I guess what I'm hoping for is:
1. A feeling that there was as much time and care given to ranged combat as melee combat in terms of skills, animations, and weapon choice
2. Not feeling like I have to use a sword & board or dual wield to put out the "best" dps
3. Combat is balanced for ranged and melee (neither one being overpowered against the other)
In some of the past games I've played there have been long debates about the effectiveness of ranged combat vs. melee combat. I feel like SWTOR did a pretty good job with the sniper/gunslinger class compared to melee users. They have good mechanics in place to deal with melee combatants and melee combatants have tools to help close distances when dealing with them as well. I never played Guild Wars 2 so I can't speak to ranged combat vs. melee in that game. Maybe some others could shed some light on how/why they feel ranged should be balance with melee.
I guess I'm just hoping ranged combat doesn't get put on the 'back-burner' so to speak.