Nexon game probability manipulation controversy’boycott’… ‘Special’, not the time of Smilegate

Input 2021.02.27 06:00

Maple Story, Nexon’s representative PC game
Controversy over manipulation after marking’random’ in probability items
User “Let’s go to Smilegate’Lost Arc'”
Contrast billing method… Congestion of connections and server overload

“This game is ruined.”

Nexon’s’Maple Story’, the originator of probabilistic items, is swept in manipulation controversy, and users who want to close the game are continuing. This is because the company has deceived users and can no longer endure the appearance of not admitting their faults. MapleStory with 18 million cumulative users is one of Nexon’s representative revenue sources.

However, there is a game that all users who want to quit Maple Story pay attention to, saying, “I will change to a new one.” This is Smilegate’s’Lost Arc’. Both games are multi-access role playing games (MMORPG), but Maple Story is close to the’classic game’ released in 2003, and Lost Arc is a relatively new game since it was released in 2018. In the game communities such as Inven and DC, there are reports that Maple users “started Lost Arc”. It is reported that a delay phenomenon appeared in Lost Arc due to the sudden rush of users.

According to the game industry on the 27th, Maple Story is under suspicion that it falsely informed users of probability-type item information. Nexon has introduced that an additional option is given as’random’ for items that enhance weapon performance called’Fire of Reincarnation’. Then, on the 18th, the game was updated and announced that it was “fixed with the same probability”, and users responded, “If so, it is not the same probability until now, but was it’random’?”

Afterwards, Nexon even offered a compensation plan, saying, “I’m sorry for the concern,” through the official website, but these actions rather raised the anger of users. First of all, users claim that they tried to avoid responsibility by using the expression’because of an error’ in the apology. In addition, it was pointed out that the additional option system, such as the flame of reincarnation, has been applied for nearly 10 years since the 2012 update, and it is unfair that the company only partially compensates for the use of the service between February 2019 and February 2021.

Users angry at Nexon’s billing policy and response method are leaving for Lost Ark, saying, “I’m sick of it.” In the game community, there are bulletin boards for each game, such as the Maple Story bulletin board and the Lost Arc bulletin board. On the Maple bulletin board, articles such as “This game is a ruined game. This is the Lost Arc bulletin board” are spreading like memes.

One of the biggest reasons Maple users go to Lost Arc is that the induction of billing is not excessive. For example, in these games, there is an auxiliary item called’Magnetic Pet’ that picks up items that have fallen when killing monsters. In the game, it was given as a meaning of carrying around like a pet and sucking up items. Maple users have to spend hundreds of thousands of won to millions of won in cash to have a magnet pet, but Lost Ark is cheering, saying that it is provided for free if you break the quest.

As for the’beauty’ items that decorate the character, Maple is designed so that the desired appearance does not come out immediately by applying a probability type item in some cases. On the other hand, Lost Arc has a structure in which most of the items used for decorating can be resolved in-game, and cash items can be traded with game money between users.

Among game users, the word ‘Menimin’ even came up. Short for Maple refugees, it is expressed as “I came to Lost Ark on a rescue ship.” Existing users of Lost Arc welcomed new inflows, but there was a sudden change in which they could not laugh. When Maple users, who were used to paid items, did so-called’hyeonjil (cash payment)’ generously in Lost Arc, the inflation phenomenon occurred in the game. In Lost Ark, users use an exchange system where users buy and sell products by auction, and Maple users, who usually spend a lot of money, sweep away items without hesitation, resulting in higher prices than usual.

This’large-scale movement’ also caused server delays in Lost Arc. On the afternoon of the 25th, Lost Ark said, “It is confirmed that the number of game client download users is not smoothly attempting to download and install the game,” and “We are very sorry for the inconvenience in using the game service.” Not only for simple installation, but also for the game access process, the queue was long, and it was reported that an information message was displayed saying’Please wait because the server is crowded.

“The Maple refugee crisis is a kind of’boycott’,” said Wi Jeong-hyun, president of the Korean Games Association (Chung-Ang University Business School), and it is a desirable phenomenon that shows that game companies can leave at any time if they do not notice the user who is a customer. “There is a need for this movement to be active so that game companies can operate more transparently and more user-friendly in the future,” he said. “The industry that abandoned users and the industry that is being criticized by users will never last long.”