In the MOBA DOTA 2 (Steam), developer Valve has now taken action against so-called “smurf accounts” These are accounts of strong players who disguise themselves as beginners to achieve easy victories. After the ban, the forums are full of whining players – for some “honest players,” this is pure satisfaction.
What is a smurf and why do people do this?
- In MOBAs and shooters, there is a matchmaking rating (MMR): This measures how skilled a player is and ensures that they are matched with opponents and teammates of roughly equal strength. This makes the regular game exciting, but also stressful, as one only wins about 50% of their matches and is constantly challenged.
- A “smurf account” is the account of a strong player pretending to be a beginner in order to play against “real beginners”: They usually defeat them easily. Someone who is “smurfing” plays significantly better than the rest.
- Streamers, for example, create a new account to quickly climb from “the bottom to the top.” Smurfs are also used to “let loose,” troll, insult, or behave unfairly.
Why is this a problem? Smurfing is generally frowned upon: For actual beginners or weak players, it is frustrating when the other supposed beginner is actually a much better player who is only disguising themselves as a “smurf,” which translates to “smurf” in English.
Significant changes were recently underway with DOTA 2:
Valve bans 90,000 smurfs, also threatens main accounts with a ban
This is what Valve has done: Valve has banned 90,000 accounts, which are believed to be smurf accounts (via dota). Valve states that they have “traced each of these secondary accounts back to their main account.”
Additionally, a warning has been sent to the main accounts that could be associated with a smurf.
The main accounts have been warned that they will be penalized in the future if this occurs again. The penalty could range from a temporary ban to permanent exclusion.
What is the reaction?? Forums like Reddit are filled with posts from players claiming they have been wrongly accused of smurfing. They have been unfairly warned.
However, the fact that so many were “wrongly” accused seems unlikely, as “smurfing” is generally considered a major problem in DOTA 2.
A user on Twitter has compiled a page of such “complaint posts” and writes, “Today is one of the best days of my life.”
More about DOTA 2:
