Since people have a problem with reducing the splash values (noobs will never learn etc etc (none of which I agree with anyway))...
We're not communists, we dont need to make things so easy that everyone can expect to hop in the game and start putting up good scores.
Come on, bud, the passive aggression going on here is kinda distasteful.
Now, regarding your idea: Extra maneuverability may well be something worth looking at, especially if we do ever go with something similar to the OD core route, where it would only change in specific circumstances. In fact, it has some pretty cool possibilities! Right now, though, the concept's a little nebulous. What do you mean by "extra maneuverability"? More energy? Jets that more quickly counter the effects of inertia? Wings? Let's get some clarity going!
Whatever the case, I'm not sure that increasing maneuverability will change the game's learning curve at all, which I'm inferring from your comments as something you're going for (all the talk about creating a new skill gap, and such). Veterans will certainly have to re-learn flight or skiing or whatever, but a physics model is a physics model; whether you're a newblood learning one or a newblood learning the other, you're still learning how to move around in the game. So if you're looking for some way to make yourself even
better than all the fresh faces, I'd try something else.
Which brings us to your closing comment:
the learning curve is hardly a problem at all right now. A game with a low learning curve is a game not worth playing. And L:O isn't even close to being too high.
I don't know how to respond truthfully to this without coming off kinda mean, so forgive me, but I'm going to be blunt: You are absolutely, unequivocally wrong. I don't want to beat around the bush; I want to be very, very clear, because this is important: Legions' single most pervasive fault is its learning curve.
It's easy for us to forget what it was like when we first picked up the game. The dawdling along the ground; the energy management troubles; the difficulty skiing; the craziness of having to keep track of your enemies, not just in the cardinal directions, but in
any direction. If you can remember back to the first time you played an FPS+Z game, you'll almost certainly recall that it was
hard, and if for some crazy reason it wasn't for you, then you're in the minority. That's wonderful, but games can't be made for the minority.
Of course, all games are hard when you step into them. Anyone should expect to get blasted to smithereens the moment they first start up a multiplayer FPS game. It's part of the deal, and all gamers have come to accept it, even if some can more quickly ascend that learning curve than others. But there's a huge difference between a game that asks you to run through items that are
right in front of you to pick them up (Quake, UT3, etc.), and a game that virtually requires you to practice
moving around on an empty server just to be effective (yay skiing).
Anyways, I'm sure I've already bored about 93% of the people reading this, so I'll shut up. Sorry to wax on for so long; it's a bad habit of mine.