You may say, “But better players make you improve.” They don’t if their aim is good, that’s it. Positioning is key sometimes, but a smurfer makes a game not fun. This is only my second time getting a smurf and it ticked me off how steamrolled we got because of that one smurf. And their team had a very aggressive Rein that somehow was able to go on top of high buildings alone and kill teammates. I played Widow and got a few picks, not enough though. If you are a smurf, I don’t care, you’re abusing the Ranked system. If you really are just practicing heroes you aren’t good at, don’t play in lower ranks for better practice. It is a douchebag move.
Why not? I practice symm and torb all the time in lower ranks, i have a “throw heros” account, a dps account, a main tank account, and a support account. I gotta smurf
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No need to smurf though if you are not trying your hardest at the rank you belong in for that hero
Nothing about getting stomped by someone 3 ranks higher than you for one game makes you improve lol. Anyone who says this is just trying to justify smurfing by spinning it into a good thing.
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Smurfing isn’t going to disappear, if you can’t change it you need to change yourself.
I hardly see any smurfs in my games but unlike many of you casuals, I do enjoy when they are on the opposing team because I then set it my mission to kill them and I almost always inevitably do.
Seriously, many people claim they deserve to be higher rank, yet when they face someone from a higher rank they complain?
wtf how do they expect to compete at a higher level?
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Ok, great for you you’re capable of winning every 1v1. There are also people newer to the game who are learning all the heroes abilities and learning the mechanics of one hero/a few. Those players do not benefit in any way from having a GM stomp all over them and their team. This type of play isn’t a fair game where every bronze has a chance – or in your case high probability – of beating a 1v1 against someone 2 levels higher than them. It just ruins the game and discourages trying, especially when it happens repeatedly.
Good for you that you’re a natural at this game. This is not the case for the majority of people who have to learn and adapt to different maps, heroes, metas, and playstyles. Humblebragging adds nothing to the conversation.
This is true. The mental gymnastics some people pull is absurd. But there’s nothing you can learn from being curb stomped for 10 minutes by someone you can’t even touch. I hate when people say they love when smurfs are on the other team because it gives them a chance to learn, because the entire time they’re just getting shredded before they can even react.
Actually, the one thing you can learn is just how far ahead the players above you
actually are and that you are where you belong.
I’m certainly not good enough to do that, but boy do I savor that 1 time I get them. It’s like a big FU to them and it also makes me feel good that maybe, just maybe, one day I’ll be able to play at that level regularly.
Few GM’s smurf at really low levels, just statistically it is incredibly unlikely just knowing the small % that GMS are of the entire Overwatch population.
Most people players call smurfs, are just alt accounts, either trying to place better than their main, or playing only slightly better than people 1 rank below them.
Could definitely see that as an issue, but I really don’t think it is as common as you think. There are many aspects to Overwatch game play, including game sense, accuracy and positioning. You may be average at everything for your rank, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t someone with awesome accuracy who just has trash game sense and positioning you just versed who’s deficiencies are being made up by the rest of their team etc.
I really don’t think Smurfs are that common, to some it may appear they are, but it is really just luck of the draw.
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Having a second account isn’t bannable, but throwing is. The game will put those players at their proper MMR if they’re actually playing the game.
I’m certainly not good enough to do that, but boy do I savor that 1 time I get them. It’s like a big FU to them and it also makes me feel good that maybe, just maybe, one day I’ll be able to play at that level regularly.
To your first point, I’m just going to respond with your own words from your original post, YOU: “I hardly see any smurfs in my games but unlike many of you casuals, I do enjoy when they are on the opposing team because I then set it my mission to kill them and I almost always inevitably do.”
Few GM’s smurf at really low levels, just statistically it is incredibly unlikely just knowing the small % that GMS are of the entire Overwatch population.
Most people players call smurfs, are just alt accounts, either trying to place better than their main, or playing only slightly better than people 1 rank below them.
Do you have any stats or even anecdotal evidence to support this? Do you even play at low ranks ever on an alt? This is absolutely abundant.
Could definitely see that as an issue, but I really don’t think it is as common as you think. There are many aspects to Overwatch game play, including game sense, accuracy and positioning. You may be average at everything for your rank, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t someone with awesome accuracy who just has trash game sense and positioning you just versed who’s deficiencies are being made up by the rest of their team etc.
See my response above. I’ve played at higher levels but am currently playing in bronze so I have firsthand, everyday knowledge and experience with this. I’ve also played competitive CS since source and was on a TF2 paid Esea team. I can recognize someone with gamesense/good positioning v. someone who’s just on a hot streak w/hitscan (especially because maincalling for competitive TF2 has similarities with game strategies for pushing choke on KOTH/payload maps).
