A class action lawsuit has been waged against Scopely Inc. by users claiming that the online video game company decreased the value of virtual goods purchased on the video game Star Trek Fleet Command (STFC).
Plaintiff Vernon Ackies says that he purchased virtual goods on the Star Trek video game and found out that Scopely decreased the value and the effectiveness of the goods after he bought them.
“Simply stated, Scopely took advantage of, and defrauded, its players through numerous unconscionable commercial practices and fraudulent acts to extract as much money as possible from them,” the Star Trek video game class action lawsuit notes.
The plaintiff states that Star Trek Fleet Command is a multiplayer online game, or “MMO,” which allows players to participate at the same time over the internet. STFC is free to play, but players can buy virtual goods with real money to enhance their abilities compared to other players on the game.
The Star Trek Fleet Command class action states that, for as high as $99.99 players can purchase “resources,” “materials,” “character cards,” “faction credits,” and “ship blueprints.” In addition, the plaintiff notes that game players can purchase “packs,” like “Master Station Upgrade Pack” and “Ultra Ship Power Pack,” which encompass tokens which are used to upgrade a player’s character, space station or space ship.
“Making upgrades to a player’s space station and space ship through the purchase of virtual goods is an important function in STFC. Without making these upgrades, which cost real money, competitive players are unable to advance far in STFC and are easily defeated by other players who have made such purchases and upgrades,” the Scopely class action lawsuit states.
In addition, the plaintiff claims that the defendant represents the importance of upgrading a player’s space station and space ship.
The Scopely class action lawsuit alleges that STFC misrepresents to players the cost of Star Trek Fleet Command’s virtual goods. The plaintiff claims that STFC subtracted more in-game currencies from a player’s balance than the stated cost prior to purchase.
The plaintiff also claims that players pay for virtual goods that had stated benefits and capabilities at the time of the purchase, but that the players did not get those benefits and capabilities that they paid for.
The Star Trek Fleet Command class action lawsuit also claims that in February 2019, after complaints from STFC players, Scopely released an “update” to the game, which was supposed to fix parts of the software that was causing issues.
The plaintiff claims that these updates made changes to the “rules” of STFC, which had an effect on the “in-game economy and cost structure.”
“The February 2019 update, as well as a series of subsequent updates, substantially changed the rules of STFC and the in-game economy, effectively devaluing all prior purchases made by paying players,” the Scopely class action lawsuit alleges.
The plaintiff also alleges that Scopely makes it hard for Star Trek Fleet Command players to file complaints and refuses to issue refunds to players who have lost purchased virtual goods bought with real-world money.
“Refunds are not issued even if the virtual good was lost through no fault of the player…or if a virtual good does not operate as represented,” the Scopely class action lawsuit states.
The plaintiff has filed this action under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, conversion, unjust enrichment, and legal fraud.
Did you purchase virtual goods while playing Star Trek Fleet Command? Leave a message in the comments section below.
The plaintiff is represented by Bob Kasolas and Mark E. Critchley of Brach Eichler LLC.
The Scopely Star Trek Fleet Command In Game Purchase Class Action Lawsuit is Ackies v. Scopely, Inc. Case No. 2:19-cv-19247, in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey.
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513 thoughts onStar Trek Fleet Command Players Lose Virtual Goods, Class Action Says
When I posted about Scopely giving away free packs to certain players earlier I was talking about a player being able to move from level 28 to 40 and with ridiculously strong ships all free from Scopely when everyone else on that server would have to pay a horrendous amount of money to do the same. If server economics is their excuse, it is completely false statement. I would like to be reimbursed for all I have spent and would gladly delete the game!
I have had the same issues. You pay the packs for station and ship upgrades to decrease the time and costs of materials only to find that there is no change. You must pay for packs to complete events to “earn rewards”. Their answer when asking for reimbursement says they can’t for the game economy, yet there are players receiving a ton of free packs in game. I don’t understand how they can choose to give away goods and then say they can’t because of the game’s economy.
I stopped buying virtual materials when I finally wised up and examined the actual dollar cost to what materials I was receiving from the material packs. It fair to say that I was not getting value to the money. Plus, why buy resources when the next day my station gets raided and I loose the stuff I just bought. There is no value in levelling up ships and station.
Count me in. Paid for digital content to get around the scopley barriers around progression only to either lose it to other players or exhaust more resources to constantly put up “peace sheilds” to protect digital content I paid money for.
Star trek fleet command and scooply are gouging people for money by forcing them into a situation during events that causes them to spend money to complete events, their business practises and ethics need to be overhauled and I believe that they should be accountable for their actions, they need to reimburse every single person who has ever spent money, all complaints are falling on deaf ears and nothing is being done about it, they keep responding with monotonous responses which therefore infuriate their customers, the game has way too many glitches, which causes us to lose time effort and money, most recently their decision to gouge people in respect to events has taken a new tern, now we cannot take part in events simply because we chose to join another alliance, no matter what alliance we are a part of and when we join we should definitely have the right to contribute to these events without spending money, I have made so many complaints that my mind is numb and can’t think of all the complaints that I have made, more an more ways are being found to gouge their customers for money by forcing them into a difficult situation, I have ceased buying packs a ways back due to the insufficient amount of products in each pack, we as customers demand that scooply An any of its affiliates be held accountable for unethical business practices, they make it difficult for a person to make a complaint because they hide the complaint button instead of putting it in Plainview you have to go through four different windows in order to find it, once again they are not doing anything to help their customers The only thing they’re helping is helping to put people in the mad house and the poor house.
PS: They are giving Star Trek and anything to do with the name Star Trek a bad reputation, Star Trek in general usually stands for decency, morality and fairness, the makers or people who hold the copyrights should be jumping on this as well, because they are making the brand look and sound bad
Yes, I had the same issue
Ya same thing. Turn off the screen and get raided, not one player even scanned me prior but as soon as I turn off the phone bam. Hit and loose resources. If it is true. Shane on you and you should pay all players back.
Many times I have had my base raided without a warning and drained by a player who is 10 levels higher than me. Scopely acknowledges the issues at the time but refuses to refund resources lost. Says it would need up the in game economy
STFC had a problem with alerts. I bought a $99 pack and was not alerted when I was attacked. I lost all of my resources. I notified Scopely and they acknowledged their issue but refused to give me any resources.
Hello the exact same thing has happened in scoply’s other game the walking dead survivors road. They allowed players to purchase items then stated they made an erroR on the value a reduced in by a factor of 1000. How ever they have refused to issue any refunds.
Raided and robbed, seems a common occurrence no matter what you do. By both players or scopley. They started removing the harvestable in game resources recently as well. How do I get in on this and could I possibly send this link to our discord for our server? I know a few others that have been robbed by scamply