I want to share a pet peeve of mine.
It concerns the Drath.
/beginrant
Let's take a look at this civ. Their history is clear. They evolved on Altaria but because the Dark Mirthrillar (sp) Draginol crashlanded on Altaria a new species evolved right out of the blue. The Altarians outbred and out fought the Drath and nearly drove them to extinction as a Dread Lord fueled war nearly tore the planet apart.
The Drath were ultimately saved by the Arnor and given a new home world where they grew into the Drath we know today. A cunning species that manipulates others from the shadows. They have a hand in everything. War's, politics. All of it.
Can someone explain to me how the hell these bastards have a good alignment. Sure, they might not strangle a kitten on live TV but they MAKE MONEY BY HAVING OTHER PEOPLE KILL EACH OTHER.
Good?! Seriously? How does that work!?
When they were introduced in Galciv 1's expansion alongside with the Korx they were EVIL and judging from the tech they get they haven't exactly changed their ways. Their descriptions are even strangers. They got kicked off their planets but now they're past that?! Genes travel through generations but so does anger and resentment.
Which is more interesting in a story:
1) "We suffered, we recovered and we don't hold a grudge." /hug /kiss.
Or
2) "We suffered, we recovered and now there will be hell to pay."
Yeah I think I know which one will get the movie deal but... wait what?! We went with option 1? But that's about as exciting as the ending of the Twilight saga!
Lame...
Their techs, Precursor History, etc, etc, doesn't make sense either. The Drath KNOW what happened because they were ducking shells and bullets. And if you're 20 feet tall, that's quite the achievement. The Altarians don't recall what happened because they were to busy blowing the shit out of one another.
It also makes no sense from a design stand point. Why on earth do the Drath need +weapon power? Do they start with a penalty? No. Then why do they get it and on top of that make piles and piles of blood money?!
Because of bloody copy & paste.
The same goes for temples and shrines. The Altarians are a spiritual race. They're Good. They got blue shiny tattoo's and a holier than thou attitude. So yeah. I can imagine a temple or two popping up on their worlds.
Do the Drath strike anyone as the praying type? Or as the preying type.
I want to turn the Drath into an neutral race. It justs fits them better. The Terrans, the hero's of the story, become a good race to keep the balance of good/neutral/evil.
This has some interesting implications. Neutral races tend to stay out of of wars since they're not hated by either good or evil civs. This fits the Drath since they prefer to stay out of conflicts and manipulate from a distance. The Terrans will be the dashing hero's people expect them to be.
Since most people pick the Terrans when they pick up the game. By making them a good race they'll be at constant odds with the Drengin, Korath and Yor, the antagonists of the game. Conflict will emerge. Conflict is good. Conflict is engaging.
The Drath on the other hand will need to undergo some changes but mostly, stuff needs to go. To me, it makes no sense that they have Altarian techs or interests. Their species shared a homeworld a very long time ago like the Yor and Iconians but no one can argue that the Yor and Iconians have techtree's as similar as the Drath and Altarians. The Drengin and Korath are a different matter. Their split up was very recent and the main story arc for Dark Avatar.
So what needs to be done. For one, the whole Precursor line needs to go. Their temples can stay but need a different description. Shrines need to go as well.
As for unique tech, well, they already got some the question is if it's enough to be interesting.
A new tech with Diplomacy could work.
A structure that grants a lot of influence akin to Dark Influence.
A tech that gives them a bit of extra espionage.
That will put their "unique" techs at a total of five (including invisible hand and war profiteering) and that's more than the Terran's get.
Note that these are just suggestions. What matters is that their techtree should communicate "Manipulative bastards" to anyone looking through their technologies.
/take breath
/endrant
I feel better

. So, any thoughts? Opinions?