[NirWana]

Blue_esper, obviously you're a nice guy. You only think of covops as a way for gaining something.
covops can be used to damage too.

The whole of my suggestion is to force covopers in a position where they stand to lose something. Right now, they have nothing to lose and nothing to be hurt with. Right now, covopers are essentially untouchable because they are non-players.
Your point is exactly what I am suggesting to change about covops : make it both possible and worthwhile to retaliate on covops: make them require certain buildings or value and make them require roids to become succesfull.

You need a ton of stuff to protect yourself against covop, but to be succesfull at it, all you need to do is be worthless in everything else. THAT is exactly what needs to be changed about it.
It needs to become possible to hurt a covoper and it needs to be possible to gain from hurting a covoper. No playing style should ever be untouchable.
Anyone going for roids, value, amps... all can be harmed by use of ships and by use of covops, except for the covops, they cannot be harmed at all and are immune to everything.
I'm repeating myself a lot, but again, immunity against everything should not be there for any player or any playing style.