This is why alt accounts can negatively affect players at the low ranks even if they don’t throw any games. It artificially modifies the definition of ‘average skill’.
Which raises the question, just how many alt accounts are there…
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Plenty
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Agreed. Would be nice to have some data. Then again, ultimately I guess it really doesn’t matter. The verdict is still the same: if you want to climb, work hard and improve until you see results.
And if you think the system is endlessly frustrating or unfairly stacked against you, move on from the game. I’m not being snarky. It’s just the best option.
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Well thats what forums are for - complaints, especially in competitive part, it’s supposed to be a feedback mechanic. Nobody is asking you to solve their problems just to provide feedback.
And oh well that feedback is mostly or entirely negative due to the game being terrible - and how wouldn0t it - last update was back in 2019.
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The counter to the thought experiment is simply to propose the idea that everyone across the spectrum is creating accounts at a similar rate, thus resulting in a similar distribution. Given that we don’t have access to the rate of account creation and tier distribution, it’s only fair to assume it is similar to the existing curve until evidence is provided to the contrary.
It’s not productive to say the top 1% is accountable for 50% of the alt account issue, for example. Even though that is a theoretical possibility. Just my 2 copper.
That said - even if distributions are similar, the skill associated with each tier has definitely shifted since launch. A plat player today is typically better than a plat player from an early season. In that sense, it’s “harder” to climb than it used to be.
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100,000,000% correct
There’s literally a guy on the forums right now complaining about the system being rigged because he was a hard stuck bronze/silver player who made an alt account, managed to place platinum and then fell back to low/mid silver.
I wish I was making this up.
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I mean isn’t this the mother of all problems we have here ?
A system so bad at placing players in their rank because its outdated and clueless, so how many games must have been ruined balance wise because a player placed 1000sr or more above his range - and carried fake rank icon until he bled back to his rank.
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I don’t know if the individual you replied to has accurately recounted that person’s story (I have seen him misrepresent things) but yes even if that is true that indicates an issue with the system. Poor ladder mobility.
I wouldn’t make this assumption. There’s a higher probability that behavior from different tiers of the player base is likely to be dissimilar, but it’s also just as a matter of common sense. I don’t see, say, silvers having as many reasons to smurf in bronze as I do diamonds or masters players to alt/smurf at any number of ranks below them. Seems more likely to me that higher ranked players are more invested in developing a larger hero pool and improving and testing, or noob-stomping, than would a silver player engaging in the same behaviors.
Generally speaking I think motives, behaviors, and personal investments would be different across dissimilar cross-sections of the player base. We don’t have the data, but inference doesn’t lead me to your conclusions.
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Dude I’m not even addressing you and you’re still coming after me?
Who’s obsessed with who again?
Cute bro. Keep up the harassment.
What, that he started out in bronze, climbed to silver, felt hard stuck, made an alt account, placed in platinum, played a few games a season and eventually the MM realized he didn’t belong and sent him packing.
Here’s the thing though, of all of the “Git gud scrub” people, who has ever claimed that the system is PERFECT/BULLETPROOF?
Rhetorical question - because literally nobody has ever said this. Does it work as intended?
Absolutely. Does it need modernization now that they have more experience in seeing how the system interacts with a player environment?
Probably could use some updates for certain. Of the competitive games I’ve played (only 3) all of the match makers focus on the crucial point which is?
Rhetorical question - Consistency of performance.
If you’re dying never and dropping 30+ kills a game on Widow with a crit acc of like 33/35%, you probably don’t belong in that elo….
If you’re playing Valorant and dropping 40+ Kills per game and only dying 7 or 8 times, you probably don’t belong in silver.
And so on….
Just because you had 2 really good pop off games when all the conditions were in your favor (great tank players enabling you, great supports keeping an eye on you) doesn’t make you a Grand Master DPS.
Just because you had 2 really good games on tank where you were supported correctly, DPS were able to take the appropriate angles at the correct time as you engaged the enemy, supports positioned correctly to provide a stronger foothold, doesn’t make you a Grand Master tank.
