About gold nerf, we were always making more gold than we were spending it. We all know that the value of gold inflated and everything got much more expensive. If the currency inflates, it is the government's resposibility to stablise its own currency. If there is gold cost reduction in upgrade materials like jewels and elements, a reduction in gold income is inevitable to follow. NCsoft only did wrong by using dungeon difficulty as a reason.
You should think like this: Does NCsoft actually sell us gold? Not really. We use gold to deal with other players and if it is harder to make gold, the market price for material will go down as well. NCsoft deals with Ncoin/Hongmon Coin and the cost of materials in Ncoins and HM coins are indeed cheaper than before.