I was a bit perturbed when I signed on today and discovered that almost 3 years of fun and contributions to the site were summarily flushed down the toilet. I decided to get the bitching and moaning out of my system this once, and then move on with it.

I've read several blogs and several comments on those blogs from people who support/understand the change and those who are upset about it. I've got no problem with the owners doing anything they want to do with their site...it is theirs, they own it, and they have the right to make any changes they want.

What I do have a problem with is that it seems that little-to-no concern was given to how long-time users would be affected by this change. There were only 20 something users with more than 1,100,000 points (I know more were not included because they had cashed in their points and that lowered their level). It was just a nasty surprise to sign on today and discover that all our prior efforts were being flushed.

True, we pay nothing to come on this site, and it has been a lot of fun. The games, the flamewars, the blogs and vids, you name it...it's been a gas and it hasn't cost a cent to enjoy it.

There was a kind of synergy though, in that those who contributed a lot understood that our efforts to build the site would be (or I should say "could be") rewarded as we amassed points. We helped draw traffic to the site, theoretically making money from advertising for the owners. And yes, it's true that there was always the disclaimer about prizes being disallowed or points erased at the discretion of the owners, but enough people did get the points and redeem them for prizes that the option seemed viable to all of us.

The prizes themselves aren't that big of an issue. The good faith behind the prizes is, however. When you go to the fair or carnival and play some stupid game, you WANT the prize you are entitled to. It might be a 10-cent whistle or something, but maybe you're playing the game for your kids and they want the whistle or the stuffed animal, or whatever. The same thing applies here. Money wasn't the issue...I could buy nearly anything on the old list without even thinking about it (I wouldn't take the car because I HATE Fords, lol).

Still, the thought was always in the back of the minds of those who contributed a lot. We knew that our efforts could be rewarded. I was over halfway to the one-week vacation for 2 in Cancun, and I intended to give that to my daughter and son-in-law. Both are US Marines, and I figured that would be a nice trip for them to take when they were on leave. Now, I'm not even 20% of the way to a $10 prepaid visa card. LOL...I had more than enough for a $750 Amazon.com gift card, but that's gone now.

The blow could have been softened by making an announcement, especially to those above a certain points level. Good communication often helps alleviate a problem and cut down on disgruntlement, while poor communication often compounds problems and insults or aggravates people. This was a case of horrible communication.

With that said, I'll stop my whining now and go back to using the site. The old enjoyment is gone, though, tempered by the knowledge that some things and some people can't be trusted. I hope the site doesn't lose too many participants from their woefully executed strategy. It would've been nice to at least gotten a head's up that this was coming.