Tototo / Piznit: Overwriting an intended faction weakness seems a little bit munchkin to me. And using the creativity perk is definitely munchkin, at least in this version of the game. Who knows, maybe I should do these things just to balance things out.
I'm not sure what "munchkin" means, I'm assuming it means cheesy. Although I don't see how overwriting an intended faction weakness is "munchkin". Your still penalized either way you look at it. The Arceans have to waste 5 points just to equal the others in speed (sounds like a penalty to me). Adding speed bonuses was put into the game to be USED Also, the other races can choose it as well, so the Arceans would
still be slower than the opponents. I suppose you wouldn't use population growth with those races who have penalties in that category either, because that would be rather "Lilaputian", a close relative to munchkins. Hell, I think we should all put points in ship repair and loyality every game, because markedly increasing your economy and morale with bonus points seems pretty "Oompa Loompa" to me (another relative).
Now the creativity might seem more broken to some, and possibly I just haven't seen it really shine, but in all the games I've had creativity checked, its really only kicked in maybe 5 times MAX in a game. Whoopity-do, 5 techs a few turns early across the entire span of playing...real game breaker there. Now I know, I know. "But you can lower spending and put your slider at 1% research and have creativity finish something that would have otherwise taken 2543 turns." Yeah, you could that, but your not forced to. And if you did, I think you'd be suprised to find its not all that great of a strategy.
Anyhow, in your original post, you explained a few problems you had encountered as playing the Arceans, and felt as though you were cavemen, not Klingons. The above suggestions were simply ways to help alleviate your Cro-Magnum feelings of inadequacy. If they make you feel "munchkin", next time I will respond with the more standard (albeit, less helpful) suggestions: Play another race. Or, for slightly more humor, I could offer you the suggestion: Play the crappy Iconians, then the Arceans won't seem so bad. Who knows? Maybe you'll like those suggestions better.