They are trying to force different primary types into range groups. All because if they don't the majority will always use autos. What's bad is that the stability stat is still a ton more useful than the range stat. Which increases your time to kill more: a missed shot, or a shot with less damage? The range stat needs to have the potential to push a primary past its intended range for it to be worth investing in over stability. Is that op? No, because you will have neglected the stability stat in the process. Pulse rifles don't need the range nerf. Range didn't make them amazing at long ranges, stability did. Stability needed to be capped at around 85% instead of reaching 100% and being a laser beam. Stability was always what decided how far before only one shot of your burst hit them and the other two flew over the opponents head. The range nerf affects the feel of pulse rifles at the edge of their range. Instead of the instantly recognizable "One shot flew over their head. I'm to far away, add a burst." It is a "I thought I had him. Is it lag? Did I miss? Is he out of my range? I need to fire again to be safe". It is a difference in how the game feels to play, not necessarily that this would change the kill time you see? Furthermore pulse rifles with max stability feel almost indistinguishable from scout rifles in how they play, something that always felt out of place. Then there are auto rifles. Bungie's little red headed stepchild that has been tweaked so many times that you can't even recognize what it once was when Bungie had all primaries share all ranges. Bungie, I wouldn't mind that you changed auto rifles to cqc weapons if you would just undo all the stability nerfs autos got in year one. The range nerf is huge and can double your kill time as damage falls off to 50%, and that's if all your shots hit. Isn't double the time to kill enough of a penalty for engaging outside your range? Unless you use a maxed out stability auto rifle you feel like your damage hits a brick wall where your range drops off, not a fast steady decline. Why invest into the range stat if you're going to miss half your shots outside your current range? The stability stat is twice as effective as the range stat. Furthermore aiming and not being able to hit what you're firing at detracts from the feel of the game when using an auto rifle much more than the damage reduction. Just like pulses shouldn't be laser beams and a stability cap would make more sense than the range nerf making the weapons feel different at max stability from scout rifles, auto rifles feel good to play with when they are more stable and you miss shots because you weren't aiming well not because your weapon isn't stable enough to consistently land a hit.