Let's Talk About Something: Smurfs

[Surprise Attack!]

Hi all, I'd like to just put something out there. I'm really sick and tired of smurfs.

And I don't mean the little blue communists, I mean this: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=smurf

To be completely frank, I don't really care about smurfs that much. If you get off by completely wrecking people who play worse than the AI, then more power to you. In fact, smurfing is so common in popular games nowadays that it more or less can be regarded as normal behavior. But the problem here is this: "popular".

Which, quite frankly, this game is not. Not by a long stretch of the term.

It is completely unfortunate that the game is dying off, and I wish that it were the other way around, but I also honestly wish that people could see that this kind of behavior is driving off what new players we do occasionally get. I've been fortunate enough to have met many cool people through this community, and as a result, I have added incentive to stay. But what about people who aren't in the same boat I'm in?

I'm not going to name any names, and honestly I have an inkling suspicion that many of these players are primarily retail players coming over to troll elite. And btw, I'm not at all talking about people who join games and say "look I'm not a noob, but..." I'm talking about people who join games advertised as "low/lower skill/newbies only" with alternate or blocked profiles with level 55-60 armies. Or premade teams just looking to step on people.

I enjoy this game and I will generally play anyone who joins a game I make. But seriously, why don't you just play against the AI?

[Batpimp]

I say call out these mofos by name and steam id and remove them from our community. They are the last thing we need.

[Ven]

just by reading the title i thought you meant ultramarines

i havent actually seen this happen tbh. and i dont think there is anything we can do about it.

im also sure that most people unintentinally smurf. what i mean is, people join lobbys without reading the lobby name. i mean i had a lobby labeled as "private" and i had to say to about 10 people that its a private lobby and that i would have to kick them, and that was in about a 6 minute period. one guy even came back in asked why he was kicked, obviusly not reading the chat either where i told him it was private.

also, please dont say the game is dying off, its a very bad attitude to have and anyone "new" reading this thread will think twice before trying the mod. also, the playerbase around ELITE is increasing slowly, not decreasing. so its actually incorrect. the recent winter sales really boosted the palyerbase, especially after relic started "supporting" the IP again. if anything 2014 was the best year for DOW2 since its release.

[MaxPower]

If you know the players, get yourself a premade team as well and kick the living shit out of them

[Torpid]

If you know the players, get yourself a premade team as well and kick the living shit out of them

That's a very good point!

Invite me next time and see if you can get an observer slot, I'll bring some folks and it should be fun.

I know exactly who you mean though and there are some retail guys lurking on elite doing this with pre-mades for sure.

[Swift]

To name and shame, Cornholio, whilst not a true "smurf" by these standards has also gone under the alias Deathwing, a rather trolly user from retail who used to flame people in general chat. I know he uses this forum but I'm not too bothered if he sees this, I kick him from every lobby I make anyway.

[Ven]

To name and shame, Cornholio, whilst not a true "smurf" by these standards has also gone under the alias Deathwing, a rather trolly user from retail who used to flame people in general chat. I know he uses this forum but I'm not too bothered if he sees this, I kick him from every lobby I make anyway.

well cornholio used to b named deathwing and he was A LOT worse back then, calling everyone a noob that needs to go get gud and raging if someone beat him. these days when hes named the great cornholio hes actually noticably nicer from when he was named deathwing, i dont think ive ever seen him rage that much outside of common ragyness from any player, hes even said that in some games when someone said they were new and could leave the lobby he said "nah new players are welcome in ELITE", but still kinda a douche sometimes.

but, on many occasions hes told me to kick noobs from my games because they're a "a waste of time to fight" or something, which i can sort of understand. so i doubt hes smurfing.

[Swift]

He keeps dropping from any games that I've played with him, and I don't think that's his internet.

[[Alpha]-0mega-]

I know at least a couple of people who have used SAM to mod their army levels to 60. (And likewise it should be easy to level it down again)

Because of that, Army level doesn't really mean that much to me imho.

Of course if you get wrecked feel free to not play with that person anymore, but even ''beginner'' is a relative term.

