My personal position.
1) I agree that removing relations with combat corporations from the eficiency % may look as a good idea. The only thing that needs to be clarified is the question - does this game solo-oriented or it is more corporation-oriented. Because if it's more of a solo-game now, then it's a brilliant idea. New manufacturer will need only month or so to get a shielded termis and run through all missions like a rocket(I already planned the mission route with the featured Zombiepilot). In this case btw forget about making beta islands and beta outposts at least a bit attractive to the new players. But if it's more of a corporation-oriented game, then I don't understand this "tweak". Making combat missions with industry-char is kinda long and hard way. You need corpmates to make it + you need some specific extensions to be able to do anything there. It's hard, but it's nice to feel yourself a part of a corporation when you gather your corpmates to help someone with relations raising. Still, if the game has gone to solo-style, I won't say anything except #2(see below)
2) I want to thank the person, who "invented a wheel" in relations system and the one who is implementing it now. Especially I am grateful for those useless extensions on industry characters, and for the time which I lost trying to do those combat assignments.
3) About removing espitium from t1. I suggest to remove the high-grade recycling skill from the game or reset this skill after that patch. I think I am not the only one who doesn't recycle t2-t3-t4. And without espitium in t1, I think that this skill will be pretty useless.
P.S. BTW relation changes make it attractive for anyone to become single-guy-corp middleman. Alpha islands ftw...