[SWATORNOT]

OK,

For the past few months now I have noticed a somewhat downward spiral of the SniperHQ section. By that I mean we have seen a number of questions being asked that a simple search of this very section would answer (no surprise there), and we also have been seeing a lot of new snipers seeking advise on becoming the next big thing on the paintball field.

There really is no problem with these things other than the fact that this entire position is highly debated and contested by our fellow players. We all do our best to prove the very existence of the paintball sniper each and every time we step out on that field, but what really bothers me personally is the how the position is, and has been portrayed in our online community.

We always hear things like "a good sniper always has a trick up their sleeve," or "a good sniper never reveals his true skills." As truthful as those may be, the SniperHQ is a place for all of us paintball snipers to collaborate with one another and sharpen our skills. What we have been seeing as far as content in the SniperHQ is nothing more than redundant and seemingly "noobish" (don't take that term harshly).

Now, granted I do understand that many of you are new to paintball, or the sniper position itself, but the SniperHQ houses a wealth of information that I know will answer 90%, or more of the questions we see in here. We all have something to do with making the paintball sniper a respected position, but with the frequent "noobish" questions it only makes the paintball sniper position look just that...noobish.

Those of us who have, and do play the sniper position for a while have a wealth of information to share, and we usually do share things that will benefit the newer players in this position. We are not going to spill our guts and share every little "trick of the trade" because some tricks come with experience, and that is really the best learning tool for any position.

By no means am I saying that you shouldn't ask questions here, in fact we want you to ask questions...but please do a little reading and searching yourself FIRST before asking the question. Chances are somebody has already asked it, or somebody has already answered within one of the existing pinned topics.

The sniper position ideally is the door-way to the other positions in a sense that the majority of new paintball players want to be that stealthy skilled player that everbody fears, or hears "legends" about. The majority of players (just a rough number guess here, say 4 out of 5) that start playing the sniper position will move onto another position. The SniperHQ is really the foundation of many player's progress through their paintball career, and by not absorbing the information here when you have the opportunity can affect how you appreciate and "grow" in your other positions whether you find the sniper position is, or isn't for you.

Below is a list of the SniperHQ "Library" as I like to call it (Pinned threads);


General Information

Article by: MONITOR
What is a Paintball Sniper

Article by: Femur Breaker
Becoming a Sniper, Can you make the cut?

Article by: HeadshotPhantom/Headshotjester
The Beat All Advice about Sniper Equipment


Camo/Ghillie Information

Article by: AceofSpades98
Tips on Camo

Article by: USMC-Scout/Sniper
Ultimate Ghillie Thread

Article by: MONITOR
How-To: Ghillie Mask


Sniper Marker Information

Article by: Tenacious221
The Super "Is this a good Sniper marker?" thread

Article by: Femur Breaker
Modifying Your Sniper Marker

Article by: aqua scummm
How to choose a sight/scope

Article by: Sneaky Peanut
Can't Decide which scope/sight to get?


Tactics Information

Article by: nevascared
The do's and dont's of sniper paintball

Article by: HeadshotPhantom/Headshotjester
Ultimate Sniper Tactics

Article by: SniperGeerm
Some Basics to concealment




Like I said, a little reading in this area will go a long ways, and you are more likely to get the answer you are looking for, and more if you just take some time and read through the resources made available to you.

[ghostinthewood]

Pinned.

[Charlie Echo]

I see your point to the "noobs". I think the unspoken message is: "where are all the experienced snipers at?". This is a little selfish of me, but I admit, I have not seen anything in the Sniper HQ worth responding to. So I haven't. But I will respond to a good question in the future, provided that person honestly made a good attempt to do some research before posting. And what's up with all the sniper bashing lately? Where are all the good snipers to own the Sniper HQ? Are you guys too busy playing? The weather is perfect right now in the S.E. U.S., I know.

DirtyU.

Edit: It made no sense. tired. :mellow:

This post has been edited by DirtyUnders: 28 September 2006 - 12:32 AM

[geist_soldat]

one of the worst aspects of the whole thing is that the newbs still seem to think its all about the equipment. no matter how many times you tell them that if they get their tactics up to snuff the can own someone with a talon, they cant get the thought of "if i get a q-bow i'll be the best sniper ever" out of their heads. as much as i try to help the less experienced, i am about to start answering all trite, over asked questions with "use the search button."

[CrazyDoc]

Man and to thinck i was the only one who though this part of the fourm was going "down hill" (so much so i dont come ovder this way any more i just stoped by becuase i saw that SWAT posted so i knew it was not crap) any how, i agree 100% plz use the search it will help loads and keep me from yelling at noobs that cant seem to ever find anything when the "use" it.

JT

[gamer]

Excellent collection of threads Swat. Much respect to the guys who take the time to compile things for easy reference for the new forums readers out there... and even the old ones like myself

I personally beleive that things travel in a downward spiral in the Sniper HQ section because very few "experienced" people bring far too little to do with actual paintball sniping. The paintball sniper idea ends up eating itself. Let me explain...

