Also definitely agree that commissions could use an income boost, ideally something that ramps as the player levels.
I think it would be really cool if commissions paid a fraction of your fleet upkeep (in credits). It would make sense i think. They want to hire a bigger fleet, they gotta pay more.
I think the old Exelerin mod had something like that (or I'm thinking of a similar mechanic in a mod for Mount & Blade, where as a merc working for a kingdom part of your upkeep is subsidized). SS+ has almost the opposite idea in place, with recurring wage costs paid out based on total crew strength and experience. At any rate, I'm sure the faction mechanics will be getting quite a bit of attention as the campaign gets built-out further.
On another progression-related note, the original 0.7a release seemed to have procurement contracts appearing about right, usually only offering 10-50 volume contracts at first, maybe 100-200 for cheap stuff. But 0.71 seems to have randomized quantities so even at the beginning contracts for 500, 1000 or 5000 units are taking up vital space in the mission browser.
