Is 'Smurfing' against the ToS?

Nope, despite the fact that smurfs are terrible and ruin the game, Blizzard loves the money they generate.

Smurfs are here to stay.

Smurfing is against the TOS, even if it’s not clearly stated.
Getting an unfair adventure and ruining the the fun for other player is against the ToS and that’s what smurfs are doing.

BUT Blizzard turns a blind eye, better to say the mods.

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According to Blizzard, cheating is “engaging in any activity that grants an unfair advantage,” and encourages players to report people who violate the rules.

Smurfing gives you and your team an unfair advantage over the other team. According to Blizzard’s own rules, smurfing is reportable.

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While it has become extremely easy for many to spot actual Smurfs, of course no one can ever be 100% certain that another player is actually Smufing at any given time.

But that’s exactly why the Report System exists, in order for players to report suspicious behavior (these are Blizzard’s words, not mine) and for each report to get manually examined by an actual human who has all the data available in order to determine if the reported player is guilty or not.

Well, with that logic, all Reports that aren’t related to Abusive Language would be examples of False Reporting…

Does that mean that we should stop reporting people in general?? Of course not.

I really do not care what you personally find as reprehensible, because in my post not even once did I actually condone such behaviors. I just listed my opinion on the matter, some facts and that’s it.

Even if it is, Blizzard doesn’t care of taking any actions against it so it makes no difference.

99% of my matches there is at least 1 smurf in one of the teams.

Only thing relating to that would be selling accounts, that is against their ToS, but other then that, no.

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A smurf account being played normally, or at least at a consistent effort/skill level, will fall into a the match MMR bracket fairly quickly, probably within 20 games or even less since MMR/SR changes much more dramatically on newer accounts. This isn’t cheating and would only affect a small number of games.

Intentionally lowering the MMR/SR of an account by throwing, which would be easier to do on a fresh one, however should be reported.

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as you have been informed multiple times at this point, the reports are rarely if ever reviewed by a human being, rather, after x number of reports the reported individual is actioned

therefore, submission of false reports like what has been described in this side discussion are reprehensible – false reports where the innocent end up being punished for no good reason

if one wishes to break the rules of the game, thats on them, but when that same individual chooses to break the rules of the game to get others banned, thats a much different and far worse thing

I made no such statement.

The entire statement I replied to was an attempt to justify the rule-breaking activity known as false reporting, as well as an endorsement for others to do the same

I can understanding not caring given this stance, since the ones most likely to suffer due to these rulebreaking actions are the reported players, not the reporting players

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How cute. He thinks it’s not reportable.

It’s definitely not on Xbox.

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If that’s actually correct, then that’s solely the fault of Blizzard for engaging in pure False Advertisement and that’s the end of it.

False. People who report suspicious behaviors are simply following Blizzard’s advice and nothing more by using a system they have been advertising for years now.

If the system is not automated, then each Report will be examined and if necessary, either the person reporting or getting reported will be punished accordingly.

If Blizzard is lying though and the system is actually automated, then that’s on them and players shouldn’t be expected to let possibly malevolent behaviors reign just due to the above prospects existing.

I made no such statement and that honestly wasn’t my intent, so you can let that go now.

And yet having an account for me in gold, some 1000sr below my current main sr and struggling to get out because of teammates being terrible is somehow me throwing? As you couldnt tell, this is annoying, i should be in diamond. Yet somehow 4 of my healer accounts are all hardstuck 2300. I can win 2200s but as soon as i hit 2400, i lose. And the best part, i always somehow end up with more than 12k heals per 10

well, they are throwing to get to a lower level. so you can report them, but I don’t think its a against the ToS.
sadly

Throwing is already against the rules but is not the focus of ‘smurf’ threads on the forums. the focus is on they got beat by a better player.
If someone is throwing report them.
If someone is playing an alt account and working on ranking up … not an issue and don’t report them.

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No, it is not against any rules. We have matchmaker for that. You can buy 300 accounts and smurf forever. Devs tend us to do it with discounts.

Smurfing is because throwing and deliberately engaging in gameplay sabotage is a pre-requisite for smurfing.

Owning and alt account and playing normally on it is not.

/topic/

at this point there are so many smurfs that they could do a queue on their own

its only reportable if they are throwing

you can have as many accounts as you want

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Losing on purpose to tank your MMR is agaisnt the ToS.

Being a terrible person and making new accounts to exploit the match making is NOT against the ToS.

Be aware though, that we know, and you know, you are being an awful person when you do this.

Smurfs have to throw games in order to get lower their rank. So yes, it´s absolutly reportable if you see them throwing.