[quote] Actually, it wasn't really that, it was more that I'm asking people to analyze their deaths and determine what roles they played in them. [/quote] I couldn't agree more. The majority of my deaths in crucible are my fault. I did something wrong. I can happily admit that. My issue with snipers come from the absurd stunts that seem to be possible by players of all skill levels. The pulse rifle I use (Aegis of the reef) has smallbore, high caliber rounds, and counter balance. It is basically a laser with great range and flinches the crap at of my opponent. Thing is though, there are times were I get the jump on the sniper, empty two shots into there dome, and they still manage to dome me. The situation were you do everything right, but still lose the gun fight because snipers recover from flinch quickly, the reticule re-centers when they recover, and aim assistance helps hold the reticule on you when you are taking flinch. As an avid fusion rifle user, flinch effects them more than it does snipers. It comes down to my own ability to adjust for the modified recoil pattern as a result of taking damage. Although I am okay with this mechanic, I find it hard to understand why snipers (which have unlimited range) do not suffer from the same disadvantage. 6 v 6 is a different beast. Snipers are at more of a disadvantage in that playlist when compared to shotguns. Shotguns remain strong after all the nerfs because there are plenty of class abilities that warrant their use.

Agreed, there is a great deal of pandering (so to speak) with the ability functions to the CQC abrupt style of the shotgunner; it's the reason I cringe every time Xur sells the Universal Remote. High caliber rounds is a mixed bag for me. I find it seldom benefits me how I think it should, and slows down my handling, but everyone elses HCR guns are a little higher caliber than mine, lol. They work, but they aren't foolproof, for sure. From the times I have sniped recently in PVP (trying to remedy a deficiency in my skill set by learning), I see both sides of this argument. The flinch, for me at least (keeping in mind my skill level with a sniper would be generously described as average) it is enough to make me break off at or over 50% of the time. That's with either a really decent 1KYS, Yasmin, or unflinching Longbow. epending on the angle and impact (as well as fire rate) of the opposing gun, sometimes I can fight through it to get a headshot. Not often, but sometimes. Then there are those times that recoil has helped me by bouncing my aim onto a head; one of those rare crystal-clear moments where I can see it starting to happen, and I pull the trigger immediately. I had 2 of those last IB, out of more than 80 games, so it's an outlier, for sure. With recoil, the biggest thing is hit pattern. Hawksaws, Grasps, 88 impact or faster AR's, all of these provide a rapid enough pattern that I can't generally fight through it and either die or break off the engagement. Anything with a slower pattern that that, and I can treat it like a snap shot or a drag scope, only I have about .3 seconds to hit it. It's a really mixed bag for me, and my skill level does affect it as well. Conversely though, I die to a sniper 2 or 3 times a day, tops, unless I am in Trials with a really good sniper main. I am simply so hyper-aware of the vulnerability that I do everything based around eliminating it. I really think that if we romove the ability for people to primary them all the time, we'll see both the skill levels going down a bit and less abuse happening in most game levels. Imagine, the first 1 or 2 rounds of a trials match with no snipers or shotguns...sounds great to me.

We are currently in more of a special weapon META now that we have ever been. The introduction of universal remote panders to the OHK play style, that in my opinion, is ruining the crucible. Every patch nerfs primaries which is what snipers and shotguns stick out. Give someone the ability to use both, and they have all ranges locked down with a OHK. As sad as it is to say I actually miss the Thorn TLW META of year 1, people actually used primaries then, and even with as powerful and broken as shotguns were, it was much more risky to shotgun rush at that time (and hard scoping was basically a unicorn of the crucible.) I can't even imagine a trials round without a red glint or rushing shotgunner, although that would be great.