Smurfing

[xIke]

Anyone else get accused of smurfing? Been happening a lot lately - ever since I branched out to the other races. I just finished a pretty close game against a level 1 player. After about an hour of play, he accused me of smurfing and quit. This from a level 1 player who gave a level 4 player (me) a good fight.

For people who don't know what I'm talking about, smurfing is when a veteran player uses a new account so they can play against easier opponents.

One thing to note though... you have separate ranks for each race in each game type. So if you exclusively play 1v1 as American, you'll still be level 1 in PE, Brit, and Wehr, and even level 1 as American 2v2.

Stop accusing me of smurfing. :P

[^blackhole]

It's kind of impossible to stop doing though, I do it all the time, warm ups when i've been away for awile, playing as other factions, trying shit out, or simply not wanting to play on a real account since RO is ridiculous right now.

[stuff1993]

i havent been called a smurf yet, but im lvl 7 ami in basic match but was lvl 2 1v1 before holidays so i had a lot better idea about what i was doing than most of my opponents and never got accused of smurfing.

[prataj]

For people who don't know what I'm talking about, smurfing is when a veteran player uses a new account so they can play against easier opponents.

That's why will never understand smurfing. For me Playing COH is just a big fun. Playing competitive match is something I'm expecting when staring game. In order to do that I'm looking for a players according theirs stats, so smurfing basically makes this impossible.

Could someone explain me what is the reason looking for an easier opponent which can be eaten on breakfast? Is there any fun from such a game?

Anyway, here is proposal for some sort of fix for this issue:
Add for each profile statistics one additional fields with profile summary, where you can see TOTAL number of games won, lost and disputes. Saying total I mean a sum from each profile connected with this user's CD key(s). It should give to others some useful information regarding what is the real level and skill of such player.

What would you say for such solution?

[Mikkow]

I still use exclusively the account I made when I first signed up. I never get accused of smurfing.

I find smurfs and smurfing to be annoying. Just the stats become completely misleading and hard interpreted and it's much harder to find a closely matched game (I do not use the automatch features nor do I like the competitiveness those players exhibit). People having 2+ accounts is also confusing and causes more organizational problems.

[Caged]

It wouldn't show my stats fairly since my brother is an exclusive PE player and I play Americans most of the time.

[LTVolk]

That's why will never understand smurfing. For me Playing COH is just a big fun. Playing competitive match is something I'm expecting when staring game. In order to do that I'm looking for a players according theirs stats, so smurfing basically makes this impossible.

Could someone explain me what is the reason looking for an easier opponent which can be eaten on breakfast? Is there any fun from such a game?

I think that you are misunderstanding the current automatch mechanic. When a player fires up his smurf account, he'll be matched based on his highest rank in any account. So the smurf would be matched with an equal rank player. If you play against a smurf and loose, you'll lose the same amount of points as if you lost to the smurf's highest account (so it's a small loss of ranking points). If you win, you'll gain the number of points as if you won against the rank of the smurf profile (it's a small gain of ranking points). So ultimately it's a small gain, small loss situation.

Alternately, you can inact Smurf Honor. First you need to establish a conversation to find out if it is a smurf and then his real level. If you are loosing, you can request Smurf Honor. 9 out of 10 times the smurf will drop from the game, giving you the points.

[prataj]

I think that you are misunderstanding the current automatch mechanic.

I know how automatch is working, but my comment was regarding non-rankig matches. In my proposal all data taken into consideration during matching in ranked games goes public also in non-ranked games and let the player decide I if he want to play with/against such player.

Alternately, you can inact Smurf Honor. First you need to establish a conversation to find out if it is a smurf and then his real level. If you are loosing, you can request Smurf Honor. 9 out of 10 times the smurf will drop from the game, giving you the points.

But that's not the solution for my problem. As I have written I'm looking for a competitive match it means that I don't care about win/looses but for fun form playing. So even if all the time I loose in the competitive match it is a great fun for me. thus acting Smurf Honor ( whatever it means) wont solve anything and wont revert destroyed game. Playing against smurfs most of the time result in being outplayed early game. That's it and that's the problem that, in my opinion, ruins non-ranked games for many players (Most of my COH-friends share this opinion).

[LTVolk]

Didn't know that you were talking about basic match. I'd rather relic concentrate on fixing the bugs and current balance issues before they start messing with stats.

Also, if you really want a competitive match, I'd really sugest to play automatch. Eventually you'll rank up to the level where great majority of all games will be on even footing.

