In this thread I will address some of the general game changes made that I think are positive and hope will remain coming into final release. This thread will be updated
I will explain briefly each point. Please keep arguing/cluttering this thread to a minimum, but feel free to make brief posts on whether you agree/disagree with certain points or if you wish to add something I've missed
I also hope to put together a run-down of each faction (or each one I've played) if I get time. The run down's will focus on positives, so the devs can get an idea about what works well, however there will still be balance suggestions.

Ramming:
Big positives here. I think re-worked ramming is brilliant. Increases to ramming damage mean that the decision to ram now carries weight, and it also means it's much more worthwhile, especially for factions which rely on ramming damage.
Only one change suggested here:
All Eldar ships (potentially excluding a few examples) should probably have a max ship 'weight' of Cruiser or even LC. It seems reasonable that even being rammed by an LC should punish Eldar ships significantly, and in addition Eldar ships shouldn't have any incentive to ram their opponent.
Aside from this one recommendation, ramming is spot on.

Escorts
Escort pricing seems good (perhaps Eldar versions could be cheaper) and the buffing the range of 'scan' to 13k was a good choice, solidifying their role and making them properly useful ships.

Capture points
I think the entire closed beta team agrees with this point, and for the most part I'm on their side, that escorts should not be able to cap and only line ships should be able to. The devs can decide, but what we do need is that capture points need to capture/recapture much faster, the current pace really hurts the flow of the game.

Asteroids and Gas clouds
Where did these go? Is this a beta bug they barely spawn now? It probably wouldn't hurt to have a few more of these spawn. Don't over do it though!

Ordnances
Overall positive here. Fighters attacking defence turrets is good, strike craft regaining charges on survival is good. 100% bonus to turret accuracy while on brace is a little much, however there are also some scenarios where you need it, as having ships instantly hulked by carrier spam from tyranids can cause problems. The devs have almost got this sorted, but be careful, as ordnances could easily be made very over powered on factions that can spam them.

Ship pricing
This is better addressed per faction, however changes to ship pricing have generally made a lot more cruisers/LCs more viable which is good. There are still a few issues to be ironed out but a big step has been taken in the right direction.

Scuttling
I like this mechanic, it's a neat idea but the damage is a bit high which really punishes certain factions. Perhaps lower scuttle damage, or give it a delay so players have a chance to dodge the area of effect.

An Imperial Navy and Necron post will hopefully follow in the next few days, thanks for reading.
PLEASE SEE ASHARDLONS POST BELOW FOR SOME CORRECTIONS ON MY POINTS

@woolypeanut said in General Changes: Assessing what works:

Escorts
Escort pricing seems good (perhaps Eldar versions could be cheaper) and the buffing the range of 'scan' to 13k was a good choice, solidifying their role and making them properly useful ships.

• nid escorts are horribly overpriced as they dont have any way of scanning and are remarkably weak
  since you are really just paying for a spore cloud they are a complete ripoff
• increased scan range means its no longer attached to identification range, making the widowmaker pointless and overpriced
  while i have used the increased scan range and found it convenient its not an essential increase, meanwhile it removed distinction and flavor from escorts
• and just general pricing, ork escorts outshoot necrons but are half the price
  the pricing is just all over the place and most escorts are overpriced

Capture points
but what we do need is that capture points need to capture/recapture much faster, the current pace really hurts the flow of the game.

absolutely not, current capture speed feels just right to me
making it risky to just have a escort capping under a bigger ships nose but not impossible
the time needed shouldnt be reduced by more then 2 seconds for a single ship if it really has to be reduced, but shouldnt be reduced at all honestly

gas clouds too simple for quote: its a bug, will be back to how it was, and how it is in skirmish

ordnance
bomber and assault boat behavior is wrong
they are more aggressive in chasing enemy ordnance then interceptors making it so a single interceptor squad can delay ordnance forever
bombers and assault boats need to not dogfight
they should shoot near ordnance but when meeting enemy ordnance they shouldnt do more then dodging maneuvers slowing them down a little while they shoot
no dogfighting
it makes no sense for assault boats to go chasing after starhawks
also, speed them up a little, a battleship boosting every few seconds can keep outrunning them

Yes agree with the majority of your good views. Concerning ship points, need adjusting to costly in some cases, or make battleship and cruisers have more longevity in battle? Points need re-balancing.

Adding a few other changes -

Micro Requirements - Overall i think the demand on ability usage micro has gone down significantly, which i view as a strong positive. You no longer have to smash 5 abilities for each of your ships in a split second which is fantastic. Micro should be focused on ship positioning/maneuvering and this game seems to do a much better job than the first one of achieving that goal.

Stances - I very much like that these were changed to be passive effects! The specific effects/values can definitely use some tweaking but overall this is a positive change.

Limited use abilities - I also like that torpedos/NC's/assault/ordnance have now been changed to have limited charges. It feels like you have to pick your targets with a lot more care rather than just spamming these as soon as they go off cooldown. However I think 3 uses may be a bit too limiting, at least for some of these abilities. These weapons are very expensive to take, and in long battles a lot of the more expensive ships lose a significant amount of utility once they run out of charges, so you are not rewarded as much for preserving your ships. I think some of those abilities could be changed to have 5 uses each.

@crewfinity

Hey, just as a heads up, you can adjust how often gas clouds and asteroid fields appear in Skirmish. Click the little gear to the left, and it's in the bottom section.

I think the changes to ordnance in general are great.

I would like to see torpedoes get more charges, as using them at long range is almost a total waste given how strong turrets are.

One big change I'd like to see to ordnance that might be hard to implement would be giving us more control over the individual wings. It stinks using a Despoiler and having to order all your fighters to one spot. Being able to split a single carrier's squadrons up would be very nice.

@duck_bird i actually think ordinances are fine the way they are perhaps some better pathing i think the major issue lies in the counters to ordinances needing to be toned down, i.e. forcing bombers and assault boats to dogfight, the brace turret buff and so on.