the 10 ambush limit is a pain, for sure : but you can turn it to your advantage as well, if competing for plunder with others : or to lock down a target, and have a good idea when the bar will lift for another nibble 24hrs later...
Auction prices will inevitably peak for a while, there are lots of flag and port swaps going on at the moment and with so many nation missions underway those cards are a bit popular. I liked the 'instant sale' idea proposed recently, but dont doubt it would need a lot of work to implement and would rather see hide-outs implemented and any bugs in that resolved first.
The main issue, re: xans point, is no matter what gets coded, folk will test the system right up to the envelop and develop ways to both attack and defend successfully : and those ways will change and develop to meet each challenge and, sooner or later, the devs will need to rein some aspect in before it unbalances the whole game. As an attacker, I'd like life made easier... but dont want it too easy for my opponent when I'm the defender either!