My thoughts on the new rifles and range changes so far:

• Combat Rifle: As a Minmatar player I have to say it looks fantastic. Almost too fantastic.

It all depends now on how the Burst ROF will transport over to the game. From the stats it seems that the DPS might be VERY good but as I said we'll have to see how this gun actually works in-game.

Assault variants seem pretty well balanced compared to the assault variants of the rest of the rifles.

The one thing that concerns me slightly though is the relatively low CPU/PG requirement, especially for the proto variants. It seems like the CR is way easier to fit than any other rifle, though DPS is not any worse, if not better, than those of the rest of the rifles.


• Rail Rifle: I'm not sure about this weapon.

DPS looks like it is comparable to the AR but with way more range.

But then the 0.2 charge up time and the reload of 3.2 seconds really make clear that this gun is not meant to be effective close range.

It would be a really decent weapon IMO if it was not for the Scrambler Rifle range buff.


• Scrambler Rifle: Wow, assuming that no other stats will be changed but the range, this will be an absolutely awesome weapon.

In comparison to the current Tactical AR stats you will get: more range, larger clipsize, less recoil, more damage, better ROF. Though these come at a hefty CPU/PG requirement, but still these changes have the potential to make this weapon VERY good.

And here comes my problem with this: Comparing the Kaalakiota Rail Rifle and the Imperial Scrambler Rifle, why would I ever prefer to use the Rail Rifle over the Scrambler Rifle assuming I have the CPU/PG to fit the SR?
For a mere +8 CPU and +3 PG I can use the SR which has no charge up time and is better in almost everything the RR does.

Either I'm missing something or the RR has something to it that's not represented through its stats. Maybe a Dev can share some insights of the RRs performance in the play-tests.


• Assault Rifle: Hm, looking at the stats of the rest of the rifles, I guess the slight range buff is absolutely necessary.

The gun is easy to fit, easy to use has very good DPS, and should still be an absolute beast in close to mid-range combat.

The one thing I'm concerned about though is my personal favourite: the Tactical AR. The range nerf (-10m) is quite hefty IMO and in combination with its slow ROF, small clipsize, huge hip-fire spread I don't see me wanting to use this weapon very much anymore.

All in all it looks like we get some decent new weapons soonTM. I'm hyped!

BTW I made s small spreadsheet with what all the weapons stats will look like with those changes. Including RPM and DPS for each weapon: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkgH4oyiFeUAdFpjQW0wRExKazF6empxY0R2Rm9iV3c&usp=sharing

EDIT: Oh, also, please nerf ForgeGuns into oblivion. Those tower FG snipers are ******* annoying.