ZylonBane on 26/2/2013 at 16:35
Quote Posted by DDL
Iron sight...is a sight, that is made of....metal?
Yes, that's exactly what it is. Was there some doubt on this point? Iron sights are the non-laser, non-telescopic sights built into your "shooting iron".
So apparently you would rather that instead of using the existing, accepted term, people should instead just make shit up. And further, you would like the use of a time machine so you can go back and tell people that their terminology is stupid and they should change it.
PS, sshhh, nobody tell Phatose that "tin foil" isn't actually made of tin anymore. Or that parchment paper isn't made of parchment. Or that Superman isn't literally made of steel. Or that nickels are mostly copper. Or, hell, just don't let him see (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_%28metaphor%29) this.
DDL on 26/2/2013 at 16:51
Gun sights. Metal sights. Fixed sights. Hell, just "sights" alone is fine. It's just the obsession with iron that seems odd.
So the actual etymology is "sights for mah shootin' iron?". That's interesting, and explains a lot. Kinda makes it seem even more anachronistic, though. Also, redneck.
Hilariously, a brief google search for iron sights turns up WAAAAAY more shit about battlefield 3 and halo and COD and shit than it does actual gun sites (where "iron sights" is presumably too vague a term), so my perception of this being mostly 'a term used by gamers to make themselves sound gun savvy' probably stems from that sort of overuse.
Volitions Advocate on 26/2/2013 at 17:29
DDL pretty much has the point, take it from a gun nut.
I've seen a few games now where the options menu says ADS rather than iron sights. In fact, if my memory serves me, CoD 1 and 2 both said "aim down the sights" in the options. They both gave the option to either toggle or hold, but it said ADS not iron sight, and CoD was the first game I know of that ever did it.
Regardless, this little argument has nothing to do with the fact that everyone on here who voted for SS2 on gog needs to buy it to prove to the publishers that we do indeed put out money where our mouths are, and to show them what kind of games we want.
Phatose on 26/2/2013 at 17:54
The problem isn't that iron sights is out of date. The problem is that describing sights as iron is useless no matter what they're made out of, because the material they're made out of has jack all to do with their function.
ZylonBane on 26/2/2013 at 19:16
Keep fucking that chicken, Phatose.
Chimpy Chompy on 26/2/2013 at 19:23
This is really one of the most pointless arguments we've had in a while.
june gloom on 26/2/2013 at 20:43
FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT
heywood on 26/2/2013 at 21:00
I think "iron sights" is a gamer term. Most people who shoot real guns differentiate between the type of sight. The most common on small arms is the open sight, whose main subcategories are notch & post (or just "post") and notch & bead (or just "bead"). Then probably the scope. After that, I'm not sure, but maybe the peep sight, which has a specialization called the ghost ring sight. Or maybe the reflector sight, particularly the red dot sight. And competitive target shooters use mostly globe sights or similar diopter sights. Laser sights are somewhere near the bottom of the list. I don't think these are widely used IRL because they are fairly ineffective, but they look cool in games and movies.
Games don't do much of anything to simulate how gun sights work. "Iron sights" has become a generic gaming term for anything in between a simple crosshair and a scope, usually implemented with a mild zoom effect with maybe some blur and a different pixmap in place of the crosshair.
catbarf on 26/2/2013 at 22:02
I go shooting fairly often, and have quite a few friends in law enforcement and the military, and I hear the term 'iron sights' pretty frequently, to distinguish from optical sights ('optics') which are becoming more the norm. Even for guns that don't have any sights built-in, you can buy (
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/mediapages/ArticleDetail.aspx?mediaid=430) Backup Iron Sights (BUIS) in case the main sight is shot out or fails.
It may be something that gamers latched on to but it's definitely not term made up by gamers, and nowadays it is useful in that it makes it clear that you're talking about traditional non-powered sights, of which there are more subdivisions. The generic term 'sight' encompasses everything from aperture sights to EOTech holographic sights to ACOG telescopic sights, and they're all very different in purpose and function, so it's helpful to be able to distinguish.
SDF121 on 27/2/2013 at 04:44
Quote Posted by catbarf
I go shooting fairly often, and have quite a few friends in law enforcement and the military, and I hear the term 'iron sights' pretty frequently, to distinguish from optical sights ('optics') which are becoming more the norm. Even for guns that don't have any sights built-in, you can buy (
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/mediapages/ArticleDetail.aspx?mediaid=430) Backup Iron Sights (BUIS) in case the main sight is shot out or fails.
It may be something that gamers latched on to but it's definitely not term made up by gamers, and nowadays it is useful in that it makes it clear that you're talking about traditional non-powered sights, of which there are more subdivisions. The generic term 'sight' encompasses everything from aperture sights to EOTech holographic sights to ACOG telescopic sights, and they're all very different in purpose and function, so it's helpful to be able to distinguish.
Well it looks like Catbarf beat me to it. Anyways, for what it's worth, my younger brother is in the marine corps and says that when they're using the default sights on a weapon that they are always referred to as iron sights. He says that its a pretty common term for them.
