Good thing previous saber systems handled all of that pretty well already, you actually haven't improved it in these regards, the only thing you've done overall is make the saber system much easier to visualize, so yes, mistakes are more obvious than before, but that also reduces the skillcap; seemingly you believe that being able to chain swings very quickly means that timing isn't rewarded, but that's absurd, it is rewarded just as much as with your slower swing chains, only it's more difficult to see it because the action is quicker, but that has never been a problem for experienced duelists, you are just taking away some of the observation skill requirement.
What you should really have focused on if you wanted to improve the saber system's overall design intentions for the various styles is completely redesign some of the styles so that they are much more diverse and also compliment each other much more strongly (so as to encourage style switching), the weak point of recent saber systems is that all styles play roughly the same (the exceptions, to some weak extent, being blue and red).
Not saying all of your changes are bad, alot of them are plain improvements and detail-adding like mblock details and fine-tuning the style perks, just some of the core system mechanics are clearly going in the wrong direction imo. Really, seriously, don't slow chains down (much at all) and instead add chaining direction restrictions back, with different ones based on styles so as to make some of the styles easier to PB than others.
First of all, tempest is trying to merge the feeling and skills of pre stassin aimed PB and pre 1.3 clean up, with the good things we have now. Saying he has done nothing but make the saber system easier to visualize is retarded and degrading and simply untrue. Also, the previous saber systems he said he wants to get back to are those pre 1.3, to bring back the feeling of timing they had while not replacing the good stuff we have from the newer builds. I know you feel the need to defend your work, but don't let that cloud your vision of what is wrong with the current iteration and what he has done to improve it. To me its plain as day that there is already a massive improvement upon public even if its unfinished to say the least. I utterly despise how 1.4.3 and 1.4.4 turned out, and I admit also that 1.4 had some flaws (in my opinion one of the biggest ones being how long it took to kill unskilled players due to dependancy on ACM for damage).
But all of this is beside the point. In any case, I don't see tempests system lowering the skillcap, but rather raising it back up to where it should be or atleast close to it. I agree with the part about styles fitting into niches and being more unique than before. The way you streamlined them in 1.3 contributed to them feeling like much the same, but that was also a problem in previous builds though to a lesser degree. You should not degrade him by saying that the only thing he has done is make it easier to see what is going on because he slowed the system down. He has put alot of thought into the system, and continues to do so and work with others to improve it and test new ideas. So far I have to say he has been much more receptive to outside ideas than you and I think its too early to go off slandering him and his system before he's even finished a working prototype yet.
The old swingspeeds in beta were definitely too slow stassin, but I think its mostly coming together now, especially with how he has integrated yawing. Adding some form of the old halfswings on top of that will ensure that we have plenty of fast attacks but much more variety than before. I'm hoping that will be enough, though I continue to miss the spice that was old nudged red from before the aimed PB days. Tempest has done much to raise the skillcap, and he has done so without muddling it up for the newer players which is a great achievement in and of itself. Of course, how it ultimately turns out in the end remains to be seen, but it's certainly too soon for such a scathing verdict as :"the only thing you've done overall is make the saber system much easier to visualize, so yes, mistakes are more obvious than before, but that also reduces the skillcap."
EDIT: I just realized this is kind of off topic?
Just fyi, I think that it's almost impossible to overcomplicate a sabering system in the pursuit of making a coherent and logical system that rewards skillful play. The real issues lie with how to show certain effects and happenings, which has actually improved drastically over the years. In some of the old builds, there were many shadowy half bug half feature mechanics that skilled players used but most normal guys had no idea existed. That was my original reason for writing my guide back in 2009, because things like nudge and halfswinging and PBing were not clearly understood by the majority of people. Right now we have a system where there are many clearly defined mechanics, so in terms of complication it is more complicated that something like b18 or RC1. It is clearer however, so that makes it easier to understand and also harder at the same time cause there are more things to get used to. In any case, I do not think that striving for a really simple saber system is a good idea. You could go back to base for that. No, what needs to be done is to make sensible mechanics, code them visually with staggers, green flashes for PBs and so on... so people can see what is going on. I don't think that we should seek to dumb down the system for fear of incapacitating a random newcomer. We will write a comprehensive guide to all the mechanics, make guide videos and seek to explain and help new players if that becomes an issue. The real goal should be the pursuit of a perfect saber system, and in such a pursuit complication has little bearing. If the so called complications end up improving the system then good. If they don't improve the system then bad, remove. It's that simple. I don't think and have never thought that overcomplication is an issue, only the transparency of what is going on and the dissemination of such knowledge or lack thereof.
