QUOTE (Falconer @ Jun 13 2010, 09:13 AM)

Okay...
One... grammarians... the term 'belt feed' doesn't stand well on it's own if you deconstruct the sentence, so I have to say it's most likely a conditional clause for the first part.
In order for it to be grammatically correct as a conditional, it would require either an extra word and a change to one word (if belt fed) or seven additional words (if the weapon has/uses a belt feed). It is grammatically incorrect no matter how you read it, however it is grammatically acceptable as an enumeration of three things.
QUOTE (Falconer @ Jun 13 2010, 09:13 AM)

Two: This is a VEHICLE mod, not a WEAPON mod. There is NO MOD allowing you to change a weapon into a belt-fed weapon thankfully. (the only way I'd support such a mod if is it was an extensive rigger modification eating up say 4 slots of mod space which rendered the weapon only usable in weapon mounts, or say 3 points and requires smartgun if not already installed).
Three: With a little work you can take the weapon out of the mount and use it normally. So no, you suddenly don't have a belt-fed AR (and make LMG's even more completely pointless than they already are in the system.
Just about all weapons today consist of four or five major components that are fairly modular, and can be swapped out (and back) in very short order.
QUOTE (Falconer @ Jun 13 2010, 09:13 AM)

Four: it is possible to modify a AR/SMG to have dual fed 100 round drums for 200 rounds of ammo w/ normal mods (which is plenty enough close enough to belt feed w/ severe weapon alteration).
I will cover this in the addendum.
QUOTE (Falconer @ Jun 13 2010, 09:13 AM)

Five: that said for some oddball situations like a small drone w/ a machine pistol where ammo is a serious problems and other mods like ammo/drum isn't an option. I could see constructing a special magazine... which strips rounds off a belt and holds them normally so the gun doesn't know it's being belt fed, it only knows it has a mag which never seems to empty itself. (but for reasons above, I'm hesitant to allow it for say an AR/SMG). (this passes two of my tests, it's not a gun modification... if the gun is removed it's not now magically a belt-fed MG, two it's a vehicle mod as it modifies the vehicle 250 rd ammo bin by adding a special feed mechanism on the end rather than giving 250 more rounds. ).
So in your games it's possible to construct a special magazine for a weapon with a very restrictive ammo feed system (pistols) but not for something with a much less restrictive feed system (ARs and most SMGs).
QUOTE (Falconer @ Jun 13 2010, 09:13 AM)

Again: look at the AR vs. MG thread... there's very little point to LMG's if anything can be easily belt-fed.
Ares Alpha: 1700 - 12F
Built In: Smartgun, RC2 special, Underbarrel GL, 42rd mags, SA/BF/FA
White Knight: 2000 - 12F
Built In: GasVent5, folding stock (RC1), belt-feed and/or magazine. BF/FA only
Restrictions: can't be suppressed, double uncompensated recoil penalty.
Have fun modding the two... Ares gets a huge head start... but throw on a barrel accessory gas-vent3 and they both start w/ 5 points RC. (or 2 points internal special + suppressor if you prefer on AR). It's not even close. Some mods like high-velocity aren't even options for the LMG! by the text (limited to AR's and SMG's).
Different issue, but the basics of it are that the LMG isn't balanced with the rest of the firearms in the game by RAW.