[Xazax]

I think the best way to solve this "smurfing" if possible is to have the persons "Main account" shown when you click to check there Stat record, maybe in another tab near the 2v2 AT So when a person makes a new account you can still there "main" account, meaning the account they named/created when they activated the CD-key(the one you cannot delete)

So when you see a person with record of 0/0 when you check there stats you see a tab in the right shown as "BestCoHPlayer" (which would be the persons main account) with a record of 50/47 or something

[LTVolk]

The problem is that I haven't played my "main" account since 2006 and it has under 60 games recorded under it. I have a total of 4 accounts, my main that I don't play. A generic all faction account when I play competitevely, a dedicated American account for competitive play and an experimental account for trying different strats (4ES, 6 bike, etc).

[marcothy]

The only time I smurf is when I am in the mood for basic matches for some annihilation.

You can find good games at times with ranks, but when you just want to play-you can't appear too good, because people want to feel like they will win when they start.

I don't win every game certainly, but people dismiss too often for rank alone. Thats why I wish there was no stats/rankings for Basic matches. If its a ranked game, sure...but for basic-just shut up and play is my feeling.

[vparez]

This game's automatch feature is really useless with all the smurfing. Can't relic create a ladder based on the best stats of all the accounts? I mean if people are schizophrenic or multiple personalities, that's fine, but just track the most successful personification and automatch with that.

[FinRush]

I never play ranked games, but I still HAVE TO delete my profiles from time to time in order to play any custom games. I don't like searching for a game 1,2 or 3 hours cos I'm getting kicked from all the games when they check my W-L ratio.
I have maximum number of profiles and the ones that can be deleted, I delete and make a new one, when the profile is getting kicked of games too much, and no, I try to search for games against experienced players.

If wanting to play the game is considered as smurfing, then I am guilty as charged.

[Cascanueces]

I've kept my own account from the very beginning, with all the wins, and all the loses, and yes, it's a bummer when you get kicked too often. I'm level 6 with all factions 1vs1, so I'm as good or as bad as a level 6, if you play against (or with) me, you know what you might find without bs.

What you wouldn't expect is my logistik starts, american morters, or the WAAAAAGH of granadiers and tommys. Level 6, no better .

[Militaris]

I don't know about smurfing but I know I've been Shanghaied into a game now again. Join a game with a buddy vs 2 or 3 players. Buddy gets kicked as the other slots get closed and the game starts up with me vs 3.

[marcothy]

You have 10 seconds to abort that shanghai shlacking.

[Coffee]

The Cancel Countdown button is on the bottom right. As long as you don't ready up and keep canceling countdown game won't start.

When your friend gets kicked your 'ready up' status should switch off by itself.

[Malecite]

I constantly make new accounts for basic, it gets annoying if people wont let you play.

[Cyclonejack]

Auto match stats don't mean crap with smurfs. The game is broke balance wise and so is the ranking system.

[TheGreek]

I've used three accounts since I got CoH in January 07. The first was when I first got the game. The second I used after a reformat and I forgot my password. The third when I bought ToV and gave my vanilla copy to my brother. I've had My second account was my best in terms of win to loss ratio, but I don't care. I had no qualms about losing it. I don't really see the need keep my stats high. I try to get better stats, but I don't go out of my way to artificially inflate them.

[fabi0]

well. im not a level omnger or anything, but it angers me when you enter a game with a lvl 1 who's actually a lvl 12 and you derank a couple. jsut irks me.

[vparez]

Exactly Fabi0!

And, by the way, there are so many great players posting here on the forum, so I really have a hard time imagining you CAN'T FIND a game!

I played a few games , these past few days, with a guy who hosts a game called "mapname lvl8+", and it was apsolutely a great experience.
He kicks automatically everyone who show up, who aren't at least lvl 8, and that's it.
He doesn't care if it's a new account (due to many troubles that seem to torment an average COH player), and if the player is actually a COH-GOD... No! Out! Period!
Come to a game, buddy, with your original 20:1 win/loose ratio account, no problem! You are better? - No problem!
Let's just see who you are, and have a good game...

And this is how it's supposed to be. No fooling around with schizophrenic, immature people, or those who after some sort of a disaster struck, just HAD to make a new account.

So, even if it is 9/11, Swine flu, Hurricane Cathy or some other calamity, I still think it is reasonably possible to retain your normal account and still find a game worth playing.

Just curious: how many accounts can you actually have in COH?
And if you are "Optimus Prime" in all those accounts, and have to delete them, why aren't you going to game tournaments, making shit load of money, instead of wasting your time smurfing us, poor noobs? How much time do you spend playing anyway?

[psykopatsak]

i have one for learning Wehrmacht (and eventually other factions... maybe..) the hard way. thats all.

