OW2 will require SMS protect which will not work with VoIP phones and burners. People can still use their roommate or partner’s phone number but between that and the cost barrier of multiple battle passes to play comp, smurfing will be massively reduced.
So when the disadvantage of smurfs is removed from everyone and you’re at the same rank percentile as you were before, what’s the next thing to blame?
Smurfing would be massively reduced only by the following:
Even if there would be phone must-have (which I doubt) it will not stop anyone from smurfing, because it is a legit way to entertain yourself using your developed skill to your advantage over the noobs. Smurfing may become just a bit more exclusive, which will just encourage hardcore smurfs, because the matchmaker would less likely find an equal level smurf against you. So, I have about 12 different sim cards, I need 6 more for all of my accounts. See you guys soon 
I think the next hot thing on the block will be “Blizzard gives you less SR when their machine learning transcription service detects you as being toxic”
The usual, teammates and “the system riggs games against me”.
Smurfs were just an addition to the aforementioned.
And also the new added features.
I can’t wait for high rankers and mighty who barely play get loss streaks. I wonder which player / forum user will fold first.
The system absolutely rigs games against you…when it detects that your SR is higher than it should be based on the MMR your APM says it should be. The same way is rigs games in your favor when it detects your SR is too low.
Confusing, unintuitive matchmaking. People think that the more effective you are the higher you’ll rank, which should be the case. Actually it’s all based on statistics that may or may not indicate someone is effective.
When I want to rank up, I play LESS effective and focus on taking care of myself and not giving a crap about teammates and what happens to them, then I can go to any tier I want.
Calm down there, Sparky. Why don’t we see what the landscape is actually like before we start with the edgy, antagonistic posts about what may or may not happen.
Easy! Imma blame hidden MMR and PBSR! Cuz they aren’t resetting it, which is a weird mistake to make. Like if I’m a one-trick Orisa, how is my old OW1 MMR at all relevant to my OW2 MMR with her? If I was a DPS Doom, same thing with Tank Doom. But apparently its all the same 
Not like the devs themselves said OW2 is a completely different game, but I guess its not?
Personally, I’ll be bored, they spice the games up. But I’m sure the folks here on the forums will find something lol.
Isn’t this a bit of a strawman?
Look at the improvements pre-RQ and post-RQ. Pre-RQ, the mistakes and learning was pretty flat well into season 15+. Post-RQ, the skill growth for the average player shot-up tremendously. Plat today is like Masters+ in season 8.
Why? Because with RQ because players could finally focus on the roles and heroes they want to play and learn even without creating new accounts.
For Masters+ players, tell I’m wrong here: But right now they one/two-trick; or they create alts–which just happen to start in mid-rank–to learn and one-trick up the ranks until they’re confident with the hero.
What I predict will happen: Some alt accounts–for those who have second/third/10th phone linked accounts–will yo-yo as the person’s learning account; or they’ll keep one account for each rank for learning before moving on to the next.
I already can’t log into my other accounts. And so far on my main I gained 200 sr. And no crazy wicked good doomfist or Genji’s messing up my win streaks.
Smurfs were never the sole reason. You still have matchmaker algorithm, leavers, trolls, weekends, region, ping, hardware, input, cheaters, throwers, new players, washed up players, boosters, team averages, hero diff, hard counters, young players, old players, no voice comms, and I’ll stop there before I get suspended.
Players can Smurf on their main account. They just have to throw games without getting reported too often.
But who are you to say what SR should be and what statistics matter? It’s their game and everyone complaining about the matchmaker needs to realize that all of your peers have the same relative advantages and disadvantages that you have. People just get so hung up on reasons why they would be higher SR “if”, but so would everyone else so you’d be at the same percentile.
Related question—if you’re gold and that’s the 50th percentile, would it really make you happier to be plat if it was still the 50th percentile?
It’s similar enough of a game to be relevant. They emailed out final blow to death ratio stats after the beta and I was the same percentile that I am in OW1. Literally exactly the same.
Think of rank like a Venn diagram. Mechanics, positioning, game sense. Think about a McCree with insane aim but always flanks and pushes ahead of his tanks. He might be plat and teammates observing him frontlining will think he’s bad. However, it works often enough for him that he wins the same number of games in the long run as a McCree with worse aim who plays with his team. It’s none of our jobs to say what the matchmaker or algorithm SHOULD be.
What does that have to do with what I said? You can’t log into alts? Nobody cares, you aren’t good anyhow.
I know that this thread isn’t necessarily about limiting smurfs and alts, but I don’t understand why they didn’t do this years ago with OW 1.
I wonder if the devs realize how great OW 1 could have been and how long it would have lasted if they did this five years ago.
I’ll be damned, you blame every single factor, except the one consistent in the games you play.
What rank player do you consider a smurf? Silver/Gold/Platinum/Diamond/Master/ Grand Master/ Top 500/ OWL? where does smurf just become a player? And my most important question, HOW DOES THE MATCH MAKER KNOW WHO WLL:
HOW DOES IT KNOW? Please explain it.
If the matchmaker correctly ranks players in placements then sure, but it does a very poor job today because many accounts are on their way up or down. For new players its almost on its way down, because the “average player” when first learning will not be at gold or plat level today.
If it still doesn’t make sense, then think of it like this: The average gold or plat player is now playing at masters or maybe even low GM level of the early OW seasons.
It took years for the playerbase to get better, so then when all of the new players and accounts come in–if they come in–then what do you think will happen to all of the current players?
They’ll all go up a rank or two and then in another year either they’ll learn or more likely they’ll sink back. This adds a tremendous amount of noise in all of the ranks.
I was being sarcastic. But, a lot can be told from a players’s profile or voice; sometimes by the things they say or (don’t) do. Others are anecdotal, like weekends.