BR, not as simple as we currently have

[Crankey]

The lethality of each ship can vary greatly dependent on Rate, Type, Quality, Number of upgrades, Quality of upgrades and Rank of commander (Crew on board)

 

Observation. A basic fir 74Bellona with 1 common upgrade slot and Flag Captain with 69% crew is NOT the same BR as an Exceptional Live oak 74Bellona with 5 upgrade slots all exceptional and a Commodore with full crew.

 

Will the end game allow for such variations in deciding the BR of each ship or will all ships continue with the set single BR rating.

[Arvenski]

Personally, I'm not sure that it matters. This isn't a match-based MMO like WoT or War Thunder, so we don't need a complex matchmaking system. 

[Prater]

It matters for AI joining and who can join in battle.  Although, in the battle that this happened in, the 74s joined after the AI was called in so this time it didn't matter.

 

Though, to be frank, if a player is under-crewing their ship, that is their decision that they have made.  Not only will it affect how you can handle your ship, but it might also have an impact on your teammates.  This might become very apparent in Port Battles if a bunch of Flag Captains or Post Captains show up in 1st and 3rd Rates.

[Flavalicious]

Yup, undercrewing a large ship gives you an edge in your PVE farming capabilities, but your vulnerable to pvp, this has always been the gamble. As for the BR aspect, its not a perfect system by any means but i dont think it needs to be as complex as to generate a vlaue for each ship based on what their running, as is the BR rating reveals alot about what could be in the battle.