When I see myself play vs others I usually see myself as a beginner, but maybe in your eyes I might be more of an intermediate player.

[Surprise Attack!]

To name and shame, Cornholio, whilst not a true "smurf" by these standards has also gone under the alias Deathwing, a rather trolly user from retail who used to flame people in general chat. I know he uses this forum but I'm not too bothered if he sees this, I kick him from every lobby I make anyway.

And perhaps he changed his name because he didn't want to be associated with his past behavior anymore? Feel free to do what you want to do, but he certainly has never "smurfed" or misrepresented his skill level to the best of my knowledge just to walk over newbies.

What was the point of your reply again? I don't mean any disrespect, but isn't the community too small for grudges like these?

If you know the players, get yourself a premade team as well and kick the living shit out of them

If you know the players, get yourself a premade team as well and kick the living shit out of them

That's a very good point!

Invite me next time and see if you can get an observer slot, I'll bring some folks and it should be fun.

I know exactly who you mean though and there are some retail guys lurking on elite doing this with pre-mades for sure.

Hahaha, good idea. I'll take you up on the offer.

im also sure that most people unintentinally smurf. what i mean is, people join lobbys without reading the lobby name. i mean i had a lobby labeled as "private" and i had to say to about 10 people that its a private lobby and that i would have to kick them, and that was in about a 6 minute period. one guy even came back in asked why he was kicked, obviusly not reading the chat either where i told him it was private.

It happens. I've noticed you play with a lot of people you know, so you might be kind of oblivious to these this happening. It isn't a "every game" thing, more like every 3-4 games. It's also not unintentional when you ask the person if they are lower skill and then they tell you they are.

This isn't like a sore-loser kind of deal where people accuse others of smurfing because they lost to them. There's nothing wrong with losing, especially not in a good, balanced game. What does tick me off, however, is when my

also, please dont say the game is dying off, its a very bad attitude to have and anyone "new" reading this thread will think twice before trying the mod. also, the playerbase around ELITE is increasing slowly, not decreasing. so its actually incorrect. the recent winter sales really boosted the palyerbase, especially after relic started "supporting" the IP again. if anything 2014 was the best year for DOW2 since its release.

I'm sorry, but this isn't really that true. Elite mod did for DOW2 what the Komnenians did for Byzantium, but it doesn't mean that the game is still in decline by MP strategy game standards. There's no point in fooling yourself, but there's also nothing wrong with playing a game that "dying". I, for one, will not simply abandon it because of its smaller community.

I know at least a couple of people who have used SAM to mod their army levels to 60. (And likewise it should be easy to level it down again)

Because of that, Army level doesn't really mean that much to me imho.

Of course if you get wrecked feel free to not play with that person anymore, but even ''beginner'' is a relative term.

When I see myself play vs others I usually see myself as a beginner, but maybe in your eyes I might be more of an intermediate player.

Hi, we played earlier today, I was the Chaos Sorcerer. I'm not sure who was the CL in my lane that was wrecking me pretty hardcore, but if that was you, gg wp.

I've actually never heard of what you're referring to, but I will keep that in mind for future reference. I certainly did not mean to put you guys on the spot simply because of the level of your armies. But I also hope that you understand that myself and Krab were a bit paranoid at this stage because it's happened a bunch of times already, where we run into people with "Private" steam profiles(so we can't see their hours), level 60 armies, then proceed to get facerolled.

With you guys, I said later, worst case scenario we concede.

Trying to matchmake based on hours and army level is something we've really been forced to do because of the lack of actual MM support for Elite Mod, which kinda sucks. And it's an arcane art, and definitely not a science. So I will never fault someone for saying: "Well I don't know if I'm noob enough for this game". It's deliberate misrepresentation I'm talking about here or flat out lying, which is not what you and your friend were doing.