Just because you sat there pocketing Ashe while she did all the actual work, just because you nano’d rien and he got a fat shatter, just because your DPS peeled for you when you cried for help, doesn’t make you a Grand Master support player….
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You make a lot of incorrect assumptions about things.
For example you suggested that I had “tanked 1000 SR” from Master which is simply false.
So I suspect this could be another case where you misinterpreted what that person actually said.
Well that’s the beautiful part of interacting with people on the internet.
Also, you’ve made very incorrect assumptions about me as well.
But go off champ….
It’s a legitimate claim considering I’ve seen your gameplay and personally I just don’t “choose” to believe you managed to play like that and hit Masters.
And you could indeed be correct. However, even if you are, I wouldn’t really care.
And the reality is, he legitimately stated he made a new account to escape Elo hell, which is a clear indicator he truly wasn’t ready for the next level.
If he was he would have maintained well above the SR that his main account sits at.
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Let’s assume a diamond+ player is 5 times more likely to smurf where X is likelihood of an individual choosing to smurf:
5X * 15% of the player base = .75X
1X * the remaining 85%= .85X
There is still a higher likelihood of everyday people running into a “normal” person smurfing/alting than the diamonds/masters that you speak of.
That is to say nothing of the “normal” new accounts that are going to be created all the time for people playing on other platforms, recruiting friends, getting banned, etc. or the impact of established players dropping out of the pool, people that stop playing alt accounts, etc.
Even if I were to give a nod to the idea that a disproportionate amount of people in upper brackets were making alternate accounts, it doesn’t lead me to the conclusion that someone couldn’t climb the ladder due to a smurfing problem (which is in line with what the OP was alluding to).
If the only argument in play could be summarized that “It’s harder to climb now than it used to be”, we don’t even need to appeal to smurfs and alts. The game has been out longer, has more refined strategies as a byproduct of the extra time and practice the player base has had access to. Just straight up, the barrier for entry at the “average” rate of skill is higher than it used to be - and that strikes me as something that should be rather obvious. To make mention of alt accounts, while interesting, isn’t meaningful without data to back it up. It only serves to create a bit of a scapegoat (or just an interesting talking point for someone not interested in placing blame).
FWIW: I do completely agree with the notion that different sections of the player base would be more/less likely to engage in different behaviors. I also think that it would be an interesting thing to examine. I simply find it hard to attempt to allocate any of those likelihoods out in a meaningful sense, and then apply them to the perceived smurfing epidemic that is often discussed when we lack meaningful data on the topic.
There is nothing “beautiful” about making wrongful assumptions and misrepresenting facts.
Such as?
I find this phrase to be rather disrespectful.
This is what I mean by you make wrong assumptions. Here you assumed it was the same hero/role that I got to Master with.
What you choose to believe doesn’t matter. The facts are facts.
Please stop trying to misrepresent me and my ranked career. You are also trying to cast doubt on my accomplishments. Which is also quite disrespectful.
I don’t presume to tell you that I don’t believe you could have ever reached Master do I?
Actually you have….
Edit: Now that we’ve again, gone off on a tangent. We/I can get back to my conversation with Sheevah, BrightTitan, and SaltSnorter with which I never mentioned you in, never wanted to mention you in, nor did I ask for your opinion.
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Actually you quoted me. This can indeed be interpreted as you asking for my opinion. I did not speak to you in this thread at all until you spoke to me.
However as this is an open forum I do not need you to request my opinion for me to be entitled to give it.
No but you did choose to harass and slander me.
Edit: Internet and open forum though I guess. The mud slinging shall continue as you wish.
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I did not harass you. I did not even mention your name.
You however have been harassing and bullying myself and other forum posters simply because we dare to criticise the system.
Nice attempt to flip the script. You DID directly call me out and you know it.
But again, the mud slinging continues.
Edit: I’ll NEVER stand idly by and watch people try and misguide other users into offloading the burden of “in-game” self reflection rather than blaming a system for their short comings. I will not allow it.
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