To make a befuddled response. Let me first say JuleTron, how much is IronClad paying you to defend them?
No one forced me to buy the game, I feel like I was over-charged for what was promised.
Yes, it is a beta. No it is not the final game. Is it going to change that much? It better.
Now with all the BS responses covered, let me address some of the other valid responses.
1) Have you ever played the Huge Random map with 152 planets? I have a top of the line computer and set everything down as far as it would go, still comes to a virtual stand still after a few hours.
2) I tried all the same strategies I used before and they still work effectively even with titans and corvettes.
3) There are not really any "new" strategies on this. All of the stuff that was pointed out, i.e. winning by diplomacy, by using culture, etc. worked before and still work, although some are more effective then they were before.
4) The fine gentleman who pointed out that if you had the original SINS, Entrenchment and Diplomacy were only $10 when they came out as add-ons hit my point right on the head. Add starbases and mines, $10, add pacts and relations, $10, add titans and corvettes .... $10?
5) If you look at some of the mods out there, volumetrics, sounds, planets, many of which were seperate mod that became merged into Distant Stars or some of the other mod, you will find most of these "add ons" in there already. Example, already a mod to let you build 2 starbases. Already a mod that provided different abilities to cap ships and changed their limmits. Already a mod that allowed 12 upgrades to starbases vice 8 ... and on and on.
My two points were new content does not equal $40 or $30 for previous owners and the point of a beta isn't to tease people with a small part of the game, but to find all the issues and fix them. I just find it hard to find the issues if only a small percentage of the game actually works.
Sorry for the long response, but I hate generic responses that basically say "You just don't understand."