For a long time, the situation where players encounter “smurf” has been quite familiar, especially in games with massive global player communities like League of Legends (LoL) and DOTA 2. Notably, this issue has persisted for a long time, but the publishers have not really addressed it adequately. This is because the problem lies in the mindset of the players as well as certain objective situations.
For those who may not know, “smurf” refers to a situation where one player (or possibly more) has a skill level that is significantly higher than the rest, whether they are on the same team or the opposing team. This player can easily dominate their opponents, turning the match into a one-sided affair. Naturally, the opponents cannot be pleased when faced with this situation. However, even the teammates of the “smurf” player have expressed their frustration. The reason is that this player monopolizes all the resources and kills, leaving the other players unsure of what to do.
The experience of encountering a “smurf” has never been pleasant. Therefore, decisive action from the publisher is necessary, and Valve has “fired the first shot”. Recently, the renowned publisher of DOTA 2 banned a total of 90,000 accounts due to “smurfing”. According to Valve’s announcement, they assured the DOTA 2 community that they would strictly punish these “smurf” behaviors. In addition, Valve warned that they might also take action against IP addresses if they detect that punished “smurf” players attempt to create new accounts.
Witnessing Valve’s decisive actions may leave many League of Legends players “only wishing” for similar measures. Historically, Riot has been known for being lenient in handling violations, not just with “smurfing”. There have been numerous occasions where the publisher made bold announcements about punishing violations. However, players have asserted that many accounts that were reported still “casually” ranked up every day. There have even been instances where Riot mistakenly banned the account of the reporter.
Perhaps, in some way, Riot should “consult” their competitor. Through that, this publisher could somewhat improve the experience for their players, especially in the VCS region, where the problem of “smurfing” has been increasing after recent account transitions.