[2024] Accounts being created with intentionally tanked win rates are a much bigger problem than I thought, and I hope something can be done about it soon

Originally posted by toxicity18241

It’s very simple, riot doesn’t want this to stop. If it ever stops them from making money? Then it will be addressed.

Otherwise GG go next is the only answer one can really give 🤷‍♂️

Originally posted by toxicity18241

More accounts to buy the same skins from mains? The one trick riven (just picking on riven) will buy the same skin on account 1/2/3/4/5, unless you have the data that shows otherwise. Hardware banning with Vanguard isn’t the magical fix, we understand this. Simply make these accounts only able to queue into vs AI and not players. What this will do is stop the rampant selling of accounts since you will only be able to play vs AI. You can place flags on these accounts and see the behavior and if it’s a false positive you can take said flag off.

I appreciate that you’re willing to engage with the community and I apologize if my comment comes off as rude or disrespectful but riot has the data and ability to stop this and the only obvious reason is money.

Originally posted by GeeWizard666

China has a large market. So the accounts are farmed there. Pro player or someone buys this account and gets some skins on it that they may have on their other accounts: profit. Not hard to figure out Tryn and I like you. 2FA on accounts. We need it. I believe DOTA has it and they don’t complain about it ”we can’t!!”. I just feel like the new Riot games doesn’t give a shit about the integrity of the game, but a bottom line for corporate overlords, which I get honestly. Sorry I’m ranting now. It’s just sucks to see a game I highly regarded as the best become a joke over time. It’s the Game of Thrones of video games lol: amazing beginning that got progressively worse.

Originally posted by shaidyn

Since I've got you on the horn, my background was fraud account detection at ebay and my education was forensic investigation. I do QA automation and API testing at the moment.

The pattern to find this account, and the hundreds more linked to it, would take me a day to write. I'd be happy to do that if I knew it would be put to use. Hell I'll pass on the names of the accounts if you want them to start your own search!

Originally posted by elMaxlol

Thanks for taking part in the discussion—this is definitely a big issue, and I personally think AI could provide a solid solution for smurf and fraud account detection. An AI system could crossmatch players based on behavior patterns, IP addresses, play history, and unique in-game quirks to flag potential smurf accounts.

A key step would be making smurf accounts mandatory to link to a main Riot profile. If players don’t do this, those accounts should face bans. Toxic players with suspended mains could also be flagged by the AI and banned across all linked accounts, which would make it much harder to dodge consequences by switching accounts.

For accounts under review, a good approach could be to restrict them from Summoner’s Rift queues entirely, allowing them to play only ARAM while keeping communication channels open—either with an AI chatbot for straightforward cases or human support for more complex ones.

Implementing such an AI system would obviously require a big upfront investment, but the long-term benefits for the game would be huge. Stopping unbalanced games and reducing toxicity should be a top priority, and with AI, a viable solution could be achievable as early as mid-2025. It’s a tough challenge, but I think it’s worth the effort to improve the overall player experience.

Im working in the field of AI and in my humble opinion apart from customer support and creative writing one of the best use cases is actually controlling. AI is amazing at detecting patterns and crossmatch things based on a given ruleset. Riots problem again in my humble opinion is a numbers game. Its tough to have enough staff to look at every single game played, but if a properly trained AI it could be possible to take this approach.

The best solution but imo one that is not feasible at all would be to have everyone register their account with a real ID like drivers licences or passport. Would basically remove smurfs over night, again not a feasiable solution considering the target audience and potential fallout implementing it that late into the games cycle.

Originally posted by chozzington

More accounts = more potential skin sales.

Originally posted by Diss_ConnecT

Ever heard of Investors and KPI's? Having lots of new active "players" in your games makes investors think the game is growing, making them more likely to invest money into your company.

Originally posted by CoUsT

We are taking a hard look at smurfing and account issues right now

*that doesn't negatively impact playrate and $ spending.

Important thing you left out.

There are countless ways to impact smurfing and other account-reselling stuff BUT if players have to do more stuff like attach phone number to your services etc then they will simply bounce away from your game.

So yeah, you want quantity not quality. And you also gaslight players and drop smoke screens everywhere. Whoever is reading this, don't even bother with serious reply. Don't work for them for free, they already have workers that should do this job. They just don't want to do anything other than make you think they do things (they actually don't or do bare minimum). I was here for 10+ years and I just know.

Originally posted by Twotro

Players selling accounts to each other doesn’t give us revenue

But people who got perma'd for trolling/toxicity buying accounts and re-buying skins does, stop pretending you don't know that's what people are saying

Originally posted by GeeWizard666

You know after playing some more games where I had smurfs in all of them all I can say is you are full of shit. “It’s against our TOS”, we’ll do something about it! It’s your job and seems like it’s not happening. Make 2FA mandatory. Otherwise you’re just a joke. It’s Riots holier than though attitude that really pisses me off.

Originally posted by GeeWizard666

Been saying that for at least a decade my dude. You don’t do anything and won’t. Especially since they’re famous streamers using Smurf accounts like crazy. I’d love to be proven wrong.

Originally posted by I_am_avacado

I mean I was in high school when you first said that I now have a mortgage

Originally posted by I_am_avacado

I can believe it ebbs and flows and I can appreciate that the Riot entity has undertaken mammoth tasks in technology, building the RSO system and transforming the original PvP.net that you worked on into a modern, multi game system.

However, and this is where I believe we have different fundamental thoughts on this,

Riot needs to crack down on account sharing, individuals with multiple accounts and gamifying the match making system.

Riot has spent more time addressing the symptoms (e.g dodge and op.gg warriors) rather than the core of the problem, that unlike valve or blizzard Riot isn't millitant on punishing rule breakers. Nor does it go strong enough in the direction of providing players with an environment that encourages engagement and improvement with the game

Best of luck to you if you do genuinely intend to solve this though, maybe you'll get to it before I lose bladder control