I joined in the saints bg yes, but don't quite a few people join the game like that? being recruited by others who are playing.
But ofcourse it will be different if you already have a group to play with, compared to just seeing the site and sign up. Tho my opinion on the shipstats would be the same either way
I do think you guys are focusing a bit too much on this whole new player thing and forget how it will effect current players and how it will effect gameplay of next round. Since in the end a much more important part of getting and keeping new players will be gameplay itself, not how difficult or easy the stats are to understand.
But anyway, I might just be negative because these stats are incredibly boring to analyze and pick a nice combo with. And thats the most fun part of the round for me. And I think a game where superiour fleet choice in an alliance or in a bp pays off is nicer to play, so its not just about activity and who has more fleets.
However if there's one thing i learned in this Pa round is that not everyone thinks like me
so maybe other new players will appreciate it. Tho I still wish another option was taken which doesnt effect gameplay of the non newbs as much, as mentioned earlier 1 simple race or something like that.