Okay. So a new paintballer wants to fancy themselves as a paintball sniper. The sniper is the most glamorous thing to be, as they can take out people from great distances while remaining virtually invisible to their opponents. Ummmm, no one wants to get shot... so there is no wonder why the sniper is such a popular fantasy. So, one starts the journey to sniperdom...

Time for the new sniper to buy up their gear. A new sniper is usually amped to LOOK just like a sniper (myself included), so they grab a loud and heavy marker. Maybe an Opsgear Barrett look-alike kit. Bipods and scopes, etc. The problem is... none of that stuff really improves the snipers game. It looks cool, but is it making you more compact, more silent or more lightweight? Another question would be: What advantage is there to being gawdier, louder and heavier?

After about three or four trips to the paintball field that new sniper is goign to realize that all their sniper look-alike gear is not doing anything to help them be snipers! In fact, almost always they just become regular riflemen in their frustration. That is why we never see snipers out on the field... in real life. The "sniper" myth encourges gear purchases that make sniping HARDER for that new paintball sniper.

This brings me to my original point. It is the fault of the more experienced paintball snipers on these boards that so many new snipers fade away... usually after all their exspensive initial purchases. There are FAR too many Longbows and Q Bows on Ebay for this very reason.

How do we stop the downward spiral?

We try to do our best in defining what is right for the paintball sniper as opposed to the real-life sniper. Tell them to put down that heavy and loud Co2 guzzling noise machine and tell them to get a small lightweight fast and quiet marker! Tell them that 18 inch barrels are not any better than a 14 inch! Tell them that magnifying scopes do not work in paintball! Tell them that they are never going to use that bipod! Tell them Flatlines are not the best for accurate shooting beyond ranges of 100 feet and their loud report will only serve to advertise your location to an opponent that is too far away to hit! A new paintball sniper is just as likley to listen to another inexperienced paintballer the same as an experienced one, so it is the responsibility of the experienced paintballer to take a stand based on their own experience. We gotta mythbust!

Real life snipers have been around since the early days of the British Empire, but Spec Ops basicly invented the paintball sniper... so I trust their opinion on the matter first. This is the first and last thing you shoudl read when buying sniper gear in my opinion: http://www.specialop...sitions/asn.asp
This is single handedly the greatest peice of info on the topic ever written on the subject... and yet it gets ignored over and over again. No brash opinions from the forums. No biases towards certain gear. Just the facts.

Paintball sniping is WAY different than real life military sniping. A paintball is COMPLETLEY different than a bullet. A real life snipers tactics are VERY different than the paintball snipers tactics. When REAL paintball snipers start actually defending the attributes and gear purchases of REAL paintball snipers than we can look forward to paintball snipers actually existing... instead of debating their own existance. THAT is when we will see some actual constructive input on these boards and we can finally stop the sniper myth from eating itself!

Just my two cents. I just hate seeing people waste money.

This post has been edited by gamer: 03 October 2006 - 01:47 AM

[wieczorek24]

well spoken

[SWATORNOT]

Great points gamer, I think for the first time ever (maybe second not sure) we are on the same side of the table on something here.


One thing I wanted to hit on though was this;

gamer, on Oct 3 2006, 02:07 AM, said:

I personally beleive that things travel in a downward spiral in the Sniper HQ section because very few "experienced" people bring far too little to do with actual paintball sniping.

As you can see in this very post even there is a good amount of helpful information for those new snipers already in the forums, most of these new players are just to damn lazy to do their own research/reading on things to actually learn more about things.


The reason most of the more experienced players do not post more/share more things here is because 98% of the time players are asking questions that would have been answered had they actually spent a little time reading the resources available here.

[gamer]

I agree. Having threads like this one are excellent tools for new paintballers. It is so important to read first and ask questions later.

[BIG_O7]

I completly agree with all being said, i probably spend more time searching for what im looking for then i do in the actual forums asking questions about things that may have been asked before......I think some of the problem is that most new snipers (i'm bearly out of this catagory myself) when they do search they type exactly what they are looking for, then when they dont find it they post a topic.....or the complete opposite. they say they searched and post a topic that is often discussed on the same page, the "Spotter" topic comes to mind. It Gets to be annoying. like you Said Gamer Paintball and the real Deal are two different animals. Now i agree that there are those few times that i would have liked to have some one covering my six on more than one occasion. but thats not a spotter, thats support.....and on a small team is a waste of man power. I'm by no means an expert, however there are a few items that i use that i willl never get rid of because my style of play those items work better than the others(scope and Bi-Pod). I know i got a little off topic, (Search) so What is to say that we cant promote players to utilize other sites in there searchs, if it answeres the question, does it really matter where they got it from? just my $.02....for all i know i could be way off base.....

[pvt joker]

I personaly have spent 1000S on my a-5 ups and vests and ..... bit of a waste in retrospect, i have a refurbished c-98 made into an m-1 carbine cost 120$ and some elbow grease, I put a 12g co2 on it and a red dot I strip off the vest , zeus and all the other gear grab a 50 rd pod and have the time of my life, I am stealthy, mobile and shoot about 15 shots to kill 4 guys, the barrett 50 cal sits in the car, you dont need to spend alot of money to snipe, it a style of play and its not for everyone.
I bring my friends kids on the field to initiate then and the first thing I teach them is patience, observe the cannon fodder (rentals) spot and stalk/setup your opponents. you would be amazed how many times we are the last off the field and the kids are glowing with pride having hit 2-3 guys without being hit themselves. PATIENCE is he key. sorry i got off topic.

