I have recenlty joined beta those are my thoughts about it:

AIs are way to powerfull now. I thought it could be avoided by using faster ships (advantage of speed) but most AI now seems to have no troubles chasing ppl in ship with 90 speed (that wasn't issue before). AI swarms are even worse than before. I feel sorry for new players...

Autopilot is a total failure (I hope that spinning will be fixed).

Graphics is very nice and 3D isn't actualy annoying (big plus here).

Skill point cost is ok but it will be pain for new players unsure of which skill is more important. May I suggest some kind of button with hint what to take 1st?

The steep learning curve got steeper as result of the AI and secondaries and skill point changes.

The AI are being looked into, as said by multiple devs.

The secondaries...however, have overtaken their weaponry counterparts. It is extreme; by the point you get a Wingship, the need for weapons become moot. You Don't need weapons until T13 or so. The inbuilts are that crazy powerful, or you drop into drones.

The skill point changes...an existing player tends to have a bit of difficulty, and will struggle somewhat between level 3 and 15. New people(New to game, not c2) will have much increased problems.

Engineer and FC are still the best leveling classes. Surpassing everything else by a long way, even SD. It is because the secondaries are that insane, and that drones got a massive beef. Drones seem to be about 2.5x better than drones in c1, and you get RTS controls to tell them what to shoot.

Btw, berserker is also OP now, but for a bug.