Author Topic: The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]  (Read 5439 times)

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Offline Tom

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The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]
« on: December 15, 2012, 09:13:42 am »
Preface – Just sayin’

Before I start, I will preface my story by letting you all know that it’s exactly that: a story. There will be a lot of facts in this story, but some of it will be my interpretation of what has happened and some of it will be my opinion. Thank you for reading!


Chapter 1 – The Beginnings of Greatness

The basic game of Snipers, in its roughest form, has humble beginnings. I have heard some claim that the game existed as far back as Warcraft II, but since I cannot confirm this, I will begin by sharing where modern Snipers on Warcraft III originated, which was StarCraft. StarCraft Snipers was extremely simple and crude. There were no items and no abilities, such as windwalk and far sight. There was also no ability to attack walk in the game. The only way to get kills then, was pure locking speed. There was also an anti-hack used in the map. Clearly much has changed since then, but the terrain of the map lives on; the middle of our modern Warcraft III Snipers map is modeled after the middle of the StarCraft map, and in fact remains nearly identical. Snipers on StarCraft was not extremely popular, but it with its creation on Warcraft III, it would soon become one of the most popular custom games ever made.

I didn’t play StarCraft Snipers that much, since I preferred the campaign, and the game itself was my brother’s. I started playing it more and more as the release of Warcraft III approached, and eventually most people that played StarCraft had preordered WC3, including myself. A week or two into simultaneously playing StarCraft and WC3, one of the players from StarCraft had finally finished creating a Snipers map for the new game. His account name was Elite, which is obviously where the “Elite” in “Elite Snipers” comes from. If my memory serves, I believe Elite Snipers was the 4th custom game created on WC3, behind Footmen Frenzy, which I can positively tell you was the first.


Chapter 2 – The First Generation

The time period of the first generation took place between the last year of StarCraft Snipers and the first year of Elite Snipers on Warcraft III.

Who were the first snipers? I consider the first generation of snipers to be the ones who came from StarCraft, as well as those who were a part of the creation of Snipers on Warcraft III. Elite quickly emerged as our leader, which was an easy transition, since he was extremely skilled at StarCraft snipers, as well as the creator of the WC3 map. Elite quickly organized a clan, the first clan exclusively for Snipers. A theme was carried over from StarCraft, and the clan was called Clan AzN, with the tags [NiNjA]. This clan has been remade twice since, once at East (Clan NNJA) and once at Europe. Unfortunately Elite did not play Snipers long. He was sucked into the thrill of laddering and stopped WC3 all together after about a year, but his influence on the game would be great. The first snipers were very few in comparison with the following generations, and on average stuck with the game for the least amount of time. Most of them disliked the new version of Snipers, and their resistance to change would be shared by many generations to come. One of the greatest traditions the first generation of snipers started was the act of mentorship. All but a very few of the first snipers took new players as students and taught them about the game. This great tradition was carried on fairly well by the second generation, but began to die out with the third (and largest) generation of snipers, which has unfortunately led to the declining level of skill we see today.

The first generation was forced to figure out the nuances of the game by themselves, since they were the first to play Snipers on Warcraft III. This made them dangerous and savvy, but left them stubborn to any new ideas, including the ones that the second generation would bring forth. The first snipers were extremely skilled team players, since that was the basis of StarCraft Snipers. Having played most of their time without windwalk or any items, the first snipers were also supreme lockers. Snipers may seem like a simple game to most, but to these veterans, Snipers was a very complex game that was constantly changing. The way they saw how a game unfolded was matched by few, and fewer could predict an enemies’ next move as well as them.

I would describe the first snipers as proud, intelligent, unique, and disciplined.

The most influential person from this generation was easily Elite.


Chapter 3 – The Second Generation

The time period of the second generation was the years 2003 and the first half of 2004. I consider all who began playing Snipers about a year after the game was released, until about a year after that (mid 2004) second generation snipers.

The second generation of snipers was by far the most talented. Having the benefit of being trained by the first snipers paired with the fact that they “grew up” using all the tools that Warcraft III Snipers had to offer made them lethal opponents. Many of the early second generation players adopted the stubbornness of their mentors. This included a zero tolerance of pending and pubbing. However, much of the second generation opposed those unwritten rules, and their opposition would end up revolutionizing the way Snipers was played forever.

True legends forged their names in these years, and the iconic clans, EsA, TeN, Pimp, DF, and DS ruled and shaped the Snipers landscape. Another great tradition was started in these days: clan warfare. Clan wars would end up being the single most anticipated event in Elite Snipers history. A clan would feature its best five or six players against a rival clan’s squad in a true test of all-around team skill. The winner, normally claiming simple bragging rights, would then become a clan that new players wanted to join and be associated with. While those were some of the most historic and memorable moments in this game’s history, a revolution of greater magnitude occurred at about this same time.

