I haven't been inclined to comment on game design, and imbalance, and other poor design issues. But, I just read this, which Cryptic is proudly displaying linked from their homepage:
http://www.startrekonline.com/node/1158
Toward the end, where they answer the question with "style matters", implies to me that they don't really know how to design a game. In fact, most of the answers throughout - eg lower tier ship skills are of no use at higher level - imply they really don't understand game design.
Hopefully, they'll figure it out soon. Or hire someone who can help them revamp things.
But, the sparkling ignorance of just how clueless they sound really made me feel sad for the current state, and future, of the game.