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
I’m a lvl 50, which cost around $250k. Looking back, I should have built a 3rd house.. stupid me…
I’ve read a couple of the posts above and see similar issues with the game. One of my “experiments” was to purchase a $99 ‘deal’ to upgrade a ship. Since I had already tiered the ship, the effect was staggeringly sad….. I was only able to upgrade maybe 2 modules when the deal boasted being a “master pack” for upgrading the ship. That was the largest amount of money I’ve ever spent on ANY app in one sitting OR the life of any other app I’ve ever downloaded. If a person buys a video game for PS4 or Xbox One, you might pay $80 at most and own it for life, and maybe pay for the online access fee if you so desire.
Money spinner or not, price gouging last I heard was illegal. Scopley offers “deals” to its players so they have the option to pay for a competitive edge. And yes, it is the choice of the player to pay to play or to play at all. However, if I’m going to pay to play there are a couple of things I would expect: 1. FAIR VALUE for the amount of money spent and 2. Paying should mean that I should not have to pay more, and more, and more. There should be a cap to the prices (which seems to be $99 unless I get to level 40 and then it will change to $199 perhaps). There is no fair value at the prices posted by the developer.
I’ve been taking screenshots of the “deals”. I compared two different $99 “deals” and noticed a HUGE difference in resources in the “deal”. One deal (for Latinum) was 2000 in Latinum and 20K of Parsteel. Anyone that has played the game for a long time knows that Parsteel is the one thing you normally don’t have a shortage of. The second “deal” had 2000 Latinum and several other bonus materials. Still, the second “deal” is easily burnt through with one module upgrade of a ship or base and able to burn through 2000 Latinum very quickly depending on your base / ship levels.
On the whole, Scopley is using a popular and beloved Sci-Fi series to line theirs and possibly CBS’s pockets. An app should be used to distract from reality, not cause real world effects of hardship (financially or time-based) for the sake of the almighty buck. Gouging users such as they have, Scopley should be held responsible for their practices, especially for a product such as STFC which has several bugs and crashes regularly. So what are they doing with all the money collected from players? They’re obviously not spending it on fixing the issues or giving users a way to opt out of PvP if they would like.
I finally downloaded the game because they added the other Star Trek Universe characters. I read up on the many negative reviews but still curious on how the game plays out.
At first its a simple fun of building but once you get to level 10-15 other players who spent money on Jellyfish ships or early upgrades on their stations and ships just raids everyone in the game. The Raid stats have become the focus of the game. Players with money to spend tend to bully other players. It is a PVP game, that I understand but even after building an alliance, this IS NOT A STAR TREK game. Its a war simulation which forces players to spend more money to TRY to balance the playing field.
I ended up spending over $300 with Ultra Ship upgrade for $99, TOS BP $50 Elite Tos pass $20 and even got it on my 2nd phone and also got $TOS BP and the Jellyfish $50 with the upgrade $20.
I started noticing the “bugs” during missions and purchases.
During purchase of Jellyfish upgrade, I got the error “Download fail”. I checked my resources and nothing there. One of the perks 20k ship xp, I only got 12k and nothing else.
I contacted support to find out where my upgrades are. They responded 2 days later stating on their records it shows it “downloaded” on my profile.
The same happened on one of the TOS missions where you earned a blueprint of a ship. I contacted support and they responded they have no idea what Im talking about and to send a screenshot. I looked back on my profile and its gone. I have nothing to show them since they took it off my profile and then they replied oh yeah you only get 9 pieces from 110 pieces of blueprint. That is not what the EVENT stated. This is when I started getting really suspicious of their practices.
Now I realized maybe theres a pattern since most complaints are the same as mine on negative reviews on google play which lead me here. Theres also YouTube videos claiming Scopely downgraded their items to get players to spend more money on the game.
I tried building an alliance to meet like minded players but for the most part, majority of the other group alliances are in it for themselves. Mostly everyone is paranoid, stressed and frustrated wity the bullying culture in the game. I have a great number of people on my alliance who just want to experience a good Star Trek game but unfortunately once they get to lvl10, either you pay more to make it bare minimum or get bullied out of the game.
Well spoken, I’ve seen everything you have mentioned. The struggle is real.
