Today, we permanently banned 90,000 smurf accounts that have been active over the last few months. Smurf accounts are alternate accounts used by players to avoid playing at the correct MMR, to abandon games, to cheat, to grief, or to otherwise be toxic without consequence. Additionally, we have traced every single one of these smurf accounts back to its main account.
It’s a special kind of control complex to try and wail on people below your level, either your life is going shitty or you’re just young and being shitty for the lulz, but at that point, you’re not having fun by challenging yourself, you’re having fun avoiding the challenge and causing other people’s fun to diminish in turn
Some people Smurf to “warm up” because they have anxiety about playing at their level and need a win. I agree this is not a free thing, they are ruining a genuine beginner’s game.
When I played competitive CS 1.6 (not at any meaningful level, but still better than the average Joe) I would always warm up in some public 24/7 maps and run up huge scores. Difference was those maps weren’t ranked. So it wasn’t really smurfing.
Point was I didn’t feel I could face competition without winning first.
That doesn’t sound like a good justification for either you or the other players. In the case of the other players, obviously it sucks to play against people way out of their league. But even for you if you feel like you need to pick on people not as good as you to feel better about yourself before you take on people around your skill level or better, then you’re not dealing with it in a realistic or healthy way.
I wasn’t talking about legal or following rules, I was saying that it’s not realistic or healthy to do that kind of thing for you, or the players that do it, for a confidence boost.
It’s a special kind of control complex to try and wail on people below your level, either your life is going shitty or you’re just young and being shitty for the lulz, but at that point, you’re not having fun by challenging yourself, you’re having fun avoiding the challenge and causing other people’s fun to diminish in turn
If the rule is no smurfing, that’s the rule.
Some people Smurf to “warm up” because they have anxiety about playing at their level and need a win. I agree this is not a free thing, they are ruining a genuine beginner’s game.
When I played competitive CS 1.6 (not at any meaningful level, but still better than the average Joe) I would always warm up in some public 24/7 maps and run up huge scores. Difference was those maps weren’t ranked. So it wasn’t really smurfing.
Point was I didn’t feel I could face competition without winning first.
This habit doesn’t explain all cases
That doesn’t sound like a good justification for either you or the other players. In the case of the other players, obviously it sucks to play against people way out of their league. But even for you if you feel like you need to pick on people not as good as you to feel better about yourself before you take on people around your skill level or better, then you’re not dealing with it in a realistic or healthy way.
I said that.
Plus playing in public games isn’t smurfing (same account, unranked game)
I wasn’t justifying anything, I was describing a subset of players
I was describing a particular kind of player, seeking a confidence building warmup, who in this case engaged in legal play.
In league, smurfing hurts others experience (my first point)
I wasn’t talking about legal or following rules, I was saying that it’s not realistic or healthy to do that kind of thing for you, or the players that do it, for a confidence boost.