Something has to be done about players creating secondary accounts and undermining the entire matchmaking system. I just WANT competitive games with people of my OWN skill level (Smurfs avoid this because they’re cowards, there is no legitimate excuse for it). The fact that I WANT competitive games and CANNOT get them half of the time, because of Smurfs, is a real problem. It is beyond frustrating at times. They seemingly populate every game I attempt to play for looong stretches, and I don’t even know why I continue to play. I don’t know what the solution is, but to not do anything about this is lunacy.
A lot goes into this frustration too. I can’t quit when I run into a player clearly abusing the system. They can create an infinite number of accounts, and I suspect some people do just that. The skill gap is so wide in this game that a player who is smurfing can just CRUSH… I have to suffer through Smurf games just to get a couple balanced games every night. It’s an absolute plague and a bummer.
They are working on ways to lessen the problem of smurfing.
Basically, what we know now is that they have a prototype system that detects skill level much more quickly, get new accounts into their appropriate skill bracket much more quickly. You can find more information about the plans to combat smurfs by browsing the Matchmaking Feedback archives (here, and here with descriptions). Or you can search Waypoint for any posts by ZaedynFel that include the term “smurf”.