I actually think the auto nerf in conjunction with the pulse buff was to entice players even more to jump on the pulse rifles to actually try them out. I think if they would have just buffed pulse's, the large percentage of auto users would have been content with just still using autos. So to get more players to actually try out pulse rifles, they did the nerf. I'm actually REALLY hoping now that pulse's have been tried out and a popular weapon type to use now, they rebuff autos to where they previously were.