What to do about the sale of pro player accounts?

For the past few days, the Dota 2 community has been actively discussing the sale of smurf accounts of professional players. Some demand to ban all involved, others — to leave everything as it is. But at the moment, there is no reaction from Valve. We have prepared a few solutions that developers can choose in this situation.

It's ok

Unfortunately, one of the most obvious options for this situation will ignore the problem. Valve has never been known for making tough decisions about Dota 2. This is due to both the obvious 322 cases and the organization of fake tournaments. Often we have to wait too long for action from Valve.

Such a decision won't change anything for the Esports scene. The players won't incur any penalties and will continue to participate in tournaments. Competitive mode, in turn, will continue to suffer from smurf accounts, which are selling on exchanges subsequently.

Show execution

The second option that may await the scene after this scandal is point bans of the players involved. We shouldn't expect some of the most prominent Esports players, members of the top teams, to suffer because it will hit them and the organizations. But point bans on Tier-2 and Tier-3 players may well happen. You can expect bans on participation in Esports matches.

For a short time, it will inspire fear in others. But if this isn't repeated regularly, the problem will come back again.

Total blocking

In contrast to the previous option, Valve can take a radical step and ban all the involved Esportsmen. If we believe the rumors, it's dozens of famous players. In addition, it would require an investigation similar to how ESIC found the coaches involved in the camera bug in CS:GO.

It would be a harsh blow to the Esports scene and the organizations with such players on their rosters. After The International 10, Dota 2 audiences began to return after a long time, and the tournament itself attracted a record number of viewers. At this point, this option seems the most impossible.

Development of a new ranking system

In our opinion, the best way out of this situation is to develop a new ranking system in Dota 2. It should make selling accounts useless. Perhaps it's the introduction of short seasons, as it's implemented in Hearthstone, or the creation of elite leagues, including the strongest players, like faceit in CS:GO.