So I played my first two games. Just chose a small map with few planets. But already after occupying 3 Planets and 3 Astroid based stations, the fleets produced are getting so massive, that the excitement you had in the beginning with just a few ships, enjoying the battles, is simply lost. The fleets you have to manage and the empire you have to keep an eye on, can only be handled from zoomed out perspective, where the cool grafics and battle effects are nothing more than colored tags. Of course I can zoom in, but if I do, I loose the overview. So for the most part of the game, you basically manage your empire from the galaxy view, moving your ships and fleets like on a checkaboard. It's a great game, but somehow, even on small maps, everything gets overwhelming. The feeling to be in the middle of it, like I have with Homeword, is lost with the massive build ups. It seems as well, that even on normal levels, you have so much cash and materials, that you can trade the crystals on the black maket, without ever having to worry about shortages. And this happened already after occupying just 6 systems. I wonder what it is like, to conquer 50 or more systems? Especially, as it gets boring after having conquered 2 or 3 planets. Just take your massive feelt and move on. That's all there is to it. No special missions, no storry to follow, no events or strange encounters (besids the pirate attacks, which are getting actually on your nerves, after repelling 20 attacks and you know there is no danger to it, except in the beginning stages. Once you have a few defenses, no pirat attack will ever be sucessful). 

Let me know how do you feel about it, and how do you play the game to enjoy it on larger maps? What are some good settings, so that you don't have more credits and material at your disposal than you could ever spend, after just having settled a few systems. Maybe a much more elaborate upkeep system would ensure that you keep an eye on your recources and more importantly not being able to send in 100s of ships that simply kill the "being able to enjoy a battle" effect.