As far as gameplay, the second generation’s talent level was unmatched. They standardized teamwork in regular games, and laid the framework of how a game of Snipers should be won for future generations of snipers. The revolution that I hinted at earlier came with a sniper known as Anima. Before leading Clan DF, Anima tried out to join Clan Pimp, which at the time was the clan to be in. Pimp had a very old school approach and frowned upon those who used pendants. In his tryout to join Pimp, Anima scored about 79-8 (correct me if I’m wrong, Dan). As impressive as that score was, Anima was the one who pioneered pending with windwalk in regular games, and Clan Pimp turned him down as a result of his playing style. Clan Pimp, like older players, viewed warding as the best way to win a Snipers game, because it gave your entire team sight of an area. And they were extremely good at defending their wards, and each other. It was a perfect way for them to play, and nobody did it better. But that was not how Anima wanted to play, and so he quickly formed Clan DF. Thus began a series of great wars between these clans, and Anima was looked up to by some as arguably the greatest sniper of all time. Because of his influence, Snipers became less about the team and more about individual scores, mostly achieved through pending. As great as Anima was, few have been able to match how effective he was at the windwalk pending style, and as a result, many clan wars were lost because a team thought that pending with windwalk was a better way to win than pubbing. I maintain that the best way to win is a combination of teamwork and all of the available skills.

I would describe the second generation of snipers as legendary, arrogant, talented, and competitive.

The most influential person of the second generation was probably Anima. Game is also worthy of mention, as he is considered the best team player ever.

At the beginning of 2003, most snipers played on the West server, as this is the default server for Warcraft III when you first install it. It was a shock to many snipers that there was even a possibility to switch servers, and as this knowledge grew, so did the game of Snipers. The game of Warcraft III itself had immense success, and an expansion was released (July, 2004) one year after its original release. Ironically, this was right around the time when most snipers had recently discovered that there were multiple servers, and the Snipers playerbase spiked dramatically. Those events were the beginning of what I consider to be the third generation of snipers.

All of those things combined to create the Golden Age of Elite Snipers.


Chapter 4 – The Third Generation and the Golden Age

This time period began a year after the release of The Frozen Throne expansion (July, 2004) and finishes at the end of 2006, totaling about two and a half years. If a sniper was still a newer player around this time, I consider him or her a part of the third generation.

The third generation of snipers was by far the largest in number, for the reasons I gave earlier. Snipers was booming. Games were played on every server (yes, even Asia) and on both games, RoC and TFT. So in total, there were 8 servers with dedicated Snipers players. It was possible to play Elite Snipers for 24 hours straight and not be waiting for more than a few minutes to start a game by switching servers, and some did just that. At the peak of its golden age, Snipers was as popular as TFT DotA is today. There were 10-15 games up at one time, all of them filled instantly with pros during primetime. If you’re a numbers person, perhaps you’ll appreciate these statistics. You may say, “Snipers was not as popular as DotA. 10-15 games at once is not that many.” But think about it. In a game of DotA, a full house is 10 people. In Snipers, a full house is 12. In addition, a game of DotA on average lasts twice as long as a game of Snipers. Thousands of players came and went, and many of them would never meet one another. During this time, however, the best players knew each other quite well. Clan warfare was still the big event everyone wanted in on, but as the number of players grew, the level of respect people had for one another declined rapidly. It makes sense, considering you could talk trash to someone and never see them again. Unfortunately, the third generation of snipers took full advantage of this. Being younger than their legendary leaders of past generations, they came to resent having to constantly look up to the older snipers.

Even though the third generation was taught by some of the greatest snipers to ever play, their skill level did not match their elders. As a result, many of them resorted to hacking. Obviously there is no way to be certain who started hacking in Snipers first, but the first big named player to be identified as a hacker was named Arcadian. Arcadian was proud of his newfound “skill”, and was not afraid to display it. Before I continue, I need to point out that hacking did NOT originate with the third generation. There had always been a few hackers since the beginning, but the difference now was that more and more players turned to hacking as a way of closing the gap between them, and the “legends”, and many third gen snipers believed hacking was an acceptable means to win. The word “legend” became a widely used term to describe the best snipers, and the third generation wanted in on what they felt was deserved acclaim. These young snipers even created a clan named after their goal, Clan Lgnd. It was also during this time that young players would remake an older, retired sniper’s account, and pretend they were him. This action was aptly named “posing”. Posing was not a serious issue until the act of “Clan Killing” came into play shortly after.

Some young snipers hated the “oldies” (that is, older snipers) and wanted them to be lesser than themselves. So they posed as one of them, joined a clan and became shaman (and the only way they were good enough was by use of maphack) and once they were a shaman, the poser would kick all of the members in the clan. This was clan killing. For quite some time, though, the older players became guarded against such underhanded tactics and Snipers continued to thrive.

