Question to all the MOO 2... What similar strategy game have you apperciated as much as this one? I'm looking for something else. I've played this one to death...

The first MoO and FreeOrion. GalCiv 2 amused me for only two days but maybe you would like it more.

I've been looking for an answer to that question for decades.

The only other strategy game to hold my interest the way MoO2 did was Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.

I'm playing the *cough* out of Stellaris.

Pity the game isn't here but on the Site That Shouldn't Be Named:

https://www.paradoxplaza.com/stellaris/STST01G-MASTER.html

I really enjoyed the Sword of the Stars series. It combines the best of MoO I and II imo and another favorite of mine the Total War series: simple micromanagement, turn-based strategy, custom ship designs, tech trees and real-time tactical battles. Strategic play is turn-based and tactical battles are rts, though stopping the rts action to issue complex orders to your fleet is as simple as hitting the spacebar. But it does it all in 3D which is extremely cool (though the UI takes a bit of getting used to: if you can (right/alt/ctrl/left)click on it, it probably does something or offers a shortcut).

The basic game is already very good, and quickly ramps up the bells and whistles with the expansions. In some ways the expansions almost play like new games, so maybe experiment to find the "right" expansion for your gaming tastes.

I had a lot of fun with Space Empires 4. If you can get past the dated graphics and intimidating UI (which is actually more functional than it seems) I'd say it's on par with MoO2. It doesn't have the charm and lore of the MoO series, but it offers more freedom and features.
The main problem with it is that the AI is absolutely terrible and usually far too easy to beat. I heard it gets better with mods, but I never got around to trying them out.

Master of Orion 3 (with fixes and mods)

Space Empires 4-5

Sword of the Stars 1

Armada 2526 Gold Edition (highly recommended!)

Reach for the Stars (2000)