As I get further into the game, I find that the speed parity and boosts matter less and less as I become more able to fight.
Game starts hard and gets.... Easier
Maybe an "attraction" mechanic would work?
The more ships you add to a fleet the more likely it is to be targeted by randoms.
Civilian ships add more than military, and bigger ships add more than smaller ones.
tl;dr - The smaller your fleet the less you get hassled.
And having easy mode start the player in a destroyer would save a ton of frustration and headaches as getting past that hurdle makes everything a lot more managable.
These contracts are the most brillant troll ever.
Deliver x tons of y to place z in 10 days for a bajillon credits.
Cool. I've done that before.
You do the trip, no problem. Pull up to the planet, and moments from docking *BA-BUM* you failed. Here's your -10 rep.
Well played, just well played....
RE: Griffin
Get rid of supply and CR costs for the ability.
Add a complete shutdown for a few seconds - engines, weapons, shields, the whole of everything. OR max out the flux of the ship on use.
And a fairly long cooldown so it's used as a reloader rather than a spam device as mentioned above.
Or y'know, just make make all missiles regenerate anyway. :deadhorse: