Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Whatever works for you, doesn’t work for me!

Before I left for Russia there was a new trend starting on the spec ops forums. After looking on the forums for a few minutes it is rather apparent that agreeing with the spec ops positions is now considered “un cool.” Now before I begin let me state that I consider myself a dagger and use the “positions” to classify players all the time. Ok so we have the Commander, Dagger, Saber, Broadsword, Hammer and the infamous sniper. Five basic positions that can give people a basic understanding of how a typical scenario squad works. So where is the problem?

I’ve noticed a few posts that have said “Is this equipment good for a dagger?” or “Can I use this as sniper ghille?” The majority of the responses used to be “yes it is” or “no it isn’t” Yet somewhere in the time I took my exams and left to go to Russia the new response is “If it works for you” which to me is not a response at all. Now, don’t get me wrong! I think you should use the equipment you like however that’s not the question that was being raised. As stated above I consider myself a dagger, but do I go hand in hand with the guidelines set up by spec ops? No! But do I use some of it? Yes! Spec ops has made general position guidelines and has made equipment to go along with their guidelines (such as the dagger a-5 or the dagger vest). We just need to keep in mind that the so called positions are guidelines, and if someone wants to take them as word for word instructions who cares? Its what works for them right? Not every sniper has to wear guile, not every dagger has to have a reversed tank, and not every hammer has to have a hammer.

However, there are certain truths to every position and I think that’s the point that is being missed. Recently I was discussing the issue of daggers and remote lines. Some of the people decided to argue that “just because the daggers on spec ops webpage don’t use remote lines doesn’t mean you can’t use remote lines” and that’s right! The problem lies in taking your game to the next level. If you want to play in a serious game as a dagger in vegetation all the remote line is going to do is get caught up and slow you down. While a remote line can make your maker lighter you can train yourself to hold the heavy marker but you cannot train your remote line to dodge trees. Same thing goes for snipers, sure you don’t NEED ghille but it helps conceal you and helps you be a better sniper.

I’ll be the first person to admit that there are players much better than I using equipment much cheaper than mine. However if you compare two people of equal skills, knowledge, and experience the one with more refined equipment will win. So there is nothing wrong with using any equipment and playing a position on a squad (except for using a pump as a hammer). But by having more refined equipment you will be able to fulfill your role better. Take a look at other professional sports sure swimmers can swim in swim trunks but they use speedos because they cut down on drag. Soccer players could wear gym shoes, but they wear cleats for traction. Look at any professional athlete, in any sport and you will see equipment specialized for their position. I’m not saying that good equipment is the answer to all your problems since currently you can not buy skill. But a good piece of equipment can go a long way. So if your going to be a sniper you might want that ghille and if your going to be a hammer you want to spend a little extra on that e-grip. Some things are debatable such as the length of a dagger barrel, but others are not such as hammers should not use pumps.

So the next time someone brings up a spec ops position remember how convenient they are. A majority of people are just using them as a ballpark estimate so when talking to people about equipment please don’t jump to the “If it works for you it works for me” response and use the guidelines of the playing style to contemplate an answer.

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