Is Smurfing Allowed in League of Legends?
Smurfing has become a popular term among the LoL community. This trend has always had mixed opinions on whether it should be allowed in the game or not. While this doesn’t affect every player, it can certainly pose a disadvantage for beginners who are just starting to get familiar with the game’s mechanics.
However, there are many ways to go when it comes to smurfing. In mild cases, it’s just done to have a secondary account. In other cases, people use those accounts to sell/trade them, which is a problem. In this article, we are going to go through smurfing, what it consists of, and whether it’s allowed or not in League of Legends.
What is Smurfing?
Before starting, we need to know what smurfing is, and how it can cause issues with LoL players. Smurfing refers to a high-ELO (Or high-level) player that creates a second account to play a game. In this sense, this highly-skilled player would go against beginners who are not entirely familiar with the game, which can cause a serious disadvantage.
There are many reasons why people do smurfing; some are acceptable, whereas some others are not considered fair/legal by the community. Most players who go into smurfing either play with low-rank friends or test new champions without any stress. However, there are some other players who do smurfing with the intention of ruining other peoples’ gaming experience.
Last but not least, there’s a number of players who do smurfing with the intention of selling/trading the new account for something else. This is the most controversial type of smurfing, and both the community and the developers are against this.
Are there Consequences to Smurfing?
Smurfing itself is not prohibited in LoL since it doesn’t go against the game’s policies. However, the developers have stated that there are some people who do this activity with malicious intent, which can ruin the experience for new players. If a smurf player is continually reported for griefing or toxic behavior, they can get banned temporarily or indefinitely.
On the other hand, if someone catches a smurf player selling or trading an account and reports it, the player could get permanently banned from playing. Keep in mind that Riot can’t really detect if someone has a smurf account, so the only possible way of getting banned is if someone else reports that account.
What Does the Community Think?
As said before, there are mixed opinions on whether smurfing should be allowed or not in League of Legends. Some users argue that smurfing doesn’t hurt anyone as long as they’re not engaging in toxic behavior. Still, some other users state that a smurf account can completely ruin a newbie’s game experience since they’re getting crushed by a more experienced player.
Conclusion
The short answer to the question “Is Smurfing Allowed in League of Legends?” would be: Yes! You can create a secondary account whenever you want. Whether it’s for playing with friends, test new champions, or just playing without the stress of the ranked games, smurfing is a common practice among LoL users.
If you’re planning on creating a second account, be sure that you don’t do it with the intention of ruining someone else’s experience, as toxic behavior and griefing can be punished by Riot.