If it doesn't ruin gameplay, then why has it been taken out?
Kind of "The Lord works in mysterious ways" argument there don't you think?
I can't disagree with the removal entirely though. The thing is that it really wasn't great to begin with. The round the gun fire(d/s) did about 30 times less damage to apcs than the standard 25mm HEI that they used. They didn't have aimers or any kind of optic either, and after about a second of fire they produce a large amount of gas that obscures the target. The M167 fires at 900 rpm currently, which is maybe 1/4 - 1/5 of its real life value. So basically:
- Low damage (compared to similarly dimensioned rounds in PR)
- Low accuracy (no aimer)
- Can't be reloaded (except for more enterprising players)
- Exposed driver
- Low rof (M167)
- Static
I can say with certainty I've never been hit by one in the air, and only vaguely recall being hit on the ground. I do remember killing a lot of people who were in them, sometimes after they started shooting at me. They simply are not suited for air defense in the slightest, and don't fair well in ground defense. These guns basically were area denial weapons; you place them in a valley or in the center of a city and then fire wildly at places you'd except infantry to hide, and occasionally catch a squad in the open. The only thing I really liked or missed about them was their ability to target and dispatch incoming fast vehicles.
And as per their removal I have seen way more truck/jeeps driving into flags as there isn't a whole lot that can hit them short of a manned ATGM, especially on infantry only maps. But the lack of zoom or sight to acquire targets combined with makes them sort of useless. Like most weapons, the AA was most effective when you didn't know it was there. And once you did (you can hear them from across the map), all they really needed was some well placed rifle shots and at the very least the guy usually got out. If he kept firing it didn't take much to either get a headshot or destroy the gun completely.
*incidentally I think one of the main reasons that they're used on ground targets is the lack of air targets on 75% of the maps.