All from this learned debat go to the DA lake. Up the XIV 25-50% fuel and stay below 10k. Fly minimum 5 sortie to get used to the ride while testing it to form an opinion of it's MA standard fight capabilities against the lake hoards. Then opine back here from that current perspective. We all know you can use the XIV to fly timid and survive as well as in the K4 by exercising thier strengths. In the MA that means landing 2 kills or less for the average player every other sortie or so. How many will be able to slug it out XVI, La7, NIK2, P38J and KI84 style below 8k against hoards? Otherwise they just become another irritating Poni picker dweeb with littel effect.
Unperking it will create another legendary obnoxious ride like the K4 in LWMA. It will become the counterpart 1337 ride to the K4 with the attendant snobbery and rivalries. It will never become a destabalising force because it takes as much real time effort to fly masterfully as the K4. Unperked a handfull of players will make it their ride dejour account for 98% of the preceived uberness whines surrounding it like the K4 currently engenders. The danger might be in the muppets making it a "tour de force" in their stable along side of the K4 and 262. A whole new generation of forum whines and/or an effective challenge to the K4 "der Übermensch". It might be good for spicing up the (spitty...lufty) rivalrys in the LWMA.
Honestly how many general players will have the same problems flying the XIV as they have with the K4 with the libraries of info on this forum most of them ignore? How many of you taking part in this discussion have any real problems defending against and defeating the few XIV you run across in the LWMA? The last one that chased my P51D ripped his wings off near the deck pulling up with me at over 450 because I wanted to see if I could get him to do that.