Honestly, I'd infinitely prefer a PDX release that allowed for easy importation of portraits into the game and relaxed the portrait-specific trait/ethic requirements. I generally like the portraits that exist, and have purchased every species pack, but a lot of them I find underwhelming. That's a personal taste thing, so I have no complaints on that score.
My bigger issue is that a species pack, especially when it's mostly portraits, doesn't feel like enough to be a release for the most part. I'm not saying stop making them, or that I would stop buying them, just that any indication that "release bandwidth" is mostly taken up by something cosmetic (such as new portraits, or a sexier view system for ships) makes me concerned. At this point I, personally, really don't want a species pack instead of something else which might have been released with something substantial inside.