Sup,

I literally just came back from a long trip (vacations) only to find the following message in my inbox:

What's going on here?

It's true, I initially purchased the standard edition of BDO and cancelled that version via Playstation support in order to purchase the more expensive deluxe edition of the game, because I wanted to get into this magnificent virtual world a bit earlier (48h vip pre-login).

After cancelling the standard edition, Playstation support promised and reassured me there would be no issues when upgrading to a higher version of the game.

As a new player, I might have activated or used items from the first pre-order (standard edition) - completely unintentionally and by mistake ofc - without any knowledge about the consequences of my actions whatsoever.

Now I just went ahead and purchased 3000 pearls in order to save my account from getting banned, but I do think this situation and course of action is highly inappropriate and partially unacceptable.

Not only did I upgrade to a higher and better version of BDO, but I have already booked several purchases in the pearl shop because I wanted to support this title during its launch period.

Needless to say that I also played the beta on PS4 and helped my family and friends make the jump to BDO (approx 10 ppl).

My questions therefor:

1. Is anyone else experiencing the same issue?
2. Did you have to purchase 3000 pearls in order to "save" your account and toon as well?
3. What's the official statement on the situation seen above?
4. I basically purchased two copies of BDO by buying 3000 pearls in addition to the deluxe edition (standard edition with all perks and bonus items was listed for approx 26 EUR). Do I get a second copy of the game now that I have basically spent another 30 EUR on top of my deluxe version?
5. What happens to the 3000 pearls I just bought via the PSN store; will these be removed from my mailbox at some point in time in order to avoid additional issues? If so, is there an ETA or deadline available?
6. I received additional mails with perks and bonus items for purchasing 3000 pearls. Can these items be used safely or is this forbidden as well?

Thank you.

I'd recommend contacting the game company directly via email or something. Honestly, I don't think Playstation/Sony can really give promises in these situations and it's possible that an automated system flagged you for doing something that a real person can wave off as innocent or a non-issue. 

23 hours ago, Kharneth said:

I'd recommend contacting the game company directly via email or something. Honestly, I don't think Playstation/Sony can really give promises in these situations and it's possible that an automated system flagged you for doing something that a real person can wave off as innocent or a non-issue. 

Sup Karneth,

true dat - totally agree.

I was able to create a ticket via the official website and will update this thread once I have received an answer from customer support.

It might take a while though; my wife also has a ticket open and has been waiting for a reply almost two weeks now.

Glad I actually logged in shortly after getting back home from my trip though... who knows in what state my account would have been otherwise.

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

So i had same issue. Standard to delux cos i was so hyped and wanted to play 2 days early. Ofc opened everything from excitment on first day early access right when came back from work. Then after a day maybe seen info on main screen that i did somthin wrong and my account might be susspended . I did buy 3000 pearls left in in game mail and they are gone now. For me this is pure extorsion b/c i paid for deluxe and 3k pearls is worth standard edition. They responded on m ticked with arrgument that i had announcment on main screen that i should not open those in game mails for standard version but the thing is when you get in to game excited u ope right away and this info dosnt show on when u enter game so i didnt know . I noticed that somthing was wrong after i seen two snowdogs in inventory but that was too late. If they sended to everyone in game mail with Topic READ FIRST maybe this wouldnt happend. Im 36 yrs old so i can afford buying 3k pearls but i can imagine someone is younger parents buying them game even changing to deluxe and then problems home. For me they could leave it and no one probbobly wouldnt notice. Thing is i dont see much of my foult in here b/c its between sony and Bdo that came mistake. They should take it on chest and just leave it be but that just my opinion maybe.

What you guys think would you feels cheated that some ppl get couple of things extra b/c BDO and sony f.uck up somthing? Or you wouldnt event bother.

5 hours ago, mundri said:

So i had same issue. Standard to delux cos i was so hyped and wanted to play 2 days early. Ofc opened everything from excitment on first day early access right when came back from work. Then after a day maybe seen info on main screen that i did somthin wrong and my account might be susspended . I did buy 3000 pearls left in in game mail and they are gone now. For me this is pure extorsion b/c i paid for deluxe and 3k pearls is worth standard edition. They responded on m ticked with arrgument that i had announcment on main screen that i should not open those in game mails for standard version but the thing is when you get in to game excited u ope right away and this info dosnt show on when u enter game so i didnt know . I noticed that somthing was wrong after i seen two snowdogs in inventory but that was too late. If they sended to everyone in game mail with Topic READ FIRST maybe this wouldnt happend. Im 36 yrs old so i can afford buying 3k pearls but i can imagine someone is younger parents buying them game even changing to deluxe and then problems home. For me they could leave it and no one probbobly wouldnt notice. Thing is i dont see much of my foult in here b/c its between sony and Bdo that came mistake. They should take it on chest and just leave it be but that just my opinion maybe.

