There are a few features I feel really should have been in this game, features that have been in Civilization for a decade or more, some of which have even been in other Stardock games.

1: Influence AI Alliances: Essentially the ability to influence the AI to make peace and forge alliances with our allies.

2: Less Attack Requests: The AI constantly asks us to attack our friends, even rivals will ask us to join and wage war on our allies. This really has to stop, the AI should only ask you to attack mutual rivals and enemies, and should only come to you with such a request if you're on friendly terms.

3: Give, Buy, and Sell cities: This has been a feature in Civilization games for a long time, and it should be a feature in Elemental for obvious reasons that really shouldn't need explaining.

4: Build Roads: This has been a feature in Civilization games for as long as I can remember and I can't imagine why they would fail to include this in Elemental. It should be possible to build roads to better connect your cities and better connect you to your allies. Roads should of course provide a movement bonus, and be built or demolished by construction units that take a few turns per tile of road.