Well, pretty much just read through this whole thread.. haven't looked at it since it was virtually new... Heh...
I'll definitely have to agree with wanting a campaign, and editor to go with it. Storytelling is just fun. Not really necessary for Sins, obviously, but fun. More mod-ability in any regard is good. 'Course, we know Sins has just about as much as anyone could want already, but there's always those limits we hit that we flail at to get around still. Especially the AI. A mod-able AI really seems like a must.
Would also have to say I'm with the group not wanting the ground combat. Sins is all about the epic space battles, it ought to stay that way. There's enough on planet combat RTS's out there as is. Though I would like some other option of taking over planets besides glassing them. Always felt that was a little silly when I want to take the planet over. I'd rather subjugate, bribe/hire, mind-control, or whatever else might be a fitting method to take over a world I intend to colonize anyway. (Heck, culture would be great for non-lethal taking over too.) Cause glassing just seems like something you do when you have no interest in the planet.
Working turrets with limited firing arcs to force ships to move around more (and just ships moving around in general) would certainly be nice too. As would the more realistic projectile stuff. Would be nice if accuracy was something other then a glorified damage bonus, and shots could really miss, and just hit whatever got in their path.
At this point, I think the dual+ core and 64 bit compatible issues are a given as something that will just have to be part of the game. So I don't think that's something we'd really need to request. New/better graphics is sort of a given for newer games as well. Although I suspect we'd still end up with graphic mods all the same. (I think, generally, the default graphics are more cpu/ram/etc friendly and optimized. While things like bailknight's and VE&DE are focused more on being pretty over any sort of optimization. (Heck, I can see explosions in grav wells of planets I haven't even explored yet with'm. Not optimized in the least. But oh so pretty.))
I would also like more diversity between the races, and new races/factions would be nice as well. Of course, the more they differ, the harder they are to balance, but it's not like it can't be done! (Or that we won't find ways to do it ourselves if we still don't agree with the balances.)
As for the titans/super caps and the like... Honestly, I just never know personally with those. As much as I personally love the massive ships, balancing that sort of thing into a fleet is damn near impossible unless they actually install limits.. like the only one, period. (Which, as far as I know, isn't doable at present at all. Though maybe someone's managed now, haven't really checked.) As it stands, with pretty much only playing using DS, I'm just happy having capital ships that aren't made out of colored construction paper. Of course, because of that I have a habit (because I'm one of those who usually plays vs the AI and coop with players, instead of vs players) of running around for quite a while with only one capital ship for clearing out and expanding, while relying on stationary defenses with the cap as backup when needed. Which is really nice to be able to do. But at the same time, I'm running around with just one capital and no support.. and that admittedly seems rather silly. Add in something even more powerful and it's just a pain to balance, to put it lightly.
New ships, or more versatile ships have a similar problem. I'd love the ships to be more versatile, as well as having new ships. But then you run into the whole overlapping or repeating purposes issues. (For example, if all the cruisers had anti-fighter weapons, which would make sense for them to have, and those weapons were good enough to just defend themselves decently (not even exceptionally) from fighters/bombers. Would there be a point in ever making flak frigates? Making sure there IS a reason, while still making those cruisers' weapons useful would be extremely tricky.) But, I can't say I still wouldn't like new ships. Certainly at least 'updated' ones, to show that time has passed within the game's world.
Had other thoughts, but they kinda all derailed during typing this. Oh well. Back to hunting for those stories...