What you guys think would you feels cheated that some ppl get couple of things extra b/c BDO and sony f.uck up somthing? Or you wouldnt event bother.

Hello Mundri,

I wholeheartedly agree.

1. I also saw the announcement on the main screen informing us * not * to open any extra items we might have unintentionally received by accident, but that info wasn't shown on the first day when logging into the game. Heck, I don't remember seeing that message on the second day either. What I did was more or less the same thing you did; logged in 48h earlier, claimed all the items I was able to claim without giving it much attention, and continued playing. By the time we were notified there is an ongoing issue with our previous cancellation, I had already claimed most of the items that were available to me on day one. Thus, I don't really know which items I might have claimed by accident, because I honestly don't remember.
2. Now that you mention it, I did notice something was wrong when I saw two snowdogs in my inventory on day 1, but I thought it just might have been a glitch / bug, without giving it too much thought. Let's be honest here, glitches and bugs are nothing out of the ordinary for a MMORPG - especially during launch. I do remember deleting one of the two snowdogs though, because I actually didn't need the second one. My main goal by purchasing the deluxe edition was the idea of supporting the game during launch and the fact that we were able to get into the game earlier.
3. Fully agreed: A game mail with the topic "READ FIRST" (in red letters) on the very first day the doors opened for everyone logging in 48 hours earlier would have been much more effective.
4. Same here: Paying 3000 pearls is the equivalent of the complete standard edition (we actually paid a bit more tbh), which includes the entire game AND all perks / bonus items.

Needless to say that I don't see the customer at fault here. This is an issue that has to be sorted out between Sony and the BDO team. As a paying customer, that has already made several investments, I expect a fair, easy and consumer friendly solution to this problem. I work hard for my money. The time and cash I invest into this game is real even though our toons are part of the matrix or virtual reality created for us by the engineers.

My case is being investigated currently. I'll keep you guys posted!

almost the same thing happened to me 

on a Wednesday  night 4th September I get a message on screen saying refunds failed 

in my mind (wtf I didn’t refund anything but  upgrade from standard to ultimate) so I keep playing just thinking it’s a glitch 

also the servers wherevabout to shut down for maintenance 

the next morning I log on and see this 

::cannot connect during refund ::

i have to buy 3000 pearls before September 4 ..... so you give me the warning 10 min before maintenance in a way that if I wasn’t looking at my screen at that exact time I would of seen a message that pops up for 3 seconds 

this is a lot of bullshit 

i made a ticket etc 

we shouldn’t be penalized because a few people at pearl abyss can’t do there job correctly 

I want to make this issue known 

because 90% of the people who read this won’t care because it’s not happening to them and won’t speak up

but the moment pearl abyss does some shady Shht to them then they jump on the bandwagon 

Like Karneth said, easiest way is to get a clear official answer is to submit a ticket.  However, if you already claimed/used the items I wouldn't count on PA giving any other alternatives other than buying the pearls to make up the cost for the refund for the items you claimed.

There was never an upgrade option to go from standard to deluxe or deluxe to ultimate (as far as I know, correct me if I'm wrong).  This was a marketing mistake imo, could have saved them a lot of trouble & made them money, but its not what happened.  Was never in the terms of service, was never announced nor written on any official page.  Every person that bought any of the game packages should have seen that they had items.  If you're going into the game thinking you're going to get a refund, why would you not make sure to not use the items that came with the package you want refunded?  I don't think its realistic to then still expect to get your money back.  I'm not a developer so I'm not sure what the exact difficulties of trying to reclaim all the items would be, but I think its a reach to claim PA made a mistake here instead of the players.  Yeah, they could have made an option to upgrade and avoid all this, but that was never an option presented.  It was an oversight to just assume that.

I bought a Standard edition before then buying a Deluxe for the 48 hour early access period.  I submitted a ticket asking for a refund and didn't touch my items in-game because I expected them to be refunded.  I'm super happy that people were so excited to play they they weren't even paying attention because tbh, that's like true game-is-life sh**, but its not fair to then pivot that mistake onto PA.

24 minutes ago, ????? said:

Like Karneth said, easiest way is to get a clear official answer is to submit a ticket.  However, if you already claimed/used the items I wouldn't count on PA giving any other alternatives other than buying the pearls to make up the cost for the refund for the items you claimed.

