In both PvE and PvP Auto Rifles are literally the unwanted cousin at the party compared to SMGs.
Auto Rifles do only 1 thing good. Having not so high recoil on range than SMGs. They have no extra gimmick like causing more flinch or having lower range fall-off than SMGs. AR have no better perk pool than SMGs. AR also don't have more utility in PvP than SMGs.
At this point you could completely remove AR from PvP and almost no one would notice them being gone. That's how useless they are. The 2 top guns right now both with 5% usage are Ikelos SMG and The Immortal from Trials. That makes 10% for both of those 750RPM SMGs ALONE in the entire PvP sandbox. Just for reference, NTTE is almost 1.8% lower as the 3rd most used gun at the moment.
Meanwhile the first AR used in competitive PvP meta is at 11th place with Quicksilver Storm (1.33% usage overall), the LITERAL Destiny 2 version of a Call of Duty weapon. The 2nd most used AR is Rufus Fury on[b] 29TH PLACE[/b] with a usage of 0.865% overall.
If there is only 1 good exotic auto rifle that is close to the Top 10 and between Top 10 and 29th the majority is other weapons, that means Auto Rifles simply suck.
Why are SMGs so much better than AR? Why, JUST WHY? Are you afraid of another "Gnawing Hunger" Meta? SMGs at this point have a much better range in case utility than auto rifles. And SMGs are meant to have LESS range than auto rifles.
We are right now in a spot where SMGs outclass Auto Rifles in every aspect in PvP and only in very skilled hand and with good positioning an AR user is able to counter the SMG player (or literally any gun).
I play both PvP sandboxes (they are the same, just different player pools). I played long enough on console for the last year and I play long enough on PC to know that SMGs are out of hand and suppress Auto Rifles from being useful in PvP.
That needs to change.
Edit: Also, just for the record. I did mention this SMG problem 3 seasons ago. If Bungie would have acted faster based on feedback like mine, we wouldn't be in this situation.
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LMAO imagine crying about an smg when you can just use a pulse rifle, scout, hand cannon, sniper, shotgun, linear fusion, grenade launcher, or fusion rifle to kill them.