Advent are my favorite! It reminds me of War of the Worlds, with the saucer section.
But i understand its hard to please everybody. What if they changed it? Then someone else would say "You know i really dont care for..." so there we are. I think the Vasari and the Tec and the Advent Starbases are neat to have, heck, its nice to have any starbase! And im getting used to using it fairly early on. I've changed my tactics from starting off with caps, to starting off with frigs and the sb launcher as quick as i can, trying to get it before i get the first wave of Pirates in to my home world. Usually i make it now, but have to hurry, in the beginning i poked around and waited too long and got jumped pretty heavy from the Pirates. Thought i was going to lose the game in the first five minutes, haha. Anyway, i love the starbases, they hold their own and they are a very nice addition to the game, the change the tactics and they are a mean ship to have in a gravity well with your fleet. 
Just my opinion of course,
-Teal