This actually came from a new player who was singularly shocked to discover that each nation used the exact same starting ship. Probably he came from Eve, but meh. Even if the differences were slight, a little more armour for the Serco, a few less kg's for the Itani, it'd be fun to have a little more personality to start out with.

But why would that be the case? TPG makes the hulls for the EC-class (as they do for most other ships), so why would there be a different model of the 89 for the Itani, Serco and UIT?

Because.

Also the way it's outfitted, duh. For example, Serco would obivously have a "Spice of the Night" scented air freshener, and the Itani, "Super Mega Mynt".

Hm.

First off, why 'night', of all things?

Secondly, no to the initially different starting ship. Make Nation-specific variants by all means, but do not change the starting ship.

See also:
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/9913

It's night because of the token Night Hawks used by the Serco to secure their first victory against the Itani, of course.

I actually think that nation-specific starting ships would be a great idea. Something that reviewers and newbies alike complain about when looking at VO is that there's this great schism between the Itani and Serco (and, to a lesser extent, the UIT and everybody else) depicted in the backstory, but in the game, all three factions feel exactly the same. Adding different models for different nations' starting ships, along with different names and slight stat differences might be a good idea. Here's my thought:

Serco Nighthawk
The original military fighter. Give it a beat-up appearance and make it look like a precursor to the Vulture.
Armor: 7000
Cargo: 10
Mass: 5000kg
Max Speed: 50 m/s
Turbo Speed: 150 m/s
Turbo Energy: 45/s

Itani Sunrise
A light transport reminiscent of the pleasure vessels common in pre-war Itani space, this could be sort of... I dunno, smooth and swoopy looking.
Armor: 5500
Cargo: 12
Mass: 4000 kg
Max Speed: 52 m/s
Turbo speed: 150m/s
Turbo energy: 44/s

UIT EC-89
Exactly what it is now. :-)

Just thoughts, of course...

From the backstory, "Although there are not many individuals who choose to become professional explorers, the few that do are awarded fame, fortune, and corporate sponsorship. The lives of explorers are difficult, however. They often vanish alone into the stars for years at time, perhaps never to return at all."

Thus,

UIT Prospector
Light and easy to manufacture, a model designed after the manned probes that marked the beginning of Neutral space exploration.
Armor: 4500
Cargo: 16
Mass: 3500kg
Max Speed: 50 m/s
Turbo Speed: 140 m/s
Turbo Energy: 43/s