Snipers get a bad rap in gaming?

[Gindil]

I look at Sniping as the ultimate Ace in the hole.

The range is one thing to piss me off. I have NO way of protecting myself against a sniper. All of my carefully picked up weapons means very little except another sniper rifle.

But if there are to be snipers, I would love a way to take him/her out.

TF2 solves this with the Spy. Cloak, backstab, and now you have a paranoid spy checker rolling around. Always fun for laughs.

MW2 is kinda... Meh

Anyway, just a way to trump snipers is always a good thing to me.

 

[Rylingo]

Anyway, my point is, that yes, theres little challenge for a sniper, at least in comparison to more in-your-face roles, but also that the person you're killing has absolutely no way to fight back, unless THEY become a sniper, which really doesn't help matters.

There are several ways to combat sniping without sniping back. Use some stealth and stop running down the middle of roads being the best. Try using smoke grenades to get close enough to kill them. Since most snipers are foolish enough to stay in one position just use a long range explosive weapon or learn to be accurate with grenades.
Heck theres a lot of challenge being a sniper. Id say its the most challenging role. You cannot come into direct contact with the enemy or you will lose (if their competent). It requires you to be much more wary
of your surroundings and be ready to bail out at any second.

 

[Sgt Doom]

I never cease to be amused by people complaining about snipers because they're dying constantly from rushing the same damn path over and over again, not bothering to use a little stealth or take an alternate route to get close and kill the sniper. Cept maybe in MW2, with how screwed up the MP aspect of that is it's fairly understandable.

 

[Maddenfreak]

maybe snipers get a bad rap because you can just be minding your own business, killing people with a carbine, when BOOM!, your screen goes grey with a skull in the middle, while your character flails in the air from a sniper shot. happends all the time in Resistance 2 competitive, its annoying at times, but the occasional death from sniper shot is better than a grenade being thrown like brett favre in your direction, thinking "thiers no way that will make it over here" then you explode.

 

[DeadEyeDragon]

I really don't hate snipers, hell I even give compliments for some of the outrageous kills they get on me. I also believe a team wouldn't be complete without at the most two snipers. It's just that snipers ruin matches for me when more than half the players in a match are sniping in which case it makes what could have been a 2-8 minute fast paced shoot out a 10-15 minute, at the longest for me 20 minute, mind game . I mean come on if I wanted to use my highest brain power for long periods of time I'd go play chess or checkers or something.

 

[Larmo]

I play MAG and some spots on the map always have snipers, but they use the same spots so when one gets me I come back and chuck a grenade, an i have a very accurate assault rifle and just aim where they fired from. But sometimes you find a really good one, even if hes the enemy you have to admire a good sniper.

But other times that kills the whole operation, if your defending and the attacking team is half snipers the wont get the manpower necessary to push forward but they will get lots of annoying kills.

 

[Silver]

I suspect real life snipers have the same rep by the people they kill, or relatives and squadmates thereof at least.

 

[Sephychu]

It just makes the target feel small if they weren't expecting it. Which, in a game with snipers in it, should never happen. There are so many ways to avoid them, and the fact that they play in a different way to you should not mean that you can't beat them if the game is well enough designed.

As you may or may not have noticed, I'm a devoted sniper, and I love doing it in games.

 

[DustyDrB]

There's rarely any interaction between sniper and snipee, which is where the "fun" comes from. That's where the bad rap comes.

That may be it. People think the sniper doesn't put himself in danger the way everyone else does. Snipers just have different objectives. It's not run out and shoot whoever you see. You have to go through a lot of work to find a good location at times. Then, in games like Team Fortress 2, your location is given away after every kill, and people come after you with revenge on their mind. I don't play the sniper often because I'm terrible at precision aiming, but they are a vital part of the team.

 

[wester.will]

I almost never snipe, lacking the mentality required, but even so, my reaction to people who complain about snipers is effectively "suck it up". I'm forced to regard anything that the developers included in the game as a legitimate tactic, and even as a close-combat guy, there are usually plenty of options for dealing with snipers if you're willing to move past being frustrated. People get mad because they think "Oh my god, that sniper just shot me for the fortieth time," rather than thinking "Ok, he's shot me from the same location twice now. It's time to shoot a bunch of rockets at his position, or sneak up behind him by going through the tunnels, or use voice chat to tell a sniper on my team where to look."

It's been said up-thread, but it really does piss me off when half of a team picks a sniper class. I've been playing a lot of War for Cybertron, and had a number of occasions where I was forced to think to myself "guys, if you're all going to use the sniping scout, you look like an idiot if someone of another class is both capturing objectives and has more kills than all four of you put together."

 

[Doctor Glocktor]

A couple reasons. First theres so goddamned many. Two, they arent team players. While thats fine in a game like CoD, in a game like BFBC2 or TF2, its just being selfish. Three, they cause alot of rage because theyre the cowards of all the different types of gun classes in games.

