Over heating isnt a bad idea, but it should happen over 10 seconds of continuous fire... after that any sense of 'surprise' is null and void and the richottet bug/glitch wont matter because you'll be in a nasty turning game.

Or maybe just force burst fire option of 3-5 shots per space bar push or mouse click?

I know I get 85% of my kills from being behind my opponent and I have yet to kill someone in a turn.

side note:

Games are very loosely canon, they are at best filler info when taking into acount canon. I mean it was X-wing games that made the common misconception that the sensor bulbs on ISD's were Shield Generators.

but then again I'm not with FS so I don't know what they consider lore worthy.

I agree with JeRK here. You have to spam targets with laser fire because hits in the side top bottom of a fighter don’t do damage. It hard enough already destroying a fighter with out adding out adding over heating to the Equation . And here’s the countermeasure  to space sniping if you a tie or a lesser fighter don’t play chicken with a x-wing or tie interceptor they will win every time it suicide so don’t fly directly at them  when there coming head on wait for them to fly past you swing round and shot them up the bum works every time. And as for fighter spamming cruisers with laser fire what wrong with that? those fighters all busy spamming the ship with there guns you fly behind them wham bam thank you mama  you get a free kill. And I don’t what an argument with you or any one else and I not trying to hurt your feeling or be rude. But what you’ve proposed is a terrible idea with ill considered implications to the game if they are included. But your thinking which is good keep at it mate .