Why barrel overheating should matter

[JSj 12]

But it is not made obsolete.

Have you even tried the machineguns ingame vs the rifles?

I have, but just to check I loaded Kronzkys movable target range and shot at targets at various distances. There was a slightly larger recoil climb with the M4A1, but when laying prone I had no problems knocking down targets just as far out as I could with the M249. And the M4 ironsights are a bit more open than the M249 and doesn't obscure the view as much. Not much difference in accuracy there.

Especially when playing ACE 2, with the weight based stamina system, I would much rather use the M4 today. But in vanilla, where the penalty isn't so great for using a heavy weapon, I can certainly see that some still prefer the M249.

The benefits would obviously be much more clear if a proper barrel overheating system was implemented.

[NoRailgunner 0]

So far I've only seen cheaters and idiots using rifles as machineguns im Arma2. Most of the time people know the difference between assault rifles and machineguns. It would be imho too much time for devs to get such a small feature working right. The benefit is just too small.

There are more things that should be implemented before "barrel overheating"

hint: armor + weapon systems based or close to reality, fire control systems, thermal imagine systems, working HUDs and countermeasures and most of all improved AI.