Just when you thought Bethesda was going to take home the trophy for 2019’s “stupid and greedy” decision, Cryptic Studios rolls in and says “we can do it better, and possibly commit fraud in the process!”
This weekend saw the launch of the Mudd Market in Star Trek Online, a feature that by all means should be seen as a good thing. Its purpose after all is to sell items that have been previously unobtainable for a very long time. Ships, crewmates, and other items all being sold to people who have really wanted them but couldn’t get them. Simple, right? Well not so much.
Cryptic decided the best course of action was to launch the shop with ridiculously egregious pricing, offering items like a combat pet for the regular cost of eight thousand Zen (that’s $80 USD) and around $140 for a ship. The items are on sale, of course, at 75% off, but even the sale prices have gone over like a lead balloon to the community, many of whom are aware that many of these items were previously given away for free.
To complicate matters, official communications from Cryptic staff indicate that these prices were meant to be a joke, as in “ha ha look how crazy that Mudd is selling his rare goods.” Unfortunately for Cryptic, while the idea of the crazy used goods salesman might make for a decent lore point, the law has something to say about deceptive advertising.
You see, in the United States and several other countries there are laws on the books that consider it fraudulent advertising when you put an item on discount but never actually sold it at the regular price or had any intention of selling it at the regular price. These cases regularly end in multi-million dollar settlements. Cryptic has attempted to walk back these claims of ‘joke’ prices by claiming that the items will indeed go to their regular listed price after the sale ends.
Disgruntled customers are encouraged to air their grievances to CBS (who own Star Trek) directly via their compliance line by phone or by email. Complaints regarding deceptive advertising can be made to the Federal Trade Commission, your Attorneys General, or for those living outside the United States your equivalent consumer protection bureau.
Source: MassivelyOP via Reddit
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