Just to clarify, map seeds don't affect the composition & distribution of AI units or systems. A map seed generates the wormhole network connections between systems & number of resources in each system but things like the mark level of systems & what AI units are in each system are generated when you click start game. It can & will be different if you play the same map seed with the same game creation options repeatedly.
Actually, they do -- very heavily. If you give the exact same AI types, starting position, and other game options, using the same map seed will produce an identical starting position every time (well, until the next version upgrade of the game, heh). The reason it might seem different is if you're using random starts or random AI types, and also because the AI logic itself (how the AI thinks once the game starts) is not related to any concrete seed, meaning that the AI will make different decisions every time the game starts.
Player FF could do with a buff imo, they go down SO fast
Stack em or use higher-level ones, generally speaking. They seem about right to me.
my game at the time was populated by a 1500+ wave sending mad bomber that might've influenced my view somewhat, but I was using 3 stacked MK I over an ion cannon and they tended to function as little more than a speed-bump 
Yeah, when you play against mad bombers, those things are like sliced cheese.
(Oddly enough I thought all core ships were not reclaimable. :\)
I think you're right, actually.
