I have had a chance to play the beta for several hours now and believe I can leave some feedback.

To echo most of the other posters, this is very impressive for a beta. I am very glad I downloaded the game. Things that are really useful in the game so far are:

1. Pause button. This lets me get a grip on what is going on when I return to a game or after a long combat.
2. Combat graphics are the best, really like how those capital ships explode. I wish the graphics were not replaced by icons so soon when zooming out a little.
3. Each ship really has its own function.
4. You can turn off the pirates.
5. Garda flak frigates chase after fighters and bombers.

Thing that I would consider changing if I was emperor of the world and understood computers:

1. Pirates. Even with pirates nerfed and not over the top, after awhile of squashing them they are still only pirates. Players may get tired of them and turn them off, wasting a lot of the game developer’s time. You might consider expanding the "pirate experience" by changing their graphics to increase variety. You could have, space ninjas, space robots, advanced derelict space ships, space ghouls, and a whole host of space anomalies, ie..monsters. Space dragons that have laser beams, space amoebas, and of course, the dreaded "star fish". They could all follow the same pattern of the pirates and attack installations and planets so perhaps a lot of programming would not need to be done, just models.

I think it is important to get something when you defeat a pirate or monster. Credits when you destroy a pirate (treasure), crystals when you destroy a dragon (jewels), even a remote chance of getting an artifact. Otherwise they will simply become pests. They offer nothing positive; they are strictly on the liability side of the spreadsheet. You might think beating them and avoiding a negative is a positive experience, but if you successfully overcame a new cancer every week for a few months, that sensation of accomplishment would rapidly decline with each occurrence. Now if after so many bouts of cancer you received a super power, then it would be a positive. If after the 15th pirate raid you uncovered an artifact or you acquired some crystals from defeating some dragons that would certainly add to their excitement imho.

2. Perhaps ships in a fleet should jump all at the same time. There probably is some reason for fleets, but their inability to jump based on the speed of their slowest member really makes them just a mass of ships.

3. I believe fighters should act like fighters and not like little bombers. They should have an option to attack bombers and other fighters first, and to keep attacking them until they are gone. I fill all my carriers and hangers with bombers, I stopped using fighters when I noticed they appear to behave just like bombers but with less power. That improvement would really be great and may cause the player to vie for space superiority.

Thanks for a great game experience.