"Kills games like this": Marvel Rivals players are not happy with streamers defending smurfing

The Marvel Rivals community recently took to the r/marvelrivals subreddit to discuss the poor smurfing situation in the game. They were unhappy with the way the devs handled the situation, which worsened after popular streamers like Necros defended smurfing.

A user named Visual-Error-2707 commented that smurfing kills games, especially for newer players trying to learn and enjoy them. They said:

“Smurfing kills games like this. As long as I have fun, sc*ew everyone elses experience. Thats what he's saying. You kill new player retention….Its different for everyone, but if im watching a streamer, im watching to see how they play at higher levels so I can get better.”

Visual-Error-2707's comment on the post (Image via Reddit)

User KingKandyOwO stated that some players had fragile egos and could not stand losing a few games, referring to Necros. They went on to say that this was the same reason hackers were so frequently found in the game. They commented:

“Some people have fragile egos and cant stand losing, so will do anything to make sure they wont. Thats why aimbots, wallhacks, etc. is such a lucrative business model”

Players discussed how smurfing was an issue in every game and it was the developers' job to handle the situation differently. User Old_Nefariousness918 pointed out that people will keep smurfing in lower lobbies and call them ‘educational’ just to get away with it. They added that smurfing will always be an issue if the developers don't figure out a way to detect such players.

Comment byu/IntoTheRain78 from discussion inmarvelrivals

While some were trying to figure out how to tackle the situation, a user named cgbob31 came up with a rather harsh solution to deal with smurf accounts. They said that such players should receive hardware bans to show the seriousness of the situation. They said:

“Smurfing should be hardware ban(n)able.”

User Laur1x had an interesting take on the matter. They said that although they had separate low-level accounts to play with their friends, they never picked their best heroes during those games. Moreover, they added that smurfing and cheating could be avoided if the title was not free-to-play or if the competitive queue threshold was increased from level 10 to 15 or even 20.

Comment byu/IntoTheRain78 from discussion inmarvelrivals

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What can be done to tackle smurfing in Marvel Rivals?

Marvel Rivals is currently filled with smurfs in the lower lobbies up to Diamond, which are often referred to as the “metal ranks.” These smurf accounts are typically owned by streamers conducting “educational streams,” where they pick their best heroes to showcase their skills and dominate newer players trying to learn the game.

To tackle such a situation, it is primarily important that the developers address this issue officially. To reinforce their stance, they can implement a review system, which would allow the team to effectively catch these players and ban them for good.

Moreover, as previously mentioned, the increase of the ranked queue threshold from level 10 to something like 20 would discourage such acts as it would take a significantly longer amount of time before these gamers can get into the ranked lobbies.

However, this might be a bit harsh on new players who want to get into ranked gameplay as quickly as possible. This can still be handled if the developers add a hidden elo based on the initial Quick Play games, which would place the smurf accounts into higher lobbies once ranked is unlocked.

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