Too passive? I beg to differ. After not playing for many years, I started my first OXC game on "Experienced." While it started out a bit slower than I remembered from the old days, there were times just before I had researched plasma cannons I wished I had five or six interceptors per base. I could barely keep the Avalanche stocked. The aliens even assaulted one of my mind-shielded bases.
Passive? I think not.