I agree with the border issue. Maybe if they had system like in EL where the territory is shaded in color of the empire (could even be a toggle on/off thing at the higher levels of the map)

Hmm this is tough, it's a solid point but I wouldn't want the map to be less artistically gorgeous.  I would suggest overlays that we can toggle, that leaves the style of the map in the player preferences instead of changing the map for everyone.  I have trouble seeing borders sometimes but the map overall I really enjoy.  I also play with tile yield and district overlays always on though, that helped me a ton.