Didn't play for a while but i still want to contribute to this topic.
There should be some kind of a learning curve. Thing is, the game is beeing tested right now from ppl that have 1000+ hours playing time, with the release closing in there will hopefully be an influx of new players. If they constantly get hammered by npcs they will won't stay for long. As it was suggested by some other ppl on this topic i would like to see different skill levels of NPCs for example more low skilled npcs around the starting areas. The skill level has to be visible to players and could be done with ranks (ensign,commander,admiral...) Rewards should be dependant on the enemy skill level.