Oh yeah totally agree with the fact that the perception of what is fast is both relative and subjective. I mean, just for the sake of discussion, for the players that were on legacy during 2004-2005, remember how fast your character moved between levels 1-14? Remember slowly hovering over Perez, then the Hollows to get to that one contact or mission? The closest a player can get to that slow speed is playing through one of the four tutorials with just sprint/slide and no swift.
That bit aside, measuring combat mobility in particular has been tough. I 'think' I am moving faster, but how to I quantify that? I took some gifs of live and beta hover, but again, it is my subjective view - not actual data that can be replicated or retested.