For D4 season 1 I created a new character and started playing (despite the massive nerfs to EVERYTHING) and have unlocked some seasonal progression. I’d also bought the version of the game that came with a free season unlock.
So I wanted to check my progress on the battlepass. Because the cursor was centered on the ‘unlock premium battlepass’, I misclicked and wound up unlocking the battlepass.
I’d decided against using my free unlock, as the transmogs seemed mostly centered around skulls and such (fun for necromancers, but I’m a barb all the way). I also find the seasonal theme a bit underwhelming; certainly in light of nerfing many, many builds.
Fun fact: there was no pop up asking whether I was sure, nor was there a way to (immediately) reverse the unlock.
I reached out to support, but they were unable to affect this and suggested I hop onto the forums wkth my issue.
I believe that what I experienced is known as a ‘dark pattern’; a design choice that funnels people into making (unwanted) purchases.
I would really like to get the free unlock back. I fully endorse stripping any paid progress on the battlepass be stripped from my account.
I was fully planning on using the free unlock at some point, and perhaps buying battlepasses to come. This experience, along with the inability for support to do anything in this matter, has left a very, very bad taste in mouth. As a European resident, I wonder what the EU would think of this practice. Honestly, if this is not resolved satisfactorily, I just might investigate which other options I might pursue.
TLDR;
Please reverse my “inadvertent” redemption of the free battlepass;
Don’t default the cursor to the ‘unlock premium battlepass’ button;
Put a pop up in the game, asking people whether they’re sure they want to make a purchase;
Give customers a short window, during which they can immediately reverse their purchases.
I encountered a similar issue. Being somewhat unaware of the fact I had a ”free” battle pass unlock after a break, I checked out the content in the battle pass and was curious to see how much it would cost to unlock it.
Seeing as there was no obvious price listed and I was already in-game browsing the battle pass I figured I’d just press the supposed ”purchase” button for a pop-up with more info - to my surprise it instantly spent my unlock and now I have an unintentionally unlocked battle pass!
I mean sure it was a stupid mistake on my part, I could have kept the ”free unlock” in mind or skipped the convenience of looking it up in-game and looked it up on google instead… But why is there no confirmation whatsoever?
Since this mistake was of my own doing it’s fully understandable if the unlock is final, I’ll still write a ticket to ask if there’s anything that can be done just to make sure.
But please at least add some indication in the UI that the user currently has an unlock, or some warning/confirmation to avoid others making the same mistake! It’s a relatively pain-free fix that will both prevent players from being upset, and alleviate the customer support from giving (possibly) unsatisfactory replies.
You aren’t the only one. It defaults to the activate button on Consoles and Gamepads apparently and some say the mouse even snaps to it on PC at times. so this wouldn’t surprise me at all. I accidently hit the same button and just yelled out NO I DID NOT MEAN TO DO THAT! I instantly opened a ticket with Blizzard and CS keep responding that their hands are tied by higher ups. I did see a post somewhere that Blizzard is “looking in to this” to make a fix, but I think we’re boned to be honest.
This is indeed bad business practices at hand, does this look alright to you guys?
Same here, accidentally clicked on the “Activate” button on console because it was preselected. It’s relly annoying to have a purchase button without any confirmation or holding a button for 5 seconds. Contacted support but they refused to help.
I remember Epic Games had the same “dark pattern” in Fortnite and they had to change this and they now even allow instant return of every purchase. Actually not sure if this is a legal practice what Blizzard does here.
If this hasnt happened in a game but at a retail-website, would you accept “your” error and pay for sth. you actually do not want, because the programmer was either malicious and did it on purpose or was too lazy or incompetent to implement a final confirmation (which is the standard and has been before courts in the past)?
It’s very funy and good for the game when you feel like you’re on a scam site when you log into a game. And the main goal of the creator is to screw you out of money by methods from the gutter. GJ Blizzard! We all hate you even more.
It happened to me too. I have been a UX dev for 20+ years and if I pulled this kind of crap, I’d be out of a job. It is exactly as the OP said: dark pattern. And it’s done on purpose. Any UX choices that result in a monetary transaction or permanent deletion ALWAYS requires a confirmation of sort. Not “oops click, bye bye money”
In a way, I’m kind of glad it happened. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have found two other games that just came out and have provided me much more enjoyment: Remnant 2 & BG3. Crazy thing is, I’ve never been a d&d or turn based game fan, but I am now.
There will most likely be a class action lawsuit over this.
