- Bow Mastery is required to use bows - well, ok, makes kind of sense
- Bow Mastery requires Crossbows Mastery - uh, what? really? so I can't use a bow if I am no crossbow master? hmmm, I can say, I am indeed an archer (no master, right) and I am quite able to hit my targets though I never held a crossbow in my whole life.
- Crossbows Mastery requires Leather Armors - so, basically what you're saying is that additonally to being a crossbow master, I need to be high proficient with leather armor - in order to use a bow efficiently... ermm, yes - no, not really
- Primitive Bow can be crafted at crafting skill of 0 (zero!). basically, I do not have to but snapping off branches, logging trees and then sawing them to building logs to unlock this
- The Light Crossbow needs a Linen Rope that needs a Spinnig Wheel (Nails, Weavers Tolkit, Wheel), so first need to learn smithing (and create tools) before I can even use a bow...
- And remember: I still need to be proficient with Leather Armors before I can even start using crossbows.
- And when I have gone through all that is needed to start using bows, I need 1 (one!) branch and 2 (two!) Wild Plant Fibres to make my first bow?
- Oh, and to make the nonsense complete, I cannot wear Leather Armor before having learnt to throw things around...
Sorry to say that, but in my opinion ranged combat skills need a complete overhaul. Don't get me wrong here: I am sure that you have plenty of reasons why you designed them the way they are - it just doesn't make sense in my eyes - not even from the balancing view (what would have been my first guess for a major reason).
Even if we ignore crafting prerequisites (as you basically only need your bow to start shooting, and in an MMO you should always be able to get it from other players), I can't see a single reason for that absurd skill chain.
To make a long story short: With the chosen way to implement player access to bow mastery, you do not only make it frustrating for the player to even get there, you ignore reality completely. In reality, shooting with a bow is a everyman thing! Anyone can hold a bow, aim and shoot!
Additionally, you can use a sword right from the beginning - without any prerequisites! And we all know that, in real life, it was much harder to get hands on a blade than on a bow.
Bow Mastery must be a base skill in my eyes (just like throwing weapons and shortswords - oh and by the way: it is way more difficult to use a sling than to shoot a bow).
Looking through the combat skill makes me feel that many of them should be standalone skills (the same is true for crafting skills: e.g. why would I ever need to be able to till the land in order to tailor my clothes...)
Breaking up the chains would give players a far greater level of freedom. This would in no way reduce the ability to create a balanced game (in fact, as I am writing this, I already had some ideas!).
