Just curious what everyone’s thoughts on the races are? I just started building up honor to unlock them all and try out the different ships.
I’ve unlocked all the races now, and played as 2. Honestly they seem decently balanced at first glance, although the bonuses are huge. That might just be my bias from GSB where a 20% bonus was huge xD
Hi, lkohime! It’s nice to see you back here again. 
They still need quite a lot of additional balance in a way that’s not so obvious right away to anyone who’s just coming into GSB2. I’ve been heavily involved concerning that (and related matters) on the inside since last year, and despite some strenuous efforts we’re not there yet.
Combined-Arms Combat Operations is where GSB2 should be going.
In addition to other built-in virtues, a tightly-integrated and more fully-fleshed-out combat model like Combined Arms will eliminate the lion’s share of the weaknesses left over from GSB1’s battles. It’s much like the difference between an “every Orc for itself!” berserker rush [size=85](the original game)[/size] versus a coherent, heavily-overhauled war doctrine with much more mutual dependence between friendly units of different hull sizes [size=85](the sequel game)[/size]. That may sound like it has some risks, and yes they do exist (otherwise, where’s the fun?), but the end product of what I have been and still am arguing for is a significantly better offense as well as defense than anything possible in GSB1.
Yes, some of the Boost values are large in an absolute sense; others, in a relative, situational sense. It’s not as clear-cut as people may think.
And those sorts of extrinsic modifiers are only as good as the actual modules being put into those hulls, too.
Ah yes, I well recall those days, too. Single-digit-percentage buffs and nerfs? Almost always too tiny to be significant, let alone fun. 
Let’s hear some more player opinions here about the GSB2 races!
It’s good to be back. I’ll be honest, other games borrow me from GSB. I’m just waiting on one feature to never play other games again xD
Eh, i think those bonuses were huge when used appropriately. I mean, an 8% speed boost on a fighter is a lot better then a 6%, especially when that 2% bumps you from 1.69 to 1.75. that being said, it does feel huge. Especially the tracking bonuses. PLEASE tell me they aren’t doing what I feel like they are?
And I do agree, they need a lot of work. What’s more, weapon differentiation seems a tad on the low side, performance wise. Although I’m stalling out in my testing, as I keep crashing on battle 6 
Aaaand just saw the edit. My response to that:
That’s actually something I like hearing. I didn’t really like that a single rambo unit could turn the tide of a winning or losing battle. It’s clear to me that the proper use of movement and formation orders will be huge. Do I think we’ll ultimately see fleets devolve into seemingly disordered melee’s? Yeah, I do. But even then, I suspect it will be less individual units, and more small group movements. A proper balance of defensive focus and offensive might will be key, although I’m not sure if the balance will be 50-50
Something worth pointing out is that formations now survive the loss of any one member. I’m thinking this will prove to be a big change from the original game and encourage a lot more positional, group-based fleets, and we won’t see the collapse into melee that used to happen quite as much.
Completely agreed. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but are sub-formations possible? That is, can ships A B and C be in one formation, D E and F in a second, and G H I be a third, with C F and I, themselves, being in a formation?
I’m afraid not 
Curses. Can’t say I’m surprised, i’m pretty sure it would be an absolute beast to code xD
I was able to play around with each of them more and I have to say they’re all really well done. I might be slightly bias because OMG GSB2!!! But one thing I noticed is the aesthetics. In GSB 1 some of the ships seemed to be the same but larger, so a races cruisers would be the same as their frigates just larger, in this one they all feel like they have the same style within a race, but still uniquely different looking.
First I wanted to say that I’m happy GSB2 came out and am particularly pleased with the new weapon effects as I thought, graphically, that is one of the biggest improvements from GSB. Once I saw RPS post that the beta was out I picked up a copy. Otherwise my comments about the races really more blends into fleet construction.
@ Astro
I really like this idea as I want to create a fleet like the one that the AI uses: fighters, destroyers, dreadnoughts oh mi. As is GSB2 is a lot like GSB, a spam of the same heaviest cruisers (at least against the AI so far) is the best way to go. I can easily win several skirmish maps with 100,000+ honor by using nothing but a single dreadnought variant that I cooked up in a few mins. Granted these are tricks I learned from GSB where I could do the same and I’m positive human created fleets will be far more challenging but if the idea is to alter how GSB2 battles play out from GSB I’m not seeing that yet.
As for the races themselves I haven’t noticed any major differences yet but I’ve barely scratched the equipment and modifications that form the heart of GSB. I will say this I already miss the unique, spherical, unfinished looking Empire ships that always were so very visually distinct from the rest of the factions in a nice sci-fi way (whereas factions like the swarm just looked like Egypt knock offs).