They're not really punishments, but difficult crisises that the player must overcome. For example, two ancient powerful but inactive empires might become activ

They're not really punishments, but difficult crisises that the player must overcome. For example, two ancient powerful but inactive empires might become active and start a war. This allows the player to align with either one of the powers, or form an independent coalition with a chance to become the new "leader" of the galaxy. These events throw existing borders up relations up in the air, thus effectively making the game interesting again right as its becoming stale.