'Cheating' in shooters; that isn't cheating.

[Seshat]

Inspired by this quote from Argabarga:

It's really just the grown-up version of the rage quit after someone nails you from across the map in COD with the nigh-on-impossible sniper shot.

I LOVE sniping. I'll gladly scout a map for four or five good sniper positions and routes for them all, and sit and wait, wait, wait for most of a game, just for the utter GLEE of that near-impossible shot that seems to come from nowhere.

It's work. It's tough to achieve, and ideally you need someone to watch your back because ideally, you're totally focussed on the one or two locations you can actually get a headshot with.

... but I've practically stopped doing it because people get SO pissed off when you achieve a sniper shot out of nowhere; as if you're somehow cheating.

It's not cheating. It's tactics. I happen to be bad at running-around-and-shooting, but very good at getting to nigh-impossible places, waiting, and making headshots.

I'm so much better with snipers than other things that when Toth and Bast and I are playing games like Borderlands-cooperative-multiplayer, Bast takes the heavy weapons, Toth either scouts or takes something like a semi-auto, and I'm on sniper with a weeny pistol for just in case something gets to me past the others.
(Bast loves heavy weapons.)

Even in Elder Scrolls, I'll be the archer/thief with the patience to wait for the perfect moment. (And Bast will be in Dragonbone Heavy Plate with a mace and shield, or a two-handed sword.)


With the right gun and enough patience, yes, I can make shots that people call 'impossible' and 'cheating' and 'unfair'.

But is it? Really?


What do you do that people call 'unfair'?

[kamn]

In FPS? Shotgun and run around like a maniac, behaving like a psycho from Borderlands. Get close, bum, reload. I die almost as often as I get kills, but it's what's fun for me. And cheating because I nearly instant-kill the other guy.

I used to be the sniper in CS, and people would rage there as well. Covering a good access route by 1 measly sniper that other people don't know how to circumvent? They will rage, instead of look for alternatives (smoke, flashbangs, other routes). Don't worry about it, keep on playing, and if someone's being annoying, ignore'em.

[lordlundar]

For me, If I'm online I play as I'm supposed to (and quite frankly if you're getting headshots from across the map as a sniper it's not you cheating, it's them being stupid) That means if I play a sniper, you better believe I'm finding a nice safe place and pitch the tent.

Offline vs the computer is a different story. In that case (where the computer is often programmed to cheat) all bets are off and I don't fight fair.

[Sarah Valentine]

Oh man, people would loose their shit when I got an "impossible" shot. They should learn how not to be an idiot, and they need to calm down they sound like a 3 year old having a temper tantrum.

[Rageaholic]

Sniping isn't cheating, camping on the other hand...

[Parrothead]

You're cheating simply because you're smarter than they are. How dare you have the patience to strike when they are being stupid! It's all your fault!


/sarcasm

[s_stabeler]

I think it depends- but more or less, provided you aren't camping a spawnpoint, then it's just part of the game. However, i can see how it might piss other players off- it is no fun to keep dying, but that's usually a problem with playing with players of less skill.

[SkullKing]

... but I've practically stopped doing it because people get SO pissed off when you achieve a sniper shot out of nowhere; as if you're somehow cheating.

To me the solution is to take joy in other people getting pissed off.

I found out the same people who complain that I do things they can´t in a competitive game are frequently the same oens who are not good losers or winniners and as such are people whose disconfort delights me.

[cindybubbles]

I used to get kicked out (read: "get killed") for camping in games like Doom and Quake. I was the WORST possible player in our school's networks, so to me, camping was really more like taking a break from being killed by the other players rather than sniping. Of course, that didn't work.

On a related note, hogging the school computers so that we can play games was why my university banned this pastime.

I shall miss you, Doom and Quake.

[lordlundar]

Sniping isn't cheating, camping on the other hand...

For a sniper it's no different. It's not your fault they're too stupid to adjust their strategy to compensate.

[s_stabeler]

careful- that kind of attitude can lead to using tactics that truly are unfair- like camping spawns. Remember that the primary idea of these games is to have fun.

[lordlundar]

careful- that kind of attitude can lead to using tactics that truly are unfair- like camping spawns. Remember that the primary idea of these games is to have fun.

If spawn camping is a problem, it's a problem with the spawn mechanics not the player. No game with invincibility respawn systems have no issues with spawn camping. To that end I don't play games that do not have an anti-spawn camping system for that very reason.

[HYHYBT]

A tactic that effectively blocks others from even getting to play is one it's wrong to use, whether the game successfully prevents you from using it or not.

[s_stabeler]

The issue is really people deliberately spoiling other people's fun in games- spawn camping being one example, since you only get to see the screen where you wait to respawn.

[D_Yeti_Esquire]

Any tactic used to extreme or to where it stops being fun for everyone is a problem.

I was a TF1 sniper and I could figuratively hold off an entire offensive for minutes at time a with that rifle. But you know, playing with skilled enough competition that wouldn't happen.

To me, if you realize your opponent has no counter or you are just that much better than everyone else, I sort of am of the opinion it becomes poor form to just confirm it for everyone in a public game for 30 minutes. No, it's not cheating. But it's like an amateur hockey player cleaning house in a midget league game. Take that game and go play a different class.

I always thought spawn camping was hilarious though because the whole game turned into dealing with the camper. It only really sucked if the other team failed to realize what was going on and was getting cocky for winning while one entire side was having to purge their spawn points.