[quote=@Lucidnonsense]
<Snipped quote by Pepperm1nts>

It's flavor
[/quote]

Exactly. As I gather, what sort of weaponry is employed is essentially a cosmetic factor. The only specification on the matter I see among the guidelines is that energy weapons are more expensive to produce, and presumably more destructive, than, I suppose, kinetic ones. As such, debating the merits of energy, plasma or whatever other weapons would amount to arguing over whether it is better to fire green or blue beams, which does not strike me as a particularly insidious point of contention.