I loved SE IV and SEV to a lesser degree.
For me changing the battles to real-time (abet pausable) was the biggest change that rankled. I hear rumors Stardock will be making a 4x space game with tactical battles (based on Elemental: Fallen Enchantress engine I guess), lets hope it will be a MoO2/SEIV fix.
Having said that I just downloaded Kwok's balance mod for SEV and will give it another go this Friday night
