You don't know that Sharpshooters will be less suited for dealing with numerous threats up close - you only know that they will now get a bonus for standing still and are making an assumption with the rest. This does not imply a penalty for moving or rule out the possibility of getting different bonuses for still using pistols or any non-rifle weapon, or maybe a separate bonus is applied while they are moving. You do not have all the information. No one does yet.
Handgun specialty was made a new perk now. Handgun bonuses were how Sharpshooters dealt with multiple weak threats effectively in KF1. Sharpshooter does not still get those bonuses, because that would completely defeat the entire point of the perk getting split in two, which was to fix the problem of Sharpshooter being good against EVERYTHING in KF1. Thus, in KF2 if you want to kill lots of weak enemies, you're either going to have to waste your limited supply of SS weapon ammo on trash enemies, or swap to the sidearm you aren't proficient in.... and either way is inefficient in terms of time (because SS weapons tend to have either slow fire rates or reload speed or both, and killing things with a sidearm you don't get bonuses to is just slow for anyone)
See enemy--> Aim Down Sight--> Line up Crosshair--> Pull Trigger
(snip)
but when you can rely on accurate hipfire, the process becomes this:
See Enemy --> Aim --> Pull Trigger
What you mean is the process becomes "See Enemy --> Line up
imaginary crosshair --> pull trigger" which beats out aiming properly by
the miniscule fraction of a second it takes to transition to the sighted/scoped view.
Only now in KF2, there's an added element... you fire a rifle without shouldering it, IT'S GOING TO RECOIL A LOT. And until your stability recovers, you can't/shouldn't shoot that rifle again because the bullet isn't going to go towards your screen center. While aiming properly, you simply move the crosshair back onto the enemy and fire your next shot. Thus, hipfiring cuts your accurate firing rate significantly, unless you're using a single-shot weapon to begin with.
See? You're at a disadvantage by stubbornly refusing to handle the rifle the way it's meant to be used. And for what? To keep your FoV open for the second it'll take you to actually line up your shot, because you don't trust your teammates to do their jobs?
I will mention it's important to realize that the hipfire mechanic effects every perk and every weapon, not just sharpshooter.
It's going to mean the most for sharpshooter however, because being even ONE degree off due to sway when you fire a shot could mean missing your target entirely. If they're close enough that a few degrees won't stop you from hitting their neck, then either something has gone horribly wrong or you don't know what a sniper is.
Do you prefer hipfire to be inaccurate, unpredictable and unreliable? If so, why? For realism? Do you think it makes the game more challenging? I'm genuinely curious.
Yes and yes. It's one thing to sling a
machine gun by your hip and spray bullets like an action-movie hero... but who the **** have you ever seen fire a rifle like that? Ever? It's not just unrealistic, it's not even the
cool kind of unrealistic. Like bunny-hopping, ugh. If something A) doesn't make any sense, B) looks stupid, and C) serves no purpose but make the game easier for you and make intentional parts of the game completely obsolete, then you can be sure any competent game developer is going to fix it.
And yes, it also makes the game more challenging if the sniper on your team has to actually focus on the target he's shooting at, accept a brief moment of tunnel-vision, and count on teammates for help.
I think the current kf1 mechanic adds another layer of gun skill to the game - instead of useless hipfire you can learn to use it to your advantage.
What the 'center of the screen' mechanic in KF1 did was attempt realism and result in just another form of learning curve new players had to face. Which was fine, for the ones who weren't put off by the game's challenge and stuck around for it... but the thing is,
once you got USED TO it the game became as mindlessly point-and-click as any other FPS. Instead of "not having a crosshair" you just "figure out where the invisible crosshair is". It's a learning curve that sharply plateaus off.