Just a side note to this... I am SUPER digging James Corey's
Leviatahn Wakes and the second one
Calibans Expanse (third one in the works)...
Anyway it takes place just in our solar system and is still pretty darn cinematicly space opera.
But then I am also a big fan of old space opera so...
What Type of FTL travel? I like Hyperspace Drives or Jump Drives as I don't want to mix warping with space combat.
How dominant is humanity? I think they should be fairly common but not the dominate race (no one race is). I hate to admit I am a fan of the old
Space Opera setting from FGU... I loved the idea of Transhumans, Uroid, and Feline species. I don't know why I just do. They are super un-realistic but IMO super fun
How hard is it to travel to new worlds? Should be fairly easy, at least to get to ones that are nearby. Maybe the known worlds takes 2 years to get across but getting to a nearby world should not take more then a week or so.