Hehe, as of now, I've implemented neither, but the second one would be more likely to happen.
And to be honest, 5 players would be a bit small, hehe. Reading a bit back on the prior comments, it would seem some comments were made about bringing forward the more political side of Empire. I wonder if there is a way to bring that forward more without breaking the exploration completely. Maybe an idea to make rapid expansion more difficult or give less benefits? Just storming here.