DUnno if this is the right place, but i wanted to give some more feedback after the latest beta patch.
Overall, things have improved massively. Mines are no longer scattered accross every gravity well, that in itself is a huge relief.Keep the autocast off... Though i do note now that the advent and vasari ai uses extremely sparse use of mines.
The mine clearing abilities have also improved, and you were right about the extra banks on a defender or flak frigate being useful, though there is still a tendency for the ai to chase a scout frigate or two through an enemy minefield.
The changes to the starbase have worked to my knowledge, and they now work as well as id first hoped. The fact that vasari starbases have the obvious advantage with movement doesnt bother me, like pre patch.
The bank upgrades have made for much quicker battles, which is also nice.
The only thing i can say i was confused at was the strangeness of some of the ai. In a couple of game ive played the ai has just stopped attacking and gone into a hibernation of sorts, puttting all of its resources into ship production. However even when they have a large fleet (I counted 350 ships), which outnumbers all of the other opponents, it just sits in its planet and doesnt move.
Overall though, a great improvement, and is really ready for release! congrats!