I like the recent increases to fuel costs although I haven't quite adapted successfully (yet). I hope it will lower the confusion threshold for newcomers to the game. For most people, our natural base-building instinct (based on standard business logistics) is to avoid shipping things too far. This should make for more compact colonies where it is easier to figure out who's territory is who's. Howerver, with the current game mechanics, I see a few balance tweaks that might be in order:
1. Robot factions are undully penalized by their relianace on power for fuel. In 1v1 games they are nearly unplayable because they cannot produce anything far away from their base without producing extra power (extra claims they don't posess). I suggest giving them a 50% reduction in shipping power costs (their fuel cost).
2. Expansive factions are over powered now in 1v1 and FFA due to faster shipping = reduced fuel (in addition to their cheaper offworlds, geos and upgrades). I suggest the dropping the cheaper offworlds since that benefit is the most drastic and will have the least impact on FFA balance. Most people tend to be cautious about being the first to put up an ofworld in a FFA.
3. Scientific factions are significantly over powered in FFA and slightly over powererd in 1v1. I think a slight penalty to their free base resource scheme might be in order. Since other factions are shipping things across the map and paying fuel costs, maybe science should get the base resources free, but have to pay a little fuel for each tile producing secondary resources to make the choice of founding science a little more difficult?
4. In my opinion, you absolutely have to work on more homogeneous dispersion of map resources if this game is going to be enjoyed long-term. This current tournament should confirm that choice of founding location is WAY too important. The game is not fun if you have lost because you have chosen to delay founding for 30 miliseconds later than your opponent and then must suffer another 25 minutes in probable loss.