1. Phidi currently gain bonus morale from markets due to their enthusiasm for and expertise in trade; possibly this might also be appropriate to apply to Spice Mongers?
2. Is there any particular reason that Ashdar splinter colonies use 'standard' Ashdar population rather than a refugee variant? I'd expect it to at least be possible for scattered Ashdar colonial populations to be in a similarly dire state as scattered Human populations. If the answer is 'at least they preserved an actual industrial base', then maybe the Human splinter colony variant that can be found with an operational Factory on a Garden world should be in better shape than other Human splinter colonies, and start as normal Humans?
3. Last I checked, Viscids and Gaiads are counted towards the population requirements for staffing planetary improvements. Given the lack of participation of either in the general labor force of the planet, I believe they should almost certainly be excluded somehow. At least for other primitives, it can be assumed they contribute to staffing by filling all the unskilled support positions in the general economy needed so that it's easier to recruit more specialists from the advanced colonial populations on the planet.
4. Obviously, 'Ecoterrorism' and 'Crime Spree' disasters are yet to be implemented, but I think I recall hearing they could cause casualties in the population of the planet. I know that 'arbitrary mass murder of unwanted populations' is deliberately excluded as an option for rulers, and understand why, but I suspect that not having any means to retaliate or protect against the Gaiads or Scavengers responsible will probably be extremely frustrating for players once those are implemented. I should think having some option to allow local surface forces to engage in retaliatory crackdowns in response would probably be welcomed by some players (while still, obviously, stopping short of genocide, as fits the design goals of the game).
5. Tinkers cannot be enslaved under the current model because they cannot be coerced, because of their lack of individual will. This makes sense enough to me. That said, how do non-Tinkers conquer Tinker populations without coercing them? I'd expect Tinkers to likewise be willing to fight to the last to defend their worlds, uncaring of their own personal safety. Even assuming you can capture key points that cut off them getting instruction in what to do, I'd at the least expect them to suffer far higher casualties on a planet before the planet falls.
I'm interested in any answers or thoughts from the devs, or in thoughts in general from other members of the playerbase.