Yeah, players better then me shouldn’t be allowed. Players WAY better then me are obviously cheating, so they should DEFINITELY not be allowed.
-Most people complaining about smurfs, probably
People often confuse me for a smurf on PC, because I played the first two years of Overwatch on the PS4. So my aiming, game sense, and positioning is better than most at my current rank. But I’m steadily climbing, so I shouldn’t be getting those comments much longer. I’ve met other people who were playing on PS4 before they came to PC and have accounts not attached to their Battlenet which is where their PC account is.
I just tell people that.
But you wanna talk about smurfs, I have to mention the amount I see on PS4. Because it’s so easy to make a new account. You can tell when they’re a smurf because they have the word “Smurf” in their name, or their username is some kind of Overwatch-related name.
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Forget anecdotes, they are just confirmation bias, lets go with hard facts:
- GMs make up the top 1% of the population:
Competitive Mode Tier Distribution - Some people appear multiple times in GM with their alts:
Aimbot Calvin, Surefour, IDDQD, Chipsa and many others appear multiple times in GM
(I can dig up the references if you want) - It is also unlikely that 100% of the say 90% of the 1% of GMs have low ranked smurf accounts (I could be wrong here)
You aren’t as observant as you think you are. Yes you will recognize some, but sometimes someone may just be ‘in the zone’.
Forget anecdotes, they are just confirmation bias, lets go with hard facts: GMs make up the top 1% of the population…It is also unlikely that 100% of the say 90% of the 1% of GMs have low ranked smurf accounts (I could be wrong here)
Dude, I am obviously not saying ONLY GMs smurf LOL.
And two, 0 evidence of confirmation bias. I asked you for any proof behind your claims/statements. I said “even anecdotal evidence from playing in low ranks like bronze is fine.” You threw up a strawman argument with a bunch of points about GMs being main smurfs (which I obviously wasn’t saying) to deny answering my question about where your basis for your claim was. I asked you if you had any evidence. I’m going to assume given your response the answer is no.
LOL I literally said, “I can recognize . . . someone who’s just on a hot streak w/hitscan.” That is identical to recognizing “sometimes someone may just be ‘in the zone.’”
I don’t know how you can be so confident. I’d more likely lean toward saying possibly some as I am not omniscient, and it is unlikely you are either.
It wasn’t meant to be a strawman. To be more explicit, I was trying to address your reply to my GM comment. It looks like I misunderstood what you were looking for?
Yes I could use more examples here as the example of people having multiple accounts in GM may not have been sufficient to address your concerns.
Could you concede that if some GMs had multiple other accounts in GM, that some plats may have multiple other accounts in plat for example?
Could you concede that a low plat may have an account that is in high gold and vice versa?
Is it possible that some people may not have alt accounts?
Is it possible that some people who do have alt accounts that are ranked below them, that they don’t play them all the time?
I’m happy if you can identify flaws in these arguments because it may be that I have missed something and I want to know what it is to improve my understanding.
Could you explain to me again what exactly you are trying to say because I don’t want to give you a rubbish response or a flawed response that is viewed as a strawman but instead try provide a reasonable answer.
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Would you want someone is extremely good at the game, say a master player in a bronze game? No. That’s just unfair and you don’t learn anything with how they beat you if they DPS primarily
The prevalence of smurfs/alt accounts climbing through high plat/low diamond is absurd. In the 5 hours (around 20-30 games, probably) I have in S12 thus far, I’ve only had 1 (maybe 2?) games that didn’t have smurfs/alt accounts. Granted, small sample size… but it’s extremely discouraging. Only a couple were remotely close of these, too. Games I win feel illegitimate and when I lose I feel cheated. Although I do not believe these games are entirely impossible to lose/win with or against a smurf/alt, (barring one game where I had 4 smurf/alts sub level 50 on my team) the level of skill is noticeably disproportionate between the smurf/alt and their corresponding teammates. Also, defining “smurfs/alts” in this context, I’m referring to players that are at least Masters, if not GM. Overall, it’s ruining my comp experience regardless of whose side they are on.
Honestly, it seems the MM is better able to make fair games in QP, sadly enough. I get matched strictly with low Diamonds/Masters players and it feels a lot more fluid. However, that’s probably because smurfs/alts rarely if ever play in QP other than leveling to the 25 minimum requirement for comp, so the MM is able to assess MMR more accurately with less outliers.