No one ever supports a buff thats not directly buffing whatever they enjoy playing. The majority of this mod wants every class nerfed, polearm right swing? nerf it. 2h thrust? nerf it. Archers? nerf. Crossbow? nerf. etc etc.
An archer can be at the same "no risk" as a HR. Simply by staying on a hill super far away, having a bit higher than average athletics. No infantry will catch up. Cav can catch up sure, but then it would be at the same point as HR which are also slower than other cav. So i dont see the reasoning here, except that foot archers basically do more damage, have less skillpoints spent on riding+HA so they can easily have melee aswell.
Differences between EU and NA come into sight here, I think.
My experience is solely on NA1, a place where I've not seen an archer that would be able to outrun a balanced build melee player without dropping his equipment. Perhaps EU has high agility archers that can and do kite. I haven't got a clue, but I feel bad for you if this is true!
Even the archers that could break even in speed with a balanced build player will tend to fight in melee, as well.
However, a ranged cavalry player, by the very nature of the class, forces melee players to either die (of course damage is rather low, so this will be tedious), or counter the class in ways that Grumbs just outlined below: hiding, waiting.
I feel that any buff to range cavalry classes will promote popular use of them. Even if the effect is slight, it will manifest itself in decreased majority satisfaction with the average NA/EU1 experience. In a game already struggling to hold many's interest, god forbid speaking of new blood, I cannot consent to any changes that I believe will adversely affect the average population of the battle server(s).
I reckon you'd say it is a good thing that the team behind changes in this mod doesn't require my consent to scratch their own ass and let out a nasty fart in my presence, much less to make changes in their own mod.
It probably IS a good thing. I've got some interesting ideas involving euthanisation and cleansing of all HA/HX, you know...
Edit: Oh, and that first line just ain't true! Absolutely none of my arguments involve balance; they involve general health of cRPG, sometimes considered to be on life support itself.
I'll listen and potentially support buffs to any class that aren't ranged cav. These classes have either a net neutral or net positive impact on the battle server. I've not been a real lobbyist for ANY sorts of buffs or nerfs. I tend to be very content with balance. All modestly-skilled players and above should have little trouble performing adequately with any melee loadout.
