I would suggest that the Devs remove the ability to see starting points.



My "arguments":



1 - It's very unrealistic and gamey, how does the civilization know how everyone else is doing without even having encountered them?

2 - It causes the top player to feel good about himself, but it also kills the joy for the player that isn't doing so good. Making them more likely to quit.

3 - It ruins TRUE diplomacy. Oh, you are the most powerful race in the galaxy? I bow before you, Master. Oh? You are pretty weak in relation to me? I guess I will eat you up to become closer to #1. It informs the player too much causing him to make decisions about war or not war upon this purely.

4 - It lowers the value of spying and gathering intelligence on the other empires.



Instead, introduce something similar with research or diplomacy - this is much more realistic and can give information to players who choose to pursue such capability over people who just go for pure power options.



I'm sure more can be said for this - but how the "power rating" is hurtful for both SP and MP is fairly obvious.