I think whoever at the studio thought that zoom was such a compelling reason for current Sniper choice really needs to reevaluate the logic that led to that conclusion(unless they just thought this would be the safest option to tackle). Anyone who's played probably more than a few dozen or so matches of Crucible can tell you the two main Snipers used are Beloved and Revoker. But why? There are surely plenty of factors going into it, but I think the main culprits are perks and [b][i]accessibility[/i][/b]. There are other Snipers with similar zoom levels and strong perks found throughout the game, but why aren't they used anywhere near as much? (Most likely unnecessarily) long analysis down below: [spoiler]Many people have ideal rolls and god rolls they'd like to obtain on certain weapons, but being strictly at the mercy of RNG is discouraging. Anyone who's spent hours, days, even weeks farming things like Spare Rations, Astral Horizion, Summoner(or god-forbid, a Galliard from the Forges), Mindbender's, and many other strong options can tell you how bad and unrewarding those grinds are. However, with the introduction of Menagerie came the Beloved, a Sniper with almost all of the best potential perks you could possibly want for PvP(Snapshot, Quickdraw, Box Breathing for truly long range and killing Supers, Mulligan for occassional forgiveness, Demolitionist for grenade heavy builds or top Dawnblade). And since it came from Menagerie, there was finally a much more realistic path to obtaining a great roll on one since you were guaranteed at least one(or more with Chalice perks, the Mars challenge, and the chest glitch) at the end of every run if desired. Additionally, though this leans more towards subjective than objective, its scope, aside from having a favorable zoom level, is very clean with no clutter to be found, unlike other scopes we've had in the past. Now moving onto Revoker, there's not much that needs to be said, but I'll say it anyway. It's a quest weapon with a static roll on it, so there's no RNG at all involved with its viability or availability. It's got Snapshot, so it's already at the base level of what's usable for most people who want to snipe. Its scope also makes it the lowest zoom Aggressive Sniper in the entire game, unlike say the Tatara Gaze. The zoom is so low that it is nearly on par with the actual lowest zoom scope in the game found on the Twilight Oath, a Rapid-Fire Sniper with horrendously bad RNG tied to it. Going back to its archetype, Aggressive frames do an extreme amount of damage on bodyshots alone, and are curently the only archetype that can ohk all roaming Supers to the face at a base level. All that being said, we all know the main draw of the weapon. And that would be Revoker's signature perk, Reversal of Fortune. Long-story short, it will absolutely guarantee that any shot you miss(provided you wait around two seconds) will return to your magazine, free of charge. So what's arguably the biggest drawback and weakness to snipng, that being missing due to things like flinch(although that apparently helps hit shots nowadays), overly hasty shots, late shots, and/or general reckless usage that would cause one to run out of ammo, is completely negated when using this weapon. And for some strange reason, this perk also activates when the user shoots, and possibly even destroys, a Barricade(probably Oracles as well). So instead of having to make a choice of either letting the Barricade stay in play or sacrificing your "limited" Special ammo to destroy it like every other Special weapon, you'd be able to leisurely take shots at it to take it down with no sacrifice. The impact of this perk is especially strong in gamemodes with limited or no lives, like Survival, Trials, Countdown, and Elimination, as it means you'll always have to deal with a Sniper who has ammo until they at the minimum hit a bodyshot, making strategies like baiting the shots out with good and fast movement useless. All of that combined just makes Revoker somewhat of an "all give, no take" for the user, so it's no wonder it sees such high usage.[/spoiler] Ultimately, say what you will about these Snipers, but if you for one second even make an attempt to make an argument that their zoom levels are the one, true reason why people flock to them, understand you're making an easily destructible argument, and look like you have no clue what you're talking about.

The ease of use coupled with low risk vs high reward on snipers means there needs to be changes. The low zoom scopes just take flinch too easily and couple with aim assist being very generous make it stupid to challenge them with any weapon that isn’t a sniper. By increasing zoom I think Bungie are hoping to not only make them harder to keep on target through flinch but also create holes in you load out. At the moment you can run a sniper and TLW/sidearm and cover every single engagement effectively due to the sniper being just as good at medium and long range. I’m not saying what Bungie plans to do is right but snipers definitely need a change as they are no longer a skill based weapon. We should reserve judgement until they have made the changes but obviously if they make them harder to use, most sniper mains as well as low skill snipers will complain.

If snipers get hit again a lot of ppl will leave this game. Not to just echo but that’s a terrible idea they are already in a bad spot with only high impacts being used

You say you saw the TWAB, but did you actually read it? [quote] - We’re specifically looking at how zoom translates into ease-of-use for Sniper Rifles. We’re investigating changes that make choosing a Sniper Rifle zoom more of an interesting choice. [/quote] Additionally, these changes wouldn't be until Season 12, assuming they happen at all, so there's plenty of time to make your preferences heard.

Theyre finally getting nerfed? Sweeeeet

Snipers are a tricky one. I get the balance concerns over a gun that can reach out and OHK at any range. However, as you touched on, I feel that more map variety would be a better solution. More maps like First Light, where snipers can actually perform in their intended ranges would mitigate the fixation with low zoom IMO.