W3Y'st'd Days

Wednesday, January 21, 2004

Sniping Unfair?

Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters:
"'FiringSquad has a great article today which puts forth the claim that sniper rifles in multiplayer FPS games have made the genre infinitely worse. They take the time to explain why, and what improvements need to be made. It's definitely not the standard 'I hate campers' article.' The editorial argues: 'Every... 'reason' for the existence of sniper rifles - realism, historical accuracy, weapon diversity, giving players identifiable roles - is a lie', concluding that '...in games, snipers are given a ludicrous advantage over everyone else.'"

i really can't stand snipers either. it takes the interaction out of games. granted, if sniping actually took any amount of skill in fps's, then it might be a little more legitmate to have them in. but as it is, most sniper rifles are insanely inaccurate. i know when i'm trying to sight down a scope or something, unless i have it propped up on something, it is insanely difficult to aim. even silent scope, is too easy because the thing is on this huge tripod.

if they made sniper rifles harder to use, as in, the lens quivers a lot and the field of view is much more narrow, and the time to scope in is longer, it would be a lot more balanced. it would also making sniping an actual skill. as it is, it's not hard at all.