I've been a big fan of 4x games for ages and so far am really enjoying GC2 but there is always room for improvment...
One of the things I enjoy most about 4x is the eXploration aspect. Yes, GC2 does impliment the greyed out map feature at the begining calling out for you to explore unknown territory to find those great anomolies and habitable planets, but because I can see where the stars are, half the fun of the exploration element is taken away. Also, being able to see the zones of influence before I've fully explored the map or even come in contact with a Civ is another kill joy. If you can see clearly all the territory of all the other players, whats the point in exploring that sector. You can count on there not being any unfound anomolies or habitible planets, that is certain.
I understand that I could choose to not use those reveal functions when I play the game, but I also know that the AI can and will so I had better do the same if I plan on having any chance of winning.
What I suggest is this: Simply an option at the beggining of the game to allow you to turn off any information about a sector unless you've explored it. That would of course go for the AI as well. It would also be great and usefull to then be able to trade maps with other civs.
I would imagine it wouldn't be too hard to do this, and for me at least, put the X back in exploration.