Prefacing this by saying I didn’t even care that much about dealing with the negative Pheons, more a matter of principle given the two contradictory statements, and also, some food for thought.
I get the feeling that Smilegate essentially forced AGS to remove the Pheons based upon having to walk back their original decision, etc… presumably a $$$ driven decision. The two parties being seemingly aligned, only to somehow be on opposite ends of the matter less than a day later is… confounding, to say the least.
If this is the case, it is pretty sad – and lame. Not only does AGS have to deal with the subsequent shitstorm, the optics are also terrible for a company priding themselves on “Customer Obsession.” Assuming this is a decision handed down by Smilegate, it is pretty spineless. Instead of assuming accountability, they are attempting to absolve themselves of accountability, and passing the buck onto the client (successfully at that for individuals having to purchase blue crystals from the cash shop).
Again, if this is the work of Smilegate, they have managed this matter extremely poorly.