Sorry for the newbie questions but...

[Shoujo]

...I have to ask. I used to play SE IV, but quit just as Gold came out. While I wait for my copy of Gold to arrive I've been digging around the forums in an effort to find out how the game has changed. I apologize in advance if the answers to my questions are going to be in the manual, but being the type of person that I am I've already started daydreaming about the kind of race/strategy I hope to use once I get my grubby hands on Gold. Well thanks in advance.

1) The patch readme mentioned something about damage types. Is this the same thing as damage engines, shields, weapons, etc? Or is there some entirely new system?

2) I've been seeing a few threads about emissive armor, but most of them had too many numbers and tables for my liking (I'm not a math person). In a nutshell does Gold make emissive armor useful? Are they the all-purpose armor, or does regular armor III still have a use?

3) One thread mentioned how Meson bLasters and Torpedoes were viable candidates for the early game. Back when I used to lurk around these forums regularly, these weapons were hardly ever mentioned. Has something been changed about these weapons to make them more useful? I've always preferred DUCs in the early game... What reasons would I have to switch to Meson BLasters? (Torpedoes get a +hit. Fact or rumor?)

4) What good are drones? I'm probably not looking in the right threads, but drones don't seem to be mentioned very often. Uses I've read about: mix in with fighters/missles, use as early attack ships. What's their tonnage?

5) Has crystal tech been given a boost of any sorts to bring it up to par with the other racial techs?

6) Two fairly long threads talked about the horrors of playing against players using the Talisman. Hopefully, PBW hasn't suddenly become filled with Talisman Users... Roughly, what percentage of PBW players use the Talisman?

7) Is the Allegiance Subverter & Computer Virus combo still as nasty as it was pre-Gold?

8) Do seekers and fighters have a place in a fleet, or are they generally still considered PD fodder?

9) Gold supposedly adds new stellar phenomena (or is it -non?). Do these significantly alter gameplay in any way?

10) WPs get better range? Are they useful now as planetary defense?

11) For a non-organic race, is there any reason to not decrease farming when making a race?