Update March 25, 2013
At this point in time, I believe the best option would be the following:
-Reduce ammo per ton to 1000 rounds, from 2000
-Buff each bullet's damage to 0.15, up from 0.04
-Leave the fire rate, heat, everything else the same
The above would give the MG a DPS of 1.5, a good amount, while also giving it the damage potential per ton of 150, exactly in line with the other ACs. It would also only take 100 seconds to dump 1 ton of ammo, a great improvement over 200 seconds for only 80 points of damage. Leaving the crit buff in wouldn't make much of a difference wither way, as the increased damage from MGs would actually be able to destroy components and internals at a satisfactory rate. Thanks for following my thread everyone!
Update April 13, 2013
Some people seem to have reading comprehension problems. Allow me to bring you a quote from Sarna:
Sarna said:
The Machine Gun is the quintessential anti-infantry weapon, issuing a stream of bullets at a high rate of fire to cut down opposing soldiers, while still being effective at damaging BattleMechs. It should be noted that despite their enhanced effectiveness against infantry, BattleMech machine guns are perfectly capable of stripping the armor off any BattleMech.
Edited by Team Leader, 13 May 2013 - 06:21 AM.