Weapons like Scar, Feline, Scarab, even HMG - I feel that combined with a reflex/assault scope, these weapons can basically take people down from half the map away. They are FAR too accurate and the recoil doesn't prevent kills from occuring over distances that only a Sniper should be able to cover.

The ridiculous range + accuracy on these weapons means we see fewer and fewer people attempting to use Shotgun or MIKE (with the exception of maybe 1 map like Impact), because half the time they get blown up before they're anywhere near close enough...unless you love hugging walls and wasting 99% of your time in stealth waiting to get close enough to someone.

Which brings me to my second point, the Sniper rifle - this thing has a double-zoom capability that can essentially span an ENTIRE map from one end to the other, it's crazy awesome, yet it's probably the most difficult weapon to use - why? - because no map has a clearing that big with the exception of Lighthouse. Most of the time when you're trying to snipe someone, you're well within range of their automatic rifle (scar/feline/etc) and even if you spotted them first, they have a chance to kill you unless you're pro with on-the-move headshots. You have an extremely tiny window within which to kill them before they find cover again, it just can't be done.

TL;DR - reduce the insanely long range + accuracy on automatic rifles to make weapons like Sniper, Shotgun and MIKE more effective in Multiplayer.
I know the developers tried to be realistic with the weapon ranges, a Sniper can indeed cover over a mile, but the sandbox-style multiplayer maps AREN'T realistic so adjustments need to be made so auto-rifles aren't so freaking dominant.

Note: This is not to de-value pro snipers, shotgunners or microwavers in anyway , it's just that the skill and circumstances required for those weapons to be EFFECTIVE is far too unforgiving.

Instead of attemping to play sniper as a real sniper you should try slapping on a red dot. The effectiveness of the rifle increases dramaticlly for most combat situations, taking rapid fire can also aid that style of play.

I've already posted my full "Tank mode" sniper loadout in another thread so I'll just summarize. Dual primary, Covert ops, Armor enhance, DSG1 and Mike. It makes for an extremely effective aggressive sniper loadout that is able to deal the long damage and chew people up when they get close. While I think that the range of the weapons is sometimes annoying, the automatics while able to shoot acrost the map have quite the damage falloff, while the sniper has none.

Shotguns can be extremely effective on any situation even without stealth, the sheer speed that you move and their big damage makes them formidable to anyone who enjoys being a nible pixie with a big gun. I'd hardly call them under powered because they more often will put you down in 1-2 shots with little effort when you reach their kill range. Being a player who never uses stealth I still don't often find the range disadvantage hard to close typically. Skyline, Impact, Terminal, City hall and wallstreet all have very ideal locations to swiftly get around and be in close quarter combat zones for shotty/mike.

Anyway not to bash your semi valid points, I think that you should just try reevaluating your perceptions of those weapons.