Nah, you could just machine gun someone to death with this and it would break the whole game, snowballs are the thing with high kb but no damage and a not very long throwable distance, and the bow is a slower method with decent kb, good damage, and a far distance, this would simply be less of a stopgap and just become the meta for everything
No they have! Now when you throw them they are slower. This means a player has more time to get away when they are at a further distance. Now on the other hand when it is up close your response is relevant. Yes up close combat is more common so you are correct.