Dear players,
Thanks for the heads up.

I just want to speak up and let everyone know that we are working on really good features, that have taken a lot of effort from me and the whole team. Hence the silence.

On the hotfix front, I have been considering a complete limited tiericide, ie. removal of slot progression from all dropsuits.
I was always against this in terms of the NPE/Player experience as i felt the motivations for tiericide were misguided, but for it in terms of what it might accomplish with memory/framerate. At this point i'd say we have to try and see what improvements it yields. Plus i want to rub it in the faces of all those idiots who said it would be less stompy for the noobs.

We have also been busy on the SKIN front, and the plan is to finally be able to remove the unique BPO's and replace them with SKINs. We were hit with a little curveball from EVE, improved tools for us all, but slowed down our pipeline while we got used to the new tools.
I am ready for my Raven skin, bring it. Interesting, what kind of new tools? Part of the shared technology that forms the platform for EVE/Dust/Valkyrie?

However, due to all these complexities, we may need to fold logistics and commando slot changes into the next release, instead of deploying through a planned hotfix Foxtrot.
kk

One change we will be implementing is a flat strafe speed reduction, from 90% of forward speed to 70%. DUST 514 is a tactical shooter. This change can be debated, but probably not averted, but it could be reverted in a later hotfix.
We really have no choice here, we can't allow suits to move faster thane the game can handle. This change will reveal just how weak my beloved Minmatar Assault/Scout suits are. I agree with the strafe nerf but it feels like we're shooting ol'Yeller.

We still aim for a cool Event with an awesome reward, and a Newsletter with another very cool reward, so lots of things happening. o7

Almost jizzed myself when I read the title, I thought we were getting future of Dust info.

*reads*...
*talks to myself*
- hm.. they'll change this and this..
change that so we'll have more unsolved bugs..
Strafe speed change. Bingo.

Don't even think on backing out of it / changing it later.
This is a big change. Very plesant.

Scouts/assaults will have to aim better instead of dancing.

Maybe you want to clarify your definition of a tactical shooter, because for the past 2+ years Dust has never been anything near what you're inciting.

Furthermore, I have always questioned the wiggle wiggle witch hunt movement. I agree, Hit detection is not perfect, but by all means a player does not become invincible by moving back and forth.

So my question is this:

Is Dust 514 now a branded tactical shooter and therefore strafing is no longer a needed mechanic?

or

Are we reducing Strafe speed because it is a proclaimed hit detection problem?