I use element action center for this. Basically if I want to push some element - vertex or edge I can use a nearby element to move along. It's not perfect but still better than nothing.
Hey I am wondering, i used to use XSI and i got really used to a tool called tweak tool, which had a mode where you could move elements around without changing the mesh surface curvature (it was a magnet icon). If anybody is familiar with Vitaly Bulgarov's Gnommon character creation DVD he uses it all the time. now i am…