I enjoyed playing the Tier 1 ships, quite a bit. It seemed a bit odd with the “bots” running about, but each battle seemed full, and had plenty to shoot at, with players sometimes working as a team to take the advantage and win the map.
Granted, everyone has their own opinions about the use of “bots” in a PVP game. And that discussion can go on for days about it.
Note: I really do enjoy the game. I hope that tier 2 is not a reflection of tiers beyond, because …
Once I reached my first tier 2 ship, and started doing PVP there, the battles were … lacking … so damn slow it seemed to start and always with low numbers of players.
Why you ask?
4 vs 4 … 5 vs 5 … over and over … small teams, on spacious maps, sometimes working together, sometimes not … but that’s the nature of Random Battles of course, you cant expect mush from a PUG …
It really is boring at times … Especially when the “kill the commander” battles come up … can you say “turtle the xxxx up until a draw happens???” … that just about sums that up for most battles … it’s VERY bad when its this battle type, and only 5 on 5 …
And what makes it worse, I have to wait 2 to 2.5 minutes(some times longer) or so before battles even pick up and start, only to have it 4 on 4 … if the gaming population at tier 2 is so light, then please add the bots in … I’d rather play, enjoy the game, and have a good time than be bored. And yes … this happens in evenings, and even some weekend hours.
That is simply what it comes down to … even my good games with 4 on 4 might only warrant making 5 or 6 kills, and a win … a smart team hanging out together and what not … but yes, it was a satisfying win because the players actually worked together, but it was still a slow game … I’d prefer having bots running about at least spicing the games up …
make the bots rank 6 ships with like a synergy lvl of 3 so they are not a joke and to be taken seriously if you will … well, as serious as most players take bots, and yes, they are not the brightest AI’s but even that might be something that can be tweeked some maybe …
naturally, a bot would never be a commander for those types of battles …
I’m not interested in my win/loss rate … I just want to enjoy the game … and tier 1 vs tier 2 battles so far, leaves tier 1 far more fun, simply because they feel “full” …
I have no idea what kinds of replies this might get but I do really hope that if I work ships up to getting tier 3 ships, the “population” pics up to where battles are once again 8 on 8, or maybe even larger?
That’s the end question to all this … is tier 2 just light? And if so, I wonder if they devs might consider the usage of their bots to fill in matches, if only to make tier 2 more playable …
Eventually I’ll try to find a corp to join, and start the whole … “working as a team” but I didnt really expect that to be a need until Tier 3 or so when I know how to play somewhat well, and then learn from a corp after that … I may have to reevaluate this line of thinking and start corp hunting sooner than later.
Anyway, some feed back for the developers and a question for other players with more experience …
I enjoy the game enough that I hope it will grow, and not die out … like so many tend to … and if this can help usher players to the bulk of the gaming community, then cool … on one last note, from a business standpoint … players who are not as good can fair better vs bots … and that will also help keep them around longer … and probably end up making the company more money … and the game is still a business after all 
Drasticmeat