Behavior like this:

[Ven]

But I also hope that you understand that myself and Krab were a bit paranoid at this stage because it's happened a bunch of times already, where we run into people with "Private" steam profiles(so we can't see their hours), level 60 armies, then proceed to get facerolled.

im assuming you mean from a teamgame perspective? because teamgames are never a good indicator for that. or anything for that matter.

i was in a game the other day where Dark Riku got base trapped by floid. so was floid smurfing? nope.

my point is that, army level doesnt mean anything as im sure you know, but for teamgames, its VERY hard to tell if someone is smurfing or if they're just plain better, i see some people with 25 hours played play like someone with 300 hours, and sometimes i see people with the same ammount of playtime who dont even know how to produce units from their HQ. i mean, sometimes its blatantly obvious, but most of the time its just not the case and rather just a matter of skill level. im fairly sure a lot of "noobz only" games are complete curbstomps for one team, because usually it only takes one player winning in once lane to win as the other team might not know how to react.

im not saying that smurfing is a good thing, but rather that its almost impossible to spot and there isnt much if anything we can do about it... unless its a premade team of 3 making noob lobbies just to get free wins, thats just sad, and easy to spot.

somwtimes i go in to noob lobbies with my eldar and yet i still dont see any smurfers (i wasnt smurfing, have you seen my eldar play? i litterally lost a dire avenger squad without realising, a squad that i was zooming in on and admiring the model of >_<)

[Cheekie Monkie]

Saying that the game is dying is such a harsh term! Here's a list of more acceptable terminologies:

The community is getting cosier
We're undergoing a corporate restructuring
We're facilitating a process of streamlining

[ChrisNihilus]

just by reading the title i thought you meant ultramarines

Me too.

[Surprise Attack!]

But I also hope that you understand that myself and Krab were a bit paranoid at this stage because it's happened a bunch of times already, where we run into people with "Private" steam profiles(so we can't see their hours), level 60 armies, then proceed to get facerolled.

im assuming you mean from a teamgame perspective? because teamgames are never a good indicator for that. or anything for that matter.

i was in a game the other day where Dark Riku got base trapped by floid. so was floid smurfing? nope.

my point is that, army level doesnt mean anything as im sure you know, but for teamgames, its VERY hard to tell if someone is smurfing or if they're just plain better, i see some people with 25 hours played play like someone with 300 hours, and sometimes i see people with the same ammount of playtime who dont even know how to produce units from their HQ. i mean, sometimes its blatantly obvious, but most of the time its just not the case and rather just a matter of skill level. im fairly sure a lot of "noobz only" games are complete curbstomps for one team, because usually it only takes one player winning in once lane to win as the other team might not know how to react.

im not saying that smurfing is a good thing, but rather that its almost impossible to spot and there isnt much if anything we can do about it... unless its a premade team of 3 making noob lobbies just to get free wins, thats just sad, and easy to spot.

I'm really sorry, and I don't mean to offend you, but I don't think you've been reading what people are talking about, and I don't think you understand what we mean by "smurfing." The bolded part is what smurfing is. The other stuff you mentioned is not smurfing.

Smurfing is when you are very good at the game, claim you are bad, go out of your way to make sure that people can't check whether or not you are bad. Usually these are pre-made teams or some guy in a 1v1. It is not hard to tell if someone is smurfing or not, it is so blatantly obvious. If you do not know what I'm talking about, you've been fortunate enough not to have run into people who do this. Or maybe you are rather good at this point so you can't tell because these people are not so different than you skill wise. You pick which one.

[Atlas]

Frankly, I haven't cared too much about the skill of my opponent but rather if I have one or not. Yes, I've had matches where I've completely stomped someone or have been stomped but the #1 complaint I keep hearing is how there's never enough games. Of course, some guy going all prince in pauper clothing is pretty lame but you take your bumps and get a little smarter.

I say it a lot but you got to be a glowstick; you have to break before you can shine. Don't let the smurfs get you down and do your best to git gud.

[MaxPower]

...or call the big boys to teach them smurfs a lesson. But I think I already made my point.

[Ven]

Light Riku + Quiet + totally not tex VS smurfs.

[ShowMeMagik]

Light Riku + Quiet + totally not tex VS smurfs.

I would watch that movie

[Atlas]

Light Riku + Quiet + totally not tex VS smurfs.

I would watch that movie

If it's directed by Matt Ward it would be a heartwarming rendition of smurfs fighting against the odds and coming out on top