 

Regardless of all this 

I made a ticket and purchases the 3000pearls while I am suspended so hopefully everything goes well and those pearls are in my mail waiting to be claimed so my suspension will be removed 

and I’ve made my ticket 1 day ago and I still haven’t gotten my answer 

Also I sent  them proof all all purchases  from standard to ultimate and 

the 3000perls to remove suspension 

They have the ability to remove items from your inventory it's just a money scam so they can make more cash from you. Welcome to BDO & PA, where milking the customer for everything they can is top priority. 

You're dealing with a company that almost lost all of the data for an entire country (Russia) after people had invested 3 years into the game.

1 hour ago, ????? said:

Like Karneth said, easiest way is to get a clear official answer is to submit a ticket.  However, if you already claimed/used the items I wouldn't count on PA giving any other alternatives other than buying the pearls to make up the cost for the refund for the items you claimed.

There was never an upgrade option to go from standard to deluxe or deluxe to ultimate (as far as I know, correct me if I'm wrong).  This was a marketing mistake imo, could have saved them a lot of trouble & made them money, but its not what happened.  Was never in the terms of service, was never announced nor written on any official page.  Every person that bought any of the game packages should have seen that they had items.  If you're going into the game thinking you're going to get a refund, why would you not make sure to not use the items that came with the package you want refunded?  I don't think its realistic to then still expect to get your money back.  I'm not a developer so I'm not sure what the exact difficulties of trying to reclaim all the items would be, but I think its a reach to claim PA made a mistake here instead of the players.  Yeah, they could have made an option to upgrade and avoid all this, but that was never an option presented.  It was an oversight to just assume that.

I bought a Standard edition before then buying a Deluxe for the 48 hour early access period.  I submitted a ticket asking for a refund and didn't touch my items in-game because I expected them to be refunded.  I'm super happy that people were so excited to play they they weren't even paying attention because tbh, that's like true game-is-life sh**, but its not fair to then pivot that mistake onto PA.

First i called ps4 customer service and canceled standard edition so i could buy delux version, i definitely didnt expect those items on my new version. I think its bad that they made announcment like day after on main screen once per hour or smthn. It looked like they didnt even know at beginning that somthin like that happend. If i had in game mail about this i am sure i wouldnt open these packeges. I remembered from open beta that all thing pets and stuff was coming via in game mail so when i started game 1 day i just went in to mail and started poping packages and nothing in there about this misunderstanding so i asume that they didnt notice at beginning. The Thing is if they knew this would happend they could have done more to inform us. This announcment on my screen for last two weeks is like justyfing for makin me buyin 3000pearls and takin it. I made ticket last friday and got answer monday.

Good that u got ur answer fast. Its in the past for me, so now im enjoying game but some bad taste is left and i learned my lesson and good that more ppl could read about it and get their own opinion of it. Maybe Gms also read this and it will be more understandable for them how it looks from our side.

conveniently

12 hours ago, ????? said:

Like Karneth said, easiest way is to get a clear official answer is to submit a ticket.  However, if you already claimed/used the items I wouldn't count on PA giving any other alternatives other than buying the pearls to make up the cost for the refund for the items you claimed.

There was never an upgrade option to go from standard to deluxe or deluxe to ultimate (as far as I know, correct me if I'm wrong).  This was a marketing mistake imo, could have saved them a lot of trouble & made them money, but its not what happened.  Was never in the terms of service, was never announced nor written on any official page.  Every person that bought any of the game packages should have seen that they had items.  If you're going into the game thinking you're going to get a refund, why would you not make sure to not use the items that came with the package you want refunded?  I don't think its realistic to then still expect to get your money back.  I'm not a developer so I'm not sure what the exact difficulties of trying to reclaim all the items would be, but I think its a reach to claim PA made a mistake here instead of the players.  Yeah, they could have made an option to upgrade and avoid all this, but that was never an option presented.  It was an oversight to just assume that.

I bought a Standard edition before then buying a Deluxe for the 48 hour early access period.  I submitted a ticket asking for a refund and didn't touch my items in-game because I expected them to be refunded.  I'm super happy that people were so excited to play they they weren't even paying attention because tbh, that's like true game-is-life sh**, but its not fair to then pivot that mistake onto PA.

