I don't know how fleshed out internal strife will be in Endless Space 2, but they could be a "realistic" way to make this game more exciting. Being the strongest usually means no one wants to play anymore. What it should mean is no one wants to play fair. Though you may be the player who see's the end game your planets(people), trading companies, and senators may be a little more selfish. Imagine wealthy planet's lobbying senators from other systems to make laws that help them more and hurt your poorer planets, your empire's trading companies that are to big to fail conducting illegal practices or colonies rebelling because they feel disconnected. These events could even happen at the same time.



Resolving your problems might set off even more events. Maybe sacking that corrupt senator could anger an important planet. Deleting that trade route may cause a wave of backlash throughout your empire and might even anger other empires. Bringing that one rebellious planet into line could start a cascade of rebellion that ends up lasting longer than you planned. These troubles could come about on their own or be caused by a neighboring empire's desire to win. No matter the method, I think these unplanned for events would make Endless Space 2 to a richer and more dynamic experience.



Note: I don't know if these mechanics already exist in Endless Space having only played Endless Legend.

Good point : When I see I clearly won (against IA), I always start another game. To continue makes me feel I'm loosing my time waiting for the 20 last turns of the science technology or for the final systems to finally be conquered.



People already talked about this issue there: /#/endless-space/forum/27-general/thread/8903-end-game-feels-a-little-too-spread-sheety

And your idea of fights within the empire was raised but not that developed. Indeed, as you say, the senate system could legitimate those conflicts. Maybe different events could occur according to the power of the senate (It seems you will be able to choose to give more or less power to the senate). Let's see what the dev prepared for this lol



But I really don't know if it will be fun if it's just random events. I mean, you struggle for 2 or 3 hours to build a decent empire and suddenly your economy collapse or your systems go rebelling? It would be very frustrating. In my opinion we should have a way to overview and to control these changes. For instance we could add a malus "corruption" at your incomes if you don't manage correctly you empire (focusing on expansion instead of developing your system, declaring war when the majority is peaceful). You could reduce it by adopting laws and doing quests.



Anyway, it is a good idea to make the end game more spicy but we should avoid the frustration at all cost. A bad consequence should always be the consequence of the choices (or the negligence) of the player. Otherwise it would just be unfair and frustrating.