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(LEFT: a "Logistics Chamber" with interior space tacked on for looks but awkwardly divorced from function. CENTER: same chamber, gutted to a minimum for bounding a space equal to the original blocks. RIGHT: cutaway view of proposed new "chamber" format composed of defined interior space + calculated decor like computers & circuits so that defined, properly-equipped interior space itself causes function.)
Background:
The new power cores work very well as reactors, I find I don't miss reactor lines as much as I thought I would, but they've collapsed the build meta. The stabilizer elements though perform very poorly at controlling build metas, and that is their only real purpose. Since stabilizers fail their purpose almost completely, they could probably be disposed of entirely without losing anything of value, as mentioned by several other testers.
Chambers on the other hand have had many important sub-systems subsumed into them. It's worth noting that the reactor chamber elements are not chambers at all, they are bricks that buff systems via no clear, describable dynamic. Chambers are not even actually part of power generation, despite every effort to make them so. They are power consumers only. Just like engines. They are an interrelated network of secondary, supplemental systems (a more coherent - arguably oversimplified - version of what they replaced in terms of effects systems, etc). No one is sure what realistic mechanic they represent though. Remember the dust-up over their name after the initial proposal? They're literally just a placeholder for something unspecified, which is why any name would have been as good as any other. And they aren't reactor chambers - they don't need to be adjacent to or part of the reactor at all. They can be anywhere and they have no impact on power generation, only consumption.
-They could exert a lot of influence on build metas if they were actually chambers. As in spaces. Rooms. Either fully enclosing empty space, or non-colloidal blocks fully enclosed by hull/armor.
-They could exert a lot more influence on build metas if they also needed to be adjacent to a certain number of block faces of the system they affect (ie thrusters, factories).
-They could exert a lot more influence on build metas if they also needed to be tied into the reactor by conduits or hallways. And maybe to each other, depending on their role.
-They could exert a massive influence on build metas if all three of the above were true and they needed to enclose, as chambers, a substantial capacity of 'empty space' in order to function optimally.
-Even more if, additional to that empty space, they needed to contain a certain amount of motherboards. And circuits. And lights. And chairs. As if they were meant to be occupied. As if instead of "mystery chambers" they were a functional and decorative, meaningful part of the ship meant to be occupied by crew. Something that forced a ship to be tied together instead of a collection of islands.
Regardless of whether NPC crew exists, empowering that space itself would both empower interior building & decor, and evaporate horribly over-simplified, overly geometric meta builds very efficiently. It would bring back complexity in design. It would be impossible to bypass without eating massive losses in performance. This is completely unrelated to any suggestion of implementing NPC Crew in any form.
(This simple demo platform shows how, in this suggestion, a Power Chamber and adjacent Mobility Chamber abut to create a shared engineering deck / propulsion lab. They include a portion of the systems they directly affect, for optimal effect, which encourages engine rooms be at least near main engines, reactor rooms would be easiest to place near or around reactors and can create a good opportunity for an additional layer or two of internal hull or armor around your ship vitals)
Suggestion: Crew Chambers
To get the most efficiency out of your reactor, you may choose to surround it (at least a certain minimum %) with a fully enclosed & lit engineering (power) chamber including motherboards and circuits and decorative computers.
To further buff performance, your main engineering chamber can be linked by a toon-passable, lit hallway to an enclosed, lit command/bridge (recon/stealth/scan?) chamber that incorporates the ship core, motherboards, circuits, and computers (unwanted decor could always be covered by hull panels or grills within the chamber, of course).
For improved buffs, both can be linked by at least one passable hallway to another chamber designated as 'crew quarters.' Maybe the crew quarters has some medical blocks and other decor besides lights to get more % improvement.
Now, to get the most out of your thrusters, you will also need a fully enclosed & decorated mobility chamber that incorporates sufficient numbers of thruster elements, sufficient open space, and has a passage access that connects it to main engineering, command (bridge), and crew quarters.
Want stronger shields? Wrap your shield banks in a defense chamber, decorate it, connect it to the network.
Want better weapon performance? Add a weapon crew chamber to your network, wrap it around your super-weapon. Y'know... instead of "another reactor." Who wants a ship with 3 reactors and no crew space?
Of course if your chamber is breached in combat, you'll lose your bonuses, so some compartmentalization or redundancy could help, but mostly you'll want to armor it heavily because even a small hole is going to start eroding your ship's performance. Since chambers would be most effective if enclosed and interconnected, you'd want logic doors on your hallways; in case of breach they would seal and contain the loss of bonuses to the one system damaged or to a hallway (hopefully you have a backup access route).
If this were the way to optimize the benefits conveyed by chambers, then island ships, dumbell ships, and other meta-ambitious pseudo-ships with no interior would quickly become inferior to well-engineered and designed ships with functional crew interior spaces and compartment/module networks, which would then exist not for "RP" or "decoration" but for cause.
Ships still not bulking up enough? Increase chamber space requirements. Add requirements that chambers have of certain sizes have 'insulating' layers around them. There is much that can be done. Using the full spread of tools presently available.
It could be entirely ignored by lazy builders, but they'd be taking massive performance losses for doing so.
(Same demo platform, now sporting some interior fill; hull, circuits, computers, lights, some glowing ice stuff to make the reactor... glow... becauseradiation. Some people design awesome interiors, but even the worst decorator can slap down some strips of components and glowing stuff in simple patterns as an optimization placeholder until they want a style - either way, you get benefits from having the decor.)
Taking a step back, it seems a lot of hassle if it were only to regulate build metas, but it doesn't do just that. It makes the chambers real, gives a reason why they do what they do. It can be used to regulate many aspects of combat balance. It requires thoughtful, careful planning to achieve full efficiency by integrating system architecture with a meaningful network of crew interior. I think it would be a lot of fun and provide a lot of tools for balancing gameplay.
But such robust results simply cannot be accomplished by looking only at the one-dimensional relationship between reactors and stabilizers. Balance and meta will not be improved by going backwards and re-building core systems again and again because any single given system cannot perfect an entire, complex game by virtue of its own awesomeness. The dynamics will only change; some problems are solved, new ones arise. Only layers of secondary mechanics (crew quarters, fuel, meaningful FP, etc) and interrelated requirements (overlapping, interdependent networks) can stitch up the inevitable gaps in the game.
Thoughts?
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