Well there are more than enough players who’d pay to smurf so i think this is a bad idea.
It shouldn’t be possible at all to play competitive with an alt account.
Well how would you stop it.?
The game has no sub fee. So the phone thing at least makes it inconvenient.
1 Like
Didn’t Blizzard say that they have permabanned several players from ever playing the game again no matter the account?
If they are telling the truth, Blizzard must have some kind of fix to this multiple account issue.
Garth I’m totally with you it partially my fault I admit that that but I’ve gone against multiple smurfs in bronze and that’s what low tier has turned into. All it seems now are streamers doing the bronze to grandmaster things then not realizing there throwing out the point of the game. Yes carrying is a good thing but when you they are way out of your skill level it makes the game unfair and people not want to play the game.In some ways too I wish they could get rid of second accounts. It would make our community a little less toxic in that way because in low tier this is acommon theme:,”Kill the pharah or kill the Mccree because they have
really good skill and keep killing you.
actually the lack of a role que system and regularly being forced to play heros you don’t wanna play is whats ruining comp… alt//smurfs are literally the smallest issue facing comp as a whole. I can see there being some issues with alts/smurfs on console. but if I remember correctly its on xbox/sony to limit the amount of accounts that can have access to specific games. but in all honesty a role que/ maybe separate modes for solo and group que would do much more to fix comp then simply trying to enforce a 1 account rule. shoot trying to figure out weather I have 1 or 4 blizz accounts would be difficult considering my wife child and brother all have accounts…
2 Likes
They can seriously limit it by locking your account to your phone number, or even your ID. Done deal, many other games do this, but they tend to be all free to play, which seems to be the issue here, Overwatch will not stop alts because it is earning them a lot of money.
1 Like
i can buy a new sim $2 from my local super market that isn’t going to stop smurfing.
2 Likes
Not all smurfers relax on their alt accounts, I sure don’t, I use it for experience for sure, but I play my guts out just like my main. I’ve had plenty of Smurfs I’ve played with and if you talk with them reasonably they’ll play competitively with you. I’ve learned more about the game from Smurfs than anyone else. I don’t mind them one bit. Better than someone at my actual skill level who is tilted and just playing out of past game reactions. Smurfs usually are more relaxed and have good game sense.
1 Like
The biggest problem with OW is no role select and no guild system
Not every format requires you to buy another copy.
On console you can have many accounts especially on PlayStation 4 where the primary console can have sub accounts attached to it that could also play OverWatch and they’re using one copy of the game that was paid for.
The weird thing about smurfing is people in gold and lower elos make smurfs and only get to gold or lower because it’s their true skill ranking. I don’t get the point of doing it at such a low level?
not all alt account are trolls. I have one and i use it to learn/ practice DPS and heals ( my main is tanks.) I never troll and i am actually placed higher than my main, I also fill of need be. The issue isn’t alt accounts, its trolls and people who want to waste peoples time and there isn’t much Blizz can do about that other than ban/timeout people that have been reported for trolling.
1 Like
Finally, a great idea!
My alt is higher than this account and I try and take them both seriously.
5-year-old Timmy got Overwatch as a present from the parents last christmas. Timmy has always been interested in the game since both his parents play competitive twice every night. All of the sudden Timmy can no longer play because he got no cellphone that has nothing to do with the game. Poor little Timmy.
my alt is my main my main is my main
Blizzard need to fix this crap…
Someone far outclassing bronze / silver due to being an alt account is no different then downranking. They ban one type of cheating but sanction another because it earns them money.
Apply an authenticator or mobile lock to every account.
Their “our matchmaking system will sort itself out” is crap - us lower players are forced to stay low because we need to lose X amount of games before they move up and out of our pool…
Alt accounts are KILLING this game. I don’t give a crap about you wanting to try the new flavour of the month, play it in your main account at a fair level
1 Like
Yeah, but this time Blizzard ALSO said it. Their famous ‘people are just taking a break’ comment. They are losing players QUICKLY now, and internally beginning to panic.
Lets look at what else is going on there…
Earlier this year, CFO Amrita Ahuja told staff at a 'Battle Plan' meeting that one of Blizzard's goals for the year was to reduce the amount of money it was spending.
“This is the first year we’ve heard a priority being cutting costs and trying not to spend as much,” said an employee present at the meeting.
“It was presented as, ‘Don’t spend money where it isn’t necessary.’”
So yeah, Blizzard is going to be leaning on overwatch more. But to do that, they need new players.
They are not going to retain those new players if they have a smurfing problem.
If Blizzard season banned all of the people who were in Plat, who have thrown down to Bronze (because you KNOW they are not there because of a couple of bad games)… Diamonds in silver as well, Masters in gold, etc.
You would see a DRAMATIC change overnight.
First off blizzard will NEVER do it. As it would cost them millions. Second they would be hard pressed to figure out which accounts are second or third. So even if they did appease you and got rid of all alt accounts the game would die. People would jump ship faster than they already have. Overwatch has peaked and is in decline. It happens. They have choices, regroup and refresh the game. Or do as they are and ride it out till the end.
Force the game to have a mobile authenticate for each account, and new accounts to participate in “x” amount of hours in qp before getting into comp… may not fix the problem of the habitual trolls who will bankrupt themselves to feel good about stomping bronze, but would show blizzard is listening.