My opinions:
Burlust gossip/hire spies is simply absurdly expensive, and the Peltian option for spying on them is even worse (costs twice as much). It's not like the Burlusts are good for anything anyway.
Ditto for Boarine "manipulate relationship" actions.
And probably the hostile actions (sabotage, etc.) as well.
On that note, Boarines, Thoraxians, Burlusts and to a lesser extent Andors all feel rather constrained in what you can actually do with them.
Scientists still cost way too much for researching all but the simplest techs to be viable.
Acutian planetcracker looks like a Mark III Nuke equivalent, although I suppose it'd be handy for removing that last recalcitrant holdout race.
How do the combat bonus techs stack? I suspect it's high enough that beelining for them is the best thing you can do.
Planet bombardments seem to require an absurdly large advantage to actually make any progress on depopulating the planet (or even to not get worn down to nothing by the defenders over time).
I see freighter resource loads got buffed recently. Mining for them by hand still seems too unprofitable, however, although the influence/credit gains are probably the main sell here.
Will post more if I think of any.