Okay, I thought this was pretty damn cool... While responding to a couple queries/comments on the dev diary, Erik made
this comment:
I'm glad someone noticed the new camera angles. You can rotate freely on the horizontal plane. The angle you look down at depends on choosing one of the preset angles, ranging from top down, high angle, medium angle (the default), low angle, bridge view (you are "in" the selected ship), trailing view (you are just "behind" the selected ship).
So in essence, it sounds like you'll be able to switch to a couple different camera angles allowing you a birds-eye view of the action, thus taking the notion of roleplaying an admiral/captain/etc. up a big notch. From a practical standpoint, it might not be a feature I'd use a lot, but it would be absolutely amazing from an immersion standpoint.