Partly you're right but i have to say that it makes sense if ships of same class have the same basis in their design. ALso sometimes it is rather difficult to create a whole set of unique ships, especialy if talking about neo-standard. Heck, even most of games like Imperium Galactica and MOO use similar ships in same families.
EDIT: wrong post in wrong place
[ July 21, 2002, 19:33: Message edited by: Taera ]