Most games handle Snipers by these parameters:
1. Other games feature maps with uncomfortable limitations. APB level design is a sniper's playground.
2. Other games feature more intricate bullet ballistics such as bullet drop-off and breathing control. This renders it more difficult to snipe in general. APB has none of this.
3. Other games remove entirely the targeting reticule for sniper rifles when not scoped in. This prevents things like hip-fire from becoming a nuisance.
4. Other games provide for a much longer equip/switch time. APB allows the player to circumvent this entirely with 3-Point Sling III.
The problem with HVR's is with APB in general. This game is stuck in game design ethos from 10 years ago, and nothing has been done to keep up with the times. I mean, I was hip-firing, jump-sniping, and generally wrecking face with sniper rifles in CoD 1. Seriously. Once I got a Sniper Rifle and a Thompson in my hands--I was unstoppable in that game. You would have had to have been a cheater to beat me. It only took the devs of that game 1 Expansion Pack to figure on a way to make sniping less powerful. What did they do? They provided for breathing control and removed jump-sniping. Those two things alone will make sniping in a game more balanced than any amount of number finessing.
I think part of the problem with the weapon stats is that when you look at them completely stock, they are probably perfectly balanced. But when you start adding in mods and stuff, these weapons, some of them, end up being way more effective than perhaps they ought to be. This is why most online games actually limit what you can and cannot do to your weapon to "improve it." APB does not do this at all. All Weapon Mods are available for use in any weapon. The only limitations to the system is when the weapon already has a mod pre-installed.
Let's look at something as simple as an Assault Rifle for instance:
In other games, you might be able to have maybe a vertical grip attachment. This allows you to have way more control over your weapon recoil. That's a good thing. But what is the draw-back? Typically, it's that your speed to scope in is reduced. Why is this a balanced feature? Because hip-fire in general is typically kind of crappy for ALL weapons except maybe shotguns. And even THEY usually benefit from scoping in. Alternatively, instead of a vertical grip, maybe you get an angled grip. This does nothing for your weapon control, but it allows you to scope in faster. And then what? That's usually it. That's all you get.
APB's problem, I think, has more to do with Mod Balance/Functionality than it does with the actual stock stats of the guns. I think the Mod system--all of it--needs to be rethought. I think the weapons themselves should be balanced in such a way that ALL weapons should need to be scoped in to be reliable--none of this run-and-gun stuff. Get rid of sprint-shooting in general. All hip-fire--even with SMG's--should be punished. But not only are some of these weapons designed with it in mind, but there's even a Mod which makes it even better--Reflex Sight. Failing a complete Mod overhaul and redesign, we're always going to have this issue with weapon balance.
Until then, the best thing to do for HVR is:
1. Increase the equip time to make 3-Point Sling inconsequential.
2. Remove Jump-Sniping entirely. Leave no trace of it.
3. All High-Velocity Rifles should have their reticule removed unless scoped in.
A hot mess.
