Unfortunately, in any online game (especially a free one) you're going to get many forms of abusive behaviour. One such problem in Dota 2 is 'smurf' accounts and Valve are attempting to deal with it.
A smurf account is where an experienced player will make another account, to then stomp all over less experienced players and ruin their fun. It is a nuisance, it can completely ruin games and no doubt turns away plenty of potential fans. Valve are aware and they've blogged a few times recently about their plans to improve Dota 2's matchmaking and detection systems a lot of which is already live.
During this, they announced on Twitter yesterday that they have "banned over 40,000 accounts for players who were found abusing matchmaking" which will show "as game bans in Steam as well as being matchmaking bans in Dota 2". Additionally, on the official Dota 2 blog they announced that their 'smurf detection system' was being made more sensitive to go after more accounts. With all this, we could be seeing more regular ban waves coming in.
Policing online games as popular as Dota 2 is always going to be an uphill battle, at least it seems Valve are steadily trying to improve it for the majority of players.
You can play Dota 2 free on Steam.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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15 comments
Would be nice if they can apply some ip matching to match the original Steam account with the Smurf Steam account, and address warnings there too. But then again, that might be a privacy issue.
Maybe they should ask the right to process your IP against fraud cases like this.
Maybe they should ask the right to process your IP against fraud cases like this.
4 Likes, Who?
Would be nice if they can apply some ip matching to match the original Steam account with the Smurf Steam account, and address warnings there too. But then again, that might be a privacy issue.Yup, fully agree. Perhaps this is part of what they're doing and how they're matching up already.
Maybe they should ask the right to process your IP against fraud cases like this.
0 Likes
I think it is a trust issue. New players to a game should start with a low trust value on their ability score. Longer time players who suck (I would be one of them if I ever played multiplayer games), shouldn't necessarily match often with new players whose trust is low and therefore the assessment of their ability is unlikely to be accurate.
Of course one could always game the system and play several games pretending to be bad. But on the other hand I think it would be useful for the players themselves to give a rating or trustworthiness value to others with whom they play. As you play more and more, I'm sure you get familiar with the other players, and so you can say, "yea, I like playing with that guy, he seems to match my abilities." And then this player-made trust network can emerge.
Of course one could always game the system and play several games pretending to be bad. But on the other hand I think it would be useful for the players themselves to give a rating or trustworthiness value to others with whom they play. As you play more and more, I'm sure you get familiar with the other players, and so you can say, "yea, I like playing with that guy, he seems to match my abilities." And then this player-made trust network can emerge.
1 Likes, Who?
I really hate smurfs, it's more inconvenient than hackers. The problem is that they receive views, just do a little search on twitch, you will see a lot of smurfs playing CSGO.
In the case of CSGO they should make more easier to rank up in the early levels, so a Smurf will have some trouble to maintain in low level
In the case of CSGO they should make more easier to rank up in the early levels, so a Smurf will have some trouble to maintain in low level
0 Likes
It's been a while since I've played Dota. Maybe it's time to try it out again. What pushed me away last time was players expecting me to play better than I am. Dota is not my life, so no I can't play as if it was.
5 Likes, Who?
Kimyrielle Feb 12, 2020
Would be nice if they can apply some ip matching to match the original Steam account with the Smurf Steam account, and address warnings there too. But then again, that might be a privacy issue.
Maybe they should ask the right to process your IP against fraud cases like this.
There are legit cases of two people using two accounts on the same IP. Such as e.g. two siblings sharing a PC. IP matching is almost guaranteed to identify one of them as a smurf, when they're not.
6 Likes, Who?
I have played this kind of game occasionally because some of my friends like them, but they tend to get annoyed if I play with them because I am so terrible that I feed the other team too much.
0 Likes
This kind of thing is why I completely avoid competitive multiplayer and play cooperative ones only with friends. Too much frustration for the fun you get.
Recently a old friend confessed to us in a reunion that he is a red handed cheater. His excuse is not even that he sucks (I know for sure he isn't bad), but because other people blatantly do it. So if he want to have the least amount of fun in a match, he has to do it too...
I abandoned CS a long time ago on the Source days, because of too many people cheating. And there are servers that didn't even allow voting to kick a player. So **ck that ***t, my time is better spent on single player games, where if I die, I know is because of me, not some low life cheater.
