It is absurd that the game allows the same user to create several different accounts to play within the game. This unbalances the match system, as several high-level players create Smurf accounts, causing imbalance and frustration for beginners and average players.
Ban the system for creating infinite accounts. Implement a system to block the creation of new accounts.
If someone wants to have a new account, buy a new game!
It is absurd that you allow this!
What are you talking about? It’s not what you say.
In order to create Smurf accounts, users have to buy the game AGAIN, and the DLC AGAIN, it’s an investment, so the company doesn’t lose out.
On the other hand, those accounts quickly get back to their original rank in 1vs1, so it doesn’t really mess up the matchmaking system.
If you’ve been matched with a smurf account, it can be frustrating, but the reality is that there’s a reason they reach high levels. What you can do is try to learn from their game and improve.
UPDATE (07-1-2025): This post was written without knowing about Steam’s Family Sharing service. Well, it’s not my fault that they didn’t specify how they created those various accounts. My impressions of the news in a later post.
They should make it so that steam family shared accounts can access quick match, custom, and single player. Ranked should only be for the primary account. Smurfing is a plague in every game it is present in. There are other solutions for the issues people are addressing with it, ie people leaving a game when they see a higher ranked opponent (this actually gets much worse at conqueror elo).
When players are not circumventing the matchmaking system it is fair and balanced. It is when players attempt to abuse existing systems for their own benefit that things take a turn. It is indeed absurd to let it go unaddressed.
No you don’t. All you do is use steam family sharing. So it’s free to just continually make accounts.
They need to do what aoe3 did and stop steam family sharing and instead offer a sort of demo with a couple of campaign missions and skirmish for free but no online play. If they did that then yes you would be forced to buy the game for every new smurf account which eliminates 99% of smurfing.
I didn´t even know that option even exist.
Wait, that means, that I can share my library of games with my brother wiht Family Sharing? So he can play AoE IV too without bought the game again?
OMG! This is the best news I have ever received.
i can always get a new account for 2-3$ not really a problem for me even if this is implemented, i have 10 copies of aoe4 alone.
btw streamers like whamen have 50 accounts, you need to perma ban her then, beasty also has like 5 or something.
and matchmaking match gold vs conq all the time, u dont even need to smurf
The point is that disabling family sharing stops 99% of smurfs because they won’t be willing to repeatedly buy the game. Sure there will always be a few like yourself or the big streamers but doing this eliminates the problem for most of the players.
Getting the odd game vs a way higher ranked player isn’t an issue as you won’t lose many ranked points, the issue is when a conqueror 3 rated player is on a smurf account that is currently low ranked and you lose a ton of points.
Thats false, getting new copies of the game is super cheap, you just think it would stop it, it wont.
you are byznatine main from Reddit right, zenlife or whatever that defends every byzantine post
It has stopped it in aoe3 so it will stop the majority of it on aoe4.
You’re assuming everyone lives in a place like the usa and can easily afford to just buy the game repeatedly for $10 in order to cheat. In many places people only earn $10 a day. There will always be some sad lamers that are willing to pay money to ruin the experience of others but the point is this will significantly reduce the numbers of those doing that.
I’m with this idea 100%.
Steam family sharing requires that the game has a license that you can purchase and have in your account inventory. Games that are F2P on steam are technically in all accounts, you just need to go to the store page for that game to register it to your account. Since the trial version of AoE 3 does not include ranked play, it keeps smurfing from happening (because without purchasing the full version of the game, the account defaults to the trial version).
It would also give the game much more exposure, when AoE 3 dropped the F2P trial update they jumped from an average of 4.5k users to a peak of 15k, and averaged 6k for the last year and a half.
Steam family sharing is useful to let people you share your account with access single player content, or even to try multiplayer themselves, but it has a key flaw: it does not allow multiple people to play at the same time. A F2P trial version of the game, like AoE 3 has, would be much more effective because it would allow friends and family to play together without all having to own the game.
Finally, AoE IV is already on the Xbox Gamepass. Since it is already in a quasi F2P state it wouldn’t be too harsh of a transition.
and how would that stop xbox pass?
xbox pass is 1$
1$ and you can play aoe4 infinite, lol
It won’t but even if it only effects those that use steam it’s more than half of the players.
