I believe there is something amissed in Research and I pinpoint it as - you dont feel like your competing in a technological race with other players.

One thing I know about 4x games especially ones like Civ or Sots is that researching technologies feels like a race. You really feel it if people have tech you dont , and you feel happy when you are one of the leading technological powers even if your army isnt that great. Theres also a feeling of being clever by going down research pathways thats specialised and rarer. Even diplomacy gets into the mix and the benefits of research sharing makes competition even more interesting.

This doesnt happen much with Sins . There is really no feel of a technological race. Its not the same compared to such things as culture where I do feel more of a culture war between players.

I think it is missing , and I tihnk Sins needs someway of introducing a technological race to Research.