One-class wonders. You know, that guy who "plays sniper". Only. So he can quick-scope headshot the pimple on a gnat's arse from the other side of the map while it flies through a keyhole at 35mph. Big frickin' whoop. But can he do anything that actually helps the team? Can he bollocks.
It does seem to be sniper more often than anything else. My disdain applies to any class, but snipers bother me the most, firstly because they are in general vastly more numerous than the one-class wonders for all other classes combined, but secondly because in most of these games the sniper class is largely useless except for taking out the other side's snipers (well that really achieved something, eh?) and stroking one's e-peen. Myself? I play as what the team needs. And yes, my personal performance will be stronger with some classes than others, but by switching classes I can make the team stronger. A concept that seems to to be strangely elusive to most players, even in Team Fortress 2.
Which brings me of another hate of mine - KDR. It's all well and good in a deathmatch game like Quake 3, indeed it's pretty much the point, but it has no place in a game about teamwork and/or objectives, such as Battlefield, TF2 or Planetside 2 (especially PS2, with its persistent world and the unending nature of the conflict). KDR distracts players, discourages teamplay and frequently causes friction (see next paragraph). KDR tracking is an enormous problem in Planetside 2 - you get the "elite" snipers and fighter "aces" who have ridiculous KDR, sometimes over 20, but they don't do a single thing except "farm" cheap & easy kills, which in a persistent world with territory control and (relatively) quick respawns achieves precisely f*ck all. Tanks are better for clearing out enemies, and it's the assault classes and medics and engineers who go in and take points, and that's what gets shit done. And then there's the medics who should be focusing more on revives than kills, and anyone who's done any squad/platoon leading is getting killed frequently by having to spend so much time staring at the map - and these guys are doing perhaps the most helpful tasks of all. And yet having a crappy KDR always bothers me, I feel obliged to at least try to maximise it simply because it is recorded, so I have to constantly tell myself to ignore it and play properly instead.
All of these things were epitomised by this single f*cktard infiltrator (cloaker/sniper class) I once had the displeasure of encountering, who deliberately TKed me (in the middle of a firefight, thus indirectly causing 2-3 additional friendly casualties and almost costing us the objective) because I "stopped his farming/kill streak" by shooting him once (and once only, before realising my mistake and apologising), after he ran at me from the direction of the enemy lines, at the head of an enemy charge, cloaked, one shot away from death. I wish I could remember his name, so I could link his Planetside profile page as an example of everything that is wrong in that game. Suffice it to say I reported that idiot, though I doubt anything came of it - one can only hope Karma will kick him in the balls, preferably hard enough to stop him from ever reproducing.
While we're on the subject I'll say I also share the usual complaints about PvP FPS - spawncamping, exploits, hackers, weapon balance - but they're all fairly obvious I think.
It does seem to be sniper more often than anything else. My disdain applies to any class, but snipers bother me the most, firstly because they are in general vastly more numerous than the one-class wonders for all other classes combined, but secondly because in most of these games the sniper class is largely useless except for taking out the other side's snipers (well that really achieved something, eh?) and stroking one's e-peen. Myself? I play as what the team needs. And yes, my personal performance will be stronger with some classes than others, but by switching classes I can make the team stronger. A concept that seems to to be strangely elusive to most players, even in Team Fortress 2.
Which brings me of another hate of mine - KDR. It's all well and good in a deathmatch game like Quake 3, indeed it's pretty much the point, but it has no place in a game about teamwork and/or objectives, such as Battlefield, TF2 or Planetside 2 (especially PS2, with its persistent world and the unending nature of the conflict). KDR distracts players, discourages teamplay and frequently causes friction (see next paragraph). KDR tracking is an enormous problem in Planetside 2 - you get the "elite" snipers and fighter "aces" who have ridiculous KDR, sometimes over 20, but they don't do a single thing except "farm" cheap & easy kills, which in a persistent world with territory control and (relatively) quick respawns achieves precisely f*ck all. Tanks are better for clearing out enemies, and it's the assault classes and medics and engineers who go in and take points, and that's what gets shit done. And then there's the medics who should be focusing more on revives than kills, and anyone who's done any squad/platoon leading is getting killed frequently by having to spend so much time staring at the map - and these guys are doing perhaps the most helpful tasks of all. And yet having a crappy KDR always bothers me, I feel obliged to at least try to maximise it simply because it is recorded, so I have to constantly tell myself to ignore it and play properly instead.
All of these things were epitomised by this single f*cktard infiltrator (cloaker/sniper class) I once had the displeasure of encountering, who deliberately TKed me (in the middle of a firefight, thus indirectly causing 2-3 additional friendly casualties and almost costing us the objective) because I "stopped his farming/kill streak" by shooting him once (and once only, before realising my mistake and apologising), after he ran at me from the direction of the enemy lines, at the head of an enemy charge, cloaked, one shot away from death. I wish I could remember his name, so I could link his Planetside profile page as an example of everything that is wrong in that game. Suffice it to say I reported that idiot, though I doubt anything came of it - one can only hope Karma will kick him in the balls, preferably hard enough to stop him from ever reproducing.
While we're on the subject I'll say I also share the usual complaints about PvP FPS - spawncamping, exploits, hackers, weapon balance - but they're all fairly obvious I think.