My Son has Ausperger’s and sometimes doesn’t realize when he is being scammed. He thought he was playing a free game, which he said wouldn’t even run on his i-phone 8. He claimed it would open up multiple windows and he thought he was just closing them so he could play, and called it “Glitchy.” I had him check his bank account for something else and we discovered he had $2,250 charged on his debit card. Naturally, Apple refused a refund. He has nothing at all to show for his purchases, no goods of value of any kind. He doesn’t even have the app because it wouldn’t run on his phone. So what exchange of goods and services was there?? This program is a scam. There is no other description. You can buy Call of Duty for under $100 and play online to your hearts content, or Fortnight for free. So how is $2,250 a reasonable value for a cell phone game that has no potential for a cash reward? It is a scam.
Lawyers:
If this is real, look into War Robots. They devalue their robots and weapons on a regular basis. Every time they release a new item, the old items get nerfed. Million$ of players including me would join that lawsuit.
Gamers:
I screen record any purchase I make just in case I have to prove an error, but I’ve never had to use the video recording. I get what I pay for. As for you people giving your kids a device with a credit card connected to it, it sounds like you should learn some common sense and remove the credit card. Your kid is probably lying to you; you just won’t admit it as a possibility.
Does this action impact Canadian citizens as well? They (we) are playing the game as well and don’t get what it’s worth.
Spent above a $1000 and I’m nowhere in this game. Gold “power ups” are a joke. Bigger players can steal what you paid for and if you buy a ship its very basic and cost more to level the ship up to compete. What a ripoff
I started to play this game for free starting Nov 1 and by the time my credit card statement came it was charged 5000.00 for playing a free game. Next because of this I can no longer use my google account as it have been disable.
I want my money back and my google account fixed
I reckon all that I have read in the lawsuit filed. I would also like to address the first from MIke on Dec. 18th. He must be a member of the alliance REVR the ones that go around pushing they’re ship strength around like a bunch of school aged bullies. He called the lawsuit stupid all while looking stupid his damn self by actually validating what was filed in the lawsuit. Duh! “You fell for it” he said. If this lawsuit was frivolous then there would be nothing to fall for. You’re either getting ripped off(falling for it) or your not.
Although there are many games that require in app purchases in order to advance quickly. This is one of the first that I’ve seen that doesn’t offer very many less expensive options. If there are 15 offers only two or three are a reasonable cost. Most are $99.99 like mentioned in the suit. Then maybe three or four for $49.99. I agree that most game purchases are not worth what your buying . The thing is there is a difference between not being worth the value and being ripped off.
There will be two offers for $99.00 and you might get a number of resources like 12000 latinum plus whatever else making it seem like it’s worth it. More so than the offer for the same price with less resources like 10000 latinum and alot less things than the other offer. Which is definitely by every definition of the words “a rip off.” Yet I’m sure it is still purchased plenty.
All games where you spend 100$ at a time to be 1% stronger is bullshit. Dont play. Dont start playing. Games where u have to buy things is not a “game” it is just for spoiled rich kids or grown men to be able to finally win at something snd tell themselves its not cause of the money that they probably didnt earn anyways. With out people to beat up on will be no game for them because most of them wont fight people their own strength. And thats with 0 knowledge of this game at all. Dont play. Cut ure losses. Quit
This is a stupid lawsuit. None of you obviously understand that this is a money generator for scopely and you were stupid enough to fall for it. One guy on my 3 month old server spent over 30k as of last month and yeah he’s the most powerful douchebag on the server.
My alliance of mostly free to play players routinely mess with the whale alliance. (Whale being the term for people who give scopely a ridiculous amounts of money) to show them money cant buy you skill. Which is what you are all confusing your purchases with.
If you dont want to put in the work and grind the resources to upgrade your stations and ships then fine. Its gonna cost you. But you are still going to suck at the game.
Stop being little babies and learn what it is you are paying for. None of the packs are worth the money. Thats the same with any pay to win mobile game.
I gave them $27 to buy a d’vor because i didnt want to wait the year it would take to get one free to play. This is also my contribution to them for the many many hours of entertainment the game has provided me, from busting the expensive ships you’ve paid for.
They will not get any more from me.
I was openly charged an extra $19.99 no matter what I bought! I contacted Scopley I contacted Apple Pay, talked to managers and everyone denied the charges. I called my bank and challenged one of the charges and they refunded me. Now I can’t pay my iCloud account because Apple cock blocked my bank card for that. They ripped me off of more than $200 within a six-month period!!
I tried this as well…. Apple is NOT helpful at all. They should be responsible as well. Scopely not responding (I gave up), but apple blocking iCloud account. I was lucky to get this resolved with Apple, but never received any refunds. Spent USD 30K last year, but happy to not wast my time on this game any longer… RIP Gargo Server 160