On or off horseback ..
Crossbowing in crpg have always been way too viable compared to other forms of fighting.
(upkeep,looming,accuracy,restrictions on armor,dmg,skillpoints,playstyle,
slots)
All the small things sum up to a big advantage.
It has been blatantly obvious to anyone willing to look for the past years.
Unfortunatly some of the unbalancers had a crossbowfetish.
The pope did not ban them for nothing, they were OP in real life too back then.
So it is realism , but this is a game....
I am pretty sure, that if crossbows were REMOVED from crpg.
EVERYONE would have a better time.
I gave up the anticrossbowcrusade long time ago, maybe someone more naive than me can take over?