The Problem with Smurfs

illbeauty13·Jun 23, 2016·15 votes·1,528 views

I'm not a great player at this game, but it's a fun way to unwind and have some fun.

However, I recently tried to get my buddy into the game. He was like lvl 5 and just starting out and I watched him play blind pick. Holy. Shit. Every player on each team was a smurf. He got absolutely rolled. Now he's done with the game "forever" which kinda sucks for me and my buddies who play. I think it's pretty uninclusive (I know it's not a word) and will strongly deter new players from trying the game if 80% of the people under lvl 15 are smurfs.

I think Riot should do something about smurf busting or just auto boosting these players to lvl 30. If my buddy can't play against other crappy people, where's the fun for him? Also maybe Riot is already doing something but it definitely isn't enough.

28 Comments

LitznerJun 23, 201613 votes

I personally think Riot should do away with the level system in general and start everyone at "30", but require a set number of bot games before you can play PVP, then a set number of normal games before you can ranked.

DukuesJun 23, 20162 votes

I was about to say how much I like this idea but thinking about it again I don't think it would change much. I have 3 level 30 accounts and love having the 3, and leveling them up was annoying as shit. But if everyone who plays the game is the same level then the same thing happens. You still have smurfs playing vs new players. Eventually it gets figured out since smurfs should have more wins than new players , which leads to eventually smurfs playing smufs while new players play new players.

Edit: I guess then at least new players would have keystones, all summoner spells at their disposal so might make the game a little more fun.

LitznerJun 23, 20161 votes

Exactly, the early games for such accounts (including the Bot games) would be a form of hidden placements. You are required to do your bot games, and if you for 36\0 in your bot games you obviously have played before, as most new people die tanking the tower their first game and don't understand what happened...

Now people could just throw bot games to be able to smurf for a few games, but again the PVP placements could sort that our fairly quickly.

PeelGodDamnitJun 24, 20161 votes

The problem here is that you're still gating ranked behind a grind. The entire point of smurfing is to play ranked. So this change doesn't help smurfs in any way whatsoever.

And for new players, telling them "play x amount of games before you can play ranked" is exactly the same thing as now minus the sense of progression from leveling up.

I think they should keep leveling in as a way of forcing new players to learn the game before playing ranked without explicitly saying "you can't play ranked till X games," while making some method for experienced players to start at 30 on their alts.

illbeauty13Jun 24, 20161 votes

I think that'd be great. I also was playing on his account today and it literally was the most toxic people of all time. A Newbie was playing Draven and these guys were cursing at him by the end and telling him to just leave the game. Pretty unreal stuff, made me very angry.

LitznerJun 24, 20161 votes

There is a big problem in the gaming community (not just League) with griefing, harassing, and just being down right rude. I remember getting into my first big online PC game 16-17 years ago and anonymous players in that community would go far out of there way to help you figure things out, and then in turn you would do that same thing for someone else. I don't see that hardly anywhere in gaming today, and god forbid you try to help someone out, the minute you try to explain something to them they know better and start throwing unwarranted insults towards your mother...

Ayasaki123Jun 23, 20163 votes

Yeah, smurfs have always been a huge problem at the early levels. The worst part is that most of these "smurfs" are actually just toxic players on new accounts because their old account got banned. New players actually have to deal with the worst players.

I think new players should play a lot of bot or custom games and focus on specific mechanics, especially last hitting. Theoretically, if a new player could get 10 cs/min, they'd be the strongest person in their games like 95% of the time, as long as they played super safe. Of course, too many bot games in a row gets boring pretty fast. If you have a large group of friends, or even just a moderate sized group, you can make some custom games and just take it easy on him, or play fun community game modes like hide and seek. If he's really done with the game forever, then that's too bad, but most of us learned the game by getting stomped by smurfs repeatedly.

P.S. uninclusive = exclusive ;)

GayFluffyUnicornJun 24, 20161 votes

Yeah i feel really sad for the new players. Currently lvling my smurf account to boycot dynQ and to play with one of my gold5 friends without ruining my mmr >.> I'm lvl27 and no matter what i play (aram, blind or draft normal) there is always this one or two guys flaming like crazy. Usually i don't tryhard but just play for the lulz and try some moves i wouldn't dare in ranked on my actual account. And comment on good plays from the newbies but the amount of toxic fucks is SO damn high. Especially when i see they are bronze/silver and act all high and mighty... In my last aram even the enemy team was toxic af towards one of our players how "useless" he is and gets carried... well i tryharded, did 3 pentas and the enemy team totally freaked out :D I can understand that many people dropped the game. I mean when i started in season2 my friends kept me going (who were more experienced) even though i got put into the dirt by smurfs too but the toxicity wasn't even remotely as high as it is today.

illbeauty13Jun 24, 20161 votes

Haha exclusive makes it sound cool tho. Ima stick with my made up word.

DukuesJun 23, 20162 votes

You know one thing they could do would be change exp given in the leveling system. You could have two options when making a new account. Either new player or experienced player. New player goes through current system while experienced player goes through same system but gets 2,3,4 times more xp and IP (pre 30). New accounts only play new accounts and experienced accounts only play experienced accounts.

