'Smurfing' on the ladder... very un sporting!

Whoa, calm down man.

I like how you've decided my points are wrong when the only actual rebuttal to them is you disagree. I can accept that. Anyway all I've dared to say against you is I think it's unsporting.

I'm getting somewhat fed up of playing people masquerading under different names. Fairly sure I've played at least one of Gandalf's smurfs too and I'd add I give all players the same level of respect irrespective of rank. I had a game against an obviously new player the other day. I let off a bit and gave him some pointers.

Also if you were playing on your main account and I lost all 3 (I'll be honest your better than me, given the order of magnitude less time I have you invariably always will be, I probably have 100 hours total play time in pa since beta), I still would have been no worse off due to the way points are calculated.

I dunno, just feels wrong to me but then again I can do no more than mention this to you. I guess beyond that I can 'vote with my feet' and avoid ladder games entirely.

@icycalm Pa isn't a sport, but it could be a competitive game in the same way as other games have become (e.g. starcraft, or even chess). The term unsporting is perhaps not correct however I feel the sentiment behind it is relevant.

I agree, pa is a game and should be fun. Why I started this thread is I personally I'm finding constantly having to second guess who everyone is all the time not fun- no one likes to feel cheated. I guess your correct though, in the scheme of things the rank doesn't matter, I mean why even play ranked? Why play pa for that matter?

PA is a game, like chess. Sports involve a heavy physical dimension, look it up. And you can be as competitive in an activity as you like, but that still won't make sitting in a chair and barely moving your hand a sport, except perhaps among a species of essentially immobile lifeforms.

I am not attacking you personally, here. I can see your heart is in the right place. I am saying this for the benefit of others.

Rank doesn't matter in 1v1s only because they are boring. This is 2014, not 1992; the top 1v1 players play PA as if it were Command & Conquer. If Uber was ranking clans, and a clan tried to occupy two spots on the clan ladder, I'd be screaming for their blood.

This is why I suggested that player names not be divulged in ladder games until after it is over.

A good idea imo.

What would the benefit be? Are people ragequitting just because they see the name of the other player?

Even when viewed from elodea's perspective, his behavior is self-defeating. First off, his attitude shows contempt for the 1,600 players or so who are below him, the vast majority of whom will be knocked one spot down because of his alt account. He simply has no regard for the effect of his actions to the rank of all those other people.

And then, he complains that at his rank it's tough to get matchmade with other people. But if cdrkf gets disgusted at being knocked down 20 places for no reason and gives up playing ranked 1v1s, won't elodea have one fewer person on his level to play with? The more alt accounts on the leaderboard, the more people will get disappointed and stop playing, and at the absurd extreme of this behavior, where elodea buys 52 accounts and occupies all Uber spots on his own, he won't have anyone to play with. And all of this for what? Because he is terrified of dropping down a few spots if he experiments a little with the strategies he got off YouTube videos? Why not practice in Custom games with other fellow top ranked players, then, with their full knowledge and approval? Do top swimmers or boxers dress like little girls and try to stealth-play against their opponents in order to practice their skills?

The whole situation is absurd, and is yet another symptom of the disease that is "competitive gaming". Videogames are an ILLUSION, wake up people! Being the best in the world at an illusion IS NOT A GOOD THING. If you can do it without too much effort, very well. But if you are expending a lot of effort to do so, you have a problem.

The thousands of dollars people make on Starcaft is simply an "illusion".

You heard it here first folks.

Prostitutes make money too. What does that mean? That we should tell our sisters and daughters that prostitution is a good vocation?

Maybe it is for you, and for cptconundrum who liked your post. But it's not for me and for the philosophy by which I live my life, and neither is trying to be competitive at an illusion.

Yes well you claim to be the "best video game critic in the world" Oh well, interesting. You're the best at critisizing or appreciating an "illusion", you really shouldn't be proud of that, or strive to be the best. As video games are all just an "illusion". Now what you should really get into are sports! Go hate on tennis and praise football!

First you tried to tell us that money is an argument for anything. And now you are butthurt that I pointed that out to you and are spouting nonsense.

Take a break from the internet, dude. You need it.

This thread is about to get silly.

TIL:
I'm a prostitute with 52 accounts, and dress like a little girl to work where I maintain my evil empire of smurfs, sneering down at the plebians while I eat my hallucinogenic crazy pills that i bought with thousands of illusion prize moneys

yea, i wish there was a way to refuse likes from someone. All i feel is don't touch me with your creepy *** hands.

Top ranked "competitive" gamers are some of the creepiest people on the planet. There are studies about that.

With a post like that, how can anyone not rub their Like-Fingers all over you?

I'm not really mad at all, on the contrary. I mean honestly I don't really care if someone is a prostitute, thetheir body is their body and I don't think we should be able to govern that and say "no" you can have sex for free, but for money? Oh no of course not! Of course unless we record it, then it's absolUtley fine.

Anyway all I was saying iis that being proud of being good at something you say is an "illusion" is fine, they still have skill required to be the best, it's difficult. You're the one who seems "butthurt" over the fact that you strive to be the very best as critiquing a so called "illusion"

Just received 20+ new likes from elodea in the last minute or so. So many sensual Like-Fingers all over me.

This thread is now officially silly.

Creepy is subjective, there couldn't be a study on it or it'd be void based on opinion.

Either you REALLY do believe that PA commanders exist...

Or you don't know what the expression "so-called" means...

In all honesty, I wouldn't be surprised if it were both.

@elodea : have you played starcraft 2 recently (as in the last few months)?

As a very frequent player, i can say that smurfs DO hurt the ladder, and while i have to side with @cdrkf, i don't feel his point is entirely correct.

Why do smurfs hurt the ladder: cuz they demotivate players to go on... The only plus we have at the moment is that Uber isn't showing what rank of player you are pitted against. Starcraft does do this and you go: "ah a silver/gold/platinum player, this is right up my alley" and you prepare for the game. Only to be utterly defeatd moments later by what happened to be a diamond/masters player who has been dropping ranks intentionally to troll people.

THIS is what hurts the ladder experience for the low level players... I won't complain myself, i'm a platinum player that can hold his own against tougher opponents from time to time, so the experience isn't entirely screwed for me, but i have a few friends in the lower regions of the ladder that just refuse to play, cuz there are a lot of troll accounts on SC2.

Please, don't let PA go into the same skewed system. It's a good thing the community points this out and might handel this internally so to say. The only thing i can understand is that you want to try out some fancy stuff before making it ladder proof, that is normal and acceptable, but not in this way. I can agree that an unranked ladder system (that uses your MMR to pit you against opponents of similar skill) would be useful. But it even took Blizzard 3,5 years to implement that...

Let us be first here