I don't agree that it is 'whining' to advocate for speed in the game. Some want more others want less. The majority
will always want less.
I FEEL THE NEED, THE NEED FOR SPEED
Any 'slowing down' of features in action games is bad (IMO) because it diminishes the skill aspect. Similar to stuns (Not that stuns cannot also be the equalizer as well depending on game style).
The only reason for doing so is to attract more people overall, to lessen the skill needed thus allowing more to participate at the now new "highest" level.
That is just my preference though and I am sure I'm in the minority here but confident that a game honoring these attributes would do immensely great if it were known globally, and it is not that I would consider these views elitist in any way either, I want a balanced game, always, but I do not want to make a game more accessible to people by reducing for example needed reflex time or other skill aspects. (No spam is not skill but it is an quick easy way to kill lesser skilled people, and a way for lesser skilled people to kill more skilled but in general unpredictability is a killer, everything good can be used for bad and vice versa).
I have to agree with Sonja that I too do not like how slow C-RPG is nowadays - I still hate Native ranged too much to say I would prefer that
- but C-rpg is really a lot slower than what it used to be, a situation you'll run into in almost every game out there as it grows though. I don't recall playing any games where it wasn't slowed down across the board throughout its timeline.
Conclusion: We'll see how this works out in time, I still think it is too early to say if this will turn out to be balanced overall or not, but the changes throughout and this change is definitely felt.
I've been wanting to respec 1hand/shield for ages since 1handers seem lightning fast, and 1hand without shield can range almost just as good as a 2hander with some footwork, but I just can't get my self to do it due to the huge loss of time when being above level 32 (I'm close to 34
but with lvl 31 spec due to speccing wrong).