Riot finally speaks up about addressing issues surrounding smurfs and more updates are coming next year.
When it comes to competitive experience, League of Legends is unmatched. In a way, LoL has redefined just how tough climbing the ladder can be. Not to mention, with over 100 million players, there is a certain ‘perceived’ glory to be had if you reach the zenith.
Even if you are a casual fan of the game, the thought of reaching a challenger should have crossed your mind at least once. But the ranked system in the League is also one of the most controversial topics in the community. Even now, people are skeptical about its fairness and balance.
You always hear about how the ranked matchmaking algorithm notoriously puts bad teammates on your team and that you feel so very out of control in matches. But there’s the opposite problem to this as well. Here comes the ‘Smurfs’.
Smurfs are usually the players who belong to the high elo (usually Diamond and above), but they open a new account to play with the lower MMR players. This is an issue Riot has been dealing with for nearly a decade, with little to no feasible solution.
In recent years, they have made some attempts for example quickly releasing the smurfs out of the low elo through the algorithm. But the problem persists. Riot Pupulasers has recently opened up about this. In this article, I will talk about it more.
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Addressing Smurf Problems
We all know how it feels to have a Smurf on an enemy team. It is the worst kind of helplessness when a challenger player singlehandedly carries their team while you give your 200%. Even if the Smurf is on your team, the victory does not feel as sweet.
It is generally accepted that smurfs are indeed a problem for ranked matches. To make the game fair to all, Riot has, in the past, attempted to take certain measures against them. For example, they had created a ‘Smurf’ queue. So, if you won games that were of much higher ELO than your current MMR, you would be placed in a special invisible pool along with the other Smurfs.
However, it was removed due to extreme toxicity and overall low-quality matches. Moreover, people who returned after a long hiatus also found themselves there.
Then Riot tried to take a smarter initiative. For example, speeding up elo gains by making the algorithm recognize the smurfs so they can be put to their original rank faster. This neutralized the issue somewhat, but not close to enough.
Riot had kept quiet for a long time regarding this issue due to the failure. But finally, Riot has spoken up and assured us of divulging more on this sometime next year. They also hope to implement changes that will create a noticeable impact on the game in 2024 as well.
With that, I would like to conclude my blog post with only the best hopes for the next season.
Season 2024 Release Date
In case you don’t know yet, LoL season 2024 will be live on all servers starting from January 9, 2024.
