People lying about rank durning the game?

[Baneling]

I've had this happen in more ladder matches than I can count. Why would someone want to lie about that during game. They'll say something like "I'm just silver, how about you?", then they turn out to be platinum or something. It doesn't change the way I play.... Are they trying to get some psychological advantage? I really don't know... Ideas?

[Pandonetho]

It doesn't change the way I play.... Are they trying to get some psychological advantage?

They are, most likely they're just looking for a cheap win. Usually people lie about themselves so they can get their opponent to lower their guard.

"Go easy on me man, I haven't practiced my boxing for about 6 months" when they in fact have been practicing for 6 months, etc...

[Twilice]

I never ask them what rank they are.

[JackhammerIV]

Yeah. Don't really bother asking or believing. I always assume that my opponents are from the same league. Then over the course of the game I start to realise that my army is bigger, my tech is higher and I have like 3-3-1 or 3-3-2 and opponent still at 1-1-0 upgrades. Then i roflstomp them and see their rank was like gold.

I remember a funny game where I forge FE on shakuras vs Zerg. And the zerg stayed on 2 bases for too long. I kept checking possible third base locations but he only tried to take a third as I was trying to. I kept on upgrading and building up a force. Then he tried to bust me in the front with a bunch of roaches. I clicked on one and it had 0-0 upgrades. I had 3-2-1 by then and was on the opposite side of the map. I ran into his bases and killed everything. Then I went back and killed the roaches. Lost 3 nexuses though.:P Then he frustratedly said "Why is P so imba?" I thought he would be platinum or lower considering the lack of upgrades. But he was a diamond zerg with more games played that I did.

There's not that much advantage to say which league you are in IMO. Except for masters the skill level of players is pretty similar. Just that platinum and diamond players have more knowledge of what they should be doing throughout the game than gold or lower players. It's always safer to assume your opponent is strong even if he says otherwise. If he turns out to be not as strong as you think then kill him. If he is then you're prepared for it.

[Gradius]

The matchmaker should pair you according to skill, so even if they are in a different league it's irrelevant because you can assume they're about as good as you anyway.

[flak4321]

I've actually never had to discuss rank with any other player who wasn't a teammate. And that was usually post game, after a loss, when we were curious as to opponent quality. We looked at their profiles and made our opinions.

Not that I haven't had players try to use words to get a psychological edge. Most commonly I've gotten "I'm a noob, please don't rush me!" or "..., please don't kill me!" Only fell for it once. I've looked at player profiles in the about 5 or so instances and found at least 3 were in fact noobs (100 or fewer 1v1 games is my benchmark). And one of these actual noobs did beat me. Just because the opponent looks like a noob recordwise doesn't mean they are. We do have a pool of banhammerees trying to get back in, right? And we can't see their previous records, right?

[Twilice]

I look at their ranking 1v1 very much now. It's fun to see how often you play vs someone in master league.

[JackhammerIV]

Good point about the banned people flak. But they were banned for a bunch of things. Including maphacks. So they are kinda noob in that they mostly win only with aid of the hacks.

[MulletBen]

Man, Gradius, why do I have to spread around reputation before giving it to you again?

[flak4321]

Good point about the banned people flak. But they were banned for a bunch of things. Including maphacks. So they are kinda noob in that they mostly win only with aid of the hacks.

While I'm pretty much against hacking in all forms, one could argue that a certain minimum game sense/understanding is required to use at least some hacks at the proper time. Note: some, not all. This implies that some of the hackers at least are reasonable players skillwise, or perhaps in an observational sense.

My mention of the banned people returning refers most in part to those banned in error or for non-hacking or minor reasons (language, mistaken identity, etc.) or people that perhaps only wanted to try a hack and had no intention of competing with it, just as they might try a cheat code in the single player. While their pre-ban rank may not be entirely deserved, these particular players might be more dangerous than their new ranks might otherwise imply.