How do you define sniping?

[Pericles the Lion]

My Favorite part. I collect the tears and feed them to my hairless feline named Neefli and she grants me a wish for every 10 sweet and salty Eye sweat collected. I think she works for SAM!!! Gs up for the G thing G thing G

That visual is creepy.

 

[KeithOfTheForge]

I don't always snipe but, when I do, I only snipe neighbors.

I also don't care if people snipe / contribute / whatever on my GBs. Any FPs are welcome.

 

[Johnny B. Goode]

I boot Friends for placing FPs on my GBs.. Period. (Unless they asked first.)
Random FPs mess up 2.0 1.95 1.9 etc.
And I do my best to make sure the unwanted FPs do not win back anything.
(though not to the extreme of deleting the GB. LoL

This is why I always put my excess FP on neighbors' GBs. Mostly the ones I want prints for, but sometimes I find another self leveler like myself and take the profit whether it's a GB I want or not.

 

[Johnny B. Goode]

I've never seen an "excess Forge Point"?
That i like saying: "I have too much money I should set some of it on fire..."

When the GBs in your city are at max level and you don't have room or don't need/want to build the GBs you have prints for, then you have excess FP. (And there are definitely people with excess money. No one needs billions in personal wealth, or even hundreds of millions.)

 

[PianoFil]

When the GBs in your city are at max level and you don't have room or don't need/want to build the GBs you have prints for, then you have excess FP. (And there are definitely people with excess money. No one needs billions in personal wealth, or even hundreds of millions.)

1. I did not know that there was a max level on GBs. I thought they just kept going up in levels. So what is the max level of a GB where it won't let you move up another level?
2. I would love to experience having what you call excess money of billions or even millions.

 

[Johnny B. Goode]

1. I did not know that there was a max level on GBs. I thought they just kept going up in levels. So what is the max level of a GB where it won't let you move up another level?

Max level = current level finished, but next level not open yet. "Max level" is what the tooltip will say when you haven't opened the next level of whatever GB you're looking at. As far as I know, there is no max level on GBs, or at least no one has ever reached such a point as far as I know.

 

[JWJWB]

There is a Player created max level.. Like for Colosseum the max level is zero. Ditto Gaea, Space needle,
The max sensible level for Arc is 180

Notre dame too.

But it makes you think, if you take AO or CF one level higher, is it worth the thousands of FP? At some point, it would not be worth the fp input. But this is where the excess fp comes in. When people have nothing to put their fps in, the reasonable choice is to dump it all into your gbs. (or participate in 1.9's and get even more fp)

 

[Mor-Rioghain]

Sniping is not dependent on a ratio.

Sniping is the act of securing a spot on a GB instantly and unsolicited.

It does not necessarily imply profit, as that is only one motive. It may be sniped for blueprints at a rate the sniper feels worthwhile. Or to convert their bar FP to packs at a loss. Or to make medals on a newer city.

Sniping is not inherently malicious. There are many players who would be happy to have their buildings sniped. Possibly even more than those who mind!

Now the sniping that gets complained about usually is when a player actively planned to get more than what the sniper paid; but it has nothing to do with any specific ratio - rather their own expectations.

I agree with the general sentiment of your statements but upon further thought, I'd have to argue with the bolded text. How are unsolicited FPs not malicious? They serve no purpose outside of the contributor's needs/desires no matter how many people want to argue that they are "welcome gifts." I think the latter attitude only came about for the same reasons that players have become complacent about being plundered -- they're not really complacent, they just literally made a choice to stop getting upset about something they couldn't prevent.

I've always been of the position that I'm here to ensure my own enjoyment in the game not to make it easier or better or happier for someone else. My generosity is, and has always been, in having the choice to give, not being forced to.

The bottom line is that the ability to snipe via 'snipe zones' wouldn't have ever been possible had the calculations per level been done without making it cheaper to level in the earlier levels like all but the SAT/SASH GBs. Only if all GBs were calculated by this formula would that tired, old chestnut of "it wouldn't be snipable if you'd set up a lock" actually be true. There should never be a "punishment" phase just for unlocking a level.

Am I advocating that the developer change the math? No. I would never advocate for anything that would take up that much time/money to fix/change a problem that occured based on what "used to be." Rather, I'd advocate giving us a choice: let the GB owner decide whether or not they wish to have the basic 3 groups may contribute, e.g., friends, neighbors, guildmates. If we can have a drop-down menu allowing us to message, ignore, or report people (amongst other things), then why not a line addressing the GB issue? It should be individual and I'd definitely recommend that it be kept the way it is as a default but at least there would be a choice for the GB owner.

Having a choice makes everyone but the greediest of snipers. Ahem, I guess I mean the "purists." Oh, to heck with it. They're not whining about not being able to take advantage on the SAT/SASH GBs, are they? If they are, they're not awfully noisy about it. Let's face it, if we did have such an ability, there are probably far more people who'd just ignore that choice and there would still be plenty of sniping opportunities for the die-hards to keep them happy. And so on.

