Currency Changes

[Think]

We have removed Yang as the primary currency
The new main currency is called Yin, and it looks like this:

We've done this because in the past we had a bit too many zeroes on the currency value that were completely worthless - 1000 Yang had no value -, and cutting them out has two nice effects: Smaller numbers which are easier to deal with, and the ability for storing and trade things worth x1000 times more than currently!

Yang is still a secondary currency on your inventory, but you cannot use it, and no system in the game asks for your Yang anymore. Trades and shops will just offer things in Yin, as we want to avoid the confusion of allowing two pricing systems to coexist. Consider Yang like a fraction of a Yin, as every time you accumulate 1000 Yang or more in your inventory, it will convert automatically into 1 Yin.

You may still receive Yang from some sources like monsters, but...
The Yang you receive will automatically be converted to Yin. For example, if a quest says that you reward is 5.000.000 Yang, you will just get 5.000 Yin. Over time, we'll migrate quests to giving out Yin directly, but for now, quests that reward Yin and those that reward Yang will coexist.

Wallet has been removed
We've also removed the Wallet entirely, mainly because it's generating hundreds of millions of Yang every day, without any player actually farming it. All your Yang in the Wallet has been converted to Yin in your inventory.

Why keep Yang if I cannot do anything with it?
We've just kept Yang ingame so that low level monsters aren't suddenly yielding out way too much Yin, and so that low level players don't feel like they never drop money. It also has the nice bonus of making the transition a lot easier, since we don't have to touch most quests, and we can rest knowing that if something is still giving you Yang, it'll seamlessly work.

 

[Think]

Here's some behind scenes insight about this change, for the curious:

Why not just increase the yang limit?
Truth is, we almost did it. We have actually been preparing for this since early March. But ultimately it's risky and can ramify into a significant number of bugs, so as soon as the idea for doing this migration through a secondary currency came up, we dropped the increased Yang limit, since having an alternative currency and doing it in steps was the clear winner. In fact, this is the reason we're shipping this a week later than we intended to!

Another idea we evaluated was just taking Yang, renaming to Yin and converting all the values to Yin directly (still with the 1:1000 ratio). This is almost riskier to pull off (bug-wise), could be very confusing for everyone, and allow some "smart" players to trying and pass off old Yang prices as Yin prices, scamming unaware or distracted players, so we ultimately also dropped this option.

 

[Think]

We're moving from "planned" to "done"! These changes will be live today. We're archiving the old information post and replacing it with an informative message on the first post of the thread. Do note that we've made a couple changes to the original plan along the way.

Spoiler: Old Currency Change post

We're removing Yang
...over time. To be precise, what we'll do is slowly transition from the current currency to a new one. During the transition period, the two currencies will coexist: Yin and Yang. Guess which one is the new one.

Say hi to Yin​

We're doing this because we currently have a bit too many zeroes on the currency value that are completely worthless - 1000 Yang has no value -, so we're cutting them down. This has two nice effects: Less zeroes to worry about, and you will be able store and trade things worth way more than our current currency limit!

"How can I get your hands on some Yin?" is the next logical question: Well, you will be able to convert between the two currencies directly from your inventory, at an exchange rate of 1 Yin = 1.000 Yang.

But wait, before we continue talking about Yin...

Wallet is being removed
We're also removing the Wallet, mainly because it's generating hundreds of millions of Yang every day, without any player actually farming it. This is partly contributing to an increased, passive Yang flow into the game, which leads to negative consequences like inflation and therefore higher prices. Tying it to activity improved the situation, but ultimately it's clear it's not good enough.

Here's the timeline:

• Effective now, Wallets no longer give interest overnight.
• By the end of the Yang -> Yin transition, we'll remove Wallets and the remaining Yang will be converted to Yin on your inventory.

But this is bad for new players, no?
Keeping the Wallet as it is would actually be worse for new players, all things considered. Wallets give a disproportionally higher advantage to established players, with multiple accounts they can be active on, and with significant millions / billions of Yang that they can put in. Starting on a game where the Yang you drop at the start because prices are inflated isn't very fun either, and the wallet contributes to this. Also, as the server grows older, the difference in Yang growth between a established player and a new player will always steadily increase, which means this situation will never get better, either.

So, when is Yin being introduced?
Our intention is to release these changes next week's Thursday, besides others that are completely unrelated to Yang, of course. As mentioned above, this will be a transition over time, and next week's update will introduce the currency, allow any player to convert between the two currencies, and introduce Yin to player-player trades. We'd like to include in next week's update the ability to sell things with Yin on your private shops, but I cannot promise that at this time. If it's not in next week's update though, it'll be in the update the week after that.

In the broader scope, we'll be slowly converting things and systems to Yin in each update, like monsters directly dropping Yin, refinement requiring Yin, and so on, until there's nothing that uses Yang - then we'll remove it, and just leave Yin. We're estimating this transition will complete at around late May.

Lastly, we're also reevaluating Gold Bars, and will likely remove most of them, if not all, by the end of this transition. We'll keep you up-to-date with this and any other changes moving forward. Feel free to ask any questions or drop any comments in this thread!