[IT톺아보기] “Is Maple Story a story of the sea?” … is it possible for criminal punishment and legislative regulation?-Opinion News

Preparing a lawsuit against some users Nexon
Maple Story user dissatisfaction with Nexon “probability revealed”
Increasing controversy after probability disclosure… NC and Netmarble are also reviewing probability disclosure
Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Dong-soo proposes a bill to make it mandatory to disclose probability

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[오피니언뉴스=정세진 기자] Last week, the probabilistic item controversy continued in the IT industry. Some game users are preparing a lawsuit against Nexon. The National Assembly even proposed a law that made it mandatory to disclose the probability of probability-type items.

The Maple Story user group’Chongdaejin’, serviced by Nexon, will hold a meeting on the 14th. Nexon is in a position to hold a related meeting on the 11th of next month. Apart from Nexon, the general team is in a position to invite Maple Story Director Kang Won-ki (game general manager), Baek Ho-young, head of the Nexon Communication Division, etc. to the conference on the 14th to hear explanations on the probable item controversy.

The difference in position that the user and the game company cannot even agree on the meeting schedule and will hold a separate meeting clearly shows the current situation. In the community where game users gather, you can find users who paid 20 to 30 million won for Maple Story, which started its service in 2003, without being bored. There are users who enjoy the game lightly (?) with as little as 5 million to 6 million won.

Not all of this money was spent on probabilistic items. However, due to the nature of the multi-access role playing game (MMORPG), it is true that probabilistic items are helpful in the process of competing while developing characters by strengthening various elements.

On the 18th of last month, a notice was posted on the Maple Story homepage stating that “All kinds of additional options that can be granted to items will be modified to be given with the same probability.” Users immediately rebel. It’s because Nexon has certified that not all options have the same probability.

Game companies have sold probabilistic items for a fee that can enhance item performance. Since it is a probability type, you have to purchase items several times to enhance options. MapleStory users have already raised suspicion of’probability manipulation’ since several years ago. This is because I felt that users who spent tens of millions of won were very unlikely to receive a good option’from experience’.

After the announcement on the 18th of last month, as the dissatisfaction of game users increased, Nexon added additional information related to probability-type items on the last 5 days. The controversy grew even bigger. According to the probability information released by Nexon that day,’Bobobo’ or’Bangbangbang’ was an option that could not appear in the game settings.

In the meantime, users have purchased paid items several times in order to select’Bobobo’ in which 3’Damage when attacking a boss monster’ appears in a row, or’Bangbangbang’ in which 3 consecutive’Ignore Monster Defense Rate’. User complaints such as “I was deceived, is a scam, is Maple talking about the sea?” exploded.

It is not just a problem with Maple Story. It has been a long time since users have raised suspicions of’probability manipulation’. In 2018, the Fair Trade Commission discovered a violation of the law related to probability items in the sudden attack serviced by Nexon.

Most of MMORPG games such as NCsoft’s Lineage series, Netmarble’s’Seven Knights 2′,’Blade and Soul Revolution’, and’A3: Steel Alive’ make profits with probability items. It is known that Zigini 2M has to spend more than 100 million won to make a’myth grade’ weapon. Probability disclosure is inevitably a sensitive issue for companies that operate games with many’heavy users’ who have paid hundreds of millions of dollars or more, such as Lineage.

Some users of’Maple Story’ are pursuing a class action lawsuit against Nexon. It is to take legal action by applying a “fraud” to Nexon, who made it possible to spend money on options that could not be obtained. There is also an opinion that fraud can be applied to the legal profession.

As the situation becomes like this, the concerns of NCsoft and Netmarble are deepening. NCsoft and Netmarble recently announced that they are reviewing the disclosure of probability-type item information by collecting user opinions. There are many users who spend tens of millions of won or more, and they don’t want probability information. This is why there are criticisms among users that the game company is’taking time’.

I also came out in politics. On the 5th, a member of the Democratic Party, Dong-soo Dong-soo, representatively proposed a revised bill of the Act on the Promotion of the Game Industry. The main focus is to define and display probability-type items, establish a provision for prohibiting probability manipulation, and grant permission to grant probabilistic item investigations to the Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

If the game company discloses probability item information, the related revenue may decrease. The Game Industry Association opposes the full disclosure of information related to probability items, saying it is a trade secret. However, probabilistic items have also been criticized for promoting speculation. Academia advises that the Korean game industry should use this opportunity to develop various business models.

Reporter Jeong Se-jin[email protected]
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