Guess it's just the claims system, kicked an empire's teeth in but was grinding along but had to stop. I guess my people were exhausted by decisive victory.
AI empire had such awful planet layout, spending a lot of time going through it. At least they added espionage, even if it's not as fun as SE IV. Also the game seems to encourage not expanding much, so maybe 3.5 X
Game chugs in late game but that's Paradox for loop I guess
No kidding, see a lot things blocked out because I am missing X DLC.