I would describe the third generation as rebellious, arrogant, charismatic, and overdramatic.

The most influential person from this generation was hard to pick since there were so many snipers during this time who did great things (along with terrible things), but I chose ESi, who was an outstanding leader, extremely friendly, and a very skilled sniper. ESi was one of the few third generation players that never hacked, and was an accomplished clan leader (Clan GuNz).


Chapter 5 – The Fall of Snipers

This period begins in 2006, and ends in 2008.

So as you can see, the third generation focused on trying to make themselves legends, but they went about it the wrong way. Don’t get me wrong. The third generation was not all bad. In fact, some of them would go on to become as skilled as their predecessors. Many third gens were adept leaders, and during this time there were dozens of Snipers clans, filled with pros. But it was the third generation’s apathy and selfishness that would lead to the downfall of Snipers itself.

One sniper emerged from the pack of rebels, with a heart filled with hatred more so than any before. His name was Max. Max, more commonly known as Gem, Evacide, or Rox, was much like many of his peers. Not being very skilled at Snipers, he resorted to blatant maphacking. To Gem’s dismay, the clan leaders of the time saw that he hacked, and would not let him join their clans. Gem grew angrier as time passed, and plotted a dark plan to destroy the game of Elite Snipers itself. Ironically, Gem’s map making ability was supreme, and his maps are still used today due to their excellence.

Gem, playing TFT East at the time, took up posing and clan killing as a hobby. To exact his “revenge” in fuller force though, Gem would also try to convince some players to open emails containing Trojan viruses, or a program that would hack their computer to give Gem their password. He became a dangerous adversary, and as time passed, more and more clans fell to his wrath. He was a gifted liar and convinced several players to join his cause. Together they formed the first Clan Gem, and their mission was to kill every Snipers clan on Warcraft III. Sadly, this devious plot was carried out to near perfection. Nearly every TFT Snipers clan on East and West was killed by Gem. He killed clans until the day he quit WC3 for the first time in 2008 (later quitting for good in 2009), and this is the main reason that TFT Snipers is virtually dead today. Thankfully, Gem’s reach did not ever come to RoC or Europe, and this is predominantly where Snipers is played today.

I need to note though, Gem was not the only reason Snipers is as dead as it is today. Obviously, life takes us to new places and that was a main reason for most snipers’ departures. The release of World of Warcraft also led many snipers to retire, and the popularity of DotA at this time was rising quickly. People also left Snipers because of the amount of drama that was constantly started by the young players, and as more oldies left, these new leaders were unequipped to deal with the rising challenges of leadership.

I would describe the Fall of Snipers as extremely sad!

The most influential player during this time period was clearly Gem, for some good reasons, but mainly horrific ones.


Chapter 6 – The Fourth Generation, aka The Lost Generation

This time period is very blurred because a lot of it overlaps with the Fall of Snipers. I consider the Lost Generation snipers to be anyone who did not experience Snipers in its true form, yet still played while Snipers was very popular.

What do I mean by “true form”? The third generation of snipers was so focused on becoming “legends” that they failed at their duty to teach the next generation. As a result, the skill level of the average sniper has been declining ever since. Like the first snipers on Warcraft III, the fourth generation had to figure the game out themselves. This made many of them headstrong, but unlike the first generation, the majority of their leaders (the third generation) hacked and were very arrogant. These new snipers did not have any real legends to look up to, only fake ones. Time had taken its toll on the Snipers playerbase, and most of the second generation had quit sniping by 2009. So, what I mean by true form is that these new snipers never got to experience playing against true skill; they were never taught how to be great; the only clans they could join were not nearly as talented as the clans of old; and the old sentiment of honor in Snipers had been replaced by accepting hacking as the norm. More than half of the players that played Snipers at this time used a maphack regularly.

It is truly a shame that these players started playing when they did. If they had started playing earlier, they would have gotten to see the reason why the game of Elite Snipers was so great. If they had started playing later, at least they would have played when Snipers was not as popular. Instead I am sure many of them often wondered why Snipers was so popular, since it was filled with needless drama and negativity.

Due to the vast number of snipers still playing at this time, someone could assume that the fourth generation was fairly large, but that was not the case. The number of players that picked up Snipers and actually stuck with it for a decent span of time were few. In fact, I would estimate that the second generation was actually larger than the fourth. However, by the end of Gem’s killing spree less than half of the third generation remained, and even fewer true legends.

There is a reason I have named the fourth generation the Lost Generation. I can’t think of anyone who was influential enough to even mention. There were plenty of good players and a few good leaders, but no name sticks out to me right now. Hopefully I will think of someone eventually, and if I do I will write them in later.


