thanks so much for these explanations. I guess that explains why there aren't currently any deformation tools. I was going to suggest in the wishlist WIKI that it would be super cool to have falloff influences like Modo uses to make changes to a surface, i.e. scale that only influences the bottom of an object and gradually falls off towards the top (using various falloff curves). But I guess this isn't possible?

I'm thoroughly impressed with the amount of your involvement on this forum considering that you are also the main developer of this software. As a graphic designer i don't think I would have ever bought or dabbled in a nurbs modeling package if it weren't for MOI. Thank you for making this complex process so accessible.