I honestly like a lot of thr mechanics in 4.I think it's just people looking for things to complain about. I'm not a big fan of Fallout 4 weapon design in general but people harping about the realism of pipe weapons was never on my radar of concern. Being overly obsessed with realism in a game that contains very little already due to being a post-apocalyptic science fantasy romp makes me think those particular criticisms are kinda pointless and can be disregarded in general. I'd put it in the same field as criticizing about automotive and sports protection equipment being midtier armor in most games.
If it's an aesthetics thing or whatever sure, but none of the pipe weapons things broke my immersion or enjoyment or even tracked on my radar. Certainly not nearly as egregious as armor sourcing or talking animals which many of the same folks tend to not be bothered by.
Made it feel more immersive to me.
And pipe weapons are like I said, weapons made to look like people will do whatever to survive.
But I agree, it seems they just look for things to hate. But if you hate om the games they like they get all defensive