Concerning point three, I believe that the developers intend on separating the softcap limit into subsets of skills, so that running (and subsequent increases in the skill) isn't going to cause you to lose points in Tailoring, for example. (That's actually not an example of a softcap, but of a floating system of skill management, ie. one skill goes down because another goes up).

I'm all for a hardcap myself. Yes, some are going to disagree, but overall, it's the best system to promote interaction within the game. Pick a job or two and be good at them and accept that you're playing a Massive MULTIPLAYER Online RPG...and work with others for the things you need/can't do.