OK - I just wanted to throw my thoughts out here. Many of which are going to echo what fellow players already have expressed.
I think Geko's rationale is flawed: Flying is not the safest any more. A few examples I have are these: 1) I'm fying around Striga to try to map the area out (which is a painfully slow process) when I start receiving massive damage from a howitzer (or rocket launcher) based on the ground below me. 2) In Talos I had a Freak Show thug (I believe Juicer) FLY after me while shooting lighting blasts. This freaked me out cause this was the first flying villian I had seen, now add on top of that Skyraider Skiffs. 3) I've been dropped while flying by random street thugs shooting crap at me. Arrows can be pretty painful when retreating from another group.
Now tell me the examples I've listed are any different from a Super Jumping hero taking a second to land then jump away, or the split second a superspeedster is close to an attacker when running by. There is just as much chance a flyer can be attacked as a super jumper or superspeedster can.
Now as far as "who'd take super speed?". I think this is a lame response. Besides the differences still inherent in game mechanics there is the roleplaying aspect. Now I know there are the players out there that just want the best sequence of powers to be able to walk through everything and take no damage, but there are also people out there that actually want to create a strong character and play within character. As example my primary character is one that I had played in a roleplaying group. He had flight and to stay true to the character I went with flight, despite everyone warning me that flight sucked. Now I know it's not as bad as can be portrayed, but I do have to admit that flight is a let down. I still have it and will not respec out of it becuase it fits the character I created, and that is the whole reason I play.
Now that I have my little rants out of the way. I would like to ask why Geko has only had 2 responses early on in this board? Why have no other designers stepped up to also give some insight. Where is Statesman on this? It seems to me this thread has gotten a lot of responses, a lot of gamers are questioning the issue and airing their concerns. The issue genuinely merits attention/consideration, and not be blown off with 2 quick comments.
