@benkei: I was writing it, but Kafein pretty much hit it on point. It explains why ranged run more, because they are targeted more and cannot stop running. (also some are dicks, that is true, running when 1v10 and so on, but that is a problem with the players, not the class).
I did not say that they have NO melee capabilities, but WORSE ones.
Even with extra wpf and PS, a 0 slot 1her is a worse weapon than most 2hers/polearms/ 1 slot 1hers, which is the weapons melee users are going to use against them, so even the best hybrid build will be at a disadvantage compared with infantrymen (which I am not complaining about, it should be that way, but you cannot expect them to stay and get slaughtered when they can live another day and help their teams win the round).
I have been a shielder archer hybrid for over 6 gens, and with the 15/21 or 18/18 builds you are half as good as a full build, since you have lower armour (or a big hit to accuracy), lower wpf (very very minor but with 1hers it causes glances to happen more often), and the worst one, since the weight increase, you are slow as hell. With a hornbow+arrows I have 13 weight, which could bring me from my tunic over mail to a gothic plate, so I am slow like one while not having the protection.
Dropping the bow would mean gimping the build for the rest of the round, since once you go into melee, you rarely stay in the same place and afterwards finding it back is not easy.
And the same argument goes back to melee players, why don't they get a couple of points in shield skill and protect themselves slightly, or sacrifice some melee wpf for some xbow and shoot them back?
What is seen time after time again is just a reflection of evolution of warfare. In the late middle ages it went from melee dominance to ranged with gunpowder, simply because why would I get in range and risk dying if I can kill you from afar and you can do nothing about it?
That is the basis, and it is not something that can be solved unless by nerfing them over and over and over, and even then they will still do it, and they will do it out of spite for those who destroyed their class