Players of the popular Korean MMORPG game Blade and Soul who have invested in the Radiant Energy item are claiming to have lost hundreds of in-game earned gold because of a last-minute design change.

According to recent community forum posts, players who have invested in Radiant Energy in light of the recently announced Hongmoon Gem Powder exchange changes have lost hundreds of gold because the game's development team decided to change the way the item's exchange value works at the last minute.

Blade and Soul developer NCSoft teased its community with changes to the game's gem exchange system last week. The changes would allow players to more easily acquire Hongmoon Gem Powder used for buying and upgrading weapon gems that feature extra effects and higher attack power.

Because of the announced changes popular demand caused the price of Radiant Energy to spike to 17 gold on the game's market place.

However, the last-minute change of mind now means that players get back just 10 gold instead of the promised Hongmoon Gem Powder, resulting in a net loss of at least 7 gold per purchased item.

Many disheartened players are voicing their opinion in a thread on the game's community forum that has already reached 9 pages in the last 2 hours.

According to community manager Liinxy, the development team changed its mind when it found that "an imbalance" between the existing value of Radiant Energy compared to the Hongmoon Gem Powder would have caused gems to be "devalued significantly".

Whether refunds will be given is still unknown. The studio has yet to comment on the negative response.

Update: The development team has announced it will be compensating those who have invested in Radiant Energy by awarding 5 extra gold per each Antique turn-in and a 7 days Premium Membership.