A tactical discussion

imo i figure let people call it what they will. I figure if you can conceal yourself and hit someone before they have much time to react and pick targets in a manner so that other members of the opposition dont know exactly where you are, to me i would call you and effective "sniper". You dont have to be an exelent shot. if you can get someone close enough that if you shot 5-10 balls you could hit them with one i think you could be effective.

on the lines of sharp shooters, i see them as people not looking for total concealment. kind of a suport possition. you have someone with a high rof gun go ahead and once they encounter the opposition a sharpshooter who fallows beind would flank a little and use thier better marksmanship to take them out. they need to have some breathing room but dont need much. enough to alow them to aim more than most snap shots. If the fire turns twords him the guy with the high rof gun starts firing more agresivly to get the attention back on him.

tl;dr - if your guna go and hide and wait for someone to get close enough for you to get him i would say your sniping but i think a sharp shooter is not a position that would be played by someone sitting and waiting but more an agressive possition played to suport the frontmen.

There is not much here to disagree with.  About the only thing I've ever had a problem with is people believing you have to be outside the effective range of your target to be considered a "sniper".  Up until recently, snipers used weapons that had similar ranges to those carried by their targets. Now, range is just one more way for a sniper to conceal himself. 

Seriously though, you guys have posted some of the best information on this subject that I've seen.  I dispise the term "sniper" when it comes to paintball because unless you're talking a scenario game where you can do the recon work and what not the ability to be like a true sniper doesn't come around often.  What really gets me though are those guys that say "Yea, I'm a sniper." or "I like to snipe." and you watch them play and realize they have no CLUE what they are talking about.

You'll see my signature and think I believe otherwise, but I use to play old school stock class back when that's all there was to play.  You get that mentality of "This shot has to count" when you play that way.  So, to me, One Shot One Kill is more about my ability to make the shot count than being a "sniper".  Sure I have a marker that most define as a "sniper setup" but that's used for scenario games where I can do recon work and where taking out someone who is a dynamic leader at a critical point might help my side gain the advantage.  But I'll never call myself a sniper.  I'm just a member of the team...and on a speedball court I'm more of the guy that stays in back, keeps the other guy's heads down, and am shouting out locations for my front guys.

Anyway, again, best Paintball Sniper thread I've ever seen.  I'd love to see the term dropped from paintball as well just because so many people have no idea what it is to truely be a "sniper".