Hmm..
The majority of people who seem to dislike the sniper base their opinions on it being unbalanced.. the developer's job is to make it balanced - therefore it is merely the idea of the sniper which is to be debated.

Currently the rifle is similar to a sniper rifle, but who says it should remain the easiest weapon to use? Why not make it slightly quicker and more of an assault weapon/middle-to-long range, rather than the camper's tool?

A sniper rifle could have 'heaviness' to lug around the map - aim could be delayed/have lag on it to make it harder to use. Its damage would be very high, the sound it made would be louder, its tracer would be big, it would have a large interval between shots and not an incredibly generous clip - it would be a weapon to master and to be tactical with, rather than a 'pick up and muller everyone' weapon.

The Rifle is good enough. The ones who complain just don't know how to use it properly.

As for perks, killstreak bonuses and the like, I don't think they'll be implemented at all.

I do want Killstreaks though, just notifiers like the ones in DoTA or Quake.

+1

Aksoy will never add snipers. You know why? Because the rifle is already fufilling this role, anyway having a sniper will imbalance the game because you can shoot players who can't see you thus the sniper may become a meta game item, with players using it all the time, other weapons will become completely useless and Ace of Spades will become Ace of Snipers amirite?

Also to touch on Call of Duty themed items, perks may sound fine but with much taboo with items relating with said topic it probrably won't come anytime soon. Streak items are already being served in some servers but they normally have airstrikes. Chopper gunner might actually be a good idea but with such advantages when you get one is so much, the streak you would suppose to get would probrably be near impossible to get unless you are playing ninja or camper in the server. Most likely COD items won't be added in game.

BTW, a sidearm will be guranteed to be in AoS!! =P