Any change is surely a step in the right direction? It suggests all the moaning is being listened to? That's what everyone wants right?
Discoverer — I still don't think the Discoverer class is balanced enough looking at these changes but I don't think that matters.. I actually quite like gaining points quickly from acquiring resources though expeditions... I feel like the market place (buying and selling of ships) should be blocked to anyone in the Discoverer class. This is where the problem is.
Collector — I would like to see some kind of protection for crawlers in the Collector class. Imagine having crawlers and solar sates behind a suitable defence (or a turtle) and some player comes along to destroy them out of boredom. Great! That's going to be fun rebuilding when it will probably take all week. So much fun wasting time xD
General — I can't comment on this as I've never played under this class. It sounds good to me but that's like saying a turd sandwich tastes nice to someone with no taste buds.