 

[InsanityBaronOfAtrocity]

In objective based games like sabotage (MW2) or point capture (tf2) they do seem fairly useless. It means the "lone wolf" *cringe* snipers are doing nothing to contribute to the team. Instead opting to pick off a few in the hope of getting the most lolkillz.

 

[awesomeClaw]

Snipers deserve every once of hate they get. They were the reason i quit online gaming, and converted to single and co-op only.

why? what did snipers do to you?

Glad to see some discussion on this. Yes, do tell us, why DO you hate snipers?

Okay, let me put it this way:

I like shooting people. I don´t like getting shot in a fair fight, but thats blows you gotta take. I don´t like getting shot by an enemy i couldn´t see in the first place, and even if i could, he would be to far away shoot, and thats not blows i feel (Or felt, rather) i need to take. "Well then change your strategy then" says elite #1. Well heres the thing:

I DON`T WANT TOO CHANGE MY STRATEGY FOR SNIPERS. I like running around like a chicken killing all noobs in sight. I like getting in a coverbased, tactical fight with someone whos just as skilled as me. I like getting shot up by a superior opponent only to learn their ways and take them down. But i don´t like having to slowly inch my way across the map taking cover every 0.5 seconds and pray to the gods that some dickhead sitting in a tower 10000 yards away doesn´t decide to blow my nuts off. I don´t feel thats fun, i guess. And i wouldn´t have a problem with snipers if they weren´t in every single online shooter ever made ever.

"Well whats diffrent about this singleplayer thing you´re talking about?" asks elite #2.
Well there, a (hopefully) compelling story keeps driving me forward no matter the challenges, unlike online, where the only thing driving me forward is how much fun i have, and i don´t have fun with snipers in the game.

Also, this would be a good time to mention that im hosting a group for people who hate snipers, where you can set up sniper-free games with other like-minded people!

 

[meepop]

I don't let Snipers get to me. I hate getting sniped in Team Fortress 2, but I suck at sniping myself. Only time I'm ever good at sniping is occasionally BF: BC 2 and actually pretty good at BF: 1943. Snipers have every right to do what they do and it's hard--I suck 'cause I can never see people like others can and can never seem to get a headshot.

Edit: In response to the above, stop QQ-ing, you can snipe too ya know! Do you want snipers to be removed from the game entirely? Snipers need to be hidden and pretty well-powered--if they're not, someone's gonna find them and kill them. Don't get me wrong, with trace fire and all that, but still.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Snip

Actually, it is more close to home then you think. Sure, it is much easier, with few games having nearly as many things one has to keep track of that real Snipers have to (such as wind, gravity, sway, etc.), the feeling people get towards them is very real. In a real war, Snipers are the single most hated person by the soldiers. Getting your leg blown off by somebody sitting in a tree a half a mile away by some sniper will cause huge amounts of anger. Since you can't see nor attack a Sniper in most ways, it seams "unfair" to the guys on the ground since every other enemy they fight they can see, and know that if they died, they were the ones that made the mistake.

 

[TheAceTheOne]

Snipers deserve every once of hate they get. They were the reason i quit online gaming, and converted to single and co-op only.

why? what did snipers do to you?

Glad to see some discussion on this. Yes, do tell us, why DO you hate snipers?

Okay, let me put it this way:

I like shooting people. I don´t like getting shot in a fair fight, but thats blows you gotta take. I don´t like getting shot by an enemy i couldn´t see in the first place, and even if i could, he would be to far away shoot, and thats not blows i feel (Or felt, rather) i need to take. "Well then change your strategy then" says elite #1. Well heres the thing:

I DON`T WANT TOO CHANGE MY STRATEGY FOR SNIPERS. I like running around like a chicken killing all noobs in sight. I like getting in a coverbased, tactical fight with someone whos just as skilled as me. I like getting shot up by a superior opponent only to learn their ways and take them down. But i don´t like having to slowly inch my way across the map taking cover every 0.5 seconds and pray to the gods that some dickhead sitting in a tower 10000 yards away doesn´t decide to blow my nuts off. I don´t feel thats fun, i guess. And i wouldn´t have a problem with snipers if they weren´t in every single online shooter ever made ever.

"Well whats diffrent about this singleplayer thing you´re talking about?" asks elite #2.
Well there, a (hopefully) compelling story keeps driving me forward no matter the challenges, unlike online, where the only thing driving me forward is how much fun i have, and i don´t have fun with snipers in the game.

Also, this would be a good time to mention that im hosting a group for people who hate snipers, where you can set up sniper-free games with other like-minded people!

