By #5 it sounds like you want tactical combat, or at least simulated tactical combat (like Stars! had). I'd kinda like that, too. It'd require some major changes to the game, though, and we're more likely to see it in GalCiv3 than in a patch. Even for an expansion I think it's a bit much.

Jeez,
All I want is an end to the save game file corruption bug and a few balancing tweaks here and there.

Such as:
1. AI that knows about engines
2. AI that protects its troop transports and constructors.
3. An option to build a map with "home areas" I mean, fix the randomizer to kind of cluster some of the planets around each homeworld, making it a bit more balanced and producing more playable maps.
4. Probably a slight reduction to the power of military starbase ship defense assists, as it is you really can't fight without them at higher levels.
5. AI that knows about bigger ship techs.

All I want is a retreat button to tell your ships to try and retreat if they are losing

In terms of the standard 4X convention, I understand that setting your economy at one "throttle" and then leaving it to run can be a bit frustrating. Ever since I first played Civ I, that's the way I've managed my colonies. Those of us used to more granular control enjoy that fine-tuning.

That said, I'm now going to venture onto some very thin ice: I'm going to try to compare the "realism" of various 4x control options for different types of building, etc.

It's at least plausible to argue that, as the head of a Civilization, you are NOT the omnipotent controller of every individuals' effort. The only widespread governments ever invented that have tried to tell all their people exactly what to do have been er, rather disastrous failures.

Whatever motivates a society to do all the things it does, it's not up to the mayor, or the governor, or the President of that country, even with a 100% approval rating!

At the same time, a countries' priorities do change. Without trying to get too abstract (which I probably am already anyway!), it's reasonable to assume that, for whatever resaon, a society might shift its efforts from one sphere into another sphere in a hurry (think of America after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, if you want a historical cliche). This isn't a carefully and surgically controlled operation; it's a massive reprioritization of how a society allocates its resources. Sometimes that reprioritization is more efficient; sometimes it's less efficient, but it's seldom carefully calibrate to ring every last drop of sweat out of every possible citizen!

The fact of deficit spending looms much larger in this game than in most, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing so much as it is just a thing. You can always tell if you're running a deficit, because your currency counter goes yellow. If you're building up your BCs, it's green!

But I think I'm getting lost in the detail. I'd just humbly suggest that, while it doesn't follow the "city-specific" convention that's been in place 15+ years now, it seems to be about as plausible as anything else.

Alfonse, I think you are taking things a bit too literally when you read my suggestions on new types of weapon systems. I suppose I am to blame for not making it clear in that section that I was using hyperbole to convey the 'coolness' factor of some of my suggested ship components.

I certainly do not mean for a cloaked ship to "always" under every circumstance go first. Such a calculation would depend on your opponent's sensor technology against your cloaking technology, etc etc.
As for targetting computers, the idea is to have a component that affects your accuracy, but not your damage -- Obviously such a component is predicated on the ability of the combat system to support it, which it currently doesn't do (as you pointed out). Again, though, the post is proposing ideas without regard to feasibility.
As for displacement devices, their effectiveness cannot really be spoken of in the abstract. They should be worse than the best case scenario of Weapon vs. Favored defense. The trade off could be that a displacement device would not scale well to larger hull sizes -- What might be an excellent defense for a tiny fighter would require too much space and energy on a larger ship.

In any case, I am just proposing these ideas because I'd like to see a combat system with a lot more dynamism than just attack (a, b,c ) vs. defense (a, b, c).