I read some enthusiastic reviews regarding the great and ambitious work a small developer did with this game and I bought it. Did the same thing with Sins etc. about 1-2 years ago. Didn't really like that game (played about 2-3 hours and never again since). Same now... almost. I guess I just don't like space RTSs. I liked better Sword of the Stars and other several titles, and I'm still really enjoying, actually, Master of Orion II and Galactic Civilizations II (only). Oh, yes, and Homeworld, but this is an entirely different matter.
On the bright side, Star Ruler seems to be very complex (which I like) and it can be paused somewhat easily (I think this should be the default state, having a nice, bright 'go' button somewhere, to be pushed only when the real work is done; oh, wait! I think I just wish I had a space TBS instead 
). I don't know yet how the governors do their jobs, but I'm quite sure that without them it would be impossible to play the game, given the size of the galaxy.
Regarding the interface - it isn't easy to figure it, and the sheer quantity of data and items is overwhelming. It's nice, but too small, which doesn't help at all, in such regard. On my 24" display, at native 1920x1200, I can barely see... something. Worked around it by lowering the resolution, but this way, even maximizing the specs for graphics, on a LCD display the game won't look that nice anymore. I think a honest black on white or grey would be a lot better than the nice but not really functional small white letters and symbols on black. Or.... Just make everything BIG.
Designing my own ships is one of the treats both MOO and GCiv offer (these are, in my opinion, the references for any space strategy). Great to have the option to mod the blueprints here! However, the blue disk with an arrow thing is rather a joke, really... It's more than other similar games offer, I like the concept of linking the subsystems and the 'failsafe' table is great, but overall I can't quite find the fun factor in it. Aside from the blue arrowed disk, mostly because everything is (again) just too small and painful to work with. Bringing up all (or some of) the management interfaces in full screen and automatically pausing the game when I call them would work for me a lot better. Yes, I know, this is not a TBS...
Not sure why, using ALT+RMB to roll the galaxy crashes the game. It's probably a conflict with Fences or some other program I'm using. However, the system where this game is installed: iE8400, ATI4850, 4GB RAM, Win7x64. Might help to report the issue...
Going back to give it another try. And I CAN'T say the same about other space RTSs. I might actually like it (and I want to - I actually paid for it), after getting used to the interface. It's not the next MOO though, as somebody said it might be. Although... All depends on which one are we referring to... MOO3 killed the series, for instance. I (and most people I know) don't work for any revenu agency and other than those accountants I can't think of anybody who would like to mostly fill in tables and read statistics for hours and hours. This is hard work, not play. But this is a game 'under construction' and I can see that the developers read the posts on forums.
So please, make the things bigger and put some fun in modding the blueprints! Some clear icons would help a lot, also, in identifying the items in tables (resources, buildings etc.). Having a photo of the little green tentacled aliens I'm talking to on the diplomacy screen would be nice too 
Organizing a bit the economic screens (I mean... FULL screens) would help a lot somebody who would actually want to take advantage of the full potential of the game, and so having to manage several hundreds of colonies. And so on... More FUN, please! 
I'd really like to play a third great space strategy, surpassing the two mentioned before!
My 2 cents review-ish-wise contribution...
