Minor races that come later in the game have comparable tech. In a recent game the Vegans showed up with Beyond Mortality, which I’d just finished researching. I got a warning that they were about to get a technology victory! Fortunately for me I got the tech victory the next turn.

Otherwise, minor races have never been a threat. I’ve never seen them expand, and by the time there are wars raging they get eaten like popcorn. I have to admit I like conquering them since their planets have a huge influence. In a recent Altarian AAR I conquered 3 minors around the Yor, and whose planets almost immediately started flipping as I covered most of his home territory with my influence. Influence equals tourism cash, and denies it to my adversaries. Very nice! There is also the prospect of denial: I don’t want opponents (or even allies) to get them since they are such an important part of an empire.

Other factors with minors, they are easy to extort once you get a large military. You may not get any tech from extortion, but you certainly can get cash. I haven’t had much luck at all tech trading with them, but when you conquer them you do get a tech.

I never bother with espionage against minors, but I suppose they could be doing it to other empires. I know I would in their situation!

Hydro

Erm. Can minor races win?

Ps they're mostly puppets.

PRECISELY! however i usually won't sell them any techs unless at least one other race already has it or i plan to sell it to everyone anyway. I keep my unique techs very well guarded.

Unless you plan on killing them with a surprise attack in the same turn.

Is that even possible? I've had minor races well within my borders for the longest time, and none of them have ever flipped to me. I've even added Influence bases around their planets, but they didn't seem to have any effect at all.

Hi!
At the difficulty level I play a minor race means just a nice big planet to the mayor that first gets it. So my minors werealerady for a long time excluded from my games, and they'll stay so until they became so strong they can withstand a non-fully-commited attack from a mayor civ.

IMO that's a pitty. In GC-1 they were quite an obstacle or valuable partner, depending on my approach to the game.

BR, Iztok

If you trade with a minor race and always sell them plenty of techs, they normally keep up quite well.

I also like to sell my weaker ships to them once my fleet support costs start getting a bit high.

Hi!

I did that in old 1.0x DL times. The exclusive tech I sold became common in just a few turns.

Way too many of my old games with minors developed in almost identical way regarding them: when I found a minor it was already almost cash-less, because other mayors have already sold their tech to them or have extortet them. When one minor was under attack, was that a start of a hunting season on all of them. Since I prefer games with 5-10 planets per player, was that class-15 planet just too big a bonus for the player who'd managed to get it, including me. So my minors are off until Stardock makes them more survivable. Pitty. Since minors don't expand, they should be somehow protected: maybe a UP law forbidding attack on them could help.

BR, Iztok

i quote myself in answer

I have often ended up with super strong minors but never have they rolled over any AI race.

Well, if you don't like them, I guess you could always just turn them off. The ones I encounter usually just sit and trade with the closest major race until someone decides to take them out.

Play Galciv1 then. They actually colonise! (after a moderate delay period).

It depends on their location for me. If they're near my core systems I exterminate them. I wouldn't want my citizens in such close proximity to vile alien scum, after all..
If they're near a border with another power, I'll keep them around for a while, bolster their military so they'll be a thorn in someone else's side.
If they're far away I'll try to keep them alive as long as I can milk them for their economic/research treaties.