Newbies with snipers

[ostrich160]

Hi guys, so I thought it would be an interesting topic to discuss the trend with new airsofters wanting to play as snipers, and what influences this. So, to start off, Ive been talking to many of my friends, and got about 5 of them into airsoft. When I asked what gun they wanted, they all said snipers. I offered assault rifles, but they refused it and said they wanted snipers. Very few new players want to take up a different, and in most cases more needed role, and even less of them really understand what it means to be an airsoft sniper. thankfully, as a newbie I can proudly say I walked a different path, part of me wanted to be a sniper, but I knew it was different than it was commonly portrayed so I went with my first gun, the classic army MP5 (very reliable, never once failed me) and now I have a CM16 carbine G&G combat machine. So, I think the first, and largest cause of this is video games. Now dont get me wrong, this isnt a thread about moaning about how bad video games are, I love video games, I'm a game designer so they are a large portion of my life. So, in video games, the sniper character is portrayed to be special, the infantry class is shown to be disposable and indifferent to the millions of other troops, so video games just put them off to be unimportant. But as a sniper, you are in a league of your own, you have the ability to take an entire army without them ever seeing you. Now, in airsoft, this is not the case. Many players in games will lay there waiting for an enemy for up to 5 minutes, so when you tell them they wont get action for a long time, they assume its the same as this, without knowledge that in airsoft it can take up to an hour, sometimes longer. The sniper is also portrayed to be a unique class, one that nobody else is. Unfortunately because of this, everyone wants to be a sniper, so its no longer a unique class. Finally, a bad point to most sniper games, is how the soldier behind the gun is shown compared to the gun. In airsoft, the user of the sniper is the skilled one, the sniper is just his tool. In video games, many a times is the sniper as a gun portrayed to be the skilled piece, and the operator is merely its guide, so many go in thinking 'If I have a sniper, I am a good player' when they should be thinking 'If Im a good player, I can be a sniper'. Now this isnt to say video games are doing it wrong, and while many are, this is not a rant about the state of the common FPS (I could do a whole thread about how generic they are, but not now). The point of a game is for fantasy, for escapism, if you had to wait for hours upon hours in a game, especially on single player, while it could accurately reenact the job of a sniper, it wouldnt be as much fun as a game where you can just spray down enemies with a bolt action sniper would be. I could go on about this topic into far more detail, but I think I've covered the jist of it. So, what do you think about new players desire to be a sniper?

 

[Tariq]

Games and films constitute every reason to be a sniper. All they see it its a glamour role, that makes you a bad ass.

Nobody ever wants to be a support role, as they think its just sitting in a hole waiting for an attack while carrying some large clunky gun. Some of the best times airsofting was playing as a support gunner at my local weekender. Especially the time when the recon group (pistols and snipers) were being suppressed, call for some firepower and 5 seconds later; i come bailing in, bipod straight down on the wall and hose down 5 enemy players

 

[ostrich160]

Games and films constitute every reason to be a sniper. All they see it its a glamour role, that makes you a bad ass.

Nobody ever wants to be a support role, as they think its just sitting in a hole waiting for an attack while carrying some large clunky gun. Some of the best times airsofting was playing as a support gunner at my local weekender. Especially the time when the recon group (pistols and snipers) were being suppressed, call for some firepower and 5 seconds later; i come bailing in, bipod straight down on the wall and hose down 5 enemy players

I find new players with the support role quite odd. They see in games such as Team fortress 2 that the support role just hammers down enemies and clears a path, and so they see him as awesome, but would rather someone else play as him while they do the sniping. Im personally into the support role, its the next gun Im going to get (havent got one yet as they're not exactly the cheapest of guns), but its something I aspire to be later.

 

[Tariq]

You dont need a designated gun to play in that role, although it helps. Looks a little stupid personally M4s with a box mag.

LSW are cheaper, such as the L86 and the MG36. Lighter, and more manouverable but still have the same characteristics to LMGs, They're normally cheaper as well as the MG36 is just a G36, with a "heavy barrel".

 

[ostrich160]

You dont need a designated gun to play in that role, although it helps. Looks a little stupid personally M4s with a box mag.

LSW are cheaper, such as the L86 and the MG36. Lighter, and more manouverable but still have the same characteristics to LMGs, They're normally cheaper as well as the MG36 is just a G36, with a "heavy barrel".

Hmm, I'll have a think about that. Thanks, Im now one step closer to be heavy support

 

[Nickona]

Its basically due to Cod and Battlefield.. they don't understand all the finer bits of sniping, like hours spend zeroing and adjusting for wind etc..

and Tariq, with my M249 I'm looking forward to getting it to a game!! I've already starting thinking about good places to put it! Although that doesn't mean I'm not going to do some assaulting!

