If chambering is in this game then I don't think I will buy it.
Not because I was bad and didn't like it, because I think its a shit mechanic that produced alot of toxicity and dependance by alot of players and allowed those who have low ping to essentially be gods among men compared to the latter, will this not also alienate new players compared to NW veterans? Why not just base the combat on Teamwork which will appeal more to your wider target audience?
What reasons are there really to keep it here rather than to appeal to a small, select group?
IMO do it the other way around, if the melee feels stale and there are no other ideas, then add it. Have time for people to test it. Openly. Not just your alpha testers who paid some extra money.
In any situation you will punish players with bad ping. That is just the way it works. Unless you make a turn based game, player with higher ping will always be handicapped. But please remember, that this is also not the Warband engine. We have a very different netcode. Currently high ping is actually not as much of a problem as it was in Warband.
Chambering is a mechanic that is difficult to master and only experienced players will be able to perform it on a regular basis. It is a feature that will require experience and skill. As such, players that regularly play the game will be rewarded for that with the ability to perform chambers.
IF, it turns out that it will not be fun or break gameplay we will remove it. But there is no reason for us to think that it will. This will be seen in the testing phase of the game, which is also when we will be making a lot of changes to melee. As stated in the blog, we will continue working on melee even after release, so that we can bring it to the most balanced and stable state possible.