Actually no, militia weapons do generally have the same damage as standard, but they have higher fitting requirements, and frequently less ammo per magazine.
Militia laser rifles, mass drivers, etc could have smaller clip size, less total ammo, and higher fitting requirements (like all militia items) to motivate players to skill up to standard and above. If that isn't enough, being killed by advanced and prototype users will do the trick.
I don't see why its ok for some weapons to have militia variants while its not ok for others.

Players get militia ARs and SMGs, but you still see people running around with GEK ARs and Toxin SMGs.

It's also important not to forget skills, Yes militia weapons allow you to use the gear without skills, but they do not give the buffs provided by skills and things like higher accuracy, better RoF, more damage, better range, etc. should not be ignored.
Yes a player who's spec'ed their character into AV can use the militia Forge to take out an above militia vehicle chassis but that doesn't mean it was A) an above militia fitting (low meta mods on a mid meta frame still = a low meta fit) or that B) it was the weapon alone (AV player skill + AV character skills = greater impact than the gun alone).

This same reasoning applies across the boards, player skill, and character SP investment, as well as the other elements of the fitting (both that of the user and the target) all play a role, overlooking any aspect of the above doesn't provide for the proper context to evaluate what's occurring.

0.02 ISK
Cross

EDIT: Let's keep our terminology clear, Starter fits may function in a similar way to Militia BPOs but they are NOT the same item. Starter fits are provided to new players free of charge from CCP. Militia BPOs are purchased with AUR (i.e. use of real cash). Treating the two as if their identical is both inaccurate and problematic.

> assault - assault rifle + scrambler pistol + nanohive [20]
> assault - swarm launcher + flaylock pistol (SOONGäó) + stasis webifier (SOONGäó) [20]
> assault - laser rifle + flaylock pistol (SOONGäó) + active scanner (off market for fixing) [20]
> scout - shotgun + nova knives + drop uplink [20]
> scout - sniper rifle + scrambler pistol + nanohive [20]
> logistics - scrambler rifle (SOONGäó) + nanite injector + repair tool [20]
> logistics - mystery Caldari rifle (SOONGäó) + remote explosives + nanohive [20]
> logistics - mass driver + nanohive + nanite injector [20]
> Heavy - heavy machine gun + flaylock pistol (SOONGäó) [20]
> Heavy - forge gun + scrambler pistol [20]
> Heavy - plasma cannon (SOONGäó) + scrambler pistol [20]
> crusader (SOONGäó) - slots currently unknown [20]
> pilot (SOONGäó) - slots currently unknown [20]

Last thing we need is some troll running around in a heavy suit that costs 2000 isk with a HMG

redux of post looks phenomenal.

I agree that one starter fit should be unlimited.

I am not drawn to militia gear, personally and usually burn 140,000 ISK in a match due to people realizing that an MH-82 HMG is a dire thread that needs to be killed fast. but it's worth the cost because the advanced gear is just more awesome. throw in a logibro and you see exactly how powerful you can bee with a little SP gain and friends.

I also agree that there needs to be militia fits for everything.

And if you can kill a gunnlogi solo with a militia forge it means the gunnlogi was a trashfit or the pilot was a MORON.

More likely it means your target was softened up by other forge guns or swarms. if this is not the case, and you didn't die twenty times doing it means the gunnlogi was ********

(before you reply back, yes I read the entire thread) This seems like a good idea on paper, but if you think about i, this idea starts to have problems. You see, this would mean if the bluedots figure out how to restock, they would never ave to change their kit out. They would just keep on restocking those kits, and never have to skill up. The only way to fix this is to nerf militia items, like how they nerfed militia vehicles (and just about every other part of the vehicles). They need to learn that it's a necessity to get out of militia stuff, otherwise the most used gun and kit will be the starter AR kit.

No players should be given 100 of each weapon and drop suit in militia fits. preset so they can see how they are to be used. your idea is good but do not make it unlimited use

Limited starter fits should be expanded so that all dropsuits, equipment, and weapons are represented.

All starter fits besides the starter role fit should be made of a limited set of militia items, and should not be infinite. This will help teach players how items are lost in death, and the importance of restocking.

There needs to be militia variants for all weapon types. All dropsuit and weapon types need to be represented in limited (non-infinite) starter fits. Here is why.

People need to be able to test weapons with militia variants in order to make informed decisions as to whether or not to invest skill points into them. There are militia dropsuits for every type, but the selection of militia weapons is very small. The starter fit system can also be tweaked to allow for more variety of dropsuits and weapons to try out; this would make experience of more dropsuits and weapons much more accessible, and broaden the horizons of new players beyond the favored assault dropsuit + assault rifle combo. I will outline ways to implement this in a balanced way.

When players choose their starter role (Enforcer, Arbiter, Artificer, & Sentinel) they get only one free unlimited starter fit based on their chosen roles. This is the only thing that really needs to be unlimited.

All weapons need to have militia grade version. Militia infantry items can be double in price, or nerfed a bit if needed to balance this change.

All starter fits besides the starter role fit should be made of a limited set of militia items, and should not be infinite. This will help teach players how items are lost in death, and the importance of restocking.

Limited starter fits should be expanded so that all dropsuits, equipment, and weapons are represented. This would allow new players unfamiliar with the market to try out and understand the great variety that Dust has to offer from the very beginning. Here are some examples of what the expanded and more various finite militia starter fits could look like:

> assault - assault rifle + scrambler pistol + nanohive [20]
> assault - swarm launcher + flaylock pistol (SOONGäó) + stasis webifier (SOONGäó) [20]
> assault - laser rifle + flaylock pistol (SOONGäó) + active scanner (off market for fixing) [20]
> scout - shotgun + nova knives + drop uplink [20]
> scout - sniper rifle + scrambler pistol + nanohive [20]
> logistics - scrambler rifle (SOONGäó) + nanite injector + repair tool [20]
> logistics - mystery Caldari rifle (SOONGäó) + remote explosives + nanohive [20]
> logistics - mass driver + nanohive + nanite injector [20]
> Heavy - heavy machine gun + flaylock pistol (SOONGäó) [20]
> Heavy - forge gun + scrambler pistol [20]
> Heavy - plasma cannon (SOONGäó) + scrambler pistol [20]
> crusader (SOONGäó) - slots currently unknown [20]
> pilot (SOONGäó) - slots currently unknown [20]

The overwhelming majority of players are AR users, many of them have never even bothered trying another light weapon other than the sniper rifle. This is a problem for getting reliable feedback; how can someone have a good understanding of whether or not a weapon is overpowered if they themselves have never used it and don't understand its drawbacks? If you want to get more reliable feedback for balancing, then you need to let new players have access to all weapon types from the very start, they need to experience a weapon from both ends to have a reliable opinion on the weapon. Having all weapon types represented in the starter fits would g let players be better testers

Thank you for reading.

The only issue is that this isn't a good idea for a game that uses an economic system like this one will.

I actually want to see your idea implemented as a VR training system like many of us have requested, with all equipment available to be experimented with for free in an environment that provides no SP or ISK, just to allow players to get a feel for what they want to spec into.

Its not unlimited, they would still have to restock and pay for things, so how would it be bad economically for the game?
That VR training with all items thing sounds pretty awesome also, I would definitely support that.