1) max random gal size 15 (+1 with late starter) with random gals.
having the option of closing the doors to new exiles via GC option
max priv gal size 8 (+1 with late starter)
2) XP can be converted into Research points, Construction points,
stealth,
alert, resources (maybe use something similar set up to the bonuses
use) as per
http://pirate.planetarion.com/showthread.php?t=198751
3) Introduce an expansion to the tech tree. *i'll go into more detail when I have time (watch for the edit)