1. Reimburse "wasted" IP in WS, EE, + ALL raised weapon skills your char might have. That is, give every char one IPR point extra, for every weapon skills that has received a certain amount of IP. This would be available for a limited time.
or: Since the above is hard to implement, why not arrange another full IPR per char, since the effects of the nerf and wepaon skill choices will have a massive impact on character design. Many players using ranged weapons will have to switch weapons and implants after the nerf, if the fast, low regular damage weapons are indeed going to be rendered useless without a decent crit chance to compensate.
2. As I do take for granted the new version of LLTS will be inferior or equal to VE in terms of actual damage output over time, there is a substantial amount of players who will feel cheated for paying 100-300mill for a lost advantage in PvM and PvP. Therefore, please give players the option to sell LLTS to vendors for 1mill per QL (I know someone already said this, but I happen to agree). I know this will generate alot of ingame credits, but this is about keeping players happy, imho. You (FC) stated earlier the LLTS would remain in the game, and the nerf is going to make alot of people unhappy. The economy is broken anyway, as there are no major money sinks to prevent the insane inflation we are seeing.
3. Remove the init penalty from the LLTS.
4. Add a *decent* Fling Shot and Burst bonus (+300 for ql 200 ELLTS?) and remove the night vision effect.
5. Add an AGGDEF boost (similar to Shadow Rift of the Eagle) proportionate to the QL of scope.
6. And most importantly, to prevent future item nerfs: Nerf the whiners!!! They are ruining the game for old timers who must keep adapting to new rules. Old chars that constantly have to adapt to new rules will inevitably become broken chars, unless more IPR points are given to us. This is a fact you cannot dispute!