This would not 100% stop players from making new accounts just to stomp new players and to be dicks. But it would lesson the number of smurfs playing with new players and would allow smurfs to level up their account faster since that is all they want to do anyways.

SwaidJun 23, 20162 votes

Perhaps League should implement a tutor system like in Dota 2; veteran players and new players can opt for personal training, tutors gaining IP in exchange for services rendered. Of course, a sand box mode would help too in combination of a tutor, since certain things can't be practiced repeatedly, like which walls are dashable/flashable.

Shrek LuigiJun 24, 20162 votes

Uninclusive is a real word.

illbeauty13Jun 24, 20161 votes

no way

DeathBurstJun 23, 20161 votes

Smurf is a problem for a long time. Riot has made a few steps about it (reduced XP to reach level 30, cheaper runes, etc.), but the situation is still far from perfect. They are still looking into other solutions, but I personally wouldn't hold my breath. I trust Riot's intentions, but not their speed or execution.

Ahri PlushieJun 23, 20161 votes

I'm not 100% certain but I could've sworn I saw in the TOS that Smurfing is technically punishable due to the fact it negatively impacts gameplay for multiple people in a variety of ways. Does Riot care? Not really otherwise more measures would be taken to address this problem. One of the probably simplest/riskiest ways to fix the problem would be to limit the number of accounts per ip. Pros: No more smurfing Cons: If multiple people in 1 house play league kinda screws them over, but a system could be implemented for them to submit proof of them being multiple people and have their accounts be given an allowance of sorts.

GayFluffyUnicornJun 24, 20162 votes

Why not just being able to make a copy for your account? Like pay 5-10€ worth of RP and copy your account. Lvl 30m, your IP to get some runes and the champions u bought or you can atleast choose a specific amount of champs. But no MMR, no Skins etc. so riot can still make money with smurfs if you absolutely need some skins, ward skins etc.

PapaGreg21Jun 23, 20161 votes

I would never ask any of my friends to start playing because the new player experience is just miserable. Why smurf accounts aren't just completely banned blows my mind.

Mojihito666Jun 23, 20161 votes

More smurfs = more accounts = more players = lol is growing ...

Oh wait ....

VolgorathJun 23, 20161 votes

I was thinking that if your main account had enough games played in normals or you were Gold or above, any account you made would be automatically at level 30.

kS7jqhxrGiJun 24, 20161 votes

ban someone for playing on an account they made. baHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAH. you sir have made alot of peoples days. TY

WesleyJun 24, 20161 votes

And from here on the amount of smurfs will just increase as more people get bored on their mains

PeelGodDamnitJun 24, 20161 votes

I've always been in support of smurfs, but the point of smurfing isn't leveling the account for a month. Low level games are a shit show because of it, and I think riot needs to take action on that survey they sent out a while back about existing level 30 accounts having some way to make alts at 30 instead of level 1.

VladTheMageJun 24, 20161 votes

I personally think it is because once you hit lvl 30 and you fall to rock bottom divisions is easier and much more fun to level up a new account and ranking it up than getting out of ELO Hell. I can confirm. I have one Plat 3 account and after grinding some normals on my Plat 3 account before hitting level 30 I have gotten this account from B5 to Silver in 1 week, and currently am Silver 3 but only playing on it with a friend. I can say that most pleasant part of League is placements where you get nice people and can hit Gold or Silver much faster than playing 100 games.

TheAce123Jun 24, 20161 votes

Ripperoni personally im a smurf myself nowadays but i feel like playing rank because of all the fcking high elo player out there and i cant troll around like i feel like to item 3070 you know pre 30 is the new challenjours

CerealBoxOfDoomJun 24, 20161 votes

keep losing and smurfs wont be a problem

Palmeiras SerieBJun 24, 20161 votes

The problem with smurfs: Riot does not ban multiple accounts.

"ZOMG they banned my main account, too bad I have more 500"

LOLsmileyfacesJun 24, 20161 votes

Well, the way smurfs work in pre-30s is based off of your MMR in your normal games. Those smurfs probably had high MMR, and your buddy probably played with a higher level (lvl 30 probably Gold something) friend. So to balance it out, they put the high MMR low lvl accounts (smurfs) in with your friend and the ranked player he was playing with. Or, your friend is just a natural god at the game and has high MMR. The system really isn't that flawed. If you make a new accounts and get to around lvl 10 and smash everyone, you will be placed against smurfs as well. Riot prioritizes incoming members of the community and makes sure that the experience they have when they first start is relatively enjoyable so they continue to play the game. They care more about new players than old players, which is why Dynamic Queue now exists and Solo Queue is out the window.

deadlychuckJun 25, 20161 votes

I'd love to not have to deal with leveling up. I have a malzahar only smurf that i never actually got to level 30, before the rework and i now pretty much refuse to even touch the champion. (rip main).

I can understand wanting a learning curve and it made sense back when league was still growing, but league already hit it's apex.