[[TigerHunter]]

vparez, i see your point. but heres another example ...

ive been a hardcore coh player since the game came out. as any other normal coh player, i spent a lot of time losing before i started winning. so my profile gets polluted with a very large amount of losses. eventually i start to play a lil better and the wins column starts growing. in some cases, ur w:l is so crappy that it would take you agessss to get to a .500 avg. solution? start from scratch. now you may call that an evil smurf. but the player is doing nothing wrong. i think thats the scenario many smurfs are in. im not sure everyone is maliciously making new profiles in order to laugh at noobs everytime theyre running over your mgs and mortars with panther battlegroups . and if they are, just feel bad for em, or adopt ur friends strategy by kicking players who are above (or below) the lvl u requested in the game name. sure itll take longer, but ul get what ur looking for.

[xIke]

Who cares if you have a bad w:l ratio? Just play the game and have fun.

[[TigerHunter]]

Who cares if you have a bad w:l ratio? Just play the game and have fun.

sure, i agree with you 100%, but its logical to assume that if youve grown as a player and ur profile doesnt really represent how ur capable of playing or you`re a player wanting to get into some competitive basic matches, you`ll prolly get kicked out of ever game regardless of ur rank if you have a 50-100 rec. sad but true.

plus people are assholes. they make u feel really shitty about having a bad rec. so as much as people yell its only a game and we should all have fun, im sure it hurts when someone starts screaming "YOU SUCK NOOB «racist term here» GET OUT OF OUR GAME «more racist terms» LOOK AT THAT REC HAHAHAHA" player has been kicked.

am i making sense?

[TheGreek]

Play automatch then. You don't even have to worry about smurfs there.

[marcothy]

Whats funny, is I join a basic match with my main account. Get booted saying high ping (hosts should realize my ping to him is exactly what his ping to me is).

So I switch to a different account and join the same game.

I don't smurf in the asshat ways, that is the people who smurf into noob only games. Normally, I just try to play in Basic with an account that appears less threatening.

[vparez]

@TheGreek,
You didn't read everything carefully, I didn't have the intention to whine about basic matches at all, on the contrary, I am pissed off at smurfs in automatch. I stopped playing that because as lvl6 I can't progress, since I get lower levels who own me like I started playing yesterday.

@TigerHunter,
I understand that, but I saw (and got owned) by a lot of assholes who were low level, who kicked my ass in the first 5 seconds of the game. Also you see a game called "noobs only" and the guys (usually german side) are all lvl 2-4. But then you see they have 15:0 win/loose, and you get the picture. You just have to be playing for some time, in order to realize how to identify these jerks, instead of getting into the game which will be frustrating for you as a new player (and I don't see how this game could be interesting for those gentlemen either, because it is way to easy for them).

@Marcothy,
I have the same problem as you finding games: a lot of the games are "noob" as I explain above. Then I get my ass kicked before i know whats going on.
What you describe is exactly what is not right. Mate, if they are afraid of you, then what's the point in playing with them??? You KNOW you'll win because you are way better. What's fun about that? Where is the challenge? And there is a word for this: "a hustler". And in the real world, they bust your kneecaps for being one, if you're caught.

[marcothy]

When they are = in rank, no. As long as you are .500 you shouldn't shy away from an opponent.

I don't ever "pose" as a noob, I just get on an account that doesn't have over 1000 games on it. Funny, my main wins around 60-65% of its total games, but I can get on an account where I have like a 120-15 record and they will let me stay.

I don't have much love loss or worry about those who will play one versus the other. If I cared that much about who I played, my mains record would be a lot better.

But you learn the most and best by playing quality opponents, and watching the replays to see what they did.

[TerroretiKOr]

Well sometimes you have to smurf to find enemys.

[vparez]

I mean really...

[Gethsemani]

I've been semi-accused of it once. I had been playing the Brits and PE a lot since the release of OF and had just recently started playing Wehr again after a long hiatus from them in 1v1. I ended up facing Yokey (at the time a Level 15 Brit, versus me who was ranked 6 with Wehr and 8 with Brits) and managed to win that game by playing at my very best while he relaxed. Yokey couldn't believe I was only level 6, and of course my rank didn't actually reflect how good my micro was after 400 or so matches.

The thing with Smurfing is that it takes away the fun of the game. Especially when the smurfs are all hardcore players who are only in it to win and join games with beginners or people who aren't that good at the game. Calling someone a smurf in a ranked game though? What's the point? You are supposed to get matched against someone who has roughly the same stats as you, so why are you complaining?

[FOTHERINGILL]

Ike-

That pretty much sums it up.

I never play ranked or AT games and play mostly 3v3 and 4v4's. The only problem that I have with someone with a 0-0 or 5-something record coming into a room is that it will all that much harder to fill the room when an apparent newbie is in there.

[psykopatsak]

once, when i made a smurt prof. to learn wehr by loosing alot, i was made to play PE, my main army, by the host. i told him that he really diddnt want me to play PE, but he insisted. so be it then, i thought, and played as PE, and proceeded to hav a pair of PIV when he had his first m8...