I absolutely hate what they have done to the combat in 3.23. I'm done until they make some SERIOUS changes. In 3.22.x, the combat was the most addicting, fun, interesting part of the game for me. It had reasonably accurate (for a game) velocities so you came in booming through the atmosphere if you choose, then cut speed as you merge with the enemy ship, decouple, and swing around each other for a couple turns until one person hits the gas and gains a bit of speed and the chase is on, as you head toward the Daymar surface and the enemy NPC gives chase. I've had moments of fighters and gunboats doing awesome things in fights in 3.22 do to the high speed combined with high G maneuvering... One of my favorites was spiraling around an enemy ship as we 'coasted' forward at something like ~600+ scm, uncoupled, in a maneuver that looked something akin to what we would call a "single turn spiral". or "downward spiral" but without the "down" part, in actual combat aviation. But, it was even cooler because of the zero G and decoupling combination! Both ships just hammering each other with gatlings and cannons in this epic death spiral spaceship 'duel'! All of this happening at very high velocity so if you overcook it, you will G lock from the speed and inertia from changing direction as rapidly as you can to get guns on the enemy. You had so much speed to play with, in addition to the fun gunning pip physics. Lag mode felt somewhat real to using the gun in a dogfight in today's aircraft, where you sort of drag the pip over your target and squeeze of a burst of rounds... and the missiles. Sigh. Yes, half the time the missiles didn't work... and the guns would stop charging... but the combat and flight was just so much more fun. Then we have 3.23. Suddenly everything started moving at a snails pace. No matter what direction I push to strafe or gain velocity, the ship barely moves, as well as trying to even fly forward. I feel like as soon as you enter combat now, your ship has ZERO thrust. I never have to worry about having the G limiter on in a fight, because I'm not even able to really pull any Gs in the first place as soon as I enter combat mode. And what is this silly "afterburner boost" garbage? I mean, I speed up to my maximum SCM speed with afterburners in space, hit decouple and spin around. Now, while I'm still decoupled, IN SPACE, coasting backwards with zero forward thrust, my ship slows down to 90scm on its own, for NO REASON. This feels cheap, gamey, unrealistic, and NO FUN. It doesn't even come close to obeying crucial basic laws of physics that matter ALOT in a dogfight. Which is partly why arial combat WAS so fascinating, The Possibilities! This "SCM combat mode", or w/e, dumbs the game down DRASTICALLY and decreases player agency greatly, which also hugely limits tactical innovation in this situation. The possibilities for combat gameplay innovation, I think, were a big part of why the combat was addicting before for me, and isn't at all anymore. I've lost the ability to do anything creative in a fight anymore. All it is now, is floating around slowly in nearly, EVERY SHIP, chasing the ships around my screen as they strafe around me repeatedly and rapidly. More ships doesn't make it "better" It just feels more chaotic and helpless feeling. I can't even pick up speed and put some distance between us for a second to maybe change things up and do something more interesting. Whatever major changes were made to combat MANUEVERING and SPEED between 3.22 and 3.23 need to immediately be returned to the 3.22 combat system. I don't know why so many other players seem to be leaving the game for now, but I can sure think of a few reasons if they are having the same experience I am. I guess maybe they just uninstalled for now, like we always do... waiting for it to get better... someday... for over 10 years... It was finally a lot of fun to play! And people were grinding bounties despite that being FAR from the most profitable activity to grind, because they were fun and didn't get old! ...well, for me, at least. In contrast, the last fight I did was my Vanguard Harbinger against some crappy HRT ships. These used to be so much fun every time for me. This time, like every time now, I was limited to firing missiles and torpedoes while I have a chance, until I get swarmed and it becomes a slow, "floating dance of the idiots" of multiple ships doing NOTHING but floating around eachother at slow speeds, in orientations and directions that don't look cool or fun, it looks and feels stupid and ridiculous. But the main thing is: COMBAT. ISN'T. FUN. ANYMORE. (especially PVE) I'll probably keep an eye out to see if they get their heads out of th... if they wake up, and make combat fast and fun again, lol. Cya SC for now!