This is the most alarming thing I think I've ever heard in EU frankly. You don't seem to be 'role playing' here, but simply stating the facts. I had thought I'd jump in and have a go in the event, not being at the pc for a few days, I had a lot to read to get caught up with all the event info, and I hoped there had been a fix for the loss of game sound I've had since the last VU (something about EUs interaction with 64bit systems). Reading of all the usual (or worse than usual) bugs, crashes etc, I thought oh well, maybe I won't bother right away, wait for the usual patch. But then I read the above....
If the devs can simply 'take' a virtual item that you paid thousands of dollars for, with no notice, no discussion, and not even put the event on your land areas, I won't be participating at all thanks very much, but I will be watching closely for some official explanation and apologies and recompense to you at the very minimum. This is scary stuff, a lot scarier than some stupid feffox whatever