Have you considered doing away with reticles altogether?
I would hate that honestly. I would rather no changes were made than a partial change. The reason i suggest no reticle at all is that whilst radical it would remove a portion of the issue in that the variable closing speed would no longer be a contributing factor to the balance project as a whole. I dont know if closing speed is weapon-based, weapon-lore based or some other arcane solution only the original devs wanted to create.
If the reticles were removed carte blanche it would give a level playing field to balance based off of magazine size, round damage and rate of fire. Provided the crosshair partially covered the target some rounds should in theory land. It would then be on the player to keep the crosshair on target. This might lower the skill ceiling but thats not always a bad thing. It would also provide a modern equivalent to the aiming system players are used to in other games. Also not a bad thing.
Yes its a step towards more fps style of play but again it might not be a bad thing. I believe if implemented well it could breathe new life into the game and make pvp more accessible. It would, at the very least, make more weapons instantly more viable.
there might be some hidden flaws obviously - dependent on if weapon damage is still done on a hidden dice roll as was speculated years ago, changes to AOE might also be a problem. As there is no requirement for AOE cursor to be on target it might have issues calculating off target damage. The flame thrower line may also need to be adjusted, and gatlin cannons/etc too. But its worth considering.
great idea actually, i 2nd that
away with reticules, people that are not harcore pvp might actually enjoy pvp again because they get to hit something xD
It would also fix fights going on for so long that either party looses interest (not kidding)