EM rifle nerf has nothing to do with balance
Through an in-game support response in regard to the EM rifle nerf, I received this response:
This makes it abundantly clear that the nerf had nothing to do with balance. Through this response's own admission, almost every player in the game has been using EM rifles. If this is the case, balance would be created simply through the virtue of almost every player using the same weapon. It's clear that the issue is that players had a preference towards this weapon, so as long as it existed in the form it had, people were going to be less inclined to purchase other weapons. It's also clear why they don't want to give any refunds if so many players purchased the item. They made the money they wanted by creating a quality weapon, then reduced its quality once a large portion of the community purchased it in order to encourage the sale of other less desirable weapons. This was never about balance.