Teofish said:
My gripe is that I like the RP element of having my empire in sectors. But don't want them to be more than just an aesthetical touch.
I like that I can have the AI manage the development of dozens of colonies because otherwise I'd have no time to play the rest of the game. It takes forever to order building upgrades on developing planets, and you constantly have to go back to order new upgrades until they've caught up with your tech level (which, later in the game, means ~4 build orders per tile). That's a lot of mindless clicking I'd rather avoid.