QUOTE (Speed Wraith @ May 1 2008, 10:02 AM)
That's just what Webster's told me
I couldn't define the true difference between an SMG and an MP or a Pistol capable of firing bursts in terms of a game skill. Abstractions have to be made somewhere and SR just makes the distinction a matter of size and cartridge type. I get that even if it doesn't fully hold up. A Skorpion fires 7.62mm, right? Which is usually thought of as a heavier round than a 9mm, which an MP5 would fire. Mac 11 is chambered for .380 ACP, IIRC. Is it an SMG or an MP? *shrugs* You could debate it forever and never have a real answer.
SR doesn't differentiate based on cartridge because the game doesn't specify the cartridges that each weapon fires, except to say generically that only weapons within the same class can interchange ammo. But, you'd be hard pressed to convince me that the Remington Roomsweeper (a shotgun classified as a heavy pistol by the game) fires the same ammo as the Ares Predator IV.
The real life Skorpion fires 7.65x17mm Browning SR (.32 ACP), 9x18mm Makarov, or 9x17mm Short (.380 ACP), according to the wkipedia. Depends on which version you have. All of these cartridges are smaller (or less powerful, if you will) than 9x19mm, which is what I assume you meant by "9mm". There are several 9mm cartridges, afterall, of varying powers (to state it generically).
I classify the MAC-11 as a machine pistol because of its size.
In game terms, the Guardian, Slivergun, Fubuki, and other similar pistols are all machine pistols in my mind. But, as Tarantula pointed out in more or less words, you can't think in real life terms with this game. It just doesn't work.
The funny thing is if you look at the pictures in the books for the machine pistols, most of them look pretty much like normal pistols. The game classifies them differently for no good reason.
QUOTE (Sponge @ May 1 2008, 10:11 AM)
Most (all? I think the Sakura Fubuki is an exception) of the burst-fire pistols state that "Firing a burst with this weapon is a Complex Action." This implies that using your "typical" burst-firing pistol is not the same as using an automatic weapon which can fire a burst as a Simple Action (and you might even say it's a Specialization-worthy subset of the Pistol skill)
IIRC the Sakura Fubuki is an exception to the Complex Action bit, but it achieves its Burst by firing multiple barrels at once, so the action is like a regular pistol, and not an automatic firearm.
DS
It seems kind of random which pistols require a Complex Action.
The Ares Viper Slivergun, Fichetti Executive Action, Ruger Thunderbolt, and Yamaha Sakura Fubuki require a Simple Action.
The Savalette Guardian and Beretta 200ST require a Complex Action.
Now that I've listed it out, there's only 2 that require a Complex Action. The remainder all require only a Simple Action. I don't know what's so special about those that require a Complex Action that the game designers felt the need to gimp them.