Hi, thanks for your feedback.

On the need to have a survey ship asap with the Evolving Empires expansion, well, you may opt to fully scan the minor with remote exploration instead, and reveal their type and access to the relationship bonus that way, if you wish. True, only a survey ship will get you the one-time bonuses when finishing surveying a minor civ, and the opportunity to set the additional permament bonus yourself. However, you don't need to do that immediately, and you can opt to get a free survey ship from a culture perk instead.

You can also decide to wait for others to do the survey work for you, as everyone in supply range will get all the bonuses from the minor, so long the minor is not inside anyone's territory.

Minor civilizations may grant good bonuses, but surveying them is optional. Maybe you'll have other plans for the short term. Ultimately, it will all depend on your priorities.