About a year ago, I was playing both 5e and Pathfinder on different nights, and personally, I hated the inferiority (no bonus to missile weapon damage) of Pathfinder. I bet that a lot of what WoTC did when designing 5e was based on feedback from playtesters that expressed a desire for more powerful ranged options.
I think you are completely correct - I too believe this.
But as a customer, we do not need to look at the greater situation. Keeping a watch out for unintended systemic consequences is something we pay designers for.
If taken to a somewhat extreme point, you and I could both want to play the Legolas, but that only works if somebody else plays the Gimli.
Many posters here doesn't have any problems right now, but I foresee how the game will get ripped to shreds when all their players start playing the Legolas and none the Gimli.
The game simply can't handle an all-Legolas party. It's not built for it. It's quite evidently not designed with this assumption in mind.
But more importantly - I don't think it leads to a fun game. That is what I meant above: playing the Legolas is fun precisely because you're a special snowflake. In a game with only Legolases and no Gimlis, it's not funny anymore. And when the laughter has died down, all you're left with is a broken game. A game that's built on fantasy melee assumptions but where players run modern range and mobility tactics.
(I don't have anything against games revolving around modern SWAT-teams, but it sure as hell ain't what I play D&D for)
I'm convinced WotC designers simply and honestly forgot to make sure the most fundamental assumptions of the game would still be true, even after meeting these customer demands on point after point after point.
I'm convinced WotC needed to have said "no" at some point. For the game to keep featuring traditional D&D combats, there needs to be a significant downside to ranged builds.
Where to put that downside is certainly something we can discuss, just as long as it's there - somewhere.