Nexon Korea Corp. is facing a fine of 11.6 billion won (about $8.8 million, or £6.9 million) after it allegedly misled its customers by changing the probability structure of 'Cubes' to Maple storyThe Korea Economic Daily reports. This is the largest ever fine resulting from an alleged violation of South Korea's Electronic Commerce Consumer Protection Act.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) reportedly stated yesterday (Jan 3) that Nexon failed to notify customers that it had changed the probability structure of Cubes – in-game items that can be used for a chance to unlock the 'potential ' (essentially, bonus stats) of equipment in the free-to-play online role-playing game.
Different cubes have different possible outcomes, which players can only discover if they actually use them. While they can be earned for free by simply playing (e.g. crafting them), players can also purchase them with in-game currency, which can be purchased with real money.
When Cubes were first added Maple story in May 2010, players apparently had an equal chance of drawing possible options from them. However, this is said to have changed in September of the same year, resulting in some results being drawn less often. Additionally, it was claimed that between August 2011 and March 2021, some things became impossible to obtain from the random draw, but the KFTC said players were not informed about this either.
The director of the KFTC's market surveillance department, Kim Jung-ki, stated that the decision to impose a fine on the publisher was based on the fact that the alleged “period of violation” was long, as well as the fact that Cubes was a “ core product”. Maple story.
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