Everybody's a Sniper...

[God's Clown]

I play CoD4 on the PC, I use nothing but the first sniper rifle, and sometimes pistol when people get to close. I snipe because in CoD4, its the only way to NOT get blown to pieces by Martyrdom. People say dodge it, but 7/10 times you can't, because another enemy is right there.

I snipe because I hate being close to people with guns, bullets hurt you know. Be fun to have knives only game.

 

[Copter400]

You could play TF2. A team comprised mostly of Snipers is flamebait.

As well as rocketbait, grenadebait, batbait, axebait, stabbait, engiebait...

 

[ThePlasmatizer]

Snipers are definitely cool anyone can run up and spray someone, but when you snipe someone from miles away it's definitely one of those "Hell Yeah!" moments, basically it's fun.

I'm not one of those 1337 snipers, I can snipe but I can't do the whole run+snipe with lightning fast skill.

 

[Madman_Andre]

There's a map I play in Half-Life 2: Deathmatch called "Star Wars." There are a number of different versions of it, but they are all generally the same, and are generally geared toward snipers.

Simply put, if you are good at it, than practice it.

 

[silentassasin47]

I belive these A-Holes get a certin satisfaction in knowing they can watch your character die by getting shot in the crotch.

 

[TaborMallory]

What is everybody's best sniping moment if you can name one?

On halo pc, the FIRST one, some dude with full shields kinda fell of a ledge from very high up. I decided to take a shot at him and actually got a headshot. If you've played Halo pc, or understand the amount of time it takes the bullet to travel, you would know why he thought I was hacking.

I've also got a fairly large amount of vehicle snipes/point-blank snipes/etc. and most of the newbies usually accuse me for the same reason.

 

[Zeke109]

I enjoy sniping, though in real life I only do it in paintball. They never see that tang-orange ball coming. I am mediocre to you in many ways. Teach me, O sniping one, as paintball is only six days away...
BTW: Robin William's BF2 name is 'neoflee', and he's a sniper. go, sniping celebrities!

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

No I agree with you.

However what I've found with Halo 3 is at the start of the match it is a race for the single sniper rifle, then you have three guys camping around its spawn point, ignoring the action going on outside, waiting for the rifle to reappear. One beligerant f*cker may even take a crack at you or kill you if you get it before them.

I make no bones about it I enjoy sniping, but it really depends if the game lends itself to it. I like finding a secluded spot in the level with only one potential entry/exit point, tracing an oblivious enemy's movements and trying to anticipate their next one before pulling the trigger. Succeed and there is a feeling of accomplishment. Fail and you have to frantically squeeze off a couple of rounds before they wise up and hunt you down.

 

[gamebrain89]

If you want to complain about snipers, try playing combat arms. for those who don't know, its a free online multiplayer fps made by Nexon( the maple story people). I know, its a crappy game, but I'm poor and my pc can't handle other games. Its basically impossible to get any amounts of kills without a sniper in that game, as everyone who plays it keeps one on them at all times, and can drop you from across the map is 2 shots. I HATE THAT!!!! just running along, blasting at people with my ak-74, and get dropped by some punk behind a tree halfway across the map.

 

[Bamcrash]

I think the thrill of sniping and the reason people like to snipe is they are helping their allies from an area where they will not be killed, at least not easily. If you were covering your teammates with a shotgun you could all be wiped out with one nade, but from half the map away, you can pick off ambush-ready enemies and save your teammate(s). However, this only works if the team is communicating (intelligently) and they have attackers to push foreward as well.

Generally... bad snipers are utterly worthless cocky bastards, mediocre snipers are loud cocky bastardsand good snipers are smug cocky bastards.
Bleh!quote]
I see where you are coming from on this but not all snipers are bastards. At least I am not.

 

[Zeke109]

im not a bastard, either...

 

[Draconysius]

It's gotten to a point where anyone who doesn't snipe is flamed. It's quite ridiculous.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

Snipers on TF2, COD4, and in the Battlefield games have never been overpowered, especially not in COD4.

Thanks for reminding me of a bunch of console games (and PC games, I know) that don't have overpowered snipers. But to the point at hand, I'll take an example now, let's say...

Counter strike.

Or is it all just hacks?

What is everybody's best sniping moment if you can name one?

On halo pc, the FIRST one, some dude with full shields kinda fell of a ledge from very high up. I decided to take a shot at him and actually got a headshot. If you've played Halo pc, or understand the amount of time it takes the bullet to travel, you would know why he thought I was hacking.

I've also got a fairly large amount of vehicle snipes/point-blank snipes/etc. and most of the newbies usually accuse me for the same reason.

