CR doesn't really interact with how much damage a ship took. A ship that never took armor damage and one reduced to a half melted ruin are equally crippled for being in a fight. You have no way to repair CR faster, and no way to avoid CR loss. Yes, there are some strategies that work with it, and other that simply exploit it to make for easy fights and free money, but none of those are fun. The single defense of them is that it encourages you to have reserve ships, but is that really a problem? Especially given your foes are in no way required to stage their attacks this way, and will mob with what they have at hand. If you don't have reserve ships, or are one of the people that prefers to play with a single ship, it simply serves as a time out box that effects you far more then anyone you are fighting.
Firstly, having easy ways to negate CR loss or repair it faster would LESSEN the choice you made when deciding your fleet layout. Differing deployment costs and recovery costs makes you think long and hard about what combos of ships are worth it. Playing with a single ship is still also quite viable, you just have to invest i a freighter and a few tugs. Their supply usage is minimal really. On accelerated time the downtime for CR recovery in physical time is very short indeed too.
I do see where you are coming from in a way though, when the only current objective of the game is to fight fleet after fleet, CR and expensive supplies get in the way (though I do think they still make an interesting mechanic) of the meat of the game. On the other hand, the game is IN-DEVELOPMENT, as it says right on the tin. I think players offering critique of new mechanics (outside of those only pertaining to combat) should at least think a little bit about how said mechanics are likely to work with the rest of the content in the finished game.
Having no way to interact with CR save to hold down the shift key and sigh?
Bad game design. There are currently no skills, hull mods or ship special abilities that relate to it, while as every other aspect of a ship can be effected. I did not say an easy way to negate CR loss, just some other part of the game having an effect on it would be a good idea. Obliviously. To the point where I seriously question rolling it out before fitting it into the game.
I am sort of bemused that your suggestion to work with one ship is to buy several other ships, but yes, if you are willing to compromise on one ship you can have one ship take the lead, striking and then running away to recover CR.
game no longer fun, now it survival + grinding, i personally can't understand why capital ship lose 30%CR per combat ever without taking any damage.
really, WTF???
3 damn frigates attacking capital ship one at time will win, ever without doing ANY DAMAGE.
I hear that. It's inane that a ship can fight a gigantic fleet action at perfect combat readiness, even if it takes a very long time and involves firing it's guns constantly for half an hour, but two or three small engagements turns it into a helpless, uncontrollable target.
going into combat stations and then going back and forth from there must be very tiring for the crew, and putting the ship in full combat readiness and then back down and back up again strains the systems because, you don't have time to fix them if you're being constantly harassed.
You have to think outside the box sometimes.
I'm aware of the basic justification for the CR system, I do read the blog. My point is a game play one, that it's not fun.
Also, why would a capital ship not have a significant escort?
Cruisers and destroyers often operate alone. Even battleships and battle cruisers would be tasked to solo missions like raiding. More to the point, given the inspirations for the game, first-rate ships of the line were often deployed to station alone.