sending out a few troop transports to take over other planets and be upgraded to a major race.

This would make for a more varied and interesting game.