Sup,

1. The thing is, I never "upgraded" from one edition to the other. You're right though, there is no official option to upgrade to a higher version of the game, even though the idea itself is actually pretty good. All I did was fully cancel the standard edition via Sony customer support * before * the game went live (during the pre-order time frame). Sony actually officially offers you this option directly via E-Mail, shortly after purchasing a pre-order game. Meaning: I acted by the book, contacted Sony before the game launched (before the 48h early access timeframe), asked for a cancellation of the standard edition + refund in order to then purchase the more expensive deluxe edition of the game before BDO goes live. Thus, your case seems to be different from ours, because some of us actually cancelled the pre-order * before * this title went live.
2. I asked Playstation customer support if this method would cause any issues whatsoever -> and the answer was "no". As a new customer, I was not able to differentiate or understand who the official contact person is; PA or Sony. I "went" and "worked" with the info I was given by customer support and took it for granted.
3. I didn't check the additional fluff or packaged items because I a) was excited to finally be in the game b) didn't expect this sort of thing to happen c) didn't get any proactive warning / info about this issue whatsoever during the first 48 hours of early access d) was assured the cancellation process wouldn't cause any issues e) logged in the game, opened my inbox some point down the line, hit the "square" button on my controller in order to conveniently claim * all * mail attachments in my inbox at once f) last but not least; was never interested in the fluff items. All I really wanted / expected from the deluxe edition is to get online two days earlier, which did work like a charm tbh.

This kind of mess shouldn't even be a "thing" after cancelling your pre-order by the book, before the game launches, in order to then buy a "fresh" copy of the game.

The problem is not on the consumers end. The consumer expects a smooth and flawless process or transition, especially when you know little to nothing about the product. The intentions were good and, as such, I expect customer support to react appropriately.

A fair and consumer friendly solution to the current situation would look like this (just an example):

1. Refund the cash we paid for the 3000 pearls and book the entire situation as a learning experience for the next launch of a new title
2. OR: Initiate a partial refund for either the cash or pearls we purchased additionally because a) we probably didn't use or claim all the extra items given to us via the cancelled standard edition and b) we initially paid for the entire standard game * and * all the extra fluff stuff for approx 26 EUR
3. OR: Refund 3000 pearls in order to purchase new stuff on the pearl shop
4. OR: Keep the 3000 pearls we just purchased to save our account and give us an additional copy of the game, because that is exactly what we purchased previously and initially
5. OR: Offer any other form of alternative (virtual) compensation worthy of either the full or partial amount of 3000 pearls

There are many ways to solve this riddle fairly for both ends.

Never forget though, there's a saying that goes: The customer is king. A good and happy customer is more likely to come back, whereas unhappy customers jump ship rather sooner than later.

On 9/6/2019 at 12:14 PM, SoulVolume said:

I want to make this issue known 

because 90% of the people who read this won’t care because it’s not happening to them and won’t speak up

but the moment pearl abyss does some shady Shht to them then they jump on the bandwagon 

The truth of the matter is no of use gamers can do anything about these situations. We don't have access to any account information to know who was justly banned or who was incorrectly banned. All of that needs to be handled by PA. You people need to contact customer service to they can validate the actions taken against your account. This isn't a matter of mob rule, public opinion, or voting. 

Sup ppl,

well, time for an update.

I got a response from customer support today:

Quote

Greetings Adventurer,

 

This is GM Olvia from Black Desert PlayStation Team. It is my pleasure to assist you today.

 

We apologize for the delay in our response. I have read your ticket and understand that your account was suspended due to a refunded Pre-Order Standard Edition package.

In line with your inquiry, I've checked your account and confirmed that you already repurchased the 3000 Pearl Box. Rest assured that we will get back to you after we lift the suspension. 

 

Should you have other questions or concerns, contact us again.

 

Sincerely,

 

GM Olvia

Black Desert PlayStation Team

The first ticket was created on the 4th of September and I got the message seen above on the 11th of September.

Well, at least they responded to my case within a week. That's a good thing, considering the fact that others have had to wait much, much longer for a simple reply. Example: My wife has had a ticket open since the 20th of August and has yet to receive a single reaction from customer support.

Unfortunately, poor Olivia misunderstood my request, even though I proactively added a link to this thread via my ticket in order to make things easier, which sets me back to square one. My account was never suspended because I purchased 3000 pearls before the deadline. My ticket is all about ppl being forced to buy pearls in order to save our accounts from being suspended in the first place (which ironically proves my good intentions, since I didn't hesitate to cooperate).

And to make things even more complicated; there is no way to reply to Olivia's message. There is no "respond" button to be seen anywhere in the ticket system, even though my case hasn't been fully closed yet. The good thing: . The bad part: Thus, I had to create a new ticket.

Starting from scratch again, will keep you guys posted.

Work in progress.

Update: Customer supported reacted quickly to my second ticket. Merci @GM Sausan for the effort!

