[Andrés]

Yep weapons (and other components) aren't perfectly balanced.
IMHO WMGs should be more powerful to be again the superweapon it used to be in se2 and se3, APBs are ok or maybe a little weak, and PPB should definitely be weaker and only good weapons when the enemy doesn't have phased shields and you can take advantage of their special ability.

Newbies haven't probably seen the list with all damage Ratings ((Damage/reload time)/tonnage) that have been posted several times in these forums. Can anyone post a copy here?

I also received a few emails from Piotr Konieczny, another semi-newbie who's worried about balance. He saw my email in my site, I suggested him to take a look and post a message in these forums, but haven't seen him here yet.
He's working on a comparison chart between weapons.
Although the XLS files he sent me are a little confusing.
They're based in Hadrian Aventines's Ultimate Mod, and not in standard components. I think that's a mistake, since IMHO that mod isn't very good improving balance.
And I think some of the formulas he uses have to be changed, but it's kind of hard to find the right formulas, because there are many other factors that determine the "value" of a weapon besides their damage rating. Things such as range, special damage types, supply usage, cost, research cost, etc. and the different relative importance of each one.
And of course that copying data of every weapon is another part.

And once it's done he proposes to create a "balance mod", that instead of adding new stuff only modifies damage, cost and other values to improve balance.
Of course that would affect AI, especially the most carefully made fan-made AI that are designed to take advantage of existing unbalances.