I am sorry, but your sandbox team really needs to hear this...
-
IGN's Fireteam Chat had a very good stance on the nerf. They said one of the problems was how 90% of the bosses in this game were designed. They all have a stomp mechanic, which teaches us to use long range weapons to avoid massive damage and possibly death. Then you have them all just being giant versions of normal enemies with an easy to hit crit spot. So everyone's like "OK, I need a long range weapon that specializes in hitting crits." What's the first weapon that comes to mind? Whisper.