Smurf Accounts

[brent]

I think as a community if we agree there is a problem then the next logical step is working towards a solution. It would start by ENT Gaming making it against the rules to smurf.

Then, there is already a functioning Ban Request subforum. If a player suspects a new account is a smurf, submit the ban request. The moderator would review the replay (or just check the user and game statistics), do an IP check to see if any other accounts are played from that same address, then take the appropriate action if so.

Consequences would align with some other existing scale (same as griefing consequences, for example).

[Dhamma]

LOL you'll have better luck getting them to host non em games only. You're taking this entirely too seriously.

[WolfPackMama]

Imo, smurfing shouldn't be bannable, but it shouldn't be encouraged either.

[BeerLord]

The other side of smurfing, that I actually am greatful for, is the taking down of the chronic elo hunting stackers that climb the ladder 4 elo points at a time. Guys that only play legion or slark, and only in completely one sided games. Without smurfs to shoot them down, they can climb pretty high (team-lus comes to mind as he got over 2000 for a bit).

While we may agree that smurfing is sometimes annoying, I dont hear anybody else suggesting we outlaw it. But if you feel strongly about it, put it out there as a suggestion and let the community voice their opinions.

[Sylvanas]

The other side of smurfing, that I actually am greatful for, is the taking down of the chronic elo hunting stackers that climb the ladder 4 elo points at a time. Guys that only play legion or slark, and only in completely one sided games. Without smurfs to shoot them down, they can climb pretty high (team-lus comes to mind as he got over 2000 for a bit).

While we may agree that smurfing is sometimes annoying, I dont hear anybody else suggesting we outlaw it. But if you feel strongly about it, put it out there as a suggestion and let the community voice their opinions.

Those who care most about elo typically will keep an eye on the lobby and will avoid a 1050 elo players with 3-4 kdr over 3 games like plague. The true victims are those who trust the system and get burnt over and over.

lol, burnt.

[EdgeOfChaos]

Smurfs are awesome. I love making new account and sniping a bunch of teamswapping stackers for -25 ELO. This is possibly the most amusing part of DotA.

The reason smurfs are awesome is because, when you join a DotA game with high ELO, people swarm to your team. Great, now we're playing for 3 ELO. And most of the time teamswappers suck and fight over who gets kills, and end up costing you the game. That's what happened whenever I went over 1500 before. So, I no longer use a main. My most "main" account is Nightfall at 1300 or so. And, if you teamswap against me, I insta-pick Slark. Enjoy your stacked game, hope it's worth that 25 ELO you're about to lose.

It's also way less stressful when you get a useless team. If I get 4 dead weight players, I can just accept the loss and make a new account if I'm smurfing, where on a main it's very annoying when this happens.

Not only that, smurfs are good for sniping people. If someone is dodging you because you just beat them, but you want to beat them again, just make a new account.

> hearing people want to ban for smurfing
> rofl
hope I smurf you guys sometime

[nitromon]

ENT is one of the last few DOTA 1 communities. I still see BK, Void, and OTC but they never fill.

At one point DOTA 1 was the hottest game on Battle.net, but nowadays we're just grateful there's still someone hosting them. The more restrictions you put on there, the less players will be available. I think the mods are aware of this issue, hence why I feel a lot of the banning were very lenient and the appeals are almost always approved.

It is what it is and the reality is, we'll all eventually move on to DOTA 2 or just stop playing altogether.

[WolfPackMama]

I find it hilarious tho, how people think both picking Legion and Slark are an instant win scenario.
Apparently (pun excluded), people have never heard of Ancient Apparition, which severely counters both heroes.

[brent]

What about auto votebalancing or preventing a game from starting if it's greater than +20 / -10?

[EdgeOfChaos]

Honestly there are a *lot* of players still in DotA 1 for how old it is. I feel it won't die anytime soon.

Game not starting if over +20 won't work. There are high ELO players who put games over +20 just by themselves. And +20/-10 isn't automatically bad. Sometimes teams can be favored without being stacked. Autobalance could work but players have shown they do not like it, autobalance bots never get played.

Apparition counters Slark? Maybe if your allies don't feed a skaddi+lothars in 12 minutes.
The reason Slark is so powerful in these games is because Slark snowballs out of control with a couple kills and becomes an unstoppable machine of death. Now you have a Slark in BKB, with 150 base agility and skaddi coming at you. You can't stun him, he has Pact. You can't kill him, he has too much HP and shadowdance. You can't run, the only option is to die. You gotta stop Slark early, and stay ahead of him to beat him - but this depends so heavily on your allies, who are going to be unreliable most of the time.

LC is completely different. He's powerful, but has serious vulnerabilities. LC is nearly unkillable while fighting, but melts when you stun him. If you ever see a team with no disables, LC can be a really fun pick there.

[CheW]

Here is how high elo works.

Join game vs decent enemies.
Decent enemies dodge/flock to your team.
Wait 20 minutes for 5 players to join the enemy team
Realize the 5 players are all ~800 elo and you are playing for 1 elo
Play boring game for 15 minutes until enemy FFs.

Here is how smurfing works.

See a bunch of stackers in game.
Join game.
Get good game with actual better players.

[cashmeoutside-]

Why not make the !alias command publicly available?

Those who want to create fresh accounts are free to do so.

Those who want to accumulate ELO can check new players' aliases to determine if they're getting sniped.

[CheW]

Why not make the !alias command publicly available?

Those who want to create fresh accounts are free to do so.

Those who want to accumulate ELO can check new players' aliases to determine if they're getting sniped.

Pretty sure alias doesn't work on brand new accounts

[cashmeoutside-]

Hmmm I’ve always assumed the alias command was based on IP address implying it works for new accounts albeit not always 100% accurate

[EdgeOfChaos]

Here is how high elo works.

Join game vs decent enemies.
Decent enemies dodge/flock to your team.
Wait 20 minutes for 5 players to join the enemy team
Realize the 5 players are all ~800 elo and you are playing for 1 elo
Play boring game for 15 minutes until enemy FFs.

Here is how smurfing works.

See a bunch of stackers in game.
Join game.
Get good game with actual better players.

Damn right.
My ELO wasn't even high and I still got teamswappers every single game. Must be so bad for 2k+.

Alias command was meant to be a moderation tool, never public access.
And anyways it only showed like the 5 most recent.
And there are reasons why you might not want people to know who you are.

Alias does work off IP. It may or may not work on a fresh account; depends on when ENT logs the player's IP address.
Also since it works off IP, it's inaccurate for those with dynamic IP. This is the biggest reason to keep it private; people won't understand that.
For example, there are plenty of people who show up as aliases of each other each with like 6k games, lots of them played with each other, clearly they're not alts. IP is not a unique person identifier and never will be so it's silly to rely on it as such.