Oh, did I mention why it's important? Sure, in other posts. It's about the money. As long as there's a possibility that I can spend my own real money to get that GB, it makes it mine and by golly, I have every right to protect my investment against bad math, greed, or just plain old honest to goodness mistakes.

As long as I've got 1 blueprint and a bunch of diamonds, I can build any GB I want to. That, my friends, makes it mine. My choice, noone else's. Mine.

 

[Baltar]

I define sniping as something that is completely preventable.

 

[Mor-Rioghain]

I define sniping as something that is completely preventable.

How do you explain snipe zones then? That's not preventable from a player's pov.

 

[Mor-Rioghain]

But the word "prevent" is an absolute. There is no absolute way to stop sniping as long as A) the position is valued at more than the base rate and B) that GBs are snipable at "X" rate above "base" upon unlocking a level. What bothers me about players trying to convince other players in such issues is that they use absolutes but don't want them used on them. People can argue all day long and twice on Sundays that there is no such value to a position on a great building other than what the building owner perceives and I'd argue "they why bother why an Arc? Why is it even necessary or desirable then?"

Sorry, I'm not buying it. When people think such preemptive strikes as leveling parties or teams is an absolute they're simply just justifying a means to an end, imho. There are really only 2 absolutes when it comes to foiling snipers when it comes right down to it. One, never level the building even if that includes destroying it or two, don't level it past the 'snipe zone.' (Of course, this is only true if the gb owner does not consider any unsolicited fps as a snipe).

 

[Flynn013]

Sniping is hardly an issue these days with the amount of FPs cities are producing, almost nobody cares anymore. As a sniper I'm finding many more buildings that are way over primed. I have even received a message asking me to stop contributing to a players GBs because they had too many FPs and nowhere to put them.

 

[Baltar]

But the word "prevent" is an absolute. There is no absolute way to stop sniping as long as A) the position is valued at more than the base rate and B) that GBs are snipable at "X" rate above "base" upon unlocking a level. What bothers me about players trying to convince other players in such issues is that they use absolutes but don't want them used on them. People can argue all day long and twice on Sundays that there is no such value to a position on a great building other than what the building owner perceives and I'd argue "they why bother why an Arc? Why is it even necessary or desirable then?"

Sorry, I'm not buying it. When people think such preemptive strikes as leveling parties or teams is an absolute they're simply just justifying a means to an end, imho. There are really only 2 absolutes when it comes to foiling snipers when it comes right down to it. One, never level the building even if that includes destroying it or two, don't level it past the 'snipe zone.' (Of course, this is only true if the gb owner does not consider any unsolicited fps as a snipe).

Are we still talking about how to prevent sniping?

 

[Mor-Rioghain]

Are we still talking about how to prevent sniping?

On that particular post I was actually talking about the use of an absolute vs a relative.

 

[Johnny B. Goode]

I was certain the conversation was about beating dead horses....
I may be wrong?

On that subject, it's always smarter to beat a dead horse than a live one. A live one will either run away or try to kick or bite you. A dead one just lies there and takes it. Much safer.

 

[JWJWB]

On that subject, it's always smarter to beat a dead horse than a live one. A live one will either run away or try to kick or bite you. A dead one just lies there and takes it. Much safer.

Alive is more fun to me. Dangerous = Fun

 

[WillyTwoShoes]

It's much safer to eat a dead horse.

(Way off topic I know. My apologies . I just couldn't resist)
-

 

[JWJWB]

Let me bring this thread back on topic.

Its much easier to SNIPE a dead horse than an alive one.

 

[Don Juan II]

I have found that players who get sniped some, get sniped more and more. Players who are always careful. rarely get sniped.
And if a player gets sniped once, they should be very careful for a few weeks. since that sniper will be watching, and they probably told their sniping buddies
So if a player get sniped within minutes of opening, Someone was watching for a good reason. LOL

Yeah, I always watch on every hood change. But if you spot a good chance to snipe, snipe it all the way. If you have seen the math gets less sniped, don't be ridiculous.

 

[JWJWB]

Dead horses cannot be sniped! Even if they had an open GB or more, the fact they are dead means the sniper will never get the reward. Because the owner will never level it. (though some have managed to level "left to rot" GBs with the aid of a few others to get back big snipes) .And getting the rewards is the primary reason to snipe.
(an alternative reason is to kill a double dip)

I meant with a gun.

To lighten the mood, a LONE horse (aka self leveler) is the easiest to snipe.

Also, my guild founder just sniped P2 on my traz for 1 fp. He says it was an "accident" and now he owes me 170 fp. Do I take it or do I let it slide? I mean, he is the guild founder.