Chapter 7 – A New Generation, and a New Hope

If you have started playing Snipers within the past 2-3 years, you are the fifth and new generation.

As of right now, Snipers is as close to dead as it has ever been. The game might have a hundred players, but half of that is relatively active. So don’t take it for granted, and don’t take each other for granted. One day you might wake up and wish they were still around. As I write this, there are two Snipers clans. Clan 3xS at RoC Europe, and Clan RG at RoC East.

Most of the new generation has no clue who Anima is. They have never fought in a clan war. They don’t view the game of Snipers as a team game, and for most it would never be considered their main game on WC3. Many do not even possess the most basic of skills needed to be a pro sniper. But that is okay. How could they know these things unless someone told them? It is the reason I am writing this, and the reason I am still around teaching. I want you to know that this game is worth playing. To know that it’s worth fighting for. In all likelihood, Elite Snipers will never be the game it once was. But there is hope. To the person reading this: you are that hope. You are a hope that will be fulfilled not if you become the next legend, or if you bring Snipers back to glory, but if you simply become the best sniper you can be. Play the game the right way and respect your peers, even if they do not respect you. Make yourself an example worth modeling after, and you will be a success no matter how “pro” you are.

Appreciate the past, enjoy the present, and look forward to the future. I have written this in dedication to everyone who has ever played the game of Elite Snipers on Warcraft III. You all rock!

Especially to my old friends: Elite, Game, Apathetic, Steve, Anima, ESi, Kflan, Jubei, Sean, Mike, Puffy, LilPuffy, Krazie, Eagles, Blitz, SeC, Volcom, Helvetia, Skul, Values, Kayla, PoR, Matt, Arfoo, DoA, mybrodro, ZoNo, Estonian, Dethbringa, Psycho, ReKoT, and the hundred or so I can’t even think of right now. You know who you are though.

Also thanks to all my newer people. Keep up the good work! And to everyone who listened to me teach or learned anything from me about Snipers, thank you.

I am, and always will be, Snipers.

Tom
« Last Edit: May 28, 2013, 03:06:43 pm by Tom »
"All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, and hope."
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Offline SniPerr

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Re: The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2012, 06:54:02 pm »
Dude u Inspire me bro
A Sniper is what i am, A Sniper is what i always will be....

Offline RaPeDmAN

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Re: The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]
« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2012, 08:38:43 pm »
I came at the end of the Golden age and beginn of the trash one tz tz
Dream your Dream, Live your Life!

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Offline Tom

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Re: The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]
« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2012, 05:51:37 am »
Haha thanks sniperr. Yeah **** it's a real shame how far Snipers has dropped but hopefully we'll get a few wars/scrimages going soon!
"All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, and hope."
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Re: The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]
« Reply #4 on: December 17, 2012, 04:00:53 pm »
haha np Tom, y guys i hope too, i want to play in a war :P
A Sniper is what i am, A Sniper is what i always will be....

Offline RaPeDmAN

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Re: The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2012, 07:55:32 pm »
I hope so too, really :)
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Re: The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]
« Reply #6 on: December 24, 2012, 10:56:31 pm »
Nice work bro, love the fact you actually took the time to word it 'sophisticatedly'  ;) Hopefully we can keep recruiting and training new gen! sniping numbers are definately on the increase though
"It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives."

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Re: The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]
« Reply #7 on: December 25, 2012, 01:03:37 pm »
Well spoken hidden :D
A Sniper is what i am, A Sniper is what i always will be....

Offline Tom

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Re: The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]
« Reply #8 on: December 25, 2012, 04:20:29 pm »
Haha yeah thanks Hidden! 3xS continues to grow, slowly but surely.
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Offline IaM

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Re: The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]
« Reply #9 on: December 25, 2012, 11:38:52 pm »
"Slowly" ? We have more than 55 members! ^^

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Re: The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]
« Reply #10 on: December 26, 2012, 12:25:09 pm »
But 45-50% of these 55 Members are just 1 times every week on :P :)
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Re: The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]
« Reply #11 on: December 26, 2012, 01:11:38 pm »
true ****, but i think snipers is gonna grow potential :P
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Re: The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]
« Reply #12 on: January 05, 2013, 12:13:01 am »
i got anima on fb, pengu got u any contact with rekot maybe?

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Re: The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]
« Reply #13 on: January 05, 2013, 03:32:38 am »
I guess I'm simply happy to get a shout-out towards the end. Seems interesting to me how I don't particularly fall into any "age," but more-so being ever present save for the last two years.

Offline Tom

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Re: The History of Snipers [COMPLETE]
« Reply #14 on: January 05, 2013, 03:35:54 am »
I have FB contact with Anima, Zono, Kyle, Rare, and Esto. I used to have Rekot but I don't know what happened.
"All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, and hope."
-Winston Churchill