Today I start a rally, against the oppression that we gunslingers receive by playing, by fighting, by existing.
Us gunslingers are no different than you strikers out there, we are all probably teens ranging from 13-23 years old, who really like this game, yet you people class us as different than yourselves, and create a stereotype system in the game. All knights are created equal, we each have the possibilities to become a sword, gun, or bomb user, we each have the potential to be a professional or an elite, and we all have the capability to choose how we play.
Most people curve to swords seeing as how they are the highest DPS weapons currently in the game, but just because the majority favors one over the other doesn't mean you should count the others out just yet, and especially treat them like aliens, or just completely ignore them and leave whenever they show up. As guns are meant to be used long range, we tend to try to avoid as many enemy units as possible, making people mark us as cowards, and idiots for not using swords. Just because we aren't as effective as you, or because we aren't as brave as you doesn't mean we aren't better or worse than you.
Some gunslingers give up gunning, either because they aren't good at it, they get criticized for it, or they don't do enough damage. I've seen this a few times, and I hate seeing a player quit gunslinging because they got insults about it, or even worse, quit Spiral Knights altogether for being called a newbie, and getting non-helpful responses from veteran players that treasure their pride too much to simply point them in the right direction.
What I can't stand is that we get insults and comments about one of our prime weapons, the Polaris. In Player versus Enemy, we dare not bring our Polaris along, lest we be playing solo, otherwise, most strikers in our parties will immediately go solo or leave due to the nature of the gun. In Player versus Player, we also can't bring out our Polaris, as strikers view it as a gun that is just meant to annoy with, and if we do have it equipped, we'll get frowned upon for using it. Same applies for the Supernova as well.
As for Lockdown, we get even more criticism here than anywhere else. Since as explained before, us gunners tend to try to stay away from enemy units as much as we can, which is why we almost all choose the striker class, so that we can dodge enemies easier. As dodging is essential to our playstyle, we will kite, flank, dodge, and move around as much as we can do avoid getting hit by enemy units, which in turn causes the enemies much grief in the fact that they can't catch us as easily as other strikers out there. And we usually get looked down upon by the fact we use the Valiance and the Polaris, two of the most effective guns in Lockdown, who's usage is discouraged because they are classified as annoying weapons. The ironic thing is that most strikers also use these two guns as a common sidearm, but that's beside the point. Argent Peacemaker, Sentenza, and Obsidian Carbine are also greatly shamed weapons due to their sheer speed and 6 bullet clip. Most strikers complain for one or both of two reasons: It gives them invincibility frames, or it interrupts their attacks. I once got a lecture on this because I was robbing another player of their 'much needed damage to uphold their reputation', when damage doesn't really matter, but that's personal opinion.
So I'm consulting, nay, asking you to stop the negativity against us gunslingers, just because we're different from you strikers.
I have a dream for us, and I pray that someday it will come true, for gunslingers, and for all individuals out there.
The MLKjr is strong with this one...