User Trust Lost... NCSoft Falls Below 900,000 Won Threshold

Closed at 898,000 KRW on the 26th... First time closing in the 800,000 KRW range this year
Time to consider corporate social value and responsibility... Must regain user trust

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The stock price of NCSoft, which had been on a winning streak, has fallen below the 900,000 KRW mark. The rollback controversy of the emblem feature in the mobile game Lineage M has led to organized dissatisfaction among users, shaking NCSoft. Although NCSoft hurriedly prepared compensation measures, users collectively expressed that they have lost trust in the company.

As of the 26th, NCSoft closed trading at 898,000 KRW, down 0.88% (8,000 KRW) from the previous trading day. Although the stock price briefly touched the 892,000 KRW range during trading on the 25th, closing in the 800,000 KRW range is the first time this year. NCSoft had been on an upward trend after recording sales of 2.4162 trillion KRW and operating profit of 824.8 billion KRW last year. Sales increased by 42% and operating profit by 72% compared to the previous year. Consequently, the stock price surpassed 1 million KRW last month but has been declining since the beginning of this month.

User Anger Rises Over Emblem Rollback Controversy... 'NoNC' Movement Begins

The recent emblem rollback controversy appears to be shaking NCSoft. Although many users had been dissatisfied with NCSoft's operational policies before, they were a minority. Dissatisfaction was mainly among 'high-spending' users who invest large amounts in the game, while the majority of low-spending users either had no complaints or believed that some disadvantages for high-spending users were acceptable.

However, this time is different. Many users have voiced dissatisfaction with NCSoft's operational policies. They have launched a 'NoNC' movement centered around game communities, initiating a boycott. Moreover, so-called 'whales,' or high-spending users, have announced their intention to quit NCSoft games one after another. The proportion of revenue from paid item sales in NCSoft's revenue is about 89%, which is quite significant. Users' actions to directly impact revenue are a factor that sufficiently negatively affects the stock price.

Users were greatly disappointed with NCSoft's customer service during the emblem rollback decision and its process. Emblems in Lineage M are content that increases a character's stats; the more slots filled, the higher the stats obtained. The probability of success decreases as the emblem is enhanced, and if it fails, the process must be restarted from the beginning, posing a high risk.

On January 27, Lineage M added a 'Save and Restore Emblem' feature, allowing users to enhance emblems without reverting to the initial state, reducing users' risk. However, on the 1st of last month, NCSoft abolished the save and restore feature citing fairness. All emblems enhanced using the save and restore feature were reclaimed, i.e., rolled back, and users were refunded the cash they had spent.

Problems arose during this process. One user had spent 160 million KRW on emblem enhancement but was refunded only about 50 million KRW. The 50 million KRW was not cash but in-game currency. He visited NCSoft headquarters and called them, requesting a full cash refund of the 160 million KRW, but NCSoft responded that it was difficult due to internal regulations.

Users were angered by NCSoft's customer service. They could not understand NCSoft's stance that a full refund was impossible even though items purchased by users disappeared due to the rollback initiated by the game company. During this process, NCSoft did not actively move to compensate for damages but relied solely on regulations, which further fueled users' anger.

In response, NCSoft announced a second compensation plan on the 22nd, including full refunds. However, users' anger did not subside. The NoNC movement continues. Considering NCSoft's past actions, users feel they can no longer trust the company.

Users Say "Trust Already Lost"... Time for Companies to Reflect on Social Value and Responsibility

Users said that the emblem rollback incident was just a highlight, and NCSoft has continuously engaged in actions that make it difficult to trust them. Kim (35), who has played Lineage M since its launch, explained, “At the beginning of the release, it was promoted that personal trading was possible, but the related feature was never added,” adding, “There was significant dissatisfaction about this.” In the past, users suspected that the drop rate of the material item ‘Sealed Blessing Enchantment Scroll’ had been adjusted through so-called ‘submarine patches’?game content changes without notice?because the drop rate seemed to have sharply decreased.

The biggest complaint from users was the continuous inducement to spend money. High-priced items purchased with large sums become weaker with a single patch, or the entry barriers for item crafting or combination are lowered to reduce the gap between high-spending and low-spending users, thereby encouraging more spending. Jung (34) said, “The emblem rollback incident essentially made users who already had emblems relatively weaker, which caused the accident,” and added, “I have already lost trust in NCSoft, which deceives users by only inducing spending.”

Complaints about probability-based items were also significant. Aside from the low probability issue, users pointed out that the probabilities of all items are not disclosed. Currently, NCSoft discloses the probabilities of probability-based items according to voluntary regulations, but the probabilities of ‘complete gacha’ type items are not disclosed. Complete gacha refers to a method of creating new items by combining individual material items. If material items must be purchased with cash, complete gacha items are essentially cash-required items as well.

A representative example is the top item ‘Mythical Weapon’ in Lineage 2M. To create a Mythical Weapon, a total of 10 crafting manuals are needed, and each manual requires material items. The problem is that material items must be purchased with cash. Each material item trades for 3 to 5 million KRW, but the probability of combining manuals is not disclosed, so users spend money with vague expectations. There have even been users who spent up to 200 million KRW.

There are calls for NCSoft to actively take steps to regain users' trust. Professor Wi Jeong-hyun of Chung-Ang University’s Department of Economics said, “The political sphere is preparing legislation to disclose probabilities of probability-based items, but NCSoft should proactively disclose information before the law passes,” adding, “If they only disclose after the law passes, they will face social criticism for passive responses.” He continued, “NCSoft needs to reflect on why users are conducting the NoNC movement,” emphasizing, “Fundamentally, it is important to uphold the social value and responsibility of the company.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.