Also on Halo: Combat Evolved on PC I got a headshot from one base on Blood Gulch to the other by jumping to see over the hills in the middle. So yeah, a mid-air shot the length of the map. Okay, so maybe it was a combination of fluke and playing against someone who thinks standing still on an all sniper game is a good idea. But to hell with reality, I obviously have mad skillz!

 

[Iron Mal]

I can see why sniping is important in single player games (you have an entire army against you in most cases so having the capacity to discreetly do away with a few of them is a bonus) but in multiplayer games it does get irritating for the same reason spies in TF2 and grenades in general get irritating: it works far too often.

The only sniper rifle I have seen which keeps to the true spirit of sniping (i.e: long range combat with well placed, thought out shots) is the sniper rifle in TF2. Other than that most games have the sniper rifle as a 1-hit kill monster with plenty of ammo in reserve and an alright rate of fire (look at Halo 3's sniper, its pretty much semi automatic).

 

[fix-the-spade]

What would you snipe with in HL2DM? Crossbow? Magnum?

Why, the RPG of course, it's a sniper's gun that really can shoot round corners.

 

[Novan Leon]

I actually have a very in-depth theory on this. As I see it, the appeal of FPS sniping is largely due to the following factors:

--> One-shot kill > multiple-shot kill. It's just much more fun to take down an opponent with a single well aimed shot than a spray bullets. Since most weapons in the typical FPS cannot kill with a single shot (unlike real life) and the sniper rifles usually being the only weapons powerful enough to pull this off, the sniper rifle tends to draw a large following. This is one of the things that really helped to create the popularity of Counter-Strike, the fact that you could take down an opponent with a single shot with pretty much any gun, given your aim was good enough.
--> Stealth kill > regular kill. The only thing more fun than taking down an opponent with a single well aimed shot, is to do it from a hidden location where he/she had no clue what hit them. This happens much more often if you're a mile away sitting in a pile of rubbish than if you're at a closer proximity. Obviously the sniper rifle tends to be better at these ranges.
--> No scoping. People love to use a weapon/tool/object in ways it wasn't mean to be used as a way to show off their skill.
--> Coolness factor. Sniping and snipers have a stereotypical "coolness" factor based on misinformation and Hollywood glorification, along with some very legitimate true-life stories about snipers who were incredibly talented or placed in difficult situations and prevailed.

Most of the above could be prevented by including more realistic weapons in the games, hence creating more realistic game play. In the more realistic games, sniping is much more difficult and a lot less glamorous. This just isn't the intent in most games though. If you'd pay attention, you'd be surprised just how unrealistic even the supposedly "realistic" games like R6:V are.

 

[B4D 9R4MM3R]

I agree with the OP. When everybody is a sniper there is just less fun. Admittedly, I'm not a particularly good sniper, but I know the basic mechanics.

In Unreal I no-scope headshot people (well, my school friends, but none of us are uber or whatever) all the time, but at a cost: I can't actually scope kill people at all. Seriously, I'm better no-scoping on facing worlds than using the scope. As such, the sniper rifle is just another hitscan weapon to...

That's it! The problem with sniping is that sniper rifles in most FPSs are hitscan weapons (instant hit). As such moving the reticule over a person's head and firing nails you a kill. You don't have to adjust for wind and such, nor do you have to anticipate the enemy's movements.

Regardless, without fail I always end up using an assault rifle or some other mid-range weapon. It's far more satisfying to out-snipe someone with an assault rifle than with a sniper rifle.

 

[MrNeil]

I enjoy sniping, though in real life I only do it in paintball. They never see that tang-orange ball coming. I am mediocre to you in many ways. Teach me, O sniping one, as paintball is only six days away...
BTW: Robin William's BF2 name is 'neoflee', and he's a sniper. go, sniping celebrities!

You can't reeeaaallly snipe in paintball matches and despite radical claims - it cannot be done in airsoft either. If you play either of these two games and class yourself as a sniper then you are fundamentally "that bloke who doesn't want to be shot" and therefore a big wuss!

- Cue death threats and the throwing of rotten vegetables lol -

I still don't understand the popularity of the position though, guys. Why do people think it's cool? That's really the question I'm asking.

 

[MrNeil]

(Please delete, moddy )

 

[MrNeil]

Bamcrash: Are you telling me, then, that gamers enjoy sniping because they're too wussy (even in a computer game) to get into the middle and fight for real? They just want to avoid being shot?

Draconysius: Thank you, this is the point I wanted to make with this thread - if you're NOT a fan of sniping, then you're almost a shut-out to the majority of the FPS mutliplayer community lol