i’m not discussing that again with you.
clearly you cannot be an adult about it.
I am merely going on the historical definition.
Rather than most forum users of low level account that’s better than me.
" Smurfing is when a highly-skilled player creates a secondary account as a disguise to play against less proficient opponents."
So buying 7 accounts and playing different heroes and roles, having different MMR, but playing properly is perfectly fine.
you are not going by the historical definition, i am.
you’re going by the common term how it’s perceived right now in the context of overwatch.
original definition had no matchmaker, all they did was change their nicknames on their existing accounts to hide their identity so they wouldn’t be found out instantly before they crushed their opponent who by the way could leave whenever they wanted without punishment, they didn’t manipulate MMR because there was none.
what they did in comparison to what people do today to “smurf” is miles away in severity because they didn’t really do anything wrong as it didn’t really hurt anybody, a smurf nowadays mess the automatic ladder up and beat opponents who cannot leave without punishment and actually has something riding on the games they play.
don’t really care how many accounts they buy as it has nothing to do with smurfing really, it’s something people have to do in overwatch but not everywhere else.
Yeah, don’t waste your time.
Paul here, not realising the irony of his statements.
Hoping to see you in my games soon. I want the duel. May the best Rein win.
We need a 1000sr swing though 
Yeah… grow up Nightwing.
Why you being petty.
I want you to climb so we can duel.
What is wrong with that?
Or is it that you are you don’t like people practicing in ranked, while practicing your Zarya in ranked? Is that the kind of ironic behaviour that needs to be “grown up” from?
I dont really think that it is a problem limited to Overwatch, its just that most other popular games where smurfing (the modern definition) is a thing are free and not that hardcore team reliant.
Because Overwatch isnt completely free (I know people who buy accounts for 5 to 10) some smurfs feel like throwing is a better way to continue playing in low skill rating, the relatively high amount of “boring” leveling in order to play comp might also be a factor.
From my experience its safe to say that there are more throwers in Overwatch than in other games, but that is partly due to the fact that it is ridiculously hard to get banned for that.
Reaching really far, imo Overwatch is a “better” game to smurf in, due to the huge advantage even basic knowledge can get you.
OW2 going F2P might or might not help, depending how the restrictions are set, with the throwing problem.
But at the end of the day, some people are gonna go to ridiculous lengths to play against worse players and feel good about themselves.
Oh and I just wanted to say that this thread is very entertaining to read!
Well done, lads!
yeah, but i haven’t seen people who play 1v1 games smurf.
it’s odd to me that there is usually a higher prevalence of smurfs in team games for some reason.
maybe it’s a personality thing?
people who are fine playing 1v1 games have enough
confidence to not resort to smurfing?
maybe it’s a bit also because it’s just a trend, for example i played dota for years and the term thrower wasn’t around
and smurfing was basically so rare that it was kinda exciting when it happened, it felt like:
“oh the master player wants to slum it up with us plebs”
sorta like how a hot chick would get treated by a bunch of hormonal teenage boys.
but now smurfs are like a nuisance and treated like cheaters.
i think it’s a bit like this because they are more frequent right now and how it affects games, but also because the attention they are given which i think drives them to do it too.
good or bad attention, doesn’t matter it seems.
It’s happened in all PvP games from very early on.
Even without a ranking system people would get a second account, or rename there and just pretend they sucked and so on.
Even IRL games and stuff people do it. People will pretend they haven’t got a clue how to play pool, get some money on the line and destroy them.
It is an age old trick, nothing you can do.
From my experience that depends on how they smurf, if I hyperfeed and teamkill on some highly mechanical hero they all whine, but if i tell them “Im gonna roll you on Torb!” they dont really complain and dont react that harsh.
no not really, if it was for money it was either a friendly competition between 2 people who knew each other but not that well or these things happened in shady places as the establishment didn’t do anything for it giving those establishments poor reputation in the process.
and i can’t say personally i’ve seen such a thing in real life myself take place infront of me, and personally i’ve seen more prostitutes which isn’t more than a handful so it’s not like i’ve not visited shady spots unknowingly before.
i can count on one-hand the amounts of smurfs i’ve faced in dota which i’ve played that game for atleast 5 thousand+ hours.
counterstrike 1.6 not a single one which i got 10k hours into.
and many many many more online games
i’ve played a lot of them since online gaming was a thing.
in fact smurfs were so uncommon that cheaters who used hacks were more common than them by a large margin.
this amount of smurfing or smurf accusation i haven’t witnessed in my entire life prior to overwatch.
like people make it seem like it’s atleast every 5 games or so in overwatch
(which i don’t personally believe in)
now it isn’t like it didn’t exist completely but it’s not near as prevalent as people make it seem like in overwatch.
what do you mean hyperfeed?
also i think it’s kinda common knowledge that you can get a lot out of torb in lower ranks so people just accept it as truth or something.
By hyperfeed I mean: shutting my brain off and letting my aim carry
And Torb is still a blast to play in every rank, he may not be “good” but GM is still doable while not completely onetricking
yeah since the changes to torb, torb has gotten really scary.
ah, so when you say hyperfeed you mean actually going on autopilot, not actually dying over and over and over again.
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For money… you mean like a pool table down a pub. Where you might put small wager on it.
It is a basic con man’s trick.
if you’re a hustler aka pool shark you’ll get kicked out of the establishment fyi.
unless the establishment is of low reputation, aka drug dealers and other shady people gather in such areas.
simple gambling ofcourse isn’t really smurfing or hustling.
Their hustle is no different. Is my point. It is the same trick being played.
It is as old as time and isn’t going anywhere.
In short, people should stop worrying about it. Just play the game if you’re enjoying. If not, play something else.
Time is short. Why get mad about it.
It can be annoying, I completely agree. But the matchmaking identifies them quickly enough. I play with two friends (on and off) One is better than the other. If I play with the one that’s better. The teams we face are a lot better too.
If someone increasingly tops the metrics set in the matchmaking system, they’ll be moved to a higher tier. Honestly, just stick with it.
It’s funny, I was playing with a friend yesterday, I practised Sombra recently, I wanted to get better with her. And I had a particularly good game, which doesn’t happen often. I got called a Smurf, because my account level is 1 bronze star and 60 or so. But this is my main account. These things also happen.
So yea, just stick with it. Perhaps you got put in a higher tier after some good performances. Or perhaps they are on their way to a higher tier.