Did you hear that noise? It’s the sound of Black Desert players flipping tables. “Game went from FFXIV to ArcheAge in span of 2 months,” wrote one Redditor. “What happened?”
What’s happening is that Kakao plans to allow players to sell cash shop items — specifically, “Value Package, Outfits, Costumes and Pets” — to each other on the in-game market at a rate capped at five sales per week, a bit like Star Wars: The Old Republic’s system.
The difference is that Black Desert was sold as a buy-to-play game whose extraordinarily high cash shop prices were justified because of that model, and people were already angry over the new subscription offering announced just under two weeks ago. Now, say opponents of the plan, Kakao will replace illegal gold sellers with itself, creating a new pay-to-win market and finishing off the sandbox economy.
Kakao insists that the five-item rule will limit the potential for P2W and claims that parent company Pearl Abyss is motivated by wanting to make sure people across all regions have access to all of the items in the cash shop.
“Pearl Abyss considers in-game accessibility to Pearl Items necessary in Black Desert. Regardless of the region, there will always be players who, for whatever reason, do not get to experience all the features Black Desert offers, including Pearl Shop Items. Adding a mechanic that grants access to Pearl Shop items with in game currency will allow more players to enjoy such content. They are open to the community’s feedback and ask you to share your thoughts and concerns about this change.”
