I never had the opportunity to play no friendly melee damage. How bad was it? I started a single player game for the first time in aeons, mainly to practice my blocvking, but what I did find was I improved my foot work and the knowledge of my surroundings. It felt great. Currently in C-RPG it seems very Iliad-ish, in which only heroes duel while the less elite are htere to die. A very skilled warrior can currently kill 5 enemy surrounding him, only because no one dares hit for fear of TWing. This seems unnatural and weird. The greeks got rid of individual heroics thousands of years ago. No more Achilles or Gil-Gameshes. I mean really, the whole idea of formation was so regulars could spam the elites to death.
While I was not there to experience what happened, it would seem to me that friendly melee damage only helps the elite, ie the top 10% who makes 90% of the kills. Unfortunately we all tend to respect the elite, and tend to bow to their wills, I personally believe that if ten mediocre guys ganged up on an Achilles, he would die. This would never happen in the Iliad, where Hector thought he could win if his cousin? brother? (I forget) helped him fight. But that was 600 BC, not 1257 AD. Or whatever time we virtually live in.
So, tell me more...