Okay I'm gonna try to make a clearer post about what I think about that
1. Melee/Sneak Melee KO chances, I think this is OK, deagle .50 has high potential of KO too for example, and if you land a good KO on someone, you have high chances of winning the fight. One issue though : auto-KD from supersledge. I think everyone understand that melees are very situational and are very strong in closed areas. With supersledge, it's just insta win on 1v1, and still good asset on ZC when in buildings (because the enemy is likely to be pushed against a wall so not so far). If you give auto-KD on Thrust only, it will be more balanced because people atm can just chain Swing for ~27ap, waiting for a KO roll. If you take a Mirkor shot (auto-KD) as a comparison, it takes a lot of ap and it doesn't make lots of damage (+ no KO possibilty).
2. No aiming time for Melee/Sneak Melee weapons. Another thing is that there is aiming time on aimed shots but not on aimed melee attacks, giving this feeling of insta kill when u get hit by twice 150+ dam in 2 sec, while a ranged attacker will take more time (and thus lowering the dps burst). In my opinion, this cannot be changed, if you add aiming time, Melee/Sneak Melee won't land any attack, so something can be balanced elsewhere (I know, it's very complicated). I am stating this issue more to explain the feeling of insta death than anything else. I'll add the fact the this feeling of insta death is only relevant on 1v1 vs sneaker melee, it doesnt happen a lot in ZC (it's more focus fire fest that insta kills)
3. Speed bonus. I don't think Melee characters should have more base speed than Ranged. Atm if a ranged char encounters a melee char, there is a chance to flee for both most of the time.
a. Range sees Melee on a street, Range can shoot Melee to death before Melee reaches him, so Melee will just run away or at least cut LoS. Range can follow him but there is no point except getting caught in a trap.
b. Melee tries to ambush Range in a building, Range sees Melee close to him and decides to run away. Melee can follow him but there is no point.
If you want to close the distance faster, there are already tools to make you faster, like leather jacket or voodoo. Run speed is a very strong asset, you need to sacrifice something to get it.
4. Melees in ZC. It is not more frustating to play Melee or Range in ZC imo, Melee characters will play with covers/buildings, while long ranged characters will want an opened area. There are of course characters in between (pistols, shotguns, etc). If you get frustrated because you can only fight in buildings, then Melee is not your playstyle that's it. Imagine a sniper could also complain he is frustrated he can only fight in opened areas. You see enemies escape with almost no health, well it is the same for ranged... Gunfights are usually not at 1 hex, so people just run away, cutting los and zoning out. Again if you have a target running away with low life, just take a voodoo and go after him you'll kill him.