Last edited by M@GOid on 12 February 2020 at 5:12 pm UTC
Recently a old friend confessed to us in a reunion that he is a red handed cheater. His excuse is not even that he sucks (I know for sure he isn't bad), but because other people blatantly do it. So if he want to have the least amount of fun in a match, he has to do it too...
I abandoned CS a long time ago on the Source days, because of too many people cheating. And there are servers that didn't even allow voting to kick a player. So **ck that ***t, my time is better spent on single player games, where if I die, I know is because of me, not some low life cheater.
Last edited by M@GOid on 12 February 2020 at 5:12 pm UTC
8 Likes, Who?
ElectricPrism Feb 12, 2020
Would be nice if they can apply some ip matching to match the original Steam account with the Smurf Steam account, and address warnings there too. But then again, that might be a privacy issue.
Maybe they should ask the right to process your IP against fraud cases like this.
Banning by IP doesn't work so great. It detours some of the problem but creates others.
2 Likes, Who?
Can't think of a single valid reason to create a smurf account that doesn't reflect poorly on the person doing it. So this is great news.
I ditched DOTA2 after about 5 hours because of the 'community'. I wish Valve the best of luck, but they have a steep hill to climb with that title. And I don't think CS:GO is much better...
Some games should only be played at LAN parties or in closed groups of close friends...
I ditched DOTA2 after about 5 hours because of the 'community'. I wish Valve the best of luck, but they have a steep hill to climb with that title. And I don't think CS:GO is much better...
Some games should only be played at LAN parties or in closed groups of close friends...
4 Likes, Who?
ElectricPrism Feb 12, 2020
I ditched DOTA2 after about 5 hours because of the 'community'.
Yeah so the disciplinary reporting of DOTA puts bad players in "prison" where they have to earn their way out by fighting with other prisoners and winning X amount of games.
And also IIUC matchmaking differentiates as the player climbs in levels so the level 0 experience is going to be like "general admission" -- your choice to not stick with it but it does get better as you level up.
1 Likes, Who?
It's been a while since I've played Dota. Maybe it's time to try it out again. What pushed me away last time was players expecting me to play better than I am. Dota is not my life, so no I can't play as if it was.Many competitive games have this problem, IMO.
You are just trying to get started, but even on the lowest ranks, the average skill level seems to be way above your own. That's not much fun, and no doubt causes a lot of people to leave.
I play card games often (currently Eternal, since Elder Scrolls Legends shuts down) and the problem is the same there. You're just getting started, have some beginners deck - and are matched against another player who has a high-tier deck full of expensive/rare cards. On the lowest of ranks. Sure, some of them might be whales, but not nearly all.
I suspect many are smurfing there as well - though I have no clue as to why.
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 13 February 2020 at 10:15 am UTC
0 Likes
orochi_kyo Feb 13, 2020
You can see clearly that the problem is not exactly the smurfs, people will behave like this, even in real life, but the people who know the smurfs exist and they decided to get offended by anything.
"I don't play this game because of the community"
Come on, take a chill pill and just mute the voice chat for default and set a high resolution so the text chat will not catch your attention.
More than 1000 hours on CS:GO, 1500 hours on Heroes and Generals, 2000 hours on Starcraft BW, rarely ran into a hacker and when smurfs come, I just ignore and if they insist, I just report them.
Most of you are blaming the 90% for what the 10% do.
There are millions of Dota active accounts but you feel you must judge a whole community because of 40.000 accounts?
I could say most whiners are just "forum smurfs" who just like to whine and judge others.
"I don't play this game because of the community"
Come on, take a chill pill and just mute the voice chat for default and set a high resolution so the text chat will not catch your attention.
More than 1000 hours on CS:GO, 1500 hours on Heroes and Generals, 2000 hours on Starcraft BW, rarely ran into a hacker and when smurfs come, I just ignore and if they insist, I just report them.
Most of you are blaming the 90% for what the 10% do.
There are millions of Dota active accounts but you feel you must judge a whole community because of 40.000 accounts?
I could say most whiners are just "forum smurfs" who just like to whine and judge others.
0 Likes
You can see clearly that the problem is not exactly the smurfs, people will behave like this, even in real life, but the people who know the smurfs exist and they decided to get offended by anything.
"I don't play this game because of the community"
If it's not fun, people won't play it. It's that simple.
3 Likes, Who?
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