Valve announced it: After some general updates (and the happy anticipation is already slowly turning into restrained terror 
) the next class receiving new toys will be the sniper.
Boy, am I excited ... 
While I think that the class updates are an interesting concept to keep TF2 alive and interesting over a longer period of time (and obviously a brilliant marketing strategy since, according to Gabe Newell, sales figures did go up after previous class updates) it has become an annoying and interrupting ritual every time, because everybody and their mother suddenly starts playing that particular class, chasing after those - mostly stupid – achievements (more on my enthusiasm about achievements in a separate article), no longer caring for a proper game and consequently often affecting the fun for the other people who actually try to have a regular game.
Of course I understand the curiosity for the new features and the urge to test-drive those new weapons in a game. But I would prefer it would happen within reason and without rendering whole games pointless.
In that regard I’d wished Valve had taken a different route to grant access to the updated features. Battlefield 2, for example, also featured unlockable weapons but those were made accessible in certain steps based on the (global) score. When reaching such a step the player was able to choose which weapon he wanted to unlock.
But Valve wants people to chase after achievements. Moronic enough, but even if it has be based on this I’d really wished they would give players the freedom to choose the order in which they could unlock the new items. That would maybe lower the urge of people to play a class for days and weeks just to get their hands on the new toys. (Though many will probably try to farm the achievements and you know what: That’s perfectly fine with me. That way they’re affecting fewer regular games).
But what bugs me particularly about the sniper update is that the sniper is a problematic class to begin with. Well, not the class itself, more the people playing it.
By design, the sniper - in general - is a support class. By itself the sniper is not much suited to defend or attack all by himself, his main purpose is to help the offense or defense to accomplish the map’s goal. And a good sniper can be a terrific support!
So the number of people playing sniper on a team simultaneously should be reasonably low.
But that clashes with the mentality of a certain type of player. The sniper’s one-(head)shot-kill ability attracts a lot of people to play sniper because they can potentially rack a lot of kills, therefore a lot of points, therefore they can feel bloody l33t. (It would be tempting to blame CS for this corruption, but sadly this attitude is older than CS )
And it looks so fucking easy, too: You stand somewhere in the back and shoot people from a safe distance. (Though, as we know, against competent people it’s not as easy as it looks ).
But there’s a catch (well, actually 3).
Problem 1: Far too many (stupid) people are regarding sniping as its own little game uncoupled from the rest of the match and don’t really care about their team, or their team’s success. And don’t get me started on sniper wars ...
Problem 2: With too many snipers the chances are high that their team loses (since there are not enough people to actually achieve the map goal), so everybody else on the team pays the price for that act of mental masturbation.
Problem 3: There are a lot of people who actually suck at playing sniper. Usual rule of thumb: If you have 3 snipers on a team one will usually be good, one mediocre and one will be terrible at it.
(Please note: Of course the bad sniper might be a new player or somebody starting to learn the class. As with every class there’s a learning curve and you have to practice your skills. But for the sake of yourself and your teammates: Pick your opportunities. Being the 3rd sniper will probably not leave you with many targets to sharpen your skills, and also: There are only so many good sniper spots.)
So while having too many people playing as the same class is often enough a bad idea in general the prospects of having teams with 4, 5 or even more snipers is annoying, to say the least. Simply because those games will not be worth playing, since they will lead nowhere.
Of course, scouts and spies will have a field day. But sadly that will rather add to the problem than help to alleviate it.
Sure, this is usually just a phase, and after a week or two things will return to normal. But this phase of annoyance and bullshit games could be prevented with a different approach to unlockables and/or a modified distribution system.
So in that regard: You have failed me, Valve!
Some foot notes:
- Just for the record:
As I stated above, I have no problems with the sniper class, just with a lot of people playing it. And don’t jump to the wrong conclusions here: I’m fine with being on the receiving end of a headshot, and I respect the skill involved. But a good sniper is more than just a good shooter: He will pick his targets based on strategic priorities, he will support the team to achieve the map’s goal – which is more than just killing random opponents – and the best snipers will also communicate (since the sniper is often in a good position to spot enemy movements and positions and can pass on relevant information). By that definition good snipers are rare ...
- On a related note: There’s a good article on ubercharged.net which comments on the problems with snipers (again: the players, not the class) from a different angle.
- And yes, I realize that in this editorial I took two very different and completely unrelated problems and rolled that into a single rant. Look at the bright side: It could have been two separate and potentially lengthy rants
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