I must, once and for all, ask the question that begs and begs for an answer. I'm sure that someone else has already made a topic on this, but I wanted to be up front and ask for myself. Here goes...
Why is the sniper rifle completely forbidden from being carried, aimed, or fired in the BFM servers?
I know what you're thinking. "Because that's how we've always done things" or maybe "That weapon is for noobs and campers - no respectable person would ever use that gun!"
The sniper rifle appears in many of the BFM server maps within the rotation. BFM has willingly placed this weapon inside of its servers, but has not disabled them from being picked up (as clans like -AD- have done).
I suppose this may be a tactic that BFM has - if a player uses the sniper, that person is labeled "a rule breaker" by default. This is a great way to identify people who are not serious about racing, if BFM takes the time to point out specifically that this is against the will of the BFM administrators. Still, this is often very confusing.
Maybe the sniper is forbidden because it's the most powerful weapon in the game. Maybe BFM hates it because it's the best camping weapon in the game.
It's an understood fact that the sniper is the most powerful weapon in Halo PC (in hands that have had lots of practice), but it is NOT the best camping weapon. The rocket launcher is the best camping weapon, since it involves staying at one nav to disrupt hogs which come across that location and killing any other players that come across that specific location. BFM allows this weapon, but not the sniper. Again, I am very confused.
sniper bullet: nearly instant delivery
rocket launcher: about 40m per second (possibly 50m with a severe case of lag) The effective range of this weapon greatly diminishes after a measly 100m.
The pistol is my favorite weapon; naturally the sniper is my 2nd favorite.
The sniper is a 3x condensed version of the pistol. Let me explain. The sniper fires 4 times in a clip whereas the pistol fires 12. The sniper has 8x magnification, whereas the pistol has 1/3 of that (rounded), which comes out to 2x magnification. The sniper delivers INSTANT death with a headshot on the default settings; the pistol requires 3 headshot rounds to kill a target.
The sniper can be properly used in the BFM servers. I see no reason why it can't be fired from the passenger position while the hog is being driven. I also see no reason why I can't whip out a sniper rifle during a contested hog situation, whereas my foe may whip out a rocket launcher and blow everything to pieces without even having to aim. I guess I need all of the readers of this post to ask themselves to place a sniper rifle in the hands of a rule-abiding player who actually has a pistol in his/her hands. Imagine any situation. Now imagine yourself! Is the sniper an unfair weapon? Is its use really cheating as BFM points out and bans for?
As I've proved here, the sniper rifle has been mistreated by BFM. I suppose now the next logical step would be to defend BFM keeping things just as they are now. After all, there is no point in changing something if it is already the best it can possibly be.
BFM admin quotes:
Those that run BFM have a different opinion of how things should be run...
We don't expect everyone to understand why we do things the way we do...
We just expect that if you choose to come to our community you do so while abiding by our rules.
Other possible explanations that I have come up with:
-The sniper rifle is very difficult weapon to keep track of, making administration take a slight bit of effort to maintain.
-The sniper rifle is the only weapon that can be fired across the map effectively. Other weapons must be used at much shorter distances, which is no problem for even unskilled people who want to camp with heavy weapon.
-The sniper rifle carries potential for misuse, along with every other weapon I can think of. This includes fists, as I've previously been warned for the use of only my melee attack to attack and kill an enemy.
-Previously stated by BFM and simply put: the weapon has, for whatever reason, always been considered a form of cheating.
Now for the confusing part: the sniper rifle has been voted the favorited weapon of choice by the BFM community. You guys have good taste, but it's distasteful to see this fabulous weapon go to waste and to see skilled players get banned for using their favorite weapon in a proper racing manner. I anticipate some support on that statement.
BFM link: http://www.bfmracing.net/forums/index.php?topic=15868.0
I do not mean this post in disrespect. I am actually PR for BFM and would like to thank BFM for the great racing environment it provides (most of the time). No game server I've visited has been perfect, and they've all been willing to adapt to changing environments. This is necessary for the life of any organism, even a robotic one. Sometimes someone must have the courage to make an attempt at the tough questions, or else nobody will.