I absolutely tottally 100% agree, this reputation carp is way harsh. and i'm not sure but it seems to be even worse than last round. it can take a hundred or more missions to gain back the loss in rep from failing 1 lousy mission.
losing no ships. god help you if you run into a kill fleet and lose some. i never attack people and i have like a negative bajillion rep. that sux. thanks for posting this Rachel, i've been wanting to say this for a while. i'm glad some one else notices it too.