Yeah but 1600mm plates are a good example how guns don’t work. Syndicate/Fed Navy/Imp Navy are equal or better than the T2 version in all relevant stats (apart from Imp Navy being powergrid-hungry).
T2 guns are okay and I use them like everyone else who can, but what about the player who wants to bling ships out once in a while? Droneboats have their ‘Augmented’ Drone option - for a price of 60 to 450M for a set of 5. They don’t come with any disadvantage other than their price (unless you count 2 damage types instead of 1 as a disadvantage, it’s situational).
For example: Berserker
Both the Republic Fleet Berserker and the ‘Augmented’ Berserker have way more HP than Berserker II.
RF (T1) also has better tracking, while ‘Augmented’ is faster and provides way more damage. RF Berserker does less damage if the Minmatar Drone Spec is properly trained up.
So why not give Faction guns a few more advantages? They are pretty expensive and would not be for everyday use, but better than now: no use at all. New players can’t afford them anyway in the current state.