Well...i can shoot blaster bolts at RIDICULOUS ranges, and it will still hit...

Same

Well Withering Fire still applies in space. If enough of you are firing lasers at capital ships the damage will start to pile on. One fighter on his own won't do much, but a bunch of them combining laser fire with torps will bring that cap ship down quite a bit quicker than with torps alone.

Sure, everyone should be firing their blasters, since even a little extra damage is helpful and does add up. However, as I said, I argue that it's best that the bombers not use their blasters until their torpedoes are within optimal range, allowing the blaster fire of their teammates to attract enemy fighters and their target cap ship's flak. The tactical usefulness, in this case, outweighs the small amount of extra damage you could be doing by starting your blaster fire earlier.

If a little stealth can help you get even 1 extra torpedo on target, then that makes up for probably at least 15 seconds of sustained close range blaster fire. What often happens from my experience is that the enemy cap ship doesn't even see me coming, often preoccupied with other targets or I approach from his blind side, and a significant number, if not all, of my torpedoes are away and dead on target by the time he notices me. If, on the other hand, I had started out firing my blasters from 1500-2500 meters in advance, I would have plenty of flak to welcome me once I closed within optimal torpedo range and I might not get all my torpedoes off or if I did, some might not be on target.

its not as important for blaster bolts as they are unlikely to hit from far out.

>_>
Whenever I'm in a fighter (or bomber with dependable escorts) I usually start firing with my blasters about 1km out of torpedo range (aka ~1800m from target), and I always get hit registers flashing.

1800-2100 metres is the max length most torpedoes will travel, and they will do a minimum amount of damage at full range but not nearly as much as closer shots. 

The blaster bolts on the TIE fighters and a-wing also experience a damage drop-off past 1500 metres.  This was to balance them against the x-wing, which is a much easier to hit target at distance and not as maneuverable as the TIEs at close range.  Thus the X-wing, with its increased firing rate and full strength blasters out to 3000 metres, is a more long range interdictor craft whereas the TIE fighters, with their weaker blasters/armour but more maneuverability, are a shortrange dogfighter.  For this reason it's also not a good idea to be in front of a B-wing either

On multi servers however, it seems to be 1000 on Taloraan and 800 (as someone previously mentioned) on Hoth.

Oh, and its not a matter of leading the target. On local tests, the ships were (naturally) stationary, and on multi servers, my typical bomber tactic, so long as enemy fighters are occupied, is to go at the transport or cap ship target HEAD ON, stop just within torpedo range, and shoot my load. Unmolested by fighters on Hoth, I can pretty much go through all 60 of the tie bombers torpedoes before the transport's flak guns can shoot me down so long as the transport doesn't continue to close the distance.  Flak is quite inaccurate at 600+ meters range (or the gunners I've faced sucked). Even if the transport is moving toward me, it does so slowly, and I can usually pepper it pretty good with torpedoes before it can close within a range where it can cause me considerable harm, forcing me to move.