In May 2011, changes began being made to the game that Administration claimed would enable the it to become self-sustaining and require little or no technical/administrative support.  The wording of the explanation for the changes sent up red flags to many players, who immediately flooded the SPP Forum with concerns that the game could be nearing its end. Forum administrators and moderators insisted the game was not going anywhere; it was just being modified so that it could ‘stand alone’ and be more ‘player run and operated’ in the future.

In June 2011, key features of the game began to disappear (the Shop stopped having new item releases, quests and other challenging aspects of the game were discontinued, etc).  Worried players once again headed to the forum and, once again, were reassured that management had no plans to end SPP ‘in the foreseeable future’.  In addition to constant reassurances, two new ‘pet birthday badges’ (in-game awards) were released that indicated the game would exist for at least two more years.  Also in June, a announcement was made concerning a ‘last chance’ to buy gold and gold items as they would be permanently discontinued on July 1st…and a ‘special offer’ was made which enabled players to buy ‘lifetime VIP status’ for a one-time fee of $4.95 (as opposed to $4.95 per month).  Many considered the ‘lifetime VIP’ offer to be a great investment and jumped at the chance to acquire it.  

In August 2011, Slide/Google announced that the game would be ‘retired’ and taken offline permanently on March 6th, 2012.  Had the players known that the special ‘lifetime VIP’ offer would only be good for eight months and not a few years, most would not have purchased it.  Had the players been aware that the game’s end was imminent, they’d have known gold items would no longer have acceptable trade/resale values and, thus, be rendered worthless…and most would not have scrambled to acquire them throughout June.  The dissemination of false information from those in the know resulted in hundreds (perhaps even thousands) of players unwittingly investing additional funds in a dying game.I am not seeking a refund for what I’ve spent on gold and gold items because I full-well knew that I was not buying real, tangible commodities. I DO, however, expect and hope that Slide/Google will be held accountable for the deceptive practices they employed throughout the summer of 2011.

To those of you harping and claiming this lawsuit is BS, I say you have no clue. Gold was pushed hard. Period! We were all lied to and deceived. Period! You cant hide from the black and white of this issue! We were screwed big time! And that my friends is the cold hard truth. F you Google for destroying us.

Slide encouraged the buying and selling just by allowing it to occur on their forums.  They could have easily shut that down, but they chose to allow it.  If customers thought they could gain a profit in buying gold, then they would just continue to buy it, hoping to mark it up in the future.

I suppose all of that is superfluous now:  Google is about to make it all worth nothing.  I’m glad that I sold items when I did and made back what I spent.  Still, it’s sad to see it all go…It was an enjoyable game in the beginning.