Garrett Blacknova
Codex Troopers
5573
   |
Posted - 2014.05.27 05:48:00 -
[1] - Quote
Cutting Sniper range is a terrible idea.
Adding special effects to Snipers AND LIMITING THE RANGE ON THOSE ABILITIES would be more beneficial. At present, Snipers aren't killing competent players very often unless they're GOOD Snipers, and even then they're only really doing so when they're moving out from the redline, or when their whole team is trapped behind the redline being spawn-camped. Redline Snipers are only a valid and real threat when your team is failing, or when everyone on the enemy team is in the redline, at which point they don't count.
Run with the usually-suggested option of a scoped sniper being able to "mark" a target by keeping them in the sights. Limit the range on THAT ability to around 300m, but even that should be more than your proposed 200m effective range, because being that close to enemies is usually a sign that the sniper has failed at their job. Snipers are MEANT to keep distance from enemies, NOT close in on them. That's why they have a low ammo count and slow fire rate with relatively high damage. And it's also why their damage is rarely enough to one-shot targets without headshots.
Also, keep in mind that while lining two shots up is often faster than one headshot, the enemy is often taking cover after the first shot and preventing you from landing a second one. When the choice is between 100% damage and the target is gone or 195% damage and the target MIGHT be dead and will definitely be hurting, imagine if you added a short-term marker lighting the wounded target up on TACNET as well. Now imagine that marking a target also awards the Sniper with a bonus like the one for Scanning enemies before they're killed off.
This would shift the Sniper's role from being merely a killer to being long-range fire support (only a semi-viable role now) with mid-range EWAR functions adding to their effectiveness in that role. Assists would be easier to come by, and even if you couldn't get a clean shot, lighting up a target as they move to flank your teammates would - like it used to with fully shared TACNET - help your teammates to see the threat and respond. |
Garrett Blacknova
Codex Troopers
5618
|
Posted - 2014.08.05 08:19:00 -
[2] - Quote
Onesimus Tarsus wrote:KDR matchmaking
This is a terrible idea.
A (non-redline) sniper with 10/0 has a "better" K/D than a guy who went 16/2 on the front lines, but while useful, WASN'T more valuable without teammates keeping the enemy at the ideal distance for the sniper to get kills.
Neither of those players is more useful than the medic who goes 0/3 but prevents 5+ deaths with a repair tool AND revives the 7/2 guy both times he's taken down as well as reviving several other players to make their deaths not count.
K/D matchmaking would define the medic - who provided MORE of an advantage to the team than the others - as a less successful player.
When dealing with straight combat gameplay with no healing or reviving allowed, K/D based matchmaking is often - but not always - a good measure of skill. In DUST and other games where players can focus on roles other than direct combat, it doesn't work. Tankers and snipers would end up being ripped away from those teammates who make their playstyles viable, and medics will be lumped in with utterly useless players in spite of being significantly more skilled than their K/D implies. |