Topic of this thread:
Changing a few of the core abilities along with some talents, would do much.
Edit: check reply after this one.
Other discussions in this thread:
Made this post a few times. It’s a summary ofc but covers the essentials about the vanilla spec designs for the class.
Vanilla design
Beast Mastery:
•Improved your Aspects
•Improved your pet’s health, armor, movement speed, damage, critical strike chance, focus regen.
•You gained several utility based improvements such as lower cast time on pet res, better pet mending, on-demand stun etc.
•Apart from some utility as well as the signature talent for BM(Bestial Wrath). The spec did not give you anything beyond improving stuff you already had access to, baseline.
Marksmanship
•Gave some additional utility, in the form of targeted shots(ranged attacks), increased attack range.
•Most stuff were in the form of lower mana cost on abilities, increases to critical strike chance as well as critical damage, CD reduction, base damage increases.
•Some of the more iconic stuff you got through MM talents was the improved Stings that you already had access to. Along with a powerful ranged attack, a ranged disorient as well as a party-wide AP buff.
Survival
•Enhanced your fantasy as being a tracker
•Improvements to your focus on utility. Especially in the form of traps you used defensively but also the ones for offensive use.
•It did give you a offensive melee ability in the form of Counterattack. Though you weren’t really meant to focus on it to much. You still wanted to get away from your enemies.
•Part from this, the spec also held options to improve your baseline defenses, with increased health, parry chance, on-demand parry/dodge, improved Feign Death.
It also gave you a ranged CC ability(Wyvern), which was essentially mostly meant as a way to keep distance to enemies. Or to help you manage multiple targets.
Back then, no matter what you spec’ed in/for, you were still a hunter that wanted to engage in ranged combat, and you were aided by a pet/companion.
It’s the sad truth really. We’re in the situation, and have been since the overhaul with Legion, where it has become a matter of Ranged vs. Melee, when people talk about the Survival spec.
It’s an endless loop where people keep arguing back and forth. You can look at it how much you want, as far as peoples opinions towards design philosophies go, there are no right or wrongs here. We are different, and we like different things.
There is however a difference. Those that hate on suggested changes/additions simply to do so, without any real emotional attachments/investment themselves towards the topics at hand. When you dismiss something even though it might not actually affect what you like, then you can say that this is not right.
I’ve had a personal opinion for quite a while that, there is no point whatsoever to go on with this argument on Ranged vs. Melee.
Why? Because we, most likely, will never see it reverted to it’s previous ranged state. If anything they will continue to iterate on the melee-aspects.
And the thing is, there is no need to look at it as a “either-or” -case. We can have both.
To anyone here who have seen the later discussions in this thread: We need range Survival Hunters back
They know that I, quite firmly, believe we have the grounds for a 4th spec option that can hold it’s own identity among the existing hunter specs. A spec that can embrace the core identity of the class while still bringing in the unique design and feel of the old DoT-spec we used to have, and build on it even more to fit with the design philosophy of today.
Now, there is no spec that is perfect for everyone. It does not exist, nor will it ever do so. But from my memories of playing that past spec from Cata-Legion(when it was changed to melee), and how we could make it fit within the current game, my suggestions would be as below(link): We need range Survival Hunters back - #457 by Ghorak-laughing-skull
Opinions are personal. There are no right or wrongs about them. It’s just how we feel. Again, it’s sad to see that there has to be this continued Ranged vs. Melee discussion. I refer to the above and say that there does not have to be a discussion like this.
Hopefully this is not the case. They(devs) gave a statement that changes/additions can and will be made where they feel that there are grounds to do so. I truly hope that they can see how this extends to class design/spec additions as well. Referring to the 4th spec option here ofc.
I mean…imagine if at the time of the split of the Feral druid spec into Guardian/Feral Combat, imagine if they instead had decided to simply scrap one of those. I know it was a case of 1 tank spec design and 1 damage dealing one. But still, imagine what those who liked either would have felt if theirs was removed.
In short, you shouldn’t. If you liked something and it was taken away. Then by all means, argue in favor of getting it back as a playable option.
But, perhaps there is a better way to do it without simultaneously arguing that melee survival should not exist? I at least hope that there is, because the alternative is that we will always have a portion of the playerbase that lacks something they care deeply for.
I would say that it depends on what you’re after. In the eyes of the devs, I would like to imagine that there are better ways you could make your case without talking down on others. Again, we have our opinions…
<3
Agreed. They made an attempt at giving us an alternate version of it through MM(did not, and still does not feel anywhere close to what it was prior to Legion).
We then got the redesign of melee Survival in BfA. Where many abilities and talents have been inspired by the old ranged version.
Still, does not come close to what we liked about the old ranged spec.
And yes, this is my own opinion.
I hope more and more people take this to heart. (…hint Blizzard).
Edit:
Idd it was!
I really hope that this isn’t the case. 
To be honest, for the current Survival spec and/or for a potential ranged DoT-spec(4th option), a passive effect that in general increases the trigger radius of your traps would be a good thing.
Maybe you can say that MM should have something like this as well. Although, IMO any trap enhancements on that level suits the theme of Survival(melee or ranged) the most.
I should probably clarify as well regarding my references in previous posts when I say that most people refer to the past ranged DoT-spec being that of the one we had between Cata-WoD.
Much like Bepples is saying here, although his/her comment is directed towards the TBC era.
Survival did have that DoT-playstyle even in Wotlk. Although it wasn’t until Cata that we saw more changes being made to separate the specs/build on their unique playstyles. Also, it was in Cata that we saw our resource change from Mana to Focus. Which was part of why I decided to focus from that point and onwards(as it better fits what we have today).
Also, in WotlK, Explosive Shot was entirely optional. From Cata and onwards, it was the defined style you could get through this spec.
Black Arrow was still optional though. And honestly, I liked the Wotlk version of it more than what we got in Cata. The damage increasing component that is.
Again, we all have certain preferences towards what versions of talents/abilities we liked the most. In my spec suggestion linked above, I did not include the damage increase on Black Arrow. I decided to do other stuff with it both through the major CD, a Mastery Bonus effect suggestion as well as through talents.