pwnface, on 05 November 2015 - 12:42 PM, said:
It would certainly be the most balanced way to go about it, although it really would be nerfwarrior online at that point.
LOL, As long as the weapons are balanced with each other then there is no such thing as "nerfwarrior"

... the reason lasers need adjusting is because they are TOO effective at the moment compared to other weapons. Whether you like the change or not, there is little argument that something needs to be changed. PGI has two choices buff every other weapon to match lasers and reduce TTK even farther or apply some sort of nerf to lasers.
Personally, I like the optimal damage at range requiring targeting idea. The reduction in damage at the base optimal range against an untargeted mech is 28% ... falling to zero at 60% of the optimal range. So a medium laser does 3.6 at 270m rather than 5.0 against an untargeted mech. (Paul fails at math in his figure on the topic ... either that or whoever gave him the figure fails at math).
The effect of the nerf will be either do a little less damage, press R to target (thus giving some meaning to information warfare) or close the range to engage. I don't think increased TTK, increasing the importance of targeting or encouraging folks to reduce engagement range are bad.
Finally, weapon balance changes have happened so many times since the game was released to open beta (and before that) ... that the optimal choice of weapons just shifts around ... are folks afraid of change? I'd like to see PGI make more frequent changes in the interest of getting better balance data on a range of changes ... the game might be a lot farther along in the balance process that way.