As a 3rd generation with 2 generations in melee and now beginning an Archer char, I would like to give my opinion.
First, playing an archer is generally boring. In the first minute of the battle you find a spot and fire arrows (if you want), and none of them usually catch a target. This is worse if there is a camping roof on the map, nobody dares to go near that, so you just wait there. I usually go to another place even if I get killed much faster. After that minute, in the 30s when melee enemys are close, is quite fun, but you usually end up dead killing 0-1-2 people.
Second, it is easier than melee. Much, much easier. I guess this is why there are a lot of archers playing (no offense to those who are good or dedicated archers). I suck a bit on melee, almost never got past 1:1 on battle, but on archery at level 24 i'm doing quite well. However, there are almost no good archers who top the scores, or have a very good K:D ratio (You often see archers with good K:D ratio, but its only if their team is winning and they don't die). The better ones manage to have a 2:1 or something like that, so you could argue it's best to invest your time in getting better with melee.
Third, they shine if there is teamwork and strategy in their team, and they can only be countered by that same thing (supposing a balanced map).
And now I address what I think is the problem. Please balance the maps, or even destroy ladders. Roof camping, Hill camping (not so much) is what makes archery a pain in the ass. If you can attack the archers from 2 different spots, with a bit of cover, they are fucked up, always. But there are a lot of spots in lots of maps who allow camping. This shouldn't be allowed.
