Wow, so many points and angles to measure effectiveness. I do love a debate. Well, here's some thoughts I've been having.
Aegis wrote:
Snipers = mostly useless. BF2 is a game of armored mobility, period.
So what if you got 25 kills in a round? You weren't killing anything useful like armor or jeeps... you know, the things that take the people to cap flags. Being a "God amongst snipers" still leaves you with an inability to do anything but pick off a few guys at range. Feel free to wave as your bullets *plink* off the skin of my MiG or my M1A1. The sniper never has been, and never will be anything more than a niche role in this world of BF2. 'Tis fun tho.
Armored mobility isn't the end all, be all to the game. A few reasons:
1. Armored mobility isn't really very "mobile." Yes, it gets to flags quicker, but it's generally a larger, juicier target against aircraft, and clever guerrilla tactics from more mobile AT and spec-ops.
2. Armor is generally better at being a support asset to ground troops.
Given that your stats aren't easily accessed, and your post was considerably more well thought out than this following "armor advocate" (vehicle, more precisely), let's do a quick comparison:
ig88 wrote:
the only thing a sniper is useful for is shooting people out of a jet or chopper w/ m95 which is gay as well which is why snipers are gay as hell!
Hmm... I have half the captured CPs as ig88, half the capture assists as ig88, two-thirds the defended CPs as ig88, and all that at half the total time that ig88 has.
Notability's:
Half of my total time is as a sniper.
An eighth of his total time is sniper.
About a half of his time is vehicle time.
About a fifth of my time is vehicle time.
Team Win/Loss ratio is similar. However, team win/loss is usually kinda hard to judge solely upon one player, but we'll compare anyways.
Conclusion:
As a part time sniper, I think I compare with ig88 in usefulness. If he can't see that, then you might as well change his statement to:
"The only thing a armor/helicopter whore is useful for is spawn-raping, which is gay, as well. Which is why vehicle whores are gay as hell!"
However, given that I'm not one to knock the usefulness of pretty much anything in the game, I can't back this statement seriously.
Anyways, let's do a comparison to an obviously skilled player, who said the following:
CHroNO wrote:
but did you win the round
nah
most sniper whore have shitty W/L Ratio
that just prove how useless sniper rifles can be
I have a little under half the captured CPs as CHroNo, a little over half the capture assists as CHroNo, a little under the same defended CPs as CHroNo, and all that at half the total time that CHroNo has.
Notability's:
Half of my total time is as a sniper.
Half of his total time is filling "team" roles of medic and support.
About a third of his time is vehicle time.
About a fifth of my time is vehicle time.
His Team Win/Loss ratio is higher.
With the exception of WLR, our flag capturing/defending stats are very comparable.
usmarine2005 wrote:
.... But some of these guys have a point about capturing flags.
Yes, I agree, but if you look at the comparisons I put above, they really don't have a leg to stand on when making that claim.
Am I disagreeing with you that
some snipers aren't very helpful towards their teams? Not at all.
In fact, most new (green) snipers start out with the kit, because they're trying to not die all the time, and they can slowly (albeit, very slowly) work their way into whatever role they're wanting to fill. However, in my opinion, the sniper kit is probably one of the hardest kits to be effective with, and takes considerably longer time to become "good" with. On the other hand, I think the medic kit is probably the best "starter" kit to play, and is relatively easy to become "good" at. Of course, this is all just my opinion.
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In conclusion:
Most people who say that the sniper kit "sucks," are usually making a general comparison against the majority based upon what they've experienced from their point of views when playing
their preferred kit. However, when statements, like the above, are mentioned, and can be rebutted with examples... does that mean that their broad interpretations are correct?
I leave that for you to answer yourself.