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WHAT EVER ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW! rofl

Don't hate Mike, hating is bad.

That's right buddeh. Now I can bug the hell out of you in TWO guilds. xD

Now, explain to me why I can't pick my own damn rifle...

Am too.

I'm part of the Human Systems Marine Corps. Eat that.

So's.

Why.
Can't.
I.
Pick.
My.
Rifle?

No one gets to pick their rifle. Especially not if you're in the Marines, they usually just shove an M4 in your hands and throw you off, be thankful that we're not giving you that ancient tool.

While my best friend would say otherwise, I suppose I'll leave you to that.

And I would definitely take any of the mass accelerator weapons over an M4.

Apparently you've never reached the HMW line of weapons in the Mass Effect universe. The M4A1 carbine currently in use by the United States military couldn't hold a candle to even the weakest rifle in the ME universe.

All weapons in the ME universe save for the geth pulse rifles and Sovereign's direct energy weapons, use, as Bill said, mass accelerators to fire small particles at damaging speeds. Each weapon has a potentially unlimited amount of ammunition as ammo comes in the form of a solid block of specially treated material. Ammo upgrades alter the properties of this material. For example, incendiary rounds will essentially be fire bullets. Polonium Rounds are coated with a small amount of polonium and are designed to induce radiation sickness in the target. Shredder rounds are essentially hollow-point ammunition whereas hammerhead rounds flatten on impact, adding more force to the weapon.

Each infantry weapon also comes with an onboard computer that determines the size of the needed projectile and uses high-intensity lasers to cut the fragment from the block, usually resulting in a projectile the size of a grain of sand. It also allows for compensation in poor weather conditions and zero-gravity. These weapons usually don't need to be reloaded in the field and with the right upgrades certain weapons will never overheat. The rifles are basically magnetic accelerator cannons on a super-small scale.

As for picking your own weapons here, well I don't really know. It's part of Mike's little set-up for the guild. If you've got any real questions about that ask him. I guess he wants to keep everyone from just giving themselves the best weapons and armor from the get-go. Of course, I could be wrong on every level. According to the in-game canon though, an M4 wouldn't stand a chance against a standard-issue Alliance Lancer.

Gameplay wise, well they all kinda suck in terms of accuracy. But what did you expect from an RPG? Especially one that bills itself as a "shooter RPG". Hopefully we'll have vastly improved combat in ME2, but I'm not expecting anything better than the first game.