Sins of a Solar Empire v1.02 is coming...

We hope to get this out this week. Ironclad has been working hard to make v1.02 available as soon as possible but we also have to finish testing.

Updated info at bottom:

Here is what will be new:

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Gameplay / Balance:
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-Tutorials moving into bad states at random fixed.
-Siege frigate survivability decreased.
-Pirate raid frequency decreased.
-Later stage missions to destroy ships and structures have had their expiry times increased.
-Clairvoyance: duration increased from 30, 45 60 seconds per level to 50, 100, 150 seconds.
-Guidance: cooldown changed from 20, 15, 10 seconds per level to 20 seconds at all levels.
-Guidance: ability cooldown rate changed from +20%, +35%, +50% per level to +40% at all levels.
-Guidance: duration changed 20 seconds at all levels to 15, 30, 45 seconds per level.
-Reverie: friendly units will no longer auto-acquire enemies under the effects of reverie as attack targets.
-Reverie: duration increased from 15, 20, 25 seconds per level to 20, 30, 40 seconds.
-Gravity Warhead: range decreased from 7000 to 6000 at all levels.
-Gravity Warhead: cooldown increased from 18, 16, 14 seconds per level to 25 seconds at all levels .
-Gravity Warhead: antimatter cost raised from 80 to 100 at all levels.
-Gravity Warhead: duration changed from 12 seconds at all levels to 12, 15, 18 seconds per level.
-Gravity Warhead: Speed reduction changed from 15%, 30%, 45% per level to 30%, 45%, 60% .
-Gravity Warhead: Acceleration reduction changed from 20%, 40%, 60% per level to 60%, 80%, 120%.
-Nano-Disassember: range increased from 4500 to 6000 at all levels.
-Nano-Disassember: antimatter cost decreased from 85 to 75 at all levels.
-Ion Bolt: antimatter cost increased from 65 to 85 at all levels.
-Ion Bolt: cooldown from 9, 11, 13 seconds per level to 10, 12, 14 seconds.
-Shield Projection: radius of effect increased from 2500 to 5000.
-Game update rate change hooked to - and = buttons (singleplayer only).
-Two new pirate-less maps.
-First tutorial now handles players spending their ability point before they were intended to and thus not being able to spend it when instructed.
-Phasic Transmissions research is now effective even at max fleet supply research.
-Reduced Phasic Transmissions supply bonus from 20% down to 15%.

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Graphics:
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-Shield projection's bubble less opaque.
-Various new ICO art.

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Networking / Multiplayer:
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-Games in progress causing "Rejected by Host" error fixed.
-Multiplayer lobby screens now have Map Designer tab.
-Whisper functionality for ICO
-Refactored join game screen.
-Fix for not seeing friend's games.
-New chat friendly ICO font.
-ICO user names are now sorted.
-Self and friends are colored in ICO channel player list.
-Events for players entering and leaving channels.
-ICO nows preserves history when changing channels.
-ICO logged in user count now displayed. This number will only update when you change channels or login.
-Added some default lobby names.
-Reorganized numbered lobbies to increment sequentially as they fill.
-Added notification of what channel you are in.
-Fix for rare multiplayer lobby crash when host leaves a game in ICO.
-Various new ICO message strings.

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UserInterface / HUD:
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-Added counter descriptions for all frigates and fighters.
-Game menu now mapped to F10 by default instead of Esc so people can repeatly press Esc to close any submenu they may-Fix rare bug in group selection.
 be in w/o going all the way to the escape menu.
-Various strings cleaned up.

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Modding:
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-Loading mods supported

Might be ready by Friday. Maybe.

Update:

Some people are complaining that we're simply catering to "whiners".  I would remind those people that Stardock has many many years of experience in putting together lists based on user feedback and making its own judgments on the matter.  The GalCiv series, for instance, has evolved plenty over the years and it's unlikely you're going to find any reasonable person who would say that we simply make changes based on who is loudest.

Prior to release, our internal testing of the game has produced a lengthy list of suggestions for future updates (1.01, 1.02, 1.03, and so on). Stardock and Ironclad get together, discuss what things we would like to change, and then prioritize it. The only thing that was "rushed out" for this release was some additional maps that don't have pirates so users have a choice.

It is not hard to defend against siege units.  But that is irrelevant. No counter to a given strategy should require more effort than the initial strategy. Throwing a swarm of siege units, takes virtually no effort. Defending against it requires considerably more. Similarly, the strength of the pirates is fine.  It's how OFTEN they strike.  The changes are not drastic, however.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Stardock, we can understand your concerns.  For those of you who have GalCiv II,  I would hope you all know better than to think that we make changes on a whim based on who posts loudest on a forum by now.  Ironclad shares the same views as we do on this matter. It's their game and we get together and discuss these things at length.