The players of Black Desert are demanding refunds in droves. But Kakao Games warns of the consequences – in very clear terms.
Unlawful Refunds with Consequences
No matter how you look at it, a large portion of players are unhappy with the changes in Black Desert. For a long time, it was said that not enough was done against bots and cheaters. Recently, however, many players are upset about the feature that allows items purchased in the cash shop to be resold in the game’s auction house. This results in players having a significant advantage in the game with a lot of real money. Although the number of sellable items per week has been limited to 5, that has not satisfied the players.
The players’ frustration has gone so far that many have now requested a refund of their money, such as through Paypal or their credit card provider.
The customer service of Black Desert has now started sending emails to the affected players to inform them about the consequences of their actions. Here are some excerpts from the relevant emails, as players have published them in various forums:
“Refunds fall into 2 categories: lawful and unlawful. A lawful refund would be if you did not receive the goods of a transaction or your credit card was stolen.
An unlawful refund would be if you have been using a service for months and then decide that you no longer like it. (…)”
“If your refund is classified as unlawful, then this could have further consequences beyond just losing access to the game. Your credit rating could be affected [comparable to a negative entry in a credit bureau]. (…) To give all players time to think about their actions, we will not take any steps until August 22. After that, all accounts with pending refunds will be closed.”
However, players counter that Black Desert engaged in “false advertising,” that is, a marketing promise that does not fulfill the product – in this case, “there will be no Pay2Win.”
Mein-MMO says: The line between “friendly warning” and “direct threat” is becoming very blurry here. Because who would want to risk an entry in a credit bureau or a comparable institution, just because of a game? Should there be a legal process in individual cases, the question arises how exactly “Pay2Win” is actually defined to determine whether Kakao Games has indeed engaged in false advertising. It is also questionable what the behavior of the demanding players looks like. Have they already invested hundreds of hours into the game? Or are they just casual gamers? In any case, an exciting topic that we will certainly report on further.
Note: The original Reddit post has since been deleted, but the discussion continues in other forums (see source).
