The Power of Stellar Manipulation

[ckotchey]

Again, I'm still in the middle of my first game, and am just learning the components, but...

It seems to me that the Stellar Manipulation parts, such as those to create warp points and planets, seem a bit easy to reach and use, given the implicit power of what is really happening. Example: On a simple Cruiser hull, I have a planet-maker, and a repair bay, so it can waltz around making planets each and every turn (especially in asteroid belt systems) as it repairs itself each turn. Seems to me that this should not be such a casual or quick operation.
I would suggest:
- making the research more expensive, or with more tech prerequisites to reach these mammoth proportions
- making the parts heavier and costlier to build
- making the parts more "inconvenient" to use - such as slowing down ship movements containing them, rendering them uncloakabe, etc. (Q: can it be too easy to waltz these into enemy territories and wipe them out too easily?)
- making the parts destroy the entire ship upon use, rather than just the part itself burning out.
- making the parts harder to repair (i.e. must repair it for a few turns before it is re-usable)
- making the process (e.g. planet creation) take several turns to achieve once the process has started.

Since I've not actually played much, especially against other humans, I'd also be curious to hear general discussions about how easy or difficult these parts are to use, and how they affect gameplay & game strategy. I can definitely see planet & star destroyers ruining someone's day pretty quick.