Same problem here though I bought in at VIP1. Within three days of buying VIP1, my gem total was reduced by 50... The exact amount VIP1 gives you. I received my gems when I made the purchase, but they were taken away within days, right before my eyes. I wasn't doing anything that would have caused them to be spent at the time.

Since this is a Beta game there is no real recourse. Of course if this had happened to a VIP6 or VIP9 maybe they would react to the large chargebacks coming through from a lack of response there.

Being Beta testers doesn't mean we enjoy getting ripped off. Allowing these kind of things to continue to happen to people who are paying real money into this game is going to anger a good number of them to the point they chargeback or use paypal to retrieve their funds. For me it was $5 - a little over a gallon (4 liters) of gasoline here. But for others spending $88 USD for VIP3 / 4 and getting gems on the side with extra money... that adds up. You don't want to lose your paying customer base unless you are running this on venture capital and intend on cashing in quickly and leaving it to wilt. The Silicon Valley Bubble burst a long time ago..

Since it's a beta, what's wrong with reinstating the lost gems? What's wrong with being a little generous with certain things so that the players can learn how to use them? It's fiat currency... let us splurge and make mistakes with it that don't cost us lots of grief in the end, as there is no written guide on this game and very vague descriptions on the way things are used. It's all going to be wiped later anyway, so what harm is there in this? I can sure see the harm in not doing anything about it.

Also, it appears that there will be no real warning as to when this game goes "live". No email to the account holder, no notice... Perhaps just one days notice while in-game. Can you at least send an email to the VIP1 and above players who paid at the email address of the credit card / paypal account to let us know a day before it goes live? With all the automation of information, you certainly have all our email addresses in one database - or at least your financial or billing department / accountant does. One mass email out to all saying something to the effect of, "Going live in 24 hours" or even "going live in 8 hours", would be much appreciated. Late starts in this game are costly and I know everyone who has even paid $5 would really like to get the most out of it. Same with the non-paying players, many of whom are waiting for things to improve before they spend for VIP 1, 3, 6... etc...

Since it's a beta, what do you (Tynon Developers and staff) have to lose with reinstating things that were lost by bugs in the programming? It's all going bye-bye once it goes live anyway...