[quote] For the entire lifecycle of the game, as well as being more pronounced in the first few months of year 2, the end-all be-all strategy has been sniping.[/quote] Wrong. [quote]The only counter when fighting anyone remotely proficient with a sniper rifle, is to snipe them back.[/quote] Wrong. Wrong. [quote]No matter what Bungie has tried, The game always ends up a snipefest.[/quote] Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. [quote]I've got my popcorn ready, bring on the salt.[/quote] No sir, [b]you[/b] are the one holding [b]all of the salt[/b]. If this game has been nothing but a 3 year snipe fest, we would have never seen: - multiple shotgun nerfs - multiple fusion rifle nerfs - the current sidearm meta we have now In my 3 years playing this game, the only time I experienced any issue with snipers was with the final round meta, and listening to the other team firing off two rounds at the start of the match. Snipers have been balanced for a long time, and have always been what they were in prior games made by Bungie: 1 shot to the face, 2 to the body. It is a high risk, high reward weapon, and in the right hands can be devastating,[b] just like with previous games[/b]. HOWEVER, that does not mean there has not been a counter, because there always has been. Your inability to find it is not the devs fault. Any scout would cause crazy flinch on a sniper, the only sniper I know of with radar while zoomed was the Pat&Tim (which hardly anyone uses) so flanking is relatively easy considering every map has cover and side paths to get everywhere, and simply closing the distance on a sniper gives [b]you[/b] the advantage. Just like it was since 2001 with Halo CE. Nothing has changed. After a certain point one simply has to accept that they need to improve rather than want a game to fit to their specific mold.