That's sort of my approach. I've never played the campaigns or scenarios, and usually have 4-8 custom races I use (I make custom portraits and logos for them too). Some turn out to be wimps even though I tend to make aggressive Evils. An aggressive Good can be a handful too. Evil, warlike pacifists are a current experiment.
Loved Deus Ex. Played it for the first time on PS2, years ago, and was amazed at the open play of the game. Got The PS3 Deus Ex game as well, and enjoyed it. Xwing vs TIE Fighter was cool, but I also loved Xwing Alliance for its sheer selection of ships.
Wing Commander TIE Fighter Star Control 2 Elite Force And if I can get it working on my computer, I'd love to try my hand at netrek again!
Mass Effect Trilogy Halo Franchise Freelancer Fallout 3 Half Life Franchise Dead Space (original one) Star Trek Armada (original one) Star Trek Bridge Commander Star Trek Elite Force I & II
I think my favorites have all been mentioned. I used to love Alpha Centauri, Tie Fighter and Wing Commander. I'm in the process of moving flats and while packing boxes I found my Wing Commander IV box. Oh, the nostalgia. Regarding more current games I love the Mass Effect trilogy, I really enjoyed Deus Ex: HR, I loved Bioshock: Infinite (which isn't set in the future but is still science fiction) and despite all its flaws I enjoyed the concept behind Remember Me.
Mass Effect trilogy Knights of the Old Republic Star Trek Armada Freespace II Mechwarrior series (2 and 3 particularly) Hell yes.
Oh, yes, and of course Master of Orion. Master of Orion II still holds the crown for best 4X game of all time.
Otto stands up and walks to the front of the MoOA meeting and proceeds to confess that he is a MoO addict and had to ban all such programs from his computer.