Now while I can remember the discourses on matchmaking between you and BlackZero, I can't remember the outcome of it all. So to avoid us digging way back into those threads (no offense mate!), I must ask: does this further reinforce your conclusions, or does it throw a wrench into everything?
And I've never really paid much attention to the effects of alts. I guess it isn't really fair to newer players, to have them get crushed by supersquids in disguise. But how do you determine when someone's an alt? Is it just that they're playing far better than others in the same level/rank?
Personally I believe BZ's results to be incomplete at this point. His reasoning was firmly fixated on the determination that it was using a simple elo matchmaking system, which I agreed with at the time, and trying to fit all our experiences into the results of what elo would do. I've seen enough to determine that the system IS indeed tracking and matching upon player specific values we do not see. As a result, whatever it is doing is not merely elo. I don't think BZ is willing to let go of his thought process on elo for it though so I'm at a point I'll have to continue disagreeing with him.
One way to tell if someone is an alt is comparing their level and rank. I have reset files several times and I can give a few ranks with levels.
C-/C – 10/11 <> C+ – 11/12 <> B- – 12/13 <> B – 14 <> B+ – 15 <> A- – 16/17 <> A – 18/19 <> A+ – 19/20
It might not be that way at the lower ranks, but if you find an A- at level 16 then they are definitely an alt. Hope this helps a little!
I'd extend that bracket a little wider. I think my alt is currently at lvl 17 (almost 18) in mid-B+. I messed around with some different weapons, did some squadding during the "sunday curse" against actual high ranks, etc. (seriously, every time I'd take eliter there'd be 1-2 other chargers on the team...bad ones...it was a mess.) that inflated the level with some losses along the way. If I were just blasting through the ranks with no squads and no experimenting maybe. Taking some detours I'd say that lv18-19 for A- is more than reasonable. A+ by level 23-25 is probably more reasonable for someone doing something other than a straight play-through in solo q with mains from the main account. But overall your charge is spot on. The best way to tell is first time players are pretty unlikely to be climbing the ranks that fast. Getting to the A's before the scoped eliters are even unlocked is pretty much a guarantee this is someone who's done this before.
Also, I usually watch the killcam. High rank players tend to move differently in general. And S+ players tend to have VERY different movements from everyone else including most S. If I see a "B+", regardless of level, that moves like an S+, I have a pretty high confidence they ARE an S+.
Or in my alt account squadding yesterday, with a lower ranked squadmate, I was having a hard time against opposing snipers with excellent aim. Better than excellent. 1v1'ing some of them they could countersnipe me excellently and walk away with the kill, they had the same amount of dodging and decoying ability as myself. They were no real "C+". Then again, I was no real "B+"..... Proving yet again the problem of alts. To all the other players in that match that were trying to have a real game, they were getting sniped, on both sides, by real A+/S/S+ snipers posing as C+ and B+ snipers. That was not the only round that one of the players on the other team was clearly demonstrating the performance of an alt. While I have little room to comment playing as an alt myself, it makes it very clear when I'm a "low level player" and keep getting outplayed by other "low level players" - Since I'm not actually the level I appear to be, what are the odds that they're REALLY the level they seem to be if they can strongly counter me? There are MANY. Over a few lobbies there were numerous enough players that the whole thing feels like a giant masquerader's ball. NONE of us were really the rank we were pretending to be. So what is the REAL B- in the lobby supposed to be thinking about their rank? From their perspective they barely deserve their rank, they can't even keep up with the C+'s and B+'s in their lobby....meanwhile we're all really A+/S/S+ players, so the poor B- has to play at A+/S level just to feel like they ALMOST deserve their B. The whole thing is a sham. Add in the scummers - where the REAL S sniper in one lobby did terrible and I countersniped him with ease (while the C+ sniper wiped the floor with me....) while I'm parading around as a "B+" - It's just a joke.
But well this is indeed interesting, I have not much to say, as I don't have alt account (I don't like it either), but... Are you saying some A/S/S+ guys are making an account just to play against C-? This is boring as hell. I mean, ok I can understand someone playing let's say, maximum one hour of this, because he finds it fun to destroy new players and probably has some complex about a part of his body or a problem in his brain. But more?! Are you saying they are saving their rank at C- just to stay there? Because obviously, they're not playing to lose, so they should rank up too fast to stay there.
Basically yes. Like xXShadeXx said, some people do that for fun. They're basically mere bullies, but they are quite numerous anywhere the internet is involved. And your description of them having a complex is pretty much spot on. But this is the internet...
I think it's more common for them to over in the B's and A's than C's. Most of the ones in the C's are just new alts being started....the fact that they're so easily seen indicates just how MANY new alts are always being created. Earlier in this thread it was pointed out there's a trend among S+ players to create a new alt for every new weapon they want to learn and bring to S+. They're not doing to be griefers, but lets assume 10,000 S+ players want to learn 6 weapons, and it takes them about 2 weeks to master a weapon to S+ level, that's 60,000 alts over 3 months. it would be interesting to hear from Nintendo how many user accounts exist versus the number of copies sold. Also don't forget the people playing on hacked PC emulators and such.
Others, the ones intending to lose, and let themselves drop back to the C's (or B's) - these are your teammates in the A's (and B's) that are inexplicably standing around spawn, jumping over the edge, carrying the RM backward perhaps. Standing on spawn looking at the sky. Some of them are incompetent scummers....others are possibly griefing alts throwing the match to derank. Also the players like MeTaGross that delete their account to start fresh a few times. That's still a number of matches over time that you'd be able to play against someone with MeTaGross's skill in the C's. Add in a million other people doing the same thing....
Also Momo (I can't tag her since I don't have a Japanese keyboard :) ) clarified for me in another thread about carrying, that some people create C alts just to carry their (real) C friend to S. It's easier to win a bunch of back to back games if you're an S+ playing 3v4 pretending to be a C. So they'll just keep creating new alts to carry their friend while tricking the matchmaker to think they're noobs. (I'll never understand why a C wants to become an S since that means they have to play guaranteed losing matches after that....nor why an S+ would help them do it. But apparently it's common.)
B. They get tired of going against opponents equal to, or greater than their skill level, so they create an alt to destroy noobs to boost their self-esteem. I know a lot of people personally who do it for this reason instead. They can go hours and hours on just destroying new players to get a laugh out of it. No matter the game. If someone comes into the lobby who are better, or equal skill to them, they leave and find a new lobby to do the same thing over again.
Yep, while I was bringing my alt through the C's the other day that Dual Squelcher with the 27 kills seemed to be one of those people. He had a vastly higher kill rate than mine, but he wasn't good at playing the objective, he was just having fun by destroying noobs. So while he was busy reking noobs, I was painting the zone (and as a biproduct, recking some noobs and interfering with him as well. With my lowly inkbrush.) We won. He left. :D
But these people are known as "griefers" apparently. Destoying the fun of other people is what is fun to them. They play simply because causing grief for others is what gives them joy. No doubt they pulled the wings off butterflies as kids.
