How will faction hostilities be decided? Are there factors for tension like land, trade wars, attempts to destabilize colonies- or is it just random? It'd be interesting if all the other factions can (attempt to) band up to beat down anyone that gets too dominant.
It'd also be interesting if the player (or AI) could ultimately subjugate all other factions as a kind of late game challenge, or take missions to help re-establish a faction suppressed by someone else. Maybe by the power of love friendship threats-of-violence the player could even unite the sector and usher in a new dawn of prosperity!
I guess in a nutshell I'd like the system to allow for a little intrigue, some power plays: tangible player driven changes beyond just being good at killing things.
On an entirely unrelated note, have you been working on starsector full time or are there other projects to keep the bread flowing? Such a long time working on one game; must feel odd to know you're reaching the finish line.