Haenlomal said:
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I would argue that this is a bug: if the Scoped Hunting Rifle has such a penalty in close range, then at the very least, the Sniper Rifle should share the same trait for the same reason. The Bozar, at least according to its description, should have that perk too, but I guess in terms of game balance, since it is a burst-only weapon, giving it a scoped perk would seriously over-power an already overpowering weapon (now that I think about it, why would a self-described "ultimate refinement of the sniper's art" operate in burst-only mode?! Maybe this really should be single shot - or lower the burst rate of 15 rounds per burst to something more realistic like 3 rounds per burst).
I think this could be explained by the much greater magnifying ratio of the Scoped Hunting Rifle's scope as opposed to the scopes on the Bozar and Sniper Rifle. While no specifics are given on the scopes of the Bozar and Sniper Rifle, the game says the Scoped Hunting Rifle has a 'x20' scope. This is reflected in the long-range accuracy. At long range, the Scoped Hunting Rifle is more accurate than either the Bozar or Sniper rifle. In fact, at long range, it is the single most accurate weapon in the game. The tradeoff is the negative modifier at close range.
Therefore I think there is indeed logic to it, though it could be debated whether the Scoped Hunting Rifle's positive and negative modifiers are correctly balanced or not.
Furthermore, if the Bozar were assigned the same perk, I don't think it would imbalance the game. I think it would probably be viewed by most as a drawback in the weapon, rather than an advantage. That's because burst weapons are at their most efficient at close range, and weapon_scope_range hurts the accuracy there.
Regarding the Bozar, I agree that it's very weird that a finely engineered "sniper weapon" should be burst-only. I have to wonder if this is another slip-up due to the hurry of the developers. But I doubt we can find out now, after nearly 10 years, how they meant it to be. The thought of changing the Bozar's rate of fire to 3 rounds per burst is an interesting one. Of course, it would drastically diminish the weapon's value in use. After such a modification, it would be just an average Big Gun. The way it is now, it is one of the 2 best burst weapons in the game. Does that make sense for a weapon that becomes available as early as New Reno and, at 5250 bucks, costs less than a Pancor Jackhammer, H&K G11 or Avenger Minigun? Not in my opinion, it doesn't. So maybe it's another error by the busy developers - but we don't know for sure.
I think a cool middle ground would perhaps be to set the rate of fire to 5 rounds a burst and enable a single-shot mode. The weapon would then pack a goodly punch on automatic, but not be as devastating as now. And, given its high accuracy, it would also be useful as what the description calls it - a sniper weapon.
Or you could just leave it as it is but make it available much later in the game than now... but I guess I'm drifting off-topic.
