General Animation: What are your thoughts?

[Keres]

I think I read from the beta forums, that the animations are intentionally left this way for a faster movement response...

As it should be. Gradual speedups/slowdowns are directly counterproductive when you're trying to move in a precise fashion, which a lot of these fights demand. I know that the way things are now don't look as pretty, but the gameplay benefits in terms of responsiveness are worth it, IMO.