I enjoy sniping. I find it immensely satisfying to take the time, line up a headshot and watch my target drop. Playing BF 2142, I was remarkably enjoying myself as I popped off the occasional PAC trooper. But there is one minor issue with me sniping.

I suck.

Honestly, only half of my shots actually hit them at all, and only about a quarter of the shots that hit are anywhere near the head, if that. But, I thought to myself as I managed to miss a soldier who had for the past minute sat head framed in the middle of my sights while he picked his nose, is that such a bad thing? We've all had the experience of screaming at the screen as we get our brains recycled as paint for the nth time by that scumbag camping sniper who's bullets can bend round freaking corners, and I think it's safe to say it isn't much fun. But as a sniper I was clearly mortal. Any effort to remove me was likely to turn me into a corpse very quickly, but I still managed to rack up a hefty number of kills and it definitely wasn't true that I was stopping the enemy from progressing. Surely that's better?

And it's not just true for sniping, nearly any feature of online play is arguably better with a healthy dose of noobishness, as while its all well and good to be l33t and pwn those n00bs, very satisfying and so on, isn't it nice to cock up sometimes and get killed because of it? The sense of reality, that it is only a game and sometimes, god forbid, you can enjoy losing. Isn't it nice to be playing a game where everyone isn't so good that any mistake results in instant death?

That's my opinion, what about you hounds of the forums? Would you rather be l33t and play l33t? Or be in a game with examples of throwing the pin instead of the grenade occurring quite regularly, and yourself not innocent? I'd like to clear up this isn't about how much you rock and how you want to be in a game where you pwn those n00bs. I want to know what would be the perfect skill level - noob, best of the best, or in the gray area?

I think my total disection of your south american forces in defcon shows you what I prefer, Singing Gremlin. Better luck next time (anyone can ask for the time if they want to join in), because that's what you'll need.
But to be serious for just a moment, while I've never tasted this 1337 peak I have to say I enjoy a bit of both. It's nice to not have to be "on my game" and relax for a friendly deathmatch but I also wouldn't mind just once being a true expert at a particular game. Watching so many truly god-like players has given me a taste for it.

...I prefer being great to sucking.
I prefer success to failure.

But that's just me.
I don't have to be the best, I just have to not suck. That's how I've always been. If you're gonna do something, do it well, damnit.

The best skill area, IMO, depends on who you're playing with.

If I'm super 1337 and r0xx0r at a game, and I'm playing with complete and utter beginners, it just isn't fun.

"Oh look, 56 kills in a row. Huh."

With good players I like being good, and with friends, I LOVE being crap at most games. Makes it all the more hilarious when you win or steal your best friends kills.

being 1337 at games may get you lots of wins, but cocking up every now and then gets you lots of laughs.

I prefer playing with people who are about the same skill level as me, it seems more competitive that way and pushes me to be a better player I think.

I like my current skill level in most multiplayer games I partake in, I may not be the best thing since the internet out there but I almost always end with a positive spread in my Kill to Death ratio. I find however that my best matches and the ones which I found to be among my funnest game moments are when I'm playing with either real life friends or those who I hang out with online whom are better then me, mostly because they attract all the shouts and jeers and seem to have a target painted on their chest so I can go off and do my own little curb stomping.

I'm happy where I am with games. I'm a quick study, but I'm not so-l33t-i-kill-ya-off-the-spawn-point. I enjoy games where you actually have to get to the opponent and out wit/flank/grenade them to win. this being said, I've got nothing against snipers. I just don't like to be one.

I feel your pain singing gremlin, i too cannot snipe to save my life, as is often required. ill scare them for a bit with my slightly off-par shots, but the lack of actual damage to them quickly results in my death. on topic, it really depends what game im playing. TF2, i have the 360 version, do you know the lack of good players in the 360 version? there all on pc, so i fight for the top of the scoreboard most of the time, and win more than i lose. in some games you get a guilty pleasure from being on a team made of entirely engineers, who then procede to build a bullet spitting wall that prevents the enemy team from advancing from their spawn. in other games, like COD4, im normally at the bottom, but thats because i suffer from SWR (Spontaneous Weapon Retardation) wherein ill have gotten 30 kills last match with one type of weapons, then suddenly cant use those weapons AT ALL and am forced to resort to random experimentation.

Bling Cat:
SWR (Spontaneous Weapon Retardation)

Consider that abbreviation stolen!

Bling Cat:
but thats because i suffer from SWR (Spontaneous Weapon Retardation) wherein ill have gotten 30 kills last match with one type of weapons, then suddenly cant use those weapons AT ALL and am forced to resort to random experimentation.

I too am a sufferer of SWR, it's good to know i'm not alone in this world, hey I know lets start a support group

/badjoke

ontopic: I would have to go for the grey area option as it's not fun getting WTFPWNED every five minutes but then again if I was some sort of demigod at the game I would fast run of of friends who would want to play with me, the middle-gorund is good enough for me.

I'm gonna have to go with the grey area, simply because I don't really play with friends, so when I play online, I usually verse people my own skill level. Thus, I strive to do my best, and actually get a decent score. When I do play with my friends, I play my best as well, 'cos it gets pretty close between us.

Oh, and I love sniping. I'm not 1337 at it, but still, I get most of my shots.

- A procrastinator