[$*sniper*$]

i agree, searches can solve alot, hey, we got new emoticons in the last few months (i havent been online in a few months due to football practice)

[Dirty-Doll]

Im sorry T_T Ill try to search more

[The Scout]

gamer, on Oct 3 2006, 04:07 AM, said:

Excellent collection of threads Swat. Much respect to the guys who take the time to compile things for easy reference for the new forums readers out there... and even the old ones like myself

I personally beleive that things travel in a downward spiral in the Sniper HQ section because very few "experienced" people bring far too little to do with actual paintball sniping. The paintball sniper idea ends up eating itself. Let me explain...

Okay. So a new paintballer wants to fancy themselves as a paintball sniper. The sniper is the most glamorous thing to be, as they can take out people from great distances while remaining virtually invisible to their opponents. Ummmm, no one wants to get shot... so there is no wonder why the sniper is such a popular fantasy. So, one starts the journey to sniperdom...

Time for the new sniper to buy up their gear. A new sniper is usually amped to LOOK just like a sniper (myself included), so they grab a loud and heavy marker. Maybe an Opsgear Barrett look-alike kit. Bipods and scopes, etc. The problem is... none of that stuff really improves the snipers game. It looks cool, but is it making you more compact, more silent or more lightweight? Another question would be: What advantage is there to being gawdier, louder and heavier?

After about three or four trips to the paintball field that new sniper is goign to realize that all their sniper look-alike gear is not doing anything to help them be snipers! In fact, almost always they just become regular riflemen in their frustration. That is why we never see snipers out on the field... in real life. The "sniper" myth encourges gear purchases that make sniping HARDER for that new paintball sniper.

This brings me to my original point. It is the fault of the more experienced paintball snipers on these boards that so many new snipers fade away... usually after all their exspensive initial purchases. There are FAR too many Longbows and Q Bows on Ebay for this very reason.

How do we stop the downward spiral?

We try to do our best in defining what is right for the paintball sniper as opposed to the real-life sniper. Tell them to put down that heavy and loud Co2 guzzling noise machine and tell them to get a small lightweight fast and quiet marker! Tell them that 18 inch barrels are not any better than a 14 inch! Tell them that magnifying scopes do not work in paintball! Tell them that they are never going to use that bipod! Tell them Flatlines are not the best for accurate shooting beyond ranges of 100 feet and their loud report will only serve to advertise your location to an opponent that is too far away to hit! A new paintball sniper is just as likley to listen to another inexperienced paintballer the same as an experienced one, so it is the responsibility of the experienced paintballer to take a stand based on their own experience. We gotta mythbust!

Real life snipers have been around since the early days of the British Empire, but Spec Ops basicly invented the paintball sniper... so I trust their opinion on the matter first. This is the first and last thing you shoudl read when buying sniper gear in my opinion: http://www.specialop...sitions/asn.asp
This is single handedly the greatest peice of info on the topic ever written on the subject... and yet it gets ignored over and over again. No brash opinions from the forums. No biases towards certain gear. Just the facts.

Paintball sniping is WAY different than real life military sniping. A paintball is COMPLETLEY different than a bullet. A real life snipers tactics are VERY different than the paintball snipers tactics. When REAL paintball snipers start actually defending the attributes and gear purchases of REAL paintball snipers than we can look forward to paintball snipers actually existing... instead of debating their own existance. THAT is when we will see some actual constructive input on these boards and we can finally stop the sniper myth from eating itself!

Just my two cents. I just hate seeing people waste money.

Quoted for TRUTH! Gamer I have rarely seen you post a topic that you had not analyzed 100% and given full detail in your post. Props to you laddie buck.

[Blitzen]

We try to do our best in defining what is right for the paintball sniper as opposed to the real-life sniper. Tell them to put down that heavy and loud Co2 guzzling noise machine and tell them to get a small lightweight fast and quiet marker! Tell them that 18 inch barrels are not any better than a 14 inch! Tell them that magnifying scopes do not work in paintball! Tell them that they are never going to use that bipod! Tell them Flatlines are not the best for accurate shooting beyond ranges of 100 feet and their loud report will only serve to advertise your location to an opponent that is too far away to hit! A new paintball sniper is just as likley to listen to another inexperienced paintballer the same as an experienced one, so it is the responsibility of the experienced paintballer to take a stand based on their own experience. We gotta mythbust!
-Gamer
As you can see in this very post even there is a good amount of helpful information for those new snipers already in the forums, most of these new players are just to damn lazy to do their own research/reading on things to actually learn more about things
-Monitor

Maybe we could make a thread called Mythbusting The Paintball Sniper. It could be a massive post answering things from something like barrel length to how to make ghillie suit. Like you guys said It wouldnt require alot of typing, since most of this info is already posted. It would just be alot of links to other threads. Maybe we could post this in sniper "area" and also in the newbie area??