I love 4X sci-fi games, but 99% of them just seem so lifeless to me. In a lot of these games, planets come across as lifeless points on a map that serve as little more than resource generators and conquerable spots. Fleets provide the only real life in the galaxy as we can see them zip around, but even here the ships often seem like solid hunks of metal that just blindly obey the player's orders. Some games have "characters", but in reality these "people" act as little more than stat boosters.
I really hope GalCiv III breaks this lifeless trend. I would really love to see this game adopt some of the ideas found in other strategy games, such as Crusader Kings II. It would be nice to be able to choose from a retinue of people, each with their own traits and personalities, to be our colonial governors, fleet admirals, research scientists, etc, and then actually hear from these people about their concerns, etc. Likewise, LOTS of random events would be fun - GalCiv II already had these, but I mean I want a LOT more, and events that deal with minor stuff (petitions for jobs, labor riots, stuff like that) as well as major events (rebellions, disasters, etc).
However it is done, please just make GalCiv III's universe seem populated with something more than planets and ships. Give the galaxy's "little people" a voice and role, too!