Depends on the game really. I like sniper rifles and I enjoy using them in most situations and yet I find myself in competitive pvp games utilizing mid-range assault weaponry. On Halo my most effective game type is Swat since I began playing the multi-player back in Halo 3, which sees me using either a DMR or BR or rarely even a Magnum depending on which Halo it is and what map conditions (Halo 4: using a BR on more closed in maps, a DMR in more open spaced maps for better range) are like. In games like Call of Duty where mid-range weaponry consists of assault rifles you'll find me mostly using a silenced assault rifle from longer range than normal including using them up to sniper rifle ranges where I have been accused of cheating rather than having good eyesight. I find that unless the game was designed with particular attention to sniping it can be difficult to utilize, for example many Call of Duty game segments are designed to make you surge forwards, especially when the game is built by Treyarch for a key example of this: Khe Sahn in the first Black Ops game, there is a couple of segments which see you have to cross an open trench field under heavy attack, the troops you must actively worry about re-spawn every 6 seconds after being killed and are upon you almost immediately, using a sniper rifle though one is available is pointless you need the faster rate of fire of an assault rifle or LMG to get through them alive. The developer is forcing you in to a "rush" situation I dislike that, in Modern Warfare call of duty games, with exception to timed criteria missions there is generally a finite number of troops therefore picking up a sniper rifle moving to a vantage point, taking the shot, once compromised moving to another section and taking the shot from there and so forth works because once you've worked around the field of battle sniping the enemies are all dead.

I also enjoy playing a sniper type role in games like morrowind because sometimes the bow and arrow is a better choice when you're the stealth type.