Smurfing is cheating. It’s going out of your way to manipulate the rank system in order to sabotage the gameplay of lower skilled people. That’s two reportable actions, so why are people not banned for it? On Xbox, identifying a smurf is as simple as seeing what level they are, and how much gamerscore they have. So why are these people allowed to go unpunished for ruining the game?
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It’s not but okay. It is smurfing, a scummy action yes, but not cheating. Cheating is hacking, period.
Because people try to report anyone doing well that they can’t beat because “SMURF!!” The problematic smurfs have to throw in order to stay at and get to low ranks where they goof off and troll. Actually report these people when they’re throwing, which is much easier to prove and know whether or not someone is actually doing (even if they’re on the other team but a bunch of people don’t because “free win”) and you’ll see them banned faster.
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If someone is low player level and has low gamerscore, they’re a smurf. It’s not just someone who’s doing better.
So if I play on PlayStation or switch or pc and decide to pick up an Xbox (will become especially relevant with next gen since some people will decide to get an Xbox for the first time) and I decide to get overwatch I’m automatically a smurf on my first Xbox account?
Also nice how you conveniently ignore all the other points I made about how smurfs actually should be reported and how if throwing is addressed you not only make smurfing a lot harder but also deal with throwing which no one will miss.
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Purposefully playing at a lower rank than what you’ve been placed at should be a reportable offense. It is gameplay sabotage.
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Like I said. How do they get to and stay at that lower rank? Throwing or they buy an account that was prethrown. Either way crack down on throwing and you deal with smurfing.
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Or they place low because it’s a new account with no MMR, and they choose to stay there as opposed to grinding? Why are you defending these people, anyway?
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If they are good enough to dominate and be Smurfs then they have to throw in order to stay low. Otherwise their “dominating” would make them climb.
I’m not defending them. Like I said it’s a scummy practice but it’s nowhere near as easy to deal with as people think.
I’m pointing out that if you want to stop smurfing then crack down on throwing. That will make smurfs not only hard to place and get into low ranks but also hard to keep there without getting caught throwing. Otherwise any system that tries to automatically detect smurfs for doing “too well” will lead to too many false positives for players who are either new (especially if they have experience in other fps games), swap platforms, or are generally inconsistent.
The only “false positives” you get by cracking down on throwing are throwers who aren’t smurfing but are throwing. No one will miss them nor should anyone.
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its easy.
the current ranking system is neither fair nor working in a satisfying and rewarding way.
they really need to throw that garbage out of the code and come up with a better solution.
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Its not gameplay sabotage, at all. Its cheating. According to Blizzard’s own Code of Conduct:
Cheating
You are responsible for how you and your account are represented in the game world. Cheating in any fashion will result in immediate action. Using third-party programs to automate any facet of the game, exploiting bugs, or engaging in any activity that grants an unfair advantage is considered cheating.
Exploiting other players is an equally serious offense. Scamming, account sharing, win-trading, and anything else that may degrade the gaming experience for other players will receive harsh penalties.
This is what smurfing is and how Blizzard are kind being hypocritical with their ruleset here.
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A new account gets placed at the average MMR, in SR range this is around Gold-Platinum. When playing normally you get put in Platinum or higher.
So they did throw, so it is reportable only when you see them throwing.
Them being better just isn’t reportable because in that match he hasn’t thrown so the report won’t do much.
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You just defined a new player. 20 characters.
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Inb4 “ThE GaME iS FoUR yEArS OLd TheRe Aren’T AnY neW PlAyeRZZZZZZ!!!”
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Monthly Average Users.
90% of matches are stomps.
50:50 winchance does literally not work.
Smurfs are bad, yes. But im a prime example of why you need to be careful with classifying a smurf. Played Ps4 since season two, only hit a peak of mid/high masters. switched to pc, I GOT CALLED A SMURF EVERY GAME I PLAYED. kinda boosted my ego ngl, lol. but come on man, what was I supposed to do? Not try?
of course this is a minority of players, doesn’t mean you should ignore them.
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if you rank up fast, you will quickly be in your true elo. no problem here.
yes but I placed silver, within two seasons I was masters, and I obvs ruined some games at lower elos. so am I considered a smurf for those two seasons? would people have reported me? yes they would have and I probably would have been banned.
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How naive you are 
Smurfs are playing on not their own account, but on somebody’s account. What’s the problem to give him login and password? If he will climb, he will change to the lower rank account 
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Lost most of your credibility by feeling the need to start with that.
That’s not a smurf that’s a booster. A booster is almost always a smurf but a smurf is not always boosting. They can also be trolling, “warming up”, or “playing with friends”. Boosters get paid, smurfs do it for lulz.
Get your terms straight. 