Eternal Technique
Zumari Force Projection
Caldari State
281
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Posted - 2012.11.11 19:38:00 -
[1] - Quote
So I have been sniping since the 2nd Build and every now and then I make one of these threads. Here are my thoughts:
 Red Zone Snipers:
There seems to be a lot of complaints on snipers who stand in their spawn trying to get kills without taking any real risk by using militia gear. Changing sniper mechanics or nerfing snipers across the board will not fix this. The issue is the red zone itself. Fix that and you solve the first half of this problem. The second half (militia gear) is an easy fix: Nerf the militia and maybe the standard snipers. Also you can increase the cost of snipers. Snipers do not die a lot, so make their deaths hurt financially. Honestly the problem of people using militia snipers is not as much as an issue imo as the game moves forward. As people get better suits and fittings the militia and standard snipers will do inadequate damage to be effective in most matches.
EDIT: THis thread suggests a good way to fix red line sniping imo. https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=389672#post389672
The Role of Snipers:
This is huge. At the moment, there seems to be a great deal of frustration among players over snipers who stay far away from the objective and one shot people off without really putting themselves in harms way (ie within range of an assault rifle). As I stated above, nerfing snipers will not fix this. This is a much bigger issue and to address it you must ask GÇ£What is the role of a sniper?GÇ¥ In my opinion there are only a couple viable roles for snipers. The first of which is the traditional role, staying far away, hitting people from a distance. The other option is the GÇÿaggressiveGÇÖ sniper. This style of gameplay is much more skill intensive typically and involves getting close to objectives sniping people from mid or even close range.
At the moment almost every sniper mechanic in the game caters to the traditional role. Having to crouch to eliminate scope sway, the random reticle location upon initially aiming down scope, the damage of snipers, and the low HP on scout suits all discourage snipers from getting within range of enemies. The result is having a majority of players opting for this style of gameplay. I believe it is a legitimate gameplay style with adequate counters, but if players want to change this then you have to change the mechanics to encourage an aggressive role. Yes you can play aggressively atm by equipping a type II assault suit fitting a SMG as backup and go to town, but this fit has serious drawbacks and is far from a true aggressive sniper role and most people will not go this route.
If snipers are nerfed by adding more scope sway (while crouched or in between shots), adding bullet drop and travel time for all snipers will not discourage people from sniping on hills, instead it will further encourage it. As a rule of thumb, the weaker sniper rifles are made, the more cautious snipers will be.
CCP needs to look at what they want the role of snipers is in DUST to be and change the mechanics accordingly. As I said I am satisfied with the current mechanics that cater to the traditional role. Aggressive sniping is doable atm but I donGÇÖt think it is as effective given the current mechanics.
Suggested Fixes:
Blue shield flashes need to stop NAO. Fix hit detection, particularly on snipers on mountains. Anyone familiar with sniping in this build knows what I am talking about.
Change sniper recoil so that it doesnGÇÖt reset to the exact same position after every shot, requiring snipers to get the reticle on target again before shooting. Do this instead of re-implementing scope sway between shots, which was annoying and would over-nerf snipers. Increase headshot damage and decrease body shot damage. These two fixes will emphasize the importance of snipers hitting headshots rather than just spamming and getting body shots until someone dies. In other words it rewards skilled snipers and hurts the bad ones.
The Experimental Sniper:
Give us a sniper like the experimental rifle, which has bullet drop and travel time, but do not make all snipers have it. Obviously it is bugged, with shots occasionally landing WAY off target, but the experimental rifle is fun and a rifle like that should be in the game. It takes more skill to use so I would imagine it doing slightly more damage. A minmatar projectile rifle would be perfect. It would add a nice choice for snipers who would be able to choose between 2 different styles of snipers. HOWEVER....
I do not think this style of sniper should replace the current snipers entirely. This is important. Any time you have bullet drop and travel time with a sniper rifle, you are putting a lot of guesswork into sniping. If someone is moving, jumping or doing anything other than running in a straight line or standing still, you are relying on luck, to a certain extent, to hit your target. This will drastically reduce the effectiveness of any sniper by eliminating their ability to consistently hit targets. As a result, the sniper role on organized teams will be nerfed to the point of it being almost ineffective. Teams would rather have another infantry player rather than a sniper who cannot be relied upon to consistently hit targets. This would be a crime to some corps' best snipers.
Snipers should take skill. It should be a role that takes time to skill into before it is truly effective, much like tanks and heavies. Good snipers with good SP should have the tools they need to be an asset to their teams, while bad snipers should pose no real threat to the enemy, apart from a kill here and there. At the moment I think snipers are balanced for the most part. They donGÇÖt need a nerf, they need a couple tweaks such as the ones I suggested. CCP has a habit of over nerfing things when the implement a nerf. I would hate to see this happen to snipers when the nerf is not necessary in the first place. |