Sorry but in that case why introducing a cap of 1000? Why not 500 or even 100?

In my opinion a game limit should exist only if it is inked to meaningfull reasons that are in accordance with the game field.
yeah, i see what u mean.
but for me its not the good question, the real deal turns around the journey proposed as basic entertainment by Stellaris.
1000pts correspond to scale of growth and extreme strengh/sights necessary to play these approx 200years of journey between 2200 & 2400+/-.
the intrest after change radicaly and must be directly linked with the way u enjoy playing.
for me, imagine an epic story of conquest and expansion in a galaxy but based on 2 centuries period have just no sens.
on earth, our great historical empires did something poor in comparison but on timescales much more significant.... this game should be extended on some milleniums of play to be fun & coherent, and reach conquest of the galaxy ! (and end game crisis being more dispatched, and dispatched on MUCH MORE longer periods of time)
the 1000value is directly linked with "basic gameplay" of earlier 2 centuries until end game crisis, but u can go much more far in the journey !
(...and then, have these 1000pts ref as base to contain/constrain players with sensed economical values take all his sens)
its also a matter of "superficial sight": the univers of Stellaris make players dreaming, create an epic introduction of history driving them to "year 2200, 1 planet, i know nothing of the rest, i must go forward" but after, its real gameplay constraints of time who just take the next & player's foccus... its impossible to maintain "dreaming & exaltation" longer (except earlier period to discover gameplay).
in that context, the 1000pts limit show just some sort of ultimate size its reasonable to have to fight during these 200years... but what are 200years compared with conquest of galaxy ??? just nothing...(!)
the real trouble is there, there is a bug somewhere between realism or immersion/mindstate of players and gameplay proposed to live it in practice, inside the game.
when i play, i dont see the game as a challenge where i must live all events in this 200-250years period and accomplish a mission to prevail, but much more as a neutral witness seeing centuries & centuries moving on and geostrategical/geopolitical events happening during these centuries (like an historian looks past centuries of our real history, in a sens).
the contribution to my empire and make it well runs is secondary.
i will be much more intrested to play the same map/game on hundreds hours (even if routine jobs & managements are sometimes boring, of course, but managing real power in day to day live can ALSO be VERY boring), for more of 1000years in the game, having reached far advanced scales of empires & strengh balances, and then, turn around and think "what happened during this millenium ?" (but not as a challenger, more as an historian analysing +/- neutraly events of this millenium, etc...) u see ?

the real epic synopsis should be to write what happened
during time of gameplay and epic wars/treaties/alliances/growth there was there, not just some tens minutes before starting play and then be limited to gameplay environment & rules... (then, of course, it can easally become boring to play...)
and then, there, the 1000pts step is important (and stay realist/well equilibred compared with scales of values u manage after, during next centuries and for more of a millenium or 2).
its also directly linked with level of difficulty, the N or H levels (same about agressivity) are boring bcoz simply too much easy ! (the AI stay what it is, even with last years sensible progress, we will must wait some decades more before see it very challenging, no other choice)
but if u play in VH, the penalties u get, the scales of forces in presence are much more intresting and contribute concrelty to reequilibrate the strengh balance, make the game more rich & complex, and then give the intrest to play more longer !
a fallen empire have 100to120k, a classic faction turns around 100to400k fleet pts and Unbidden or Scourge reach 150k to 200k minimum.
at that scale, the 1000pts limit is very coherent and just some sort "ref scale" between advanced part of the game and basic 200-250years gameplay proposed...
its basicly the limit between have a nation armed and a nation over-armed, in fact (but trully necessary if u want to prevail in a military perspective. and its the case for all nations, including AI).
(...like our nations change their industrial & social priorities when a high intensity war is declared irl, if u want)
in VH, the 100 first years period to discover the game is maximized by the struggle to simply survive more longer than just at short-term period...
and then, the period of conquest & expansion take MUCH MORE time (even if its also bcoz i take my time and manage minuciously), wich give to gameplay on a millenium much more sens & challenge with 70 or 80 factions of the map...
and also, compared with scales of incomes/spendings u can have with serious micromanagement after first 250 years, it looks very well equilibred !
a more bigger limit shouldnt have sens, i think.
and less, it should just restrain player possibilities in earlier 200years, but for nothing.
etc...
of course, we have all very different mindstates/purposes/xp/waitings when we play these games (just need to see how each describe/choose his own gov policies and tremendous differences there can be between them on thread speaking about that, lol ! ... wich is pretty cool), but in my xp i always found this 1000pts limit absolutly sensed and trully well adapted to constraints and scales of strengh balances i found in my game. (y)
if u just cancel the limit, u will have a restriction/constraint less and dont see the difference about intrests (and without speaking about issues for small computers too).
and anyway, its also a matter of options chosen when u started the game: if u play with 4-5 nations on the map (+ fallens + crisis + small new sub-nations created next by events), ur game will be tremendously poor compared with more of 50 nations permanently...
a grand strategy game involve complexity if u want intrest, challenge & fun.
its like the difference of post world war geopolitic & the bipolar world of Cold War: all is much more uncertain and tough to play for leaders now... (etc)
well, i will stop my novel here lol

that 1000pts limit is really sensed for me, but depend of many things/options/mindstates/ways to play, too... up to u to see if u can find an intrest to delete it, but i dont think so... it will just make the game more easy & simple, and then... at the end... more boring !
so, i dont think its a good idea.
but up to u, of course.
cheers, cya

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