Elfplay.net and $34.95?????

    Joined
    Nov 11, 2013
    Messages
    3
    Reaction score
    0
    • Legacy Citizen
    When I decided to try out Starmade I obviously clicked on the download tab. When the download page loaded there was also a form appended at the bottom requesting email, name, age, etc. and the downloads were unclickable. What transpired next was a page requesting me to sign up (which I thought made sense), even requesting my debit card to ensure that the game was legal in my country. Since I was already aware that Starmade and the company behind it were legit, providing said information didn't bother me. Then it asked to donate a one time amount of $1 for verification and all proceeds would go to unfortunate children. The foundation it would go to was well known (though I can't recall the name). Then ElfPlay.net requested me to sign up, but I chose to cancel and eventually found my way out of the seemingly endless requests. I went to the download section again, and everything was 'normal'.

    Move forward 5days later I find my account has been charged a recurring fee of $34.95 from ElfPlay.net. I gave their support a call, and the support team was barely aware of Elfplay.net (obviously outsourced) and knew nothing of Starmade. Once they found Elfplay.net they were able to easily cancel and reverse the fee. When I dug through my emails I found a reciept from Elfplay.net and that $1 dollar went no where but into their own pockets as it was for a 5day trial. None of which was expressed during sign up and I don't recall a terms or condition page anywhere.

    Firstly, I used to be a network admin and my computers are all malware free and clean. It is normally not so easy to pull one over on me, but as I investigated each and every page that came up, it all cleared inspection. So I'm just wanting whoever reads this to know what happened to me; for what was suppose to be an easy and free download. I'm not blaming Starmade, I love the game and spent nearly 30hrs on it in the last 4days. My wife wasn't happy to say the least. . .lol.
     

    MrFURB

    Madman of the Girders
    Joined
    Jan 31, 2013
    Messages
    1,116
    Reaction score
    413
    The download page has an ad spot (ads chosen by Ad Choice) right below the correct download links. Normally the ad is harmless and does nothing but generate a bit of extra revenue for the website, but if there\'s malicious or misleading content being displayed on the website, you\'re correct to bring that to attention. I\'ll pass this onto the other site staff, thanks!



    Downloading Starmade should be as easy as going to the download page, clicking accept on terms and conditions, and seeing your download start.
     
    Joined
    Dec 30, 2012
    Messages
    790
    Reaction score
    1
    • Legacy Citizen 4
    Yeah, don\'t fall in the ad\'s trap, it\'s pretty obvious where the StarMade stuff is, and not the big Megavideo or such style DOWNLOAD buttons. Less if it\'s from an MMO style...
     
    Joined
    Nov 11, 2013
    Messages
    3
    Reaction score
    0
    • Legacy Citizen
    The download was seperate from the other stuff, but as I stated, I couldn\'t click it. The \'ad\' at the bottom of the page made it appear as if I had to sign up before downloading. Also, I have AdBlocker Plus, if it was an ad, it shouldn\'t have shown up. Plus, I haven\'t seen anything of the like since that experience. If the site admin needs any other information, I\'ll be happy to provide whatever I can. Thanks.