Why is the Ballistic Equipment useless?

[Malidictus]

I apologise for the rant and no, this isn't about the cost. Just...

Why can't I actually USE my Ballistic Equipment for anything productive? I was fine with needing a bunker and doing research and spending half a million buying the thing. I'm even fine with the physical limitations of barely being able to sprint and not being able to ride vehicles. But why is this thing disabled in any kind of content besides free roam? Why can't I use it in heists or in missions, or when resupplying my businesses?

Yes, the Ballistic Equipment is pretty powerful when all you need to do is a straight-up firefight, but it's hardly the only item in the game that's this powerful *coughoppressorcough* and it has fairly limited use. So what if I want to spend $5000 and roflstomp some Humane Labs personnel on the way to their Railguns? Who's that really hurting? I already paid a substantial amount of money for it. This doesn't even have the boilerplate excuse of forcing me into multiplayer or playing with friends, because we can't actually DO anything together if I'm using the thing.

I'm sure you guys see one of these every few days, but YE GADS is this annoying. Such a missed opportunity. Feels rather like if I bought a Minigun but the game didn't let me use anywhere but pointless free-roam.

[cruste]

you already know the answer
original online mode is a dictatorship and R* dictates the rules.

you need to seek for alternatives if you want more freedom.

[Lil C]-[ew C]-[ew is ☂д☂]

I haven't purchased this thing because I've once came to my mind what if there are restriction in the use of it? I wondered if I could wear that armor while pilotting the buzzard...players answered...no you can't pilot/drive vehicles while wearing that.
One more reason why you should not get stuff thinking you can use on anyway in the game. Research before actually buying.

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by cruste:

you need to seek for alternatives if you want more freedom.

Right... Judging by the UI, they're not really open to player feedback much, are they? It just baffles me why something like the Oppressor Mk2 is usable everywhere, but Ballistic Equipment was the place they drew the line. "No! Too poweful!"

Originally posted by Lil C-ew C-ew is ಥ﹏ಥ:

One more reason why you should not get stuff thinking you can use on anyway in the game. Research before actually buying.

As I said, the price of admission isn't really the issue here. I bought the Bunker as a source of income and I could easily afford the 500 grand needed to buy it. It set me back some, but I wouldn't have spent money I didn't have. What galls me is the missed opportunity. This could have been a really awesome tool to add to my toolkit, same as an Insurgent or a Terrorbyte.

Instead, it's a novelty toy with no real use, and it makes me wonder why. What design purpose does this serve? Because it feels absolutely arbitrary.