Snipers seem to be an integral part of gaming, whether they're intended to be or not. If you can't adapt to playing with them, perhaps another style of game is for you. Try some... Bejeweled maybe? Sarcasm aside, you don't have to be rude to snipers. "Some dickhead sitting in a tower 10,000 yards away" probably spent hours upon hours upon hours (Like I did), practicing their technique and attempting to do what they like. While I appreciate the sentiment of moving inch by inch and praying you're not assassinated, adaption is the key to life. Deal with unpleasant, don't insult it.

 

[TheAceTheOne]

Snip

Actually, it is more close to home then you think. Sure, it is much easier, with few games having nearly as many things one has to keep track of that real Snipers have to (such as wind, gravity, sway, etc.), the feeling people get towards them is very real. In a real war, Snipers are the single most hated person by the soldiers. Getting your leg blown off by somebody sitting in a tree a half a mile away by some sniper will cause huge amounts of anger. Since you can't see nor attack a Sniper in most ways, it seams "unfair" to the guys on the ground since every other enemy they fight they can see, and know that if they died, they were the ones that made the mistake.

I just realized that "Snip" was what I put down there, I intended to say something much more long-winded and opinionated. Kind of embarrassing.

 

[DigitalSushi]

I dislike other Snipers in KillZone 2, its quite rare to get one that does what he's supposed to and defend target zones, instead they just shoot other snipers because chances are they are standing still to remain invisible.

In one game the opposing team had six snipers taking pot shots at the opposing teams sniper (me), the game was over very quickly because it allowed us to get all objectives since they weren't defending them.

wow that is such an epic failure it's not even funny. well, okay, maybe a little.

I know what you mean man, although I do love being a sniper in Killzone 2. They really got it right. Even the little things like holding your controller steady, since the designers integrated the sixaxis motion controls into the sniper scope, so you need a steady hand to get a good shot in.

I do prefer to be a bit more active when being a sniper. I'll usually defending the bridges/corridors/back alleys to our capture points and taking pot shots at enemies down the map. If you're gonna be a sniper, be a team player by defending your guys with some distant thunder, or else get lost as far as I'm concerned.

The really funny thing is they each had less then 5 kills, which means neither of them added to their badge count abilities.

And none of them had spot and mark because their teammates were getting shot round corners due to our positions not being broadcast on their radars, for those not in the know your radar only shows up enemies that the Sniper class has done a spot and mark on that person, in other words Snipers need to see the entire battlefield before he takes a lone wolf approach.

Thats why I think Killzone 2 got multiplayer so right. The Sniper has two of the most powerful abilities in the entire game; Active camoflage and Spot and Mark (The latter of which scans your screen for any enemies and adds the ones it finds to you and your allies radars) with piss poor up close performance and recharge rates on the abilities, just like every other ability.

One big problem is the Engineer's effectiveness, he's too powerful, but I know what you mean with the badges, try laying proxy mines like in COD and your going to get creamed.

 

[awesomeClaw]

Snipers deserve every once of hate they get. They were the reason i quit online gaming, and converted to single and co-op only.

why? what did snipers do to you?

Glad to see some discussion on this. Yes, do tell us, why DO you hate snipers?

Okay, let me put it this way:

I like shooting people. I don´t like getting shot in a fair fight, but thats blows you gotta take. I don´t like getting shot by an enemy i couldn´t see in the first place, and even if i could, he would be to far away shoot, and thats not blows i feel (Or felt, rather) i need to take. "Well then change your strategy then" says elite #1. Well heres the thing:

I DON`T WANT TOO CHANGE MY STRATEGY FOR SNIPERS. I like running around like a chicken killing all noobs in sight. I like getting in a coverbased, tactical fight with someone whos just as skilled as me. I like getting shot up by a superior opponent only to learn their ways and take them down. But i don´t like having to slowly inch my way across the map taking cover every 0.5 seconds and pray to the gods that some dickhead sitting in a tower 10000 yards away doesn´t decide to blow my nuts off. I don´t feel thats fun, i guess. And i wouldn´t have a problem with snipers if they weren´t in every single online shooter ever made ever.

"Well whats diffrent about this singleplayer thing you´re talking about?" asks elite #2.
Well there, a (hopefully) compelling story keeps driving me forward no matter the challenges, unlike online, where the only thing driving me forward is how much fun i have, and i don´t have fun with snipers in the game.

Also, this would be a good time to mention that im hosting a group for people who hate snipers, where you can set up sniper-free games with other like-minded people!

Snipers seem to be an integral part of gaming, whether they're intended to be or not. If you can't adapt to playing with them, perhaps another style of game is for you. Try some... Bejeweled maybe? Sarcasm aside, you don't have to be rude to snipers. "Some dickhead sitting in a tower 10,000 yards away" probably spent hours upon hours upon hours (Like I did), practicing their technique and attempting to do what they like. While I appreciate the sentiment of moving inch by inch and praying you're not assassinated, adaption is the key to life. Deal with unpleasant, don't insult it.

Thats what i have done. From now on, i never play competetive online, since theres a sniper in pretty much any game. So i have dealt with it.