I have not played for a few months and now when I came back and tried to do some missions I have discovered that they feel very different. The cruisers seem to do an enormous amount of damage to my BS, it feels like the CAP VIII is not on. Also, their range seems to be longer and their flying style is different.
Is this just me or have the game mechanics changed in the past several months?
Yes, the cruisers have undergone a rework. They are much faster and much more potent now. Some of cruiser guns are limited to shoot only in 20 or 30 degrees cone forward yet do enormous damage. NPC use them well. Doing missions alone against cruisers is very tough nowadays.