But why? What is it meant to accomplish?

Making snipers actually part of the battlefield, rather than relegated to the far sides.

Not what you said. What Joel said.

current is alright.. i'd make it less sway when crouching or standing completely still. do that and you'll see more snipers mid field.

yeah like dude above me said, make sway a skill maybe? something you have to put 1 mil sp into

As someone who put some time in as a sniper I think the current mechanics are OK. Not great, but OK.

I don't like the fact that my sniper starter suites are useless now; but if they could be replaced with something useful that would be nice. Perhaps some type of non-assault rifle with a high magnification scope, but with a much shorter range.

I don't like "Red Line Snipers" but I do see the need for them and to a certain degree understand why it happens. The best course of action to counter red liners is to snipe them back. In reality, sniping from a safe position happens all the time. Jumping in as a sniper when you see your team is not trying to win is my solution to farmers.

As I wrote this the idea of having much shorter range weapons to use on the sniper starter suites came to my mind as one way we might fix the whole thing with red line issues as well as make people keep their heads down versus running around like crazy. That way the new people could "mix it up" but at the same time pick their individual battles wisely.

I've also been an advocate of non-constant movement. It is not realistic enough to be in constant motion on a battlefield. I think some real science ought to be factored into our science fiction game; and constantly running around in order to prevent from being sniped is not realistic. Constant movement should cost stamina over time, and once all stamina is used up you should have to take a breather (as in completely stop moving) at least for a few seconds (which is all most snipers need if you are not under some type of cover). Once stamina starts to recover you can get moving again.

What if it was a constant thing, but very small instead of a massive away at first and then nothing?

Just came to mind while thinking about something. What would most of you guys prefer? The current sway mechanics, or a constant, smaller sway?

EDIT: Think around the Ion Pistol's Charge Sway mechanic, but very, very slow. The current sway speed. It still allows to land your shots in ADS, but you have a bit of work to do, however minimal. I'm not saying to reduce it to a certain level, but rather have it much smaller than it is now and have it be constant. Which would you guys like? Think preference rather than practical first, then provide a reason.