KalOfTheRathi wrote:Since CCP/Shanghai is releasing new pistols, at least one of which will be the FOTM with its long range, when will the currently over powered FOTM Combat and Rail rifles get balanced? AKA, Nerfed. I have spent some SP but hesitate to spend more until I know when the auto-gank or Ninja Nerf from our favorite ganker Cmder Wangster is due.
You have successfully made the SP spent in Assault rifles a wasted effort and I would prefer not to duplicate that effort.
Also we Mercs need the full list of modifications to the remaining suits and weapons released. Preferably signed by the new EP as nobody else actually has the authority to make a decision one way or the other much less make it stick. Without that signature all other Dev forum postings are conjecture and mostly a waste of time/bits/whatever.
Have a day.
The problem with the FOTM long-range hotness right now is that there isn't a significant drawback to the long range rifles when you get to close quarters--where close range weapons like the AR are supposed to be at its best. Sure, the base CR with 3 shot burst is supposed to be harder to use at close range, but the Assault CR removes this problem. The RR is supposed to be really good at long range, which it is, but then at close range, there's not enough dispersion to make it ineffectual.
What should happen is that the Assault CR and RR, when used at close range, not ADS, should have such a wild dispersion that it's not practical to shoot from the hip, which would both incentivize switching to a sidearm that is
meant to be used at close range and disincetivize using an (obviously) long ranged weapon in CQC.
Until changes are made to hinder the performance of long range weapons in the game, notably the CR and RR (and likely the Magsec and Bolt pistol), then you'll continue to see weapons that perform excellent at range, pretty good in CQC, as well as continuing to marginalize the weapons that are supposed to be great at CQC/midrange, but terrible at long range (AR and Ion pistol). What is messed up, though, is that while the AR and Ion perform very poorly at range, the CR and RR do not perform as poorly in CQC as the AR performs at range. Because of this, long range weapons will continue to dominate, since their benefit/detriments are not in sync.