I enjoy the new balance, as it forces ships to have more than just a thousand block cannon and huge piles of shields. Suddenly, ships have to watch their backs. Perhaps have turrets covering their blind spots, or use fighter escorts. Heck, this update completely adds validity to the escort fighter concept, since the (rather foolish) AI can at least be used to keep an enemy\'s shields down while you maneuver.
I admit this is a question of what kind of game you want to be playing. If you want the pvp to be more Roll-playing style, you would want lots of stat-matching and building up to see who has spent the most time gathering ore or trading with the shops, quest game style, to get the biggest penis-shaped pile of total invulnerability.
With the action game style, all ships would be equal. It wouldn\'t matter what kind of ship you made, but rather who shot first (call of duty style) and Lag would matter more than skill.
What I truly hope for, and what I hope Schema is aiming for, is a game where every ship has its own valid roll, but that design and development effort will weigh heavily without being all-consuming. Where CLEVER fighter pilots with nerves of steel can pinpoint weaknesses in capital ships before they are pinned down and crushed by the more powerful vessels. Where teams and factions working together will gain an actual advantage over basement trolls with million-ton monstrosities. A game, in short, where people make SHIPS, not mere guns with engines and shields.
TLDR: Build Ships Not Giant Shield Piles