I'd like to keep the "techno-babble" somewhere though, adds immersion. Also, we could just get another expansion in the future, rather than another sequel that would possibly kill the original.

Ill second that request. The tech tree is atrocious from the standpoint of informing the player what things do and what is required. Little icons and labels that indicate what is unlocked from each tech and what, if any, strategic resource requirements are required that could be seen zoomed out, not zoomed in and hovering the mouse over the tech, would really make things easier. I have several hundred hours invested in this game and I still can't remember where all the key techs are. Also, the names, though cool sounding, really don't do anything for me, especially if including them leaves less room for something truely informing.



I am reminded of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri where researching "polymorphic software" unlocks artillery. Yuck.

One thing would help a great deal. On the tech research display, an option to turn off the techno-babble and replace it with info about what the tech actually does.

So much UI stuff is needed to make playing ES less of a hassle for everyone.