Claim and Threats from Game Publishers

TekGM
New Community Member

Hi,

 

I’m writing for a quick consultation regarding a recent announcement by game publishers “Kakao”.

 

You are most likely seeing a lot of these emails, but I’d like to explain the situation fully so please bare with me and just let me know who is in the wrong.

 

There is a game called Black Desert Online which has been in other regions like Korea, Japan and Russia for a couple of years, the game is “free to play” meaning there are no fees, costs involved in purchasing this game, however because of this they have added purchasable advantages known as “Pay to win” this means you can spend real money to purchase an in game currency called Peals, which you can then either sell or use to progress a characters gear which is significant in this game.

 

Daum Europe now known as Kakao are the publishers for this game in Europe and was released in March 2016. People were expecting this game for a very long time and anticipating it’s release, leading up to the launch of the game constant questions would be the business model of the game, how would they make their money etc etc, as MOST people are against “pay to win” as this ruins the entire experience of the game.

 

Below are listed statements from Kakao employees that the game would not be “pay to win” and that they are going to use a “buy to play” model so people would initially purchase the game thinking that the game would not become Pay 2 win.

 

15th January 2016: http://forum.blackdesertonline.com/index.php?/topic/8038-pm-diary-22-cash-shop-and-more/

 

Initial post stating.

  • “Cash Shop items will not be possible to sell on the marketplace at launch phase
  • If we decide to enable selling Cash Shop Items at a later stage, there will be control mechanisms that will prevent players from heavily profiting and gaining an advantage by repetitively selling Cash Items on the marketplace

However there is a later update to this stating.

Update

  • You will not receive Mileage with pearl purchases, the only way to get mileage is as a daily login reward.
  • Cash Shop & Mileage items cannot be traded or put on the Auction House

Which was fine, everybody purchases the game with the belief that there will be no “pay to win” some spend an initial 100Euros to get the pack to support this game, because they need money to help run it, myself I spent 50Euros on the game with promises to early access (which I also did not get, and they do have proof that I complained about this!)

I have spent in total 909.99Euros on this game since it was launched in March, on convenience items purely costumes and pets etc to support the game because I loved it and spent many hours playing it with friends.

 

However around 5 July 2016: http://forum.blackdesertonline.com/index.php?/topic/99749-questions-clarifications-with-pearl-abyss/

 

They added a small system where people could buy “Costume Dyes” which people use to change the appearance of their costumes. They made is so you could sell SOME of these to the marketplace for in game currency(if you were “lucky” as the colour boxes were random) There was a huge uproar as many saw this as “pay to win” and many many people left the game and applied for chargebacks as was stated “this wouldn’t need to be in the game”.

 

Actual quote from PM_Jouska a Kakao employee regarding this “This was done to let more players have access to the dye system and give players who purchase dye a way to remove the dye they do not want.  While not part of our original intention, we are aware of P2W concerns using this mechanic. We will closely monitor the trends of these items and look for methods to support a healthy system.”

 

However to my own fault I continued playing thinking “it’s really not that bad”.

 

Next came something called “Value Packs” this is a monthly item purchased with real money for around 15euros a “premium” subscription which gave people who purchased a benefit it was not direct “pay to win” but if you spent money it certainly helped you to gain silver.

 

Again a lot of the community called it “pay to win” quit the game and requested chargebacks.

You can read a little into value packs here: http://forum.blackdesertonline.com/index.php?/topic/104041-value-pack-discussions/

 

Then on 4th August 2016, approximately 5 months of playing the game spending hours and hours of my time to obtain “gear, skill and levels” the drop this announcement - http://forum.blackdesertonline.com/index.php?/topic/106513-updated-in-game-accessibility-to-pearl-sh...

 

You are now able to sell costumes, pets, value packs you purchase using Pearls directly on the marketplace, giving you instant silver to purchase gear or anything you want which gives an INSANE advantage over other members of the community, this most certainly is “pay to win” so something they said 8 months ago would not come to the EU/NA servers has arrived. After spending 909.99 euros on a game to support it has now gone back on it’s word and broken the trust between player and publisher.

 

There were 1000’s of people protesting this change across the game and the forums a quick google search and you will see popular magazines and websites and also youtubers also published about this but the biggest protest were all the major guilds which were 1000’s of people with this post http://forum.blackdesertonline.com/index.php?/topic/106626-collective-attempt-at-preventing-p2w-in-b...

 

However Kakao didn’t listen and implemented it anyway.

 

There have been so many problems with the game since launch including server issues which made the game near impossible to play at some points but I could handle all that, but the latest “decision” from the company has deflated me, after spending so much money and time on a game for it to be undone with someone willing to spend even more.

 

You can see all problems with the game and promises/quotes from publishers on this document here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nvkuG836XKUlwvEiYO8wKpIS0YrGe0pUa-wl_tmTBG8/edit?pref=2&pli=1 (just change the top right to “viewing” rather than editing.

 

So the question I am asking you is, I have gone through Paypal as have 100’s of other people to dispute my purchases as the game have used a “bait and switch” they said there wouldn’t be any “pay to win” so I have invested time and money into the game, now all of a sudden it has changed and it is not the game that I initially purchased and wanted to play.

 

So I have disputed my payment with PayPal and asked for my money back, if it gets declined by PayPal then that is it case closed and I will say nothing more about the matter.

However  yesterday I received this email from Kakao

 

Greetings,

 

Due to recent events regarding our last announcement, we started to see a rise of the amount of chargebacks requested by our players.

 

We feel that any situation involving money requires as much information as possible, and would like to make sure you are aware of what a chargeback is, and what consequences come with it. First of all, what is a chargeback? A chargeback is requesting a refund from your bank or payment provider, bypassing the company that sold/provided the product. Bear in mind, the selling company will have a chance to investigate and dispute the chargeback.

 

Chargebacks are broken into two fundamentally different categories: Legitimate and Illegitimate. Legitimate chargebacks are when you contest a payment because you have not received the goods or services you purchased, or because someone stole your credit card. An illegitimate chargeback would be requesting your money back, after using a service for several months and deciding you don’t like it anymore.

 

In either case, it is understandable why someone would wish to get their money back, however, chargebacks should always be done with caution. A chargeback will not only cause you to lose access to the game, but it can also prevent you from purchasing it in the future. More importantly, we will investigate each chargeback, individually.

 

If the chargeback is proven to be illegitimate, this could go farther than just the denial of your refund. Your Credit Score could be impacted. (“Creditworthiness” attached to each person, this is usually something mortgage companies and financial institutions will look into, before approving credit or offering services).

 

To conclude, requesting chargebacks should be done after cautious investigation from your part to know all of the possible consequences. Where a finalized chargeback would lead to the withdrawing of your game access, a cancelled chargeback will have no lasting effect on your account. To allow you time to consider your decision, and fully assess the impact these changes will have on your enjoyment of Black Desert Online, we will not take action on your account until the [date] August, after which time, any account with outstanding chargebacks will be closed.

 

Kind Regards,

GM Unknown

 

English Games Master

 

They are threatening that If I go through with my “request” then it can affect my credit score, I am worried that due to the amount of small transactions, 10euros, 30euros and 60euros. Totalling up to 909.99Euros. That if they did try and attack myself and get the money back even if PayPal have agreed with me, could they sue me?

 

All I have done is request a chargeback? Whether I get it or not is up to PayPal, and surely will not affect my credit score, is this just a scare tactic for myself to try and cancel the request?

 

I hope you can answer soon as the deadline for Daum to respond and for me to get money back is on 15th August 2016.

If you need any more information do not be hesitant to contact me.

 

Kind Regards

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