You've probably seen some of the threads which debate renown etc. For my two cents I'd appreciate a mod that gets rid of renown altogether and let's you acquire new technology as it becomes available during the proper time period. For the crew members, as some others have suggested, once your existing crew members are promoted to a certain level then they should be automatically be posted and you have to select a new member from a list but not "buy" a new crew member.
My two cents.