 

[Tariq]

and Tariq, with my M249 I'm looking forward to getting it to a game!! I've already starting thinking about good places to put it! Although that doesn't mean I'm not going to do some assaulting!

Good man. We have a few players that have an M60 and a M249. CQB is very interesting, but they are just as good as any other gun for assaults XD

 

[Monty]

A friend of mine refuses to buy a side arm, he thinks you can just do the 'bang' rule. Which we all know, is pants. The sniper is his first gun and he thinks that he will be able to use the sniper for CQB. Well, If words won't convince him, then someone pistol whipping him will.

 

[Tariq]

Bring him up here It is not compulsory to take the surrender call. :L

 

[Nickona]

Good man. We have a few players that have an M60 and a M249. CQB is very interesting, but they are just as good as any other gun for assaults XD

Unfortunately where I play the proper CQB areas are single only and with no fire selector switch the revolver or shotgun are coming out!

 

[Tariq]

Yeah same here, although our local cqb site has a woodland around it. They like to camp up shop and we just dominate entire areas of the site

 

[Nickona]

Although I do imagine my BB costs will be going up!

 

[Sam_G]

I agree that its is COD and films like shooter where the massively trained sniper never misses!

I like the idea of having a sniper but much prefer the standard "infantry role" I get bored easy so sitting and waiting is not for me.

 

[ostrich160]

I agree that its is COD and films like shooter where the massively trained sniper never misses!

I like the idea of having a sniper but much prefer the standard "infantry role" I get bored easy so sitting and waiting is not for me.

Its more the fact of how terribly these games show the gun itself and not the character behind the gun. The sniper is always the badass, everyone fears him and looks up to him, where as the infantry always...well, they always die first

 

[QuadMachine]

Being an airsoft sniper is devilishly difficult. As you can effectively out run BB's and spend most of CQB games shooting at fractions of exposed body parts, not to mention the wait time involved, its not particularly satisfying. Worse at really long range you might hit the target, but the player doesn't notice or assumes it's a ricochet which is bloody frustrating.

That said sniper isn't a bad entry level role for new guys. They won't experience as much pain on the first few games which won't scare em off, and they stay out of the way of vets who are busy winning the games at the front ;-)

 

[PeteJC21]

China phoned, they want their wall back.

 

[REMSoft]

The amount of kids that I've seen with stock China clones that boast to their friends about their gun's epic range and power is ludicrous. I have seen one or two over the last year who vaguely know what they're doing at U18 games and have bothered with basic upgrades. I had a good bit of fun with my PSG-1 before I sold it which was a good introduction into the sniper role for me.

After buying a KA Blaser R93 I find the most difficult part is not waiting or making the shot, but getting into a suitable position quietly, which often means crawling towards an objective. All part of the fun of the role! It's this element that I see most often being overlooked by the newbies at my site in particular. They think they can run towards an objective, suddenly get an accurate shot off, and move on. That's just not how it works, which ever way you look at it.

 

[ostrich160]

The amount of kids that I've seen with stock China clones that boast to their friends about their gun's epic range and power is ludicrous. I have seen one or two over the last year who vaguely know what they're doing at U18 games and have bothered with basic upgrades. I had a good bit of fun with my PSG-1 before I sold it which was a good introduction into the sniper role for me.

After buying a KA Blaser R93 I find the most difficult part is not waiting or making the shot, but getting into a suitable position quietly, which often means crawling towards an objective. All part of the fun of the role! It's this element that I see most often being overlooked by the newbies at my site in particular. They think they can run towards an objective, suddenly get an accurate shot off, and move on. That's just not how it works, which ever way you look at it.

I know exactly what you mean. Ive been trying to get a friend into airsoft, and i told him the kind of guns he should get, and told him that he probably wants to spend at least £150 if he wants a good gun. And then one of my other friends, who also plays airsoft, came up to him and said 'You dont need to spend that much, I got mine for £20 its amazing. Go onto justbbguns, they're one of the big airsoft sites' which in turn made me facepalm

 

[TPI]

@Ostrich160 You Need to slap the Stupid out of that other friend pretty quick it's a Terrible Disease!!! also Pretty Funny if you do it at a Random moment (Any harm that come's to you is your own Fault though)

BOT Pretty Much the same as what Remsoft said except don't be straight down the Middle Be on your team's Flank and don't go past the furthest forward 3 Enemie's in a Skirmish until you or your team's Taken them Down.

 

[Ambushbunny]

Give me the support role over the sniper.