Imagine if the referee in soccer was allowed to judge by the logic of "despite that goal was scored by hand, I will let it slide for a great story"?
I just believe this game to not have any chance of succeeding in a major way as a competetive e-sport and everyone who believes otherwise to live in an illusion.
It will forever belong in the niche departement, as long as you can't rely on your AT gun actually damaging the (non-microed) tank despite it being placed properly.
But I will stop debating this now.
I'd liken it more to poker than Soccer. One can play everything right and have a great chance of winning with a amazing hand, then lose because the cards turned up wrong. Poker is about risking, risk management and understanding the game so that you can make as calculated risks as possible. That is way closer to CoH, and poker is big competitively and commercially.
I don't believe CoH will succeed in a major way as a e-sport, but I enjoy it immensely and I think that if it could be brought to a big stage, it could be well received due to what it gives to the viewer.