This is what they wrote:

Quote

	Greetings and Salutations Adventurer,   I am GM Sausan of the Black Desert PlayStation Team and I am here to answer your inquiry.   I understand that you purchased the game and opted to get a better package instead. I also understand that you have purchased the 3000 Pearls prior to the date where the suspensions were given, thus, your account was not suspended.    Our team would like to thank you for your patronage and appreciate the support.   Moving forward, in regards to purchasing the deluxe package and refunding the standard edition, we would like to inform you once you buy a package you are given the rewards of that package automatically upon purchase. There was also no offer of any upgrade option for the packages.   Please be informed that we would have been more than happy to answer your questions first about refunds or even to offer you the removal of the package items first but the refund was initiated directly to Sony.   In light of this, please be noted that Sony does not have any access to the game tools or are responsible for managing game accounts processing item removal or even for checking the account database; they are only responsible for selling the game on their store.   Because of this, the items from the package you have refunded were never taken and that you used them, thus, receiving items that were unpaid for.   We have also provided adequate time and information regarding this by announcing it in-game and on the official website.   Please do visit this link for more details: [https://www.console.playblackdesert.com/News/Detail?boardNo=1526&category=0]   I truly apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused you and humbly ask for your kind understanding regarding this matter.   Sincerely,   GM Sausan Black Desert PlayStation Team

In other words: More or less the same reaction Mundri got. According to customer support, we were informed on time and should have been able to react accordingly.

Funny fact though: I started playing the game on 08.20.2019 due to 48 hours early access. The newsflash seen in the link provided by customer support is from 08.22.2019 (https://www.console.playblackdesert.com/News/Detail?boardNo=1526&category=0). On top of that, the warning displayed in game was * not * shown on the 08.20.2019 when many of us started playing. By the time we saw the warning, it was already too late. In other words: By the time we were informed about the ongoing issue, it was unavoidable, it was too late to proactively react to it. We were predestined to run into this wall. Let me quote Illidan here: "My destiny is my own!"

PA will not even try to find a solution that works for both ends without brushing it off as a consumer error & asking us to pay up.

I have already proven myself to PA by not only cooperating (3000 pearls), but also by my actions so far (beta, pre-order and additional purchases so far). Now it's time for Pearl Abyss to prove itself to me, the loyal and supporting customer.

My story has been made available to everyone interested via this thread - no need to repeat it - and I won't hesitate to make a stand.

Thus, I am going to uninstall this game until we find a middle ground that works for both ends.

On a side note: I'd like to take the time to thank each and every GM trying to help out. I know it's not your fault, you are only doing your job and following orders. It's a difficult and strange situation and I am glad that you guys took the time to respond, even if the final verdict is far from a satisfactory solution / middle ground for both ends.

See you again one day... maybe.

I have had this message for over a week with the refund and the customer service really helps the industry to answer you long can you already play?

Same case for me , but I preordered standard , cancelled it and i got a refund, then purchased it after launch. Pearl Abyss gives the same reply to repurchase 3000 pearls for account unlock. Now I cannot even launch the game , a message comes up to re-purchase it from playstation store. I have notified Sony who is processing the case.

In no way they should not have locked anyone from the game. Get the technical issues sorted , end consumers do not have to deal with this process. What they say about they notified us early is not an argument.

Do not put anything in my account that I am not entitled to . Since I cancelled the pre-order there should not be any items in my account. Fix the game !!! Hopefully Sony will do something about this. 

5 hours ago, Gilbertson72 said:

Same case for me , but I preordered standard , cancelled it and i got a refund, then purchased it after launch. Pearl Abyss gives the same reply to repurchase 3000 pearls for account unlock. Now I cannot even launch the game , a message comes up to re-purchase it from playstation store. I have notified Sony who is processing the case.

In no way they should not have locked anyone from the game. Get the technical issues sorted , end consumers do not have to deal with this process. What they say about they notified us early is not an argument.

Do not put anything in my account that I am not entitled to . Since I cancelled the pre-order there should not be any items in my account. Fix the game !!! Hopefully Sony will do something about this. 

Sup Gilbertson,

same here my friend.

I also forwarded my case to Sony a couple of days ago and now... we wait.

It took me one or two hours, but I was able to forward every single detail they asked of me.

Honestly, as of this writing, Sony is our last hope.

Take care

Finally got a refund from Sony ! Question now is if I buy again (still havent decided if I want to give them my money) is my PSN id the account in black desert or the family name>? Anyone knows?

Then unfortunately you have the same problem I tried a few days ago

And what happened?

Nothing, unfortunately, it came the same message

so it is connected to the psn id I guess and not the family name

Are you sure I'll test it out

I am not sure (I just guess that the family name is the account in black desert) , I think is better to wait if someone knows for sure. I aint paying double price for the 3000 pearls that they were asking me!

Okay it did not work rip

how bad can it go with this game?

I dont know