Fun discussion 
Research went through a few iterations in pre-production, leading to similarly heated arguments. At one point we made a promising randomized tech tree in which techs were distributed on a circular hex grid, were techs branched out into 360 degrees, with each pie share covering an tech area (units, ops, economy, etc); there was exploration (could ony see number of hexes far) and there were bridges between branches and wild card hexes. These provided research eureka bombs buffing nearby hexes and the generation of tech tree teleports. Some great stuff, but not great enough to offset the disadvantages:
It was too unpredictable; with economic development and unit unlocks being a big thing you could get screwed quite easily. And an individual tech appearing on ring 2, 3 or even 4 made a massive impact.
Also as the techs fanned out from the center there was too little space at the start and too much space towards the end of the tree.
The tech hexes couldn't display names + sub techs well.
Finally tech connections often made no sense - for people sensitive to that.
Fun experiment.
We're happy with the research system we have now; it's a bit structured and traditional but does handle the techs paths from multiple sources well.
As for randomization - we are keen on adding some light form of randomization; with boosts from research pickups being the strongest contender (not sure if we'll have time for this before release). This fits with the the premise that most research in the game is about rediscovering lost empire knowledge too.
Research went through a few iterations in pre-production, leading to similarly heated arguments. At one point we made a promising randomized tech tree in which techs were distributed on a circular hex grid, were techs branched out into 360 degrees, with each pie share covering an tech area (units, ops, economy, etc); there was exploration (could ony see number of hexes far) and there were bridges between branches and wild card hexes. These provided research eureka bombs buffing nearby hexes and the generation of tech tree teleports. Some great stuff, but not great enough to offset the disadvantages: It was too unpredictable; with economic development and unit unlocks being a big thing you could get screwed quite easily. And an individual tech appearing on ring 2, 3 or even 4 made a massive impact.
Also as the techs fanned out from the center there was too little space at the start and too much space towards the end of the tree.
The tech hexes couldn't display names + sub techs well.
Finally tech connections often made no sense - for people sensitive to that.
Fun experiment.
We're happy with the research system we have now; it's a bit structured and traditional but does handle the techs paths from multiple sources well.
As for randomization - we are keen on adding some light form of randomization; with boosts from research pickups being the strongest contender (not sure if we'll have time for this before release). This fits with the the premise that most research in the game is about rediscovering lost empire knowledge too.