I little addition to the thread: I know understand the drop dog mechanic, good, but I feel not being able to actually see where my weapons can reach is kind of a missing feature. For instance it could be done with a range indicator of different color, OR the bonus distance should be reduced to something less significative. Actually weapons like plasma cannons fire bolts that travel for at least a 20% more beyond the indicator, and with all that burst dmg you can deal with a huge dmg drop if means landing 2 hits on a dodgy target.
BTW it just about the feeling and some peculiar situations, weapons work pretty fine for me for everything else... damn I love this game.