I am a long term player on the server and have spend loads of time as a police officer and a criminal. The point of roleplay is to interact with other people and have fun. The sniper rifle removes the interaction between players and nobody enjoys being shot out of nowhere. And even when you do talk, its usually 1 line being said and then the shot is taken, which again takes away the roleplay.
Now of course there are people that can do good RP with a sniper rifle, BUT the majority of players simply abuse the weapon, resulting in an admin sit, or a general loweffort RP scene.
As a criminal, when you do get into a "war" or shootout, the point is to have fun. And most people dont like getting oneshot, or two shot by someone that is barely involved in the scene.
Second, its really hard to track for the police who generally show up way later on scene and the RP most criminals provide is not in depth, and we can barely do any investigating.
And if its a bank robbery for example, its generally just: Crim inside the bank: Let us leave or our sniper shoots us. Police: can't let you leave without giving us hostage. Crim 2: Shoots cop with sniper. End of scene.
Which is boring as hell for the police, and IMO its boring as a criminal to.
Now, this is the general expierence for most people that have played for a while, and whilst it may seem the decision is ridiculous because you do good RP with it, most people dont.
In conclusion, most of the times the sniper does not benefit RP hence the decision to remove it, which I agree with
PS: this is still pritty much a summary of most thinks i've seen with a sniper because otherwise im writing a 12 page essay
PPS: ATM 2k hours playtime < just to show you, i know what im talking about. and if you want any further discussion with me, feel free to DM me: Marcoboy24#6085
To the people saying why supercars aren"t nerfed: We have a 80 mph rule in the city, and you're also not supposed to go mach speed on the highway.