True, everyone can use the speed stone, but not everyone will, especially since there are some other really nice ones out there offering for example, some pretty significant spell resistance and armor.

It could have balanced itself out well if plate armor (like in real life) was nigh invulnerable to arrows, but more vulnerable to certain magic.

In all honesty, the PVP that people are seeing really is not an accurate representation of what ESO will be like A) at launch or at max level.

I would assume ESO will be continuously balanced each moth or so.

Also, the great thing about this game is - if you feel like your class is underwhelming in a specific area, develop and use a skill from another tree that helps that weakness. There are no real restrictions. I think most people are still svck in the WoW mindset of Class X is OP due to Y skill. That logic really does not apply as much to this game.

Melee does not mean there are no ranged attacks, in this game anyway. A Dragonknight tanking away can grab someone off the battlements if he is right below, Fiery Grip makes it dangerous to tweak a DK from too close. It's true you only have 5+1 but still, it's not as hard and fast as some MMOs.

I am seriously hoping PVP will not favor one over the other. In Rift, you almost have to have a ranged build if you want to be competitive and it really destroys any fun for those that like melee combat. Of course melee chars will get hit more as they get hit by opposing melee and ranged chars, while ranged chars get hit only by opposing ranged chars.

But that means melee hits should do more damage to counteract this since they have less time before they get killed due to more damage they receive.

Those differences shouldn't be big, but enough to not create a sense of "melee is useless" in players' mind.

"Gap closers" are a way for melee chars to somewhat negate this ranged advantage, but they have to be based on the same range as ranged abilities are.

The idea that you HAVE to use a ranged weapon if you want to be competitive is a bad idea as it forces players into something many don't want. If we want to be a pure